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| Reviews Summary for S9 Antennas S9v |
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Reviews: 34
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Average rating: 5.0/5
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MSRP: $79.95
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Description: 31-Foot Multiband Vertical for 40 - 10 meters. Requires an antenna tuner and 1:1 balun or 4:1 unun.
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Product is in production.
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More info: http://www.s9antennas.com
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N3PDT
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 10, 2010 21:00
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Great performance, quality, and price
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Recent installation of a 31' S9V has proven to be a great antenna investment. I've got it ground mounted with 16 30' radials down. Got the wire and connectors for another 16 radials, just haven't had the time yet.
Really happy with the construction, instructions and service as well. Like others have mentioned, it's not near as noisy as internet experts would have one believe. I won't pull down my Windom, but the S9V has been a great addition to my antenna choices.
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KL2TC
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 26, 2010 15:24
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This thing works!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I spent the morning in the rain putting this antenna up. It was worth the soaking I endured. This thing really works. I am going to have to try the 80 meter version. Then I can retire the dipole that is driving my wife nuts. If the 80 meter works as great as the 40, I will be glad to cut down the wire.
The antenna is much brighter in reception than either my 80 or 40 dipoles, and by quite a bit. SWR at 40 is showing 1.1 on the meter.
I'm happy.
Al
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WS3Y
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 24, 2010 07:13
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Update of first review
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I really need to give credit where credit is due.
This 31' S9 does not deserve a 4/5, it deserves a 6/5!!
John (I have no ties to John, I'm just a very happy customer) has come up with a wopper of an antenna!
In 10 years at my QTH I have never gotten out like this. About a week ago I worked Ireland in a heavy pile-up, with no difficulty. Last night I worked, in a heavy pile-up, OX3KQ in Greenland and also Bristol England. I use an Icom 756 Pro, through a Denton tuner and amp and into the S9 with a unun. The set-up works well barefoot, better with the amp for Europe. The antenna hears very, very well (much better than my Comet CHA-250Bx, and the S9 can take 600w, which the Comet can't).
I've worked all over the U.S., save Alaska and Washington. I have no trouble hitting Maine, N.Y., Arizona, Colorado and S.A.
What is amazing is that I have the antenna mounted on a 6' steel pole, about 18 feet AGL on a wooden deck on the rear of my house and have only four elevated radials. Take into consideration that my house is on a hillside and the front of my house is about six feet below street level and you begin to understand what I'm up against with a CCR (the antenna is colored green so it disappears against the trees).
Now consider that I am bounded north, east and west by hills and tall trees and you can see why it has been so difficult for me to work distant stations.
I can only imagine how well this antenna would work with a great ground level radial system on flat terrain.
John has come up with a great antenna that is simple to assemble and erect. He is great at customer service and his direction and suggestions have been right on the mark.
He responds promptly to emails and technical questions.
And all of this comes at a very reasonable price.
If your having trouble DXing, have CCRs or a difficult tropo situation, give this antenna a try. At the price, what have you got to lose?
Thanks John for making ham radio so much fun.
WS3Y
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NY4D
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 6, 2010 05:35
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31 footer on 40
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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This is an update to my previous review. Previously I was using this on all bands with a remote tuner. The outdoor tuner went south so I've made this antenna into a dedicated 40 meter antenna with the 40 meter coil sold by S9.
Ground system is still a 60 foot section of steel field fence. The base of the antenna is about 4 feet off the ground, which almost but not quite clears the fence.
It is interesting to compare this to my inverted vee. Of course close in stations are a tad louder on the inverted vee. But generally so is the noise. Verticals have a reputation as noisy antennas but I am not finding this one to be overly so, and I live in a typical suburban neighborhood with all the noise that goes with that.
Being able to switch from the inverted vee to the vertical shows why it is good to have one of each. Sometimes there is as much as 2 s units difference in favor of one antenna or the other. And out past 1,000 miles or so, the S9 almost always wins.
Anecdotal for sure but just this morning I worked into VK with 100 watts on SSB with the s9 vertical. That's something that's never happened on 40 with the inverted vee.
I've got a few more changes I want to make to improve the system, but for now I can say this antenna works very well, and is doing all I expected it to do, and then some.
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KE0MF
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 28, 2010 14:46
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Great For FD!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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This is an add-on to my original review. I ran the 31' version of the S9v at our FD effort this year. We had a relatively casual 4A effort, and I ended up on the air till about local midnight, and then back on the air around local 7 am. I was only running phone contacts on 20m initially and then 40m for the rest of the contest. I was able to run a frequency on both bands with just my 100watts out, and worked virtually anyone I could hear when searching and pouncing. The SG-231 and the S9v with 16 radials gave me a perfect match on both bands. I made 125 contacts on 20m and 379 on 40m. The set up and tear down were quick and easy. It doesn't get any easier than this for FD! I have finally ended my quest for an excellent FD antenna :o)
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KC9AOP
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 21, 2010 20:38
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S9v 43 Foot Multiband Vertical for 80 - 6 Meters REAL PERFORMER
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Firstly, John is a pleasure to do business with. Very helpful and a great communicator. Also a fair man with his product and knowledge.
I can hardly wait to talk about this antenna! It is so very easy to install and manage. Really, you can put it together in about 30 minutes to an hour (but driving the mounting pipe takes at least that long too). I put together a video of my assembly of the antenna. You can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry4r3gglcqE .
Now for the particulars:
I have an FT-897D with an LDG AT-200Pro autotuner. I wound my own 4:1 UNUN and used a square made of old copper water pipe held together with 4 90 degree elbows for ground radial management. I strung 7 SB-1024-43 beads about 4" from the PL-259 and UNUN to make sure no RF made it back to the shack. I added 8 54' long ground radials. I'll be adding another 8 ASAP. As you can tell I'm going pretty much homebrew with connecting the antenna.
I have a dipole at about 35' between a couple of trees that I've been using for over a year, so I have had some experience with its performance. The first thing I discovered is I get about 3+ S units less noise with this vertical and the received signal quality is superior.
It tunes easily across the bands from 80 to 6 meters. My first contact was a RTTY contact on 40 Meters to Long Island (from suburban Chicago) and the exchange was solid. Next was a RTTY contact to Martinique. I'd say this antenna can talk and has good ears as well.
At the $139.95 price point and with how John makes you think you are his best customer, this is a very easy antenna to recommend. It is robust in the spring/summer tornadic weather here in Chicagoland, is light weight and what I would call semi-portable. A portable mount is a bit unrealistic with this antenna due to it's height. John will figure out a way to provide a portable solution, I'm sure.
Without a doubt you will be very happy with this antenna. The 43 footer is a winner and so is S9 Antennas.
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NM6E
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Rating: 5/5
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May 30, 2010 21:13
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S9V 43' GREAT!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have both versions but this review is for the newest 43' Vertical wire.
The antenna rocks for two reasons:
1. Price $140
2. Efficiency and ease of installation/use in limited areas (CC&R's) being able to put it up and down.
Prior to the S9V 31' or this new 43', I was using a Hustler 6BTV and it was not at all efficient.
When in my California home, I had a Butternut HF-2V (40/80m) antenna and the price on that is about $280..
This S9V 43' is equal and with all the radials with the S9V radial plate, plays equal to that antenna PLUS I can take it down fast because of the light weight as I live in a CC&R area.
On 40m and 80m (need to add a few more radials) the thing works great.
It loads up very nicely on 6m with a 4:1 unun.
I am using the S8V 43' with an IC-7000 and an LDG AT-7000 and have no issues with tuning.
I want to say that the 43' and the LDG works better than with the S9V 31'.. THings tune up much faster and it's relatively broadbanded not requiring as many tuneups.
Assmbly, in hot weather (North Dallas) and humidity takes a little longer with the felxibility and lining up the holse to insert the screws preventing collapse of the antenna.
The instructions are striaght forward (having put the 31' perviously) so I knew what I had to do.
I have the S9V radial plate as well and that in itself is bargain to use with this antenna (I had used in California with my Butternut HF2V a DX Engineering radial plate and it was much more expensive.
I hope to put the 43' to the test during Field Day in a few weeks but my IC-7000 and the LDG-7000 have no issues so far (using an 4:1 unun).
Great product!
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K2AFY
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Rating: 5/5
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May 10, 2010 06:01
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Great Quality
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have had the S9v up for a little over a month now. The company is great to deal with and the product lives up to its claims. We recently had 30 mph sustained winds with 60 mph gusts no problem with the antenna. I decided it to take it down so due to a nearby tree and was able to take it down in minutes, to avoid tree damaging it. As far as performance it works as I expected and any antenna is a compromise.
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K5BDH
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 16, 2010 20:09
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Great Antenna
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Just got the S9v 31' vertical about 2 months ago with the radial plate and 80m coil. So far the performance has been great. I wired mine up with the ldg z11 pro atu in a ammobox at the base of the S9 and 16 radials (15-50') to fit my yard. So far I can tune 80-10m and seem to pick up quite a bit more stations than on my previous end fedz wires. Just recently placed a Balun Designs #115 1:1 balun between the atu and the 100' length of rg8x running back to my rig. I plan to replace it with RG213. For anyone looking into getting this antenna its hard to beat in my opinion, especially for the price.
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W3ZZT
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 22, 2010 20:09
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Excellent antenna, great service.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I give the antenna a five, and John's service a ten. I bought the antenna, portable mount, radial plate, and hardware from John; all top quality. The antenna took no time at all to put up. Laying the ground radials is a little time consuming, but easy to do. I started out with only 12 radials and still got excellent reports from all over the country and Mexico. I added 18 more radials today, but haven't had a chance to see what improvement that made yet. I am very happy with the S9v so far. I'll update this review after a longer period of use.
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