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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
N0YG Rating: 2007-10-08
Total Waste of Money Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I installed the BWD 90 on the roof of the school this summer. The SWR are at best 2.0-1 and on 40 meters they are 3.9 across the band. I bought this antenna because of the "NO NEED FOR A TUNER" advertisement, what a joke. I would not advise anyone to buy such a worthless piece of ****. Enough said.
K5OMS Rating: 2007-10-08
great antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I dont understand my fellow hams. When all else fails read the instructions. I have had this Dipole up here at my school for 6 years. The center is at 60 feet and the ends are around 30 feet high. I worked the 9U0A on 18.145 with no problem. I also use a AL-80B amplifier and no problems. This antenna was made to be installed high and the higher the better it works. I plan on moving the center up another 5-10 feet and the ends also. I also worked the 3B7C guys with it. This was all on SSB not CW.
I give it a 5 CU IN THE PILEUPS.
NL7W Rating: 2007-09-09
Performance of a dummy load w/ wires attached... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I unfortunately used these for years in USAF -- all because the average (non-ham) radio operator and maintainer didn't (doesn't) have a clue regarding antenna characteristic trade-offs and efficiency. The military keyed in on their simplicity or ease of use. It was "magical" to them...

Despite articles to the contrary, the terminated, tilted, folded dipole, T2FD, is a very poor antenna -- typically several dB down from a similarly mounted resonant dipole. Performance is sacrificed or traded for its broadbanded characteristics.

As hams, I believe we are challenged to learn, install, and upgrade our stations and antenna systems. Operating one of these poor, yet broadbanded, performers goes against the grain, so to speak.

A simple upgrade from this poor performer would be a 135 foot dipole fed with open wire, with a solid performing antenna tuner (able to efficiently transform balanced to unbalanced RF) near the rig, thus reducing losses to a bare minimum. This far more efficient antenna system would cover roughly the same frequency range, if not more, and offer modest signal enhancement, to include gain over a dipole on higher frequencies.
N5AXZ Rating: 2007-09-09
Good for NVIS Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought the ant for RACES work. I need cover 0-500 miles. Texas is big. Most of the public safety installations I've seen used it and I made one less the "tuned circuit resistor" years ago and it worked fine. THe B&W works 3 to 4 S units better than my R7000 vert. I like not needing a tuner as it is 1.3:1 or less everywhere. Mine is at 38 ft in the center and 30 ft on the ends.

I am heard where I need to be so so far I'm happy with it.
N5MZQ Rating: 2007-09-02
Very Good Antenna Based on Need... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I read most of the reviews on this antenna. Funny how they ranged from dismal to great and from no power to full power usage.

I moved from a full acre sized lot to a small city lot and this antenna pretty well saved HF radio for me.

Without the room for a variety of dipoles or inverted V's, I stuck my neck out and ordered this antenna. With the top of the V at 40' and the ends at roughly 10', I can't use 160 without the tuner in my FT-990, but otherwise it's been great.

No you won't do too well at the high end, it just doesn't have he gain to do well on 10mtrs unless it's wide open or you have more height than me, but for 80 - 15 using a single antenna without tuning isn't bad.

For the heck of it I hooked my 706MKII up to it and sure enough, no tuner needed even on the WARC bands.

So, the bottom line here is that if you have the acreage and feel the need to deal with multiple antennas, don't buy this antenna. But on the other hand, if you have limited space, can't afford a tuner or just want to put something up that has little to no "upkeep" (in my opinion) buy it.

Oh, and I've used my FL-2000B for over 10 years now and the antenna still works as new.

One odd observation though...With the huge amount of rain in the past 6 months, a vine went wild that my wife planted beneath my tower. It climbed the tower and engulfed the antenna. It's ugly!!

But oddly enough, it's still near flat and now 160 METERS tunes much better. So, in the words of NE5B, that vine is not a broad leaf plant, it's a BROADBAND plant. Oh well. I'll chop it down after my fill of 160...
KB3MMX Rating: 2007-09-01
poor performer/dummy load Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The local club has two of these critters and every time they're on the air, the signal stinks.
Last time they used it I heard net control struggle to copy the signal.
I think for the $$ therer are MUCH better antennas out there. This B&W antenna is expensive and also carries allot of bad reviews about it's poor performance.

my 2cents..
G7MIW Rating: 2007-09-01
It's not that bad... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Compared to my only other HF antenna, a half wave dipole for 160m, Manual ATU and SWR meter.
True the BWD90 received signal is lower than the dipole. However, the noise is greatly reduced and S9 signals that get swamped in s9+ noise on the dipole become S7 crystal clear on the BWD90.
As is mentioned in other reviews it is a compromise but it works well for me, add the benefit of no ATU or SWR meter inline to attenuate signals further. It is well constructed and has survived some high winds (FDMK fitted).
It offers an easy way to use the 160m in a fairly limited space.
KC7THH Rating: 2007-06-19
kind of a dud Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I put this one up with expectations out of the manual.... did it mach yup
did it recieve? yup
did it radiate??? mostly heat not much rf
as a side by side i set up my buddipole on 20m at 6 feet off the ground and the bw was 40 feet up
when i swapped durring a contact i fell off the face of the earth when i went to the bw
its probably great for the swl but for a ham not so much
it's now down and i have a cobra up that is doing much much better
W0NFU Rating: 2007-06-11
Sure works for me. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Help - I must be doing something wrong with this antenna.

The first installation was back in 1994 when I lived in Phoenix, AZ. As an experiment, I decided to see how little power I could use during a Pactor contact with a guy in Brazil. I kept reducing the rf-power control on my IC-765 looking for the point where the link started experiencing NAKs. I got down to 5 watts, the lower limit on the 765, and the link continued to be solid.

My second installation was here in Seattle. Initially I experienced the “dummy load” situation previously described by others. Knowing the antenna was capable of working well, I went to the B&W web-site and studied their FAQs. There was one entry which stated that small diameter coax was a no-no. So I replaced my RG-8x with RG-213. Wow, what a difference. I’m back to being able to operate as I did in Phoenix. I have no idea why the large diameter coax worked whereas the small didn’t - but such is the case.

My third, and current, installation is at the same QTH as the second. I lost the tree I was using for the antenna due to new residential construction. Because I live in a flat roof apartment building, the only situation was such that I couldn’t put up the full 90 feet. E-Mail with B&W led me to believe that I could reduce the length of the antenna. Three weeks ago, I stuck my 12 foot tripod in the center of the roof and removed 10 feet from each side of the antenna. After getting the antenna secured, I dashed into the shack to see how it worked. The first signal I heard was a loud RU Russian station.

Based on my 3 experiences, I should give this antenna a 5. But, as others have said, the antenna is a compromise so it only gets a 4.
MM0PMW Rating: 2007-03-24
Stood the test of time for me. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used one for 4 years, along with other HF Antennas at my QTH.Remember it is a compromise, it is as it says on the tin A Broadband Dipole.
Stood up to 4 Scottish winters, with storms, and tunes up from 1.8-30.Works for me.