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| Reviews Summary for TAK-tenna |
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Reviews: 100
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Average rating: 4.7/5
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MSRP: $128
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Description: Electrical Half-wave Dipole Antenna
Rotatable - Portable - Stealth - Primary & Restricted Space
Currently available in 80 Multibander, 40 Multibander and all HF bands to 10 meters.
Electrical Quarter-wave radiating spiral end elements
Direct feed with 50 ohm coax on resonant band
User selects resonant frequency during tuning process
Can use coax + tuner...or twin lead + tuner
Power tested to 1000 CW watts,
key down for 30 seconds and 1400 Watts PEP
no heat sensed on antenna wire or coax feed point when touched by hand after power testing
NO lossy matching components anyplace in system
10 to 14 dB signal increase in transmit with 90 degree rotation
30 inch boom
Low SWR across band
Sturdy and well built
Weighs only 5 pounds
Uses proprietary #14 gage copper plated alloy wire
Easy assembly - less than 90 minutes
TAK-tenna 40 Multi-Bander also works on 30, 20, 15 and 10 Meters with use of tuner
Tested with Kenwood TS-430 and AT-250 using 50 ohm coax to antenna
Tested with twin lead and other tuner...works fine too
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More info: http://www.tak-tenna.com/
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KD7AUQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 4, 2010 15:20
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Great all around antenna for fixed, portable, emergency use
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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HI Steve
The 40 meter model I have has been up close to three years now and has reached out to everywhere except to the middle east, my QTH is So. Western Wyoming using only 100 watts. Other hams constantly are in disbelief when I tell them that this antenna is only 28 inches tall 3 feet long and that the center hub is only 14 foot off the ground. Just wanted to say thanks 73s.
Robert Adams KD7AUQ
Bryce Adams KD7NWL
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WA1ZNC
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 2, 2010 08:57
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Antenna works
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Hi Steve:
I got my antenna up to 25 feet and I am doing really good.
40 meters is a out standing 1to1 swr.( without antenna tuner ) did this with just moving the hot wire.
I read you add again and notice that you say that the TAK-tenna is good for 40-30-20-15-10 meters with a antenna tuner I can get all these plus 17 meters this done all with My internal antenna tuner( all 1to1 )
On my ICOM IC-746PRO.
Remember most important to RESONATE RESONATE RESONATE !!!!!!!!
You have a outstanding antenna here Steve.
PS I plan to go up to 35 feet when the weather is better.
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KF6WTC
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 14, 2010 23:05
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Great Antenna!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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It took awhile to get it tuned, but once I got a MFJ antenna analyzer I had it tuned in about 20 minutes.
Steve was great! He had no problems emailing me, or talking with me on the phone and he sent it out quickly!
Thanks again Steve!
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K6PHL
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Rating: 1/5
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Jan 1, 2010 12:58
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There is no free lunch!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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One of my sons who lives in a limited balcony apartment bought the portable version. After a lot of experimentation he threw up his hands and ask that I give it a try. Because I have plenty of space I tried it in both vertical and horizontal configurations at various heights up to 20 ft. As with all 'feed-line radiator antennas' it is very sensitive to feed-line orientation.
The best signal reports I could muster were fully 2 "s-units" down from my roof mounted vertical, and FREQUENTLY worse. Reception was similar.
In my many years of building and experimenting with wire antennas I have decided the three most important characteristics of antennas are aperture, aperture and aperture :-). If you are in a desperate space limited situation, this limited aperture antenna MAY work, but will be 'fiddely' and probably down in performance- often way down...
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N5IR
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 30, 2009 12:03
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Exceeded expectations
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I wanted to get back on HF but QTH has limited space and I need to keep a low profile. I have no room for radials so a vertical is not an option and my attic is too full of metal strapping for an indoor antenna. I decided to take a chance on using the TAK-40 as a vertical dipole.
I easily assembled the TAK-40. I decided to try it setting vertically on the work bench using the initial tap positions and a 30 year old Dentron Super Super Tuner. I worked 12 states with it there before I could get it installed outside.
A friend and I installed it and ran coax into the house on the evening of Saturday, 30 May 09, right in the middle of the WPX contest. It is vertically mounted at 11 ft above ground for the cold side hidden in vegetation. I have a choke at the bottom of the “tree mast”. That evening, using 100 watts and the Dentron Super Super Tuner, I worked 29 countries on 40 meter cw (including EZ, ZS, VK6, JA and ZL). The next morning I worked 2 SA countries on 15 meters cw.
As of 30 Dec 09, I have 91 countries on 40 meters, 23 countries on 17 meters, 19 countries on 15 meters, 1 country on 12 meters, and 3 countries on 10 meters. I have worked EZ nine times on 40 meters and I recently got through a 40 meter pile up for DP1POL, German Antarctica.
The antenna must be tuned in as close to its final mounted configuration as possible (mounted, coax run to shack, etc.). It is sensitive to mounting changes. Once tuned, I have 90 KHz at/below 1.3:1 and 195 KHz below 2:1 on 40 meters. I recommend tuning it to resonance. I used a MFJ-259 SWR analyzer.
I can not use the TAK-40 on 20 or 30 meters due to the length of coax used from the tuner to the antenna. It easily tunes on 15 meters and is some what resonant on 17 meters. I can tune it on 80 meters, but have had no luck at all there.
Like others, I usually get one to two S-units below the reports I give and I don’t always hear everything others are hearing. I don’t win pile ups, but I can eventually get through as noted above.
This is a compromise antenna design to be sure, but it has gotten me back on HF with better than expected results. I just hoped for a cw rag chew antenna. So, since it exceeded my expectations, I am giving it a 5/5 for the money invested.
I decided to get a TAK-30 and a TAK-20. They were both installed vertically 11 ft. above ground for the cold side on 23 Dec 09. The first two contacts for the TAK-20 were UA0 and KH6. The first morning gray line for 30 meters yielded PA, RA, LY, and EW. With Christmas, I have not had enough time to evaluate them, but the initial on air reports for both the TAK-30 and TAK-20 line up with the TAK-40.
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SQ2FRF
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 11, 2009 08:21
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Very good
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Due the reason of very limited space I decided to by TAK-tenna in mobile and standard versions.
It was good decision, antenna working mainly in vertical position. Installed only 5-6 meters above the ground on metal mast. Due the reason of lack of free time I'm on radio only during weekends. I'am IOTA chaser and up to date with small amplifier was possible to catch: D44AC, VR2C and a lot of stations from States and over 50 islands from Europe. At first look maybe it is difficult but ass'y is possible in less then 30 minutes.
Next year I will be much more active from islands. Thanks Steve for very good for me antenna.
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WB6RLC
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 2, 2009 20:02
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DX first contact
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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OK, you’ve heard how easy this is to build and tune. I won’t expand on that. Here is how the antenna worked for me.
I live in a shallow canyon, more of an alluvial. There are so many rocks I have not set up a proper ground for my station. I am however about 300-400 ft above the valley floor. The transmitter is an ICOM-735 with 100 watts out.
When I tuned the antenna, I mounted it on a 6ft piece of 1 inch PVC pipe set in a concrete pool umbrella stand. This is setting on the concrete decking about 4 ft from the pool. The RG8X runs out of the garage window, across the pool deck and to the antenna. I tuned the antenna to a little better than 1.2:1 @ 7.2 MHz. So I decided to give it a try. At first 40M was pretty busy and noisy. I came back a little later. I chose to pass on the station I heard from Dubai! My first shot was to an East Coast station. I hit W4WRL, Wayne in South Carolina. That’s from Palm Springs California to South Carolina, about 2000+ miles! Not bad for my first try with the antenna setting 6 ft off of a concrete pool deck and 100 watts. I am sold. Can’t wait to get it up in the air.
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G0NIG
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Rating: 2/5
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Nov 18, 2009 12:34
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Granduous Claims
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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There is nothing new or miraculous about this antenna. The theory has been discussed for many years. It's ok for portable use but in a domestic environment, where there is significant reliance on feed-line radiation, it can prove to be quite a hazard. As a test I inserted a line isolator, this severely compromised the mediocre
performance. As for having multi-band capability, with a suitable AMU a BBQ grill will load up on Top-Band through to 10m, this does not always mean acceptable radiating efficiency.
The Pro's are that it's compact, relatively cheap, easy to construct.
The Con's are that it is no substitute for a properly constructed dipole, even one that is doglegged to fit in a confined space.
I can but praise Steve on his service.
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KF5BUB
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 12, 2009 17:27
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Tak-Tenna as Vertical
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Performance was not too great in horizontal position, but in vertical config it out-performed my dipole on 40 and 15 mtrs! Works fairly well on 80 with my tuner, which is great as I don’t have room for an 80m antenna. On 10 meters it is great in the CW segment, but not so good on the phone section (which doesn’t bother me as I operate CW QRP only). On CW I use an IC-725 idled down to 10-watts, and have made contact in several states. My best QSO was Hawaii a couple weeks ago, really late in the evening, which speaks a lot about the antenna. I couldn’t hear him well on the dipole, but he came in about 4 s-units over the QRM on the Tak! Once we established contact, I switched from the Tak to the dipole and he reported my signal dropped about the same as his did on my rig.
Once I relocate, I plan to run 2 Tak 40 units phased together, and add an 80 unit as well. Love these things!!!
From reading other reviews, some are not getting the performance in vertical mode. First, do not put it up over 40 feet. It performs well closer to the ground when using vertically. Also, make sure to wind about 6 six-inch turns in the coax where it enters the shack. Use a good tuner such as the MFJ tuner.
Bottom line, if you need a good antenna for a small space, this works extremely well.
73 ... Albert ... K5FFO (formerly KF5BUB).
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MW1RES
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 4, 2009 00:50
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QUITE MISLEADING STATEMENT
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I thought the cable ties an excellent idea myself, which made for easy construction and they are extremely strong. It certainly would take many years of weathering before any deterioration would occur.
I was surprised how easy the TAK-tenna was to construct and the quality of the product. I am not going to delve into the formulas and calculations but the major observation: IT WORKS!
Had great results with this antenna from day one (now 18 months old) and with the aid of a good ATU have quite easily loaded up on 80mtrs.
I can only say well done to Steve WA2TAK for his innovative design, his helpfulness with dispatch to the UK and even to the point of availing himself should I have an questions.
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