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Reviews For: B&W BWD 1.8 - 30 Broadband Folded Dipole

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : B&W BWD 1.8 - 30 Broadband Folded Dipole
Reviews: 78MSRP: 200
Description:
Folded dipole antenna for 10 to 160 meters - 90 feet in length, #14 copper clad steel wire.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.bwantennas.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
14783.6
KK6EY Rating: 2011-01-19
Great Antenna for limited space Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have been using the BWD-90 for quiet a while now and have been really happy with the performance. The issue that I have is limited space, since it has to be confined to my yard. So I have is setup in a 90 degree formation as and inverted V. Center is around 24 feet and ends are around 16 feet. The SWR has never gone above 1.5. I operate mainly between 3MHz and 6.5MHz on MARS bands and the occasional ham bands. I think I will try the BWD-65 next to see if it will help me in not being so directional with my space limitations.
KB3PXZ Rating: 2010-08-17
Not much luck Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just used the BW antenna flattop during a qso party and had mixed results. On the one hand it heard pretty well on the other no one could here me. I bought it because I was hoping to get on 40m for the contest. I ended up using my A-99 to make all my DX contacts (on 17m not 40m). I was unaware that the center resistor eats 90 percent of your signal(duh) so even though you see a good SWR reading and your forward power looks good you just aren't getting your signal out there. Like I said I made contacts from Maryland with Arizona Spain Portugal Dominican Republic and the Ivory Coast (Africa) with the A-99 this weekend and couldn't talk to the next county with the BW. Bummer it is an expensive antenna and will most likely end up in my closet.
HI8CJ Rating: 2010-05-26
Very good Broadband Folded Dipole Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this antenna since 1998 without any inconvenient. It had been used in all the amateur bands from 80m to 10m using more than 600w output without a problem. it still up and perform very good, specially in the higher bands. From 20m to 10m work great!
Remember; this is not a Yagui or a monoband antenna!
and finally always rise it over 40 feet up

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Earlier 5-star review posted by HI8CJ on 2008-03-29

First of all remember that THIS IS NOT A YAGUI!

I have had this antenna for ten years and she has given me outstanding performance. I have worked with her more than 200 countries confirmed, with 100w as well with around 1 KW. My antenna look like the first day. I have it in a tower in inverted V with a pretty open angle, to a height of 20mts the center and the ends at 10mts. Particularly I use it from 14MHz ahead. Also receiving is SUPERB!
Sure I recommend it!


W4ET Rating: 2010-03-05
Good Compromise Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this antenna since 1997. It was used almost every day on Army MARS and also the ham bands. I have used it with 600 watts output with no problem. It was up for many years and still works good.

The only gripe I have is it did not meet SWR specs on all of the bands. On some of the bands it had a higher SWR than 2:1.

After having it stored for about 3 years, I again have it up and am using it with an ALS-600 amp and an antenna tuner with no problem. I put up a 40 meter dipole and compared signals on it with the B&W. The B&W is not as good, but almost as good. It is a compromise antenna, after all. It does work well for the higher bands and it does not pick up as much noise as the dipole does.

Would I recommend this antenna to others? No, not for the price. If I had the room I would get one of the popular windom antennas that are available. But if you have to compromise and use one antenna on all bands which takes up less room than a 75 meter dipole, this may be a good antenna for you.

73 - Ron - W4ET
N3WRH Rating: 2009-04-28
Great Anteena Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just got this antenna used at a local hamfest this past weekend, i have limited space, was using a OCF 40meter dipole, put this up about 15 ft from a tree to the side of my house, with thick coax, w/o a tuner it works on 160,40,30,20,17,12.10, with a limited tuning 15 and 6 meters, the VSWR on the bands that dont tune its 1.0-1.5 arcoss the bands and 15 its about 1.9-2.5 pretuning, and 6 its about a 3, but with tuning its all good great antenna
KD7II Rating: 2008-12-31
Good all around antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this antenna for 15 plus years. it has served me well.The swr has been well with-in the limit, 2/1 160m, 1.5 80m-10m. Handles 1wk. Remember the antenna makes the radio and this is a good complement to any station. Good Dxing 73's
W3LK Rating: 2008-11-13
Power Handling Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I routinely run a full KW on mine and have never had a problem.
N2DTS Rating: 2008-02-25
poor and heavy Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I put this up over my house, up about 40 feet.
Its very heavy, the swr was poor everywhere, and you can only run about 100 watts of AM on it.

It did not seem to get out well, all in all a poor antenna in my book.

Brett
N2DTS
W1NAV Rating: 2008-01-21
Great on 80-10 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been in NAVMARCORMARS for 37 years and this antenna outperforms my 2XG5RV(208') and a 160 loop(580') on 80-10, but not impressed with it on 160 so put up a 160 Double Bazooka. All was well when I was using an Ameritron 811H amp, then I got a Kenwood TL-922A and promptly burned a hole through the Balun case. Because it outperforms all my other wire antennas, I ordered another Balun and will use only the lower power amps on it. Will use the big amp on 160 Double Bazooka and Lightning Bolt 5 Band Quad
WA4JR Rating: 2008-01-15
Too much of a compromise! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my BWD1.8-30 up for almost three years for Army MARS work and am not happy with the performance. Mine is in a flat top configuration at 35'. For MARS work within 300 miles from 3 to 4Mhz the antenna is just "OK". Beyond 300 miles performance drops rapidly. Performance on 7.2Mhz is consistantly poor to the point that no scheduled operations can take place. Operations on higher bands are marginally better, although the only hope to work DX is to get'em before the pileup starts. I know the military and government agencies use many of these antennas, so this convinces me that these agencies do not demand much in the way of efficiency and performance. Remember the Maxxcom aerial dummy load antenna that FEMA bought by the hundreds? Have you ever heard a FEMA station with a strong signal? I read a study (post purchase) indicating the B&W was only 10% efficient. Let's see here, if I start with a 100 watt output...shell out over $200 to waste 90 watts in heat, I'll have only 10 watts radiated power assuming my coax run is 100% efficient. So I likely end up radiating only 7 to 9 watts from this $200 antenna. As hams, we should be smart enough to avoid this type of gimmick. A simple doublet fed with 450/600 ohm line, transition balun and tuner is much more efficient.