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You can
write your own review of the Cushcraft A3S.
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OE6MDF
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Rating: 3/5
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Nov 14, 2007 01:13
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A3S great! - ADD on KIT awful
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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A3S: 5!
Works fine, I had no troubles with traps so far (except at my add on kit). Have this antenna now for 8 years on my tower.
A743: 1!
After got this kit from my dealer I mounted it on my A3S. Checked SWR on 40m -> ok it works.
First evening I was disappointed: Intermittant SWR faults on 40m, reception faults. Extremely low signals on 40m.
Ok next day, a cold and windy day, a friend helped me to disassemble the dipole again and check 40m traps.
We found out that the traps had very high resistance (no resonance) Both of them! The connection between the trap coil and the screw which connects both ends to the conduits was
done awful by Cushcraft. The lacquer which should protect the coil and connections against corrosion
was also between the screw and coil wire. Cushcraft made a nice insulation instead of good connection.
So we reworked both traps and both sides (means 4 connection, 3 of them where bad!).
Then assembled it back to my tower. No it works until now for almost 2 years without any
troubles. Come on, for this price of the kit here in EU, the quality is not acceptable.
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WA0WAB
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Rating: 3/5
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Jul 17, 2007 08:43
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Trap problems!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The A3S and A743 add on is a good small size antenna with adaquate performance. Problem is the traps are designed with a sheet metal screw that is supposed to provide a ground connection for the capacitive tubing portion of the resonant trap. With time this screw works loose, and coupled with "aluminum oxide" insulation the traps become non resonant! After taking the traps off 4-5 times over the last 15 years and cleaning and putting bigger sheet metal screws in the "blasted things".... I took all of them to a heliarc welding shop and had the traps spot welded. Too bad they are not manufactured this way. Reliablity of the antenna would be MUCH BETTER! If you buy one of these antennas "new", do this first thing. It will save you much misery!
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K3LL
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 19, 2007 20:45
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Great Value and Support
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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The A3S replaced my Hy-Gain 4BTV vertical which I had up for about 9 months.
During construction I discovered a small (but of course critical) piece of tubing was missing. A quick email to Cushcraft was all it took to have the replacement piece shipped to me via FedEx at Cushcraft's expense (Thanks John!)
Construction was enjoyable and a breeze.
While I was waiting for the part, I installed the antenna in a 2 element configuration- driven element and director. Made a few contacts, noteably HS1NRG and RW1ZA.
Many years ago I bought a Cushcraft ATB-34 (the grandfather of the A3S?). That antenna moved with me to 3 QTHs and traveled 1000's of miles with me and performed great at every location.
Looks like the A3S will perform just as well if not better.
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MW0XMG
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 27, 2006 11:36
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Great Antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Bought the A3S about 3 years ago, it's mounted @ 12Mtrs high, pretty much maintinence free, living on the side of the Brecon Beacons National park we see plenty of rain here, no cracks on the plastic ends on the traps, it really has performed well and I'm very pleased.
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KN0N
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 27, 2006 04:46
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Good antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought an A3 (pre-'S')in 1989. It has been disassembled and moved across county, stored outside under some trees for 5 years after a home remodel, and was recently reinstalled. Some of the u-bolts and mounting hardware were lost or corroded so I ordered the stainless steel kits from Cushcraft. The cost was about $54 shipped 3-day FedEx coast-coast and arrived about seven days after ordering. I had to leave a voicemail requesting the parts, but I got a call back from Cushcraft the next day to complete the order. At my dad's suggestion I had purchased stainless hose-clamps to replace the originals back in 89 so they were still in good shape.
The beam performs very well. Especially considering I have no tower at present and am using it on a 30 foot mast. Gain over my dipole at 75 feet looks to be around 6 db on the S-meter. I am very happy with the performance and durability of the A3. FYI I have never owned a linear so the power to unit has never been over 100 watts.
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WA3OFR
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 10, 2006 16:01
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Great Value - Gets the Job Done!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Got to 280 countries with 100W and a vertical in the late 1980's...but wanted more punch (+ receive gain!) I've had this same A3S antenna in two QTHs - 10 years on a 10' garage mounted tower and the last 10+ years on a 50' crank up. No problems in either location through nasty wind and ice storms here in Mass. Never failed me, nothing ever broke. Assembled very easy ...as one other reviewer noted...alignment marks would help!! But I used Sharpie markers once all elements in place! Also, prior to assembling I did add a single stainless steel screw through each element to prevent it from spinning if the clamp were to come loose! Adding this feature would be my only suggestion to Cushcraft...I highly recommend this simple, cheap insurance!! A3S+100W has got me to 340 countries now...it can be done. Although a linear is starting to look good for these last 5 :-) I recommend it as a durable, cost effective TX/RX booster!! EXCELLENT! 73
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W3DS
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 2, 2006 06:07
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Nice Beam
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I just installed a new A3S several weeks ago. High quality parts and an excellent performer. Antenna looks heavy duty and well built for weighing 27 pounds. Low SWR on bands and low end of 6 meters also. Not advertised for 6 meters, haven't tried it up there. Mine is up 30 feet and have worked some good DX. Very good front to back. Like most of the other reviews, I'm pleased with this beam and Cushcraft has a nice product.
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XE1ZVO
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 1, 2006 16:59
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Great Antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought this antenna new, boxed and installed about 2 years ago. Great Low SWR, worked many DX including 3Y0X with only 60 Watts. Later i added the 40 Meter KIT and found in 40 meters a little bit high SWR. I have a TS-2000 with a TL922 and so far it has not failed, SWR never goes up. I live on the highest place of my city and all the day winds are dealing with it; still, no problem at all
73 de Alex XE1ZVO www.dxxe.org
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LB1UE
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 24, 2006 04:32
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Good antenna
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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If it were'nt for the installation manual, I would've given this antenna a 5.
1: The tubing should be marked with codes.
Due to an error in the manual (188cm) should be (118) cm. I lost 30 valuable minutes because I had to disassemble one of the elements.
2: The tuning examples from the manual (CW - Center - High SSB) should be marked on the tubing. You will save 5-10 minutes total time.
3: The spacing inbetween caps. is not possible to achieve.
In the manual you have a 15.2cm spacing, the tubing is. 13cm. and you should have 0.95mm spacing between the tube and the cap.
0.95 x 2 = 1.90
1.90 + 13 = 14.90 ... woops, we're missing 3mm here.
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I spite of these details, the antenna is very simple to assemble, it's light weight makes the installation easy, and it looks pretty impressive.
The construction is not so dofferent from other antennas in alu. I'm only worried about one part, and that is the fibertube used for the driver elements. It's hollow, should be solid.
I also missed a balun. I had to extend the cords on my old balun, and I do not like it at all.
I have to order a new one. This should be an option with the antenna.
I noticed Cushcraft recommend RG-8. I'm young, but this cable is old. I can't even get it here in Norway. RG-213 is it's successor and even RG-58 is capable of doing HF without any considerable loss.
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Mounting and placing the elements along the boom is easy. After you decode the schema (if you try before you decode it won't fit) it seems the antenna is unbalanced. I would like the mounting bracket for the mast to be in the center, and antenna tuned for this option.
To get the antenna horizontal, I need to force it, using the brackets, hence the extra force pushing it up, will make the metal vulnerable for heavy winds / temperatures.
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Since the antenna at my QTH is mounted only 21ft above ground, I can't give any test results yet. Although, I ran Ghana with 100W and got a 55. I guess 9 more ft will make this a 59, will do so during the spring/summer.
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N0MUD
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 1, 2006 23:19
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An Excellent Antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Bought mine used from a friend who was short on money and long on antennas. I wanted the antenna he wanted my money, we both made good on the deal. The antenna, A3S has been up at my qth for six years now and has handled some pretty heavy winds that we get now and then in Colorado. I have never had a problem with it, tunes just perfectly. I do know that if you tighten aluminum too tight, yes it will bend and look really funny so follow the instructions and for goodness sake DON'T tighten too tight and the radials will all stay straight and all the other hardware will not fall off for any reason. You have to remember if you want your antenna to remain in place with all associated hardware you have to make sure you do tighten everything just not too tight that you bend something. You have to admit a bent antenna either doesn't look good and sometimes it doesn't work properly either. When I had my Yaesu FT-920 it tuned the A3S perfectly and now I have a Kenwood TS-2000 and it also tunes the A3S with no problems.
But like someone said already if you want to know what we are all talking about then go to your local HAM radio store, check out the antenna and buy a brand new one. If you know someone who is selling one then buy it, the price will be lower than a new one, just make sure all the radials are straight and true.
73's too all and lets have a good safe summer, 06.
NØmud
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