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| Reviews Summary for ZeroFive Antennas Multiband Vertical |
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Reviews: 74
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Average rating: 4.9/5
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MSRP: $469.00
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Description: A Multiband vertical for 10 to 160m,41 foot tall feed with your coax or ladder line,For use with a tuner,Made from 6063 t832 AL tubing,Requires radials,5kw cw,10kw ssb pwr handling,Freestanding,Comes with base insulator and tube.
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More info: http://www.zerofive-antennas.com
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write your own review of the ZeroFive Antennas Multiband Vertical.
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WG0I
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 24, 2009 22:42
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Satisfied
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Have the Zerofive 43 foot multi-band vertical fed with a UnUn at the base and a MFJ Intellituner in the shack.
Used mostly on 80, 40 and 30 meters. I have a Force 12 beam for the upper bands. The antenna is mounted in a poor location, 10 feet from my house on the north and 10 feet from neighbors house on the south.
Pretty good shot to the east and west though.
I have only about 20 radials with the longest about 40 feet. Considering the location, I am satisfied with it's performance. I use it a lot on the 3905 Century Club Nets. Won't tune on 160 meters with the 4-1 UnUn but did tune on 160 meters when I was running the 4-1 Balun. Switched to the UnUn transformer as it seemed to improve my performance on 80- 30 meters. Won't tune with the built in tuner on my Icom 746 (non pro) when using the UnUn but would when I used the balun.
Construction is easy and simple. No traps or adjustments to make. It is very well made and un guyed. Excellent customer service from Tom also!
73
Mike
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K4AJL
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 23, 2009 19:02
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EXTEMELY HAPPY
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I BOUGHT THE 10 METER SUPER GAINER FOR ZERO FIVE. I DONT THINK THEY MAKE IT ANYMORE. DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY, IT WORKS GREAT. IT IS A DX BUSTER. NEXT I BOUGHT THE ZERO FIVE 33 FT 10 TO 80 METER VERTICLE. IT WORKS SUPER. I MODIFIED MINE TO 43 FT. I WORK 10 TO 160. I TALKED TO A FEW STATIONS ON 160 AND WITH ONLY 100 WATTS GOT S-7 S-8 REPORTS. THEY WERE IMPRESSED I WAS ON A VERTICLE. MUCH LESS AT 100 WATTS. TWO DAYS AGO I HAD A FRIEND OVER AND I TALKED TO EUROPE AFRICA AND MADAGASCAR USING 100 WATTS ON 17 METERS. I USE MINE WITH A PALSTAR AUTO 1500 TUNER. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL VERTICLES AND NONE OUT DID THE ZERO FIVE. ONE CAME CLOSE BUT NONE EQUALED IT OR SURPASSED IT. 43 FT WITH NO GUY WIRES. GREAT ANTENNA, GET ONE YOU WON'T BE SORRY. GOD BLESS AND HAPPY DXING
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AB1JB
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 4, 2009 07:31
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Break through pileups
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I have had the Zero-Five 43 foot vertical since April. My installation includes 56 43 foot ground radials with four other wires running from each corner of the radial plate to my chain link fence. I have the Array Solutions CG-3000 remote tuner (my LDG 200 Pro in the shack could not tune this antenna on all the bands). With this I can tune from 80 M to 6 M but I cannot tune 160 M. I am using Array Solutions’ Bias-T system to send the 12 volts to the tuner through the LMR 400 coax along with their antenna disconnect that isolates the antenna from the tuner when there is no voltage in the coax. I run only 100 watts. I took this long to report my results because during May and June I had some phenomenal power line QRN which wiped out most of 20 M. Prior to that problem, and now that it’s fixed, I can say that I have been doing great. With voice or CW (my main mode) I have been able to QSO with anyone that I can hear anywhere in the world. I can easily break through pileups with 1-4 tries. I thought that perhaps my advantage over other HAMs is that I am in the northeast. So I tried an experiment. I would listen to a good pileup until I heard a few HAMs in the northeast who, according to the QRZ site, were running full legal with beams. Then I would drop my call in and within 1-3 tries I got through. I would then move on to the next pile up while the full legal beam users were still trying to break the pileup. The customer support from Zero-Five and Array Solutions is great.
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N3EAQ
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Rating: 2/5
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Jun 13, 2009 18:30
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It's pretty much a bust under 20 or 40 meters
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I bought and built the 0-5 43' all band vertical a couple of years ago, and finished the construction last fall. It's NOT an antenna that impresses me!
You can see all the details of my construction at www.n3eaq.net ... It's fine on 20 meters, It blows everywhere below, compared to my Alpha-Delta DX-LB+, and my 160m V-Beam is even better!
I can only guess that all the RAVE comments come from folks who have limited space, or have never used another HF antenna!
It has been cunstructed at my QTH at WELL better than most folk's specs, and Still, nothing that makes me excited!
I use it on 20m and up, and it works fine there, but was NOT worth all the $$$ and time I put into it!
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KC9GXC
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 1, 2009 10:36
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Log Book Say's It All
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had the Zero-Five for over two years and have used numerous rigs with this antenna. I have had no problems working 90% of the stations I hear. I work both SSB and digital modes and have worked lots of DX with 100w, I don't run an amp. I have a minimal radial system. According to all the info about radials the antenna should not radiate, but it does.
The Zero- Five works for me and my log book proves it. That is all the proof I need.
Randy
W9RTB
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N1SQJ
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Rating: 3/5
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May 31, 2009 10:41
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A 40m Vertical
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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All these 5's.., and I have to be the descending voice... I've had it for 2 years and my conclusion is, that it is an outstanding 40m vertical. It can be made to work any other band but the reception is disappointing. Case and point: shed mounted cushcraft R-5 vertical 40 feet away outperforms the zero-five on 20,17,15,10. Curiously, the R-5 is even on par with it and sometimes better on 80M(Receive) although the R5 wont transmit on 80. I was told by Tom that adding more ground radials would make no difference in receive, just transmit. I have about 10 radials..planned to add more. I also bypassed the matching balun to see if that was a culprit and it wasn't. All connections good, measuring 43 feet exactly, and connections with light ox-guard as stated in assembly directions. For 80 and 160m, a longwire at only 12 feet off the ground run through some trees gives better reception on those bands. For the good news: I have received excellent TX signal reports on 80m and the swr is pretty decent across the bands easily handled with FT1000 internal tuner. Sometimes stations that I hear in the noisefloor on 80 can hear me fine, and I've never had that situation until this antenna. As for 20M, the signal reports are usually-- say 90 percent better with the R-5 and occasionally slightly better with the zero-five depending on conditions. Perhaps more radials will solve that -- but keep in mind my major gripe is the low receive, and not such a great S/N ratio... and a million more radials wont address that, unless I'm misinformed. As for 10 meters, its no contest. The R-5 wins both rx and tx.
And finally 40m: This is exactly what I believe this antenna to be. A perfect 40 meter vertical. It is the best performing 40M antenna I have ever used! flat swr, and signals flooding through to full scale. World class performance with only a few watts and blows the other antennas away. Unfortunately not so of the other bands. How can I be the only one with these results. Its mounted in a clear spot on a hilltop with 100 ft of lmr 400 and I expected more but have not had the results mentioned here. Before the wind took the G5RV down, it was night and day better (reception) on 80. Never had an A/B to determine tx but know the G5RV always blew the longwire and R5 away for reception on 80 so I can base it on that. If anyone else has or had such reception with theirs I'd like to hear what if anything can be done to improve things.
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K7UA
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 3, 2009 20:08
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Updated review
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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After my recent review of December 27, Mickey, K5ML, contacted me with some encouragement. I went out in the snow and again reconfigured my balun into an unun and began experiments. I am now experiencing greatly improved DX performance on 80M. I am still feeding the un-un with about 40 ft of buried coax into a Palstar AT2K tuner in the shack. No more 80M tuner arcing problems, even at high power, although the 80M SWR on the coax is high, 14:1, as compared to less than 3:1 on the higher bands. It is tough to measure without a side by side comparision, but I am having MUCH better luck with working DX on 80. I have also found a tuner setting that will allow operation on 160M up to the 500 watt level. The coax SWR on 160M is very high, too high for my digital meter to measure, but I have made some 160M contacts with this configuration. The coax SWR on 160M before the change to the un-un was very low and very broad. A similar situation also occurred on 80M. This broadness was too good to be true on those bands and undoubtedly was because of inefficiency in the system, probably cause by the balun configuration. Even with the higher 80M coax SWR the system is now much more efficient. My thanks to Mickey and to those who figured out this modification. I am well pleased with the antenna. 73, K7UA
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K9WJL
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 22, 2008 15:46
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Still going strong.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is my second and last review on this Antenna. I've had it about a year now so I feel it's been well seasoned and I've had enough experience with it to give a good review.
I am closing in on DXCC now, with 72 confirmed entities on 20M, and 22 on 40. I've as of tonight, worked all 7 contintents with this antenna. I just broke a big pileup on the third call to KC4AAA at Admunsen-Scott Station located at the South Pole.
In about 12 hours of time over two days, I worked 77 different entities and 21 zones in the CQWW SSB contest.
I've worked everywhere I can think of, at the bottom of the sunspot cycle.
In spite of being designed with the wrong Balun (which worked very well for me anyhow), and In spite of what I consider to be a major mistake in the manual, which recommends that you DONT tie your radials to the coax shield at the radial plate (where then?) and after a lightning strike and major icing these last few days here and thunderstorm winds here that blew down trees in the area, This antenna is still going strong and very worthy of the 5/5 I'm giving it here.
I have a very small lot here, with an XYL who does not want a tower in the back yard, so for multiband operation using a vertical this is a great antenna.
Other than the lightning strike which did almost no damage to the antenna, the only thing I've had to do to it was replace a broken hose clamp that failed while in the air. The funny thing was I probably didn't notice that one of the sections had fully slid down inside the other for a month! I noticed no loss in performance.
The facts are the facts though, Know in advance that the antenna isn't resonant on any ham band according to my AIM 4170B. Know in advance that you need to feed it with Excellent Coax, and Know in advance that you need alot of wire for your radial field, (I run 2500' of radials over a 180 degree pattern next to my lotline)Use a radial plate, and tie the Coax Shield into it using a bulkhead connector at the plate, and you will make contacts. You will have fun.
It's also worth mentioning that Tom is a guy who will answer your Email on a Sunday, and he really stands behind his products.
No it's not a beam, but its the best comprimize vertical out there IMHO, and the only thing I'd replace it with is the 63 (?) footer.
73
Bill K9WJL
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VA3GVS
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 21, 2008 18:51
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Don't shoot the messanger
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Time owned: months
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Follow up to my posts here on Eham reviews posted on 14 Dec 08 and on Eham Elmers 08 Dec concerning ZeroFive 43' vertical antenna. After 2 modifications carried out on my ZeroFive antenna, described on previous post, I finally gave a 5/5 for this antenna. Before mods I would have given it a 3 compared to other antennas I had previously used. As I mentioned in review I can't understand all the 5/5's without these mods which I'll note further in post. But now I am completely satisfied and concider it the best vertical available (with modifications).
MY APPOLIGIES TO GOOD INTENTIONED EHAM ELMER AND TOWER TALK CONTRIBUTERS. I made mention in Eham Review that this ZeroFive antenna outperformed the Elmer & Tower Talk expectations and that their computer modules and criticism were wrong for this antenna. Well as Dan (Constant contributer to these forums, whose technical insight I've come to respect) very convincingly pointed out to me, the mods that I carried out to greatly improve the performance of this antenna were ideas born right here on these threads. Much of what was discussed here most likely had an influence on the ZeroFive and Array Solution's updated recommandations to convert 4-1 Balun to Unun and if required, add top loading to improve 80 and 160 meter performance (at the expence of decreased upper band performance 17 thru 10).
So if my Eham review (14 Dec 08) sounded like I was saying -ha ha your wrong Elmer & Tower Talk critics, well I guess I was, since what they said wasn't what I wanted to hear after investing the time and money to set up this Antenna and radial system. I was unwittingly shooting the messanger that had only rightfully stated their reservations towards this antenna concept and had made suggestions to improve it.
But now it rocks. Breaking pileups with 20 over reports on all bands from 20 to 160. Again I know it's still a vertical and never will be a 3 or 4 element beam but where an attractive, inconspicuous neighbourly friendly great performing all band un-guyed antenna with a small footprint is required, the 43' ZeroFive antenna with modifications could be your ticket.
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K1SPY
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 15, 2008 18:29
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Superb antenna
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I waited until I had some time and experience with this product before I wrote my review.
I researched this antenna for 6 months prior to going to Dayton last year. I met Tom and honestly, I pestered him with all manner of questions about the 43' all-bander. He could not have been more patient and willing to help me learn more. After swapping numerous e-mails with Tom after Dayton, I finally pulled the trigger.
I shouldn't have waited so long to get this monster!
The antenna fabrication and materials: Superb - of the highest quality.
Zero Five customer service: The shipping was prompt and the packing was thorough and careful. Tom's customer service and dedication to the utmost quality should be studied and emulated by ALL businesses. There is a reason all the people here give Zero Five a 5.0/5.0 and it is Tom's upholding of the highest standards of quality and customer service.
My setup: 43' multibander mounted on the temporary foldover mount; I opted for the guy kit (not a bad idea when using the temporary foldover); the recommended Array Systems balun; (32) 50' buried radials; and a 20'x15' near-field ground plane made of poultry netting (chicken wire) bonded together and bonded to the radial lugs. I feed the antenna with 150' of RG-213.
My results: The Zero Five loads up on all bands from 160m-10m. I participate on a nightly 80m net and the outstations report superior signals on the Zero Five. It is particularly happy on 60m (no wonder - do the math) and an absolute laser cannon from 20m on up the bands. It is a DX monster. I get reports of a huge signal from my DX contacts.
I am completely happy with this product and congratulate Tom on his great success story. Some day when I get enough property, I would LOVE to get three more of these and the phasing control system to create a monster foursquare phased vertical system. WOW!
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