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write your own review of the Cushcraft X-7.
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PY1YB
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Rating: 5/5
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May 29, 2010 10:53
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Great antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have my X7 more than 10 years. Replaced the old ATB34. Very happy with the antenna. I have already recommended and installed other 5 to friends. Very satisfied. Never had any problems of lack of parts during assembly despite the box having been damaged by UPS. Small parts were protected inside strong plastic bags. Manual and instructions clear and easy to follow. Very good results on air and excellent SWR. Use mine on 12 and 17 with tuner and it goes great as well
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W2MV
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 31, 2010 13:04
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Excellent
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I've had my X7 for 8 months now. I am still impressed with the performance. It picks up the weak ones, and I am able to get through much better than with my A3S. We just had a wind storm with 75 mph gusts, which rotated the X7 on it's mast, however, the X7 itself appears to be fine. In Feb we had 20 inches of heavy, wet snow which wreaked havoc with trees. Some of the X7's elements were really sagging from the weight of the snow, and I was concerned. When the snow melted, the elements appear to be undamaged.
It seems that the brake of my Ham-IV was damaged to some degree during the wind storm, but the X7 seems rugged.
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W9BGX
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 27, 2009 11:57
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Wonderful DX performance, robust construction
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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We've had the Cushcraft X-7 at our club station for most of the past decade. It's located on a 55-foot tower atop our 90-foot engineering school building at a total height of 145 feet (about 45 meters) above the local ground level. It's DX performance is wonderful -- It's given us first-call success better than 95% of the time to any DX station, anywhere. Just as impressive is its mechanical robustness over many years in the face of the Chicago-area's summer thunderstorms, especially given our location very near the shore of Lake Michigan, where high winds can sweep in unimpeded from the big lake. This antenna has my highest recommendation. 73, Al WA9JLV, trustee for W9BGX.
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OE5BAL
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 13, 2009 10:49
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2 different versions of X7
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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It is a great antenna, I have bought it in used condition and refurbished. It is built very solid.
But attention:
There are 2 different versions of the X7 - I have two different installation guides! One is dated with 12/97, the other with 8/98. A fast look into the documents shows no difference, but if you check the detail dimensions, you will see it.
The difference is in the length of element 3 to 7 (more than 9 cm !!!) and the type of the traps: in the version from 8/98 the traps are named T6 and T9, in the version from 12/97 they are named TB (not T8) and T9. If you check both part lists, you will see that the particular parts are the same. The difference is only to see in figure 5 from chapter 3 - "Element Assembly". I can imagine that this is the cause of some problems if you mount a used antenna with a downloaded manual from the internet. In case of difficulties: contact Cushcraft (MFJ) to get hints to identify your version or how to identify the type of your traps!
--- best DX !
Fred, OE5BAL
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IW0HEX
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 3, 2009 08:19
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great antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought my X7 second hand. Now I used it since 2 years and I worked more then 300 DXCC !!! Great antenna, solid; SWR is about 1 to 1.6 in all bands so no problem is SSB, RTTY e CW. I have to clean all contacts after 2 years and I use DX Engineering balun 4:1 for LP cell.
73s de IW0HEX Pasquale
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PY1BR
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 2, 2009 08:42
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Great antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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After 9 years I moved to a new QTH where the X7 is already installed and working as before, excellent performance. Although the previous QTH was close to the sea its mechanical parts are in excellent conditions. I still live in a big city so this antenna is the best we can have installed in a top of a building. I’m very happy with XM240 and X7 in the same tower.
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W2MV
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 5, 2009 06:57
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Excellent So Far
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I've only had my new X7 up for six days, but I notice a world of difference between it and my old Cushcraft A3S. I can work anything that I can hear, and calling CQ a few times created a pileup! That would not happen with the A3, which was a nice antenna, but the X7 is definitely a level above. Too bad 15 and 10 have been dead so I can't really say anything about performance on those bands...yet.
It would have probably taken me 2 days to put the thing together and double-check everything, so I had
Hudson Valley Towers do the work. With 2 guys and a helper, they took about half a day to assemble it.
It's a big antenna and not easy to maneuver compared to other antennas, but it was worth it for me.
Thw SWR is <2:1 at band edges on 20M, and <1.5:1 in the center. On 15 and 10 the SWR is even lower.
All 7 elements are pinned to the boom, unlike the A3, so they will stay level.
Stay tuned for further updates.
Alan, W2MV
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VK2CA
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 5, 2009 05:47
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10 years and still going strong
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Just thought that I should write something after having come up to 10 years with the X7. I thought when I spent a full day (two guys on it) putting the thing together that I never wanted to pull it apart. Glad to report that besides relocating QTH's where it was dismantled, but not completely, I have never had reason to pull this antenna down.
It has always performed flawlessly. It is excellent on 20/15 but really rocks on 10m. No problem with full power at anytime. This ia a big antenna and has some weight behind it but the perfomance is worth the effort of getting it in the air. I always thought JA's were everywhere with my old 3 element but not with the X7 - have to point at Japan now...hi. Excellent FB and very tight pattern.
Highly recommended as a beam to buy and keep.
Cheers....Allan VK2CA
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VY0PW
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 27, 2008 19:49
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Excellent choice
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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My X-7 replaced a 20 year old A-3S. It sits on top of a 56ft US tower. Turn it with a HAM IV. The X-7 is quite a bit bigger and heavier but boy what a difference in performance. Listening the X-7 is at least 2 S-units above the A-3S and transmit wise probably the same. The X-7 is very well build and fairly easy to put together.
When mine arrived there were two parts missing. Called John at Cushcraft he was very helpful and replaced it fairly quickly.
Only "problem" I have is cannot get the SWR below 1.4 in the phone portions of the bands. Otherwise very flat over the bands.
The X-7 works quite well on 17 and 12m where it acts as a dipole. Signals here are quite a bit better than on my R-5 vertical. The tuner in my ICOM rig has no problem matching it on the WARC bands.
Summary: Very well made, a real pile up cracker and stands well up to high winds. It delivers all what Cushcraft promises.
Very highly recommended.
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KG5I
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 28, 2007 15:46
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Very nice antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Mine has been up on the tower about 2 years now. Yes it works great, but it was difficult to install. The weight factor plays in here. I also have the 40 meter add-on which adds to the weight. I was finally able to get it installed at the top of my 60 ft tower. I was alone at the top with my friend down below pulling on the gin pole rope. We did it, but it was not easy. There are nearly 100 pounds of aluminum up there, but even with the strong winds it stays put. The antenna works great and I must say I had great support from Cushcraft ordering spare parts. I bought this antenna from a previous owner and it needed some replacement hardware. As expected, a 7 element beam will work well and this one does. I'm not a contester, just a casual operator. My previous beam was a Cushcraft A4 which worked great too. I need to increase the element length on 40 mtrs, but I'm not taking this down until something breaks or falls off.
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