|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
Show all reviews of the OptiBeam OB17-4 fourbander 40-20-15-10
|
|
You can write your own review
of the OptiBeam OB17-4 fourbander 40-20-15-10.
|
|
DJ3FS
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 27, 2004 07:10
|
Send this review to a friend!
|
|
THE BEST
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
When I was looking for a high efficient antenna for the conventional bands 40-20-15-10m I pretty soon knew it had to be an OptiBeam Yagi due to the great reputation these Yagis have gained and because of a very decent and excellent consulting by Tom, DF2BO, the owner of OptiBeam.
Though the next smaller version, the OB12-4, is an attractive antenna which interested me as well I finally decided for the OB17-4 as the three elements on 40 are a very attractive parameter. And who would mind to have four full sized elements on 20m, four wide spaced full sized elements on 15m and six full sized elements on 10m in addition?
When the OB17-4 arrived in two boxes and my friends and I had unpacked it we saw three things: a. the antenna consists of many parts, b. it really is a big antenna and c. everything is of outstanding quality.
By assembling the antenna we really enjoyed the well preparation, done at the OptiBeam factory. Many parts are pre assembled and all pieces are perfectly sorted and well labelled.
As soon as the OB17-4 was up on my tower I definitely saw that it was just a beautiful looking antenna, real majestic.
So I said to myself: if it now would even meet the electrical specifications, man, what an antenna I had!
I have to add, due to restrictions by the local authorities I have the antenna up on a tower at only 11 meters (35 feet). My location is pretty much in the free (except to North and North East), but even here a height of only 11 meters is not very promising.
The first check was the SWR on all four bands, and especially on 40m I did not expect to be able to operate without a tuner, because of the low height. How amazed I was to see even on 40m an SWR which was extremely close to the published values which are leaned against a height of 20 meters (68 feet). The other three bands were even better than the published values, I almost couldn’t believe it.
In the next moment I tuned around a bit on 20, 15 and 10m, listened to some pile ups on dx stations and tried to get through. Trying it barefoot (100 W) I often made it with the first or second call. Putting the amplifier on (500 W honestly) all the dx stations asked me „what antenna are you running, you are so extremely loud over here“.
In the same night, being so excited, I played around on 40m, and instead of going to bed around midnight like I had in mind first I stayed up until the sun rose. Whatever I heard I worked by the first call, an calling cq dx myself I quickly had a pile up of JAs, Ws and VEs, South Americans and what not.
And after using the OB17-4 for more than 6 months now all the first positive impressions simply have stabalized.
Electrically and mechanically the OB17-4 is the best antenna you can buy for your money!
|
|
Product is in production.
|
|
Email Subscription
You are not subscribed to this review.
Subscribe!
My Subscriptions
Subscriptions Help
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews
please email your Reviews Manager
|
|
|
