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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
K7RFI Rating: 2001-10-05
bad ant!!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Worst antenna i have ever used!!!!! i had good
swr on 10-80 meters but very poor performer!!
K4GNO Rating: 2001-10-04
Excellent Performer Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
After using yagi antennas for over 30 years I was faced in retirement with a location that permitted only wire antennas. I have been delighted with the B&W BWD 1.8-30 folded diapole.
Using my FT-1000D barefoot I can work anything that I hear (and that's a lot). After only a few months at this location I have worked Kuwait, the Marshall Islands, Canary Island, Fiji Islands, and many more with excellent reports. If this antenna is installed properly in a dipole configuration at a height of at least 35 feet you will not be disappointed.
YNOTGONZ Rating: 2001-06-28
Good and Versatile Performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The B&W Dipole antenna is one of the most popular antennas here in the Philippines. It is very handy to use in houses without too much space for an omni directional application. In my case I had it installed as an inverted Vee which was my only option. Since my roof is a good training ground for rock climbers (very steep angles), I installed an AT-130 Antenna tuner to prevent antenna maintenance during typhoons. As long as it fits the minimum norm of having a vertical wire of not less than 27 feet, the SWR through all the ranges will be guaranteed to be less than 2:1. The AT is just a precaution for tropical cyclone battered areas like the Philippines. I don't want to risk the limbs of the installers everytime the antenna requires adjustment. I have contacted places around the globe with my stock Icom M710 rig which only had frequency modifications.
W0ZPE Rating: 2001-06-27
Good Dipole Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
My B&W has been in operation for a year with excellent results on all bands with the exception of 160-meters (which I don't use). It's in a sloper configuration with the 'top' at 35' and the lower end at 7', I use an antenna tuner on all bands. Get help! Do not attempt to unroll this unit until ready to install, follow the instructions and enjoy a very well built and well engineered Dipole. It's pricy...but...you get what you pay for. Bob WØZPE
N4BAD Rating: 2001-04-09
Great Antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is a great antenna, I would have given it a 5, except the price is to high, so it gets a 4.
Installation went great, I am using it as an inverted "V" up about 40 foot. I am using an antenna tuner, and have not checked the SWR with out a tuner, but with the tuner it is almost 1:1.
Great antenna.
KE4ARI Rating: 2001-01-28
Ok but not on 160M Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Works well with a tuner on 30,40,80m works with out a tuner on 10,15,17,20 will load up on 160 with good SWR but no one will hear you unless they are real close not good on 160 but other band works very good I dont think it was worth the $200.00 price a good "REAL" G5RV with a tuner is better ..DEAN
K1BRF Rating: 2000-07-28
Simple, Bulletproof and Good performance Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The reviewer who just posted did an excellent job describing many features of the antenna and I had to chuckle about the comment regarding resisting the temptation to uncoil it on installation (totally agree!). You have to go through the process to understand how important his comments are.

Mine is installed higher - perhaps 50 feet or more and not in a "V" format but a traditional folded dipole configuration. As such the operating experience has been truly excellent and I have worked just about everywhere in the world using 50-100 watts so my view is a little different. After a storm I was unexpectedly forced to use it as a sloper and got highly different directional results (just as you are supposed to get) and the impedance curves were altered. Configuration and the type of ground you are working with probably play a role in my results.

When I run the CIA/HF on the antenna high and level I see very good broadband SWR curves on all bands. Note that this is a standard antenna used by embassies throughout the world where consistent HF performance is critical. So my guess is that if the unit has height you will be very pleased with the results. I think it is a clean, simple and very effective broadband HF antenna. Never used it on 6. When it is up, one benefit is that it can "disappear" in the trees despite the spacers and balun so passers-by do not even know it is there.

My recommendation would be to give it a try if you are after a relatively inexpensive, simple, hassle-free and high quality, bulletproof antenna which works across the HF bands. But, having said that, it is, as has been said, just a dipole.
KC2ETQ Rating: 2000-07-28
Would reconsider purchase since it has limitations. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
B&W Broadband Folded Dipole Antenna (BWD-1.8.30): This is a unique looking 90 foot long contraption. My wife, also a ham, was quite amused by it. It has two parallel wires about 16" apart with several PVC spacers, a balun, and a balancing network. The end supports, spacers, balancing network and balun look like they're made from standard PVC pipe . . .Surprise, they are! This is OK since the antenna is quite rugged and should last a while. The wire is wrapped securely and soldered at each joint. It comes fully assembled and coiled onto cardboard tubes. DO NOT give-in to the temptation and unroll it. Do this with assistance as it is being installed!. I followed the B&W instructions and installation went fairly smoothly. The instruction sheet is adequate and has sufficient detail. My antenna is at our country house on a wooded 8 acre lot and there are several tall pine and elm trees nearby. It's about 35' from the house (wood and vinyl siding). I used an inverted V configuration with the center up 35 feet and the ends at 10 and 15'. I added a 24" piece of 1 ½" PVC pipe at the center to add support and correct significant center sagging. B&W suggests a piece of rope.

Once installed, the antenna worked on 10 through 40 meters with a VSWR of 2:5 or less. The VSWR is much too high (>4:1) on 80 and 160 to be used without a tuner. On 10 meters the VSWR ranges from 2.0:1 to 2.5:1, and on 12, 15, 17, 20, 30 meters it ranges from 1.5:1 to 2:1. Also, most of 6 meters is 2.5:1 or less. At 50.125mHz its 1.5:1, an unexpected benefit. I used inexpensive Radio Shack RG-58M on my initial installation (I had 100' on hand), and quickly switched to a premium quality RG-213. This improved the VSWR a bit on 6 and 10 meters since the shielding is better on the RG-213. 80 and 160 meters had no improvement. The received signals were significantly improved - probably by one S unit or so. A similar improvement was probably had with my transmitted signal, as well due to less signal loss. Don't skimp on the coax cable when installing any antenna!

Performance is on par with individual tuned dipoles of the same configuration. I use inverted V dipoles on 10, 15, 17 and 20 meters at my urban residence and have similar performance on these bands. The folded dipole DOES radiate a signal since I've made many contacts with distant states and European countries. Remember that it is only a dipole and performance will only be as good as a dipole! A dipole is a dipole is a dipole. . . Not needing a tuner is a positive, and the VSWR is low enough on most bands to keep my ICOM 706 MKIIG happy and prevent overheating the finals. I was very disappointed with the inability to transmit on 80 and 160 meters without an antenna tuner. So it goes.

I guess I could improve the VSWR by raising the antenna significantly higher and removing the trees within a 50 radius of the antenna. That is not in my plans - I've trimmed enough branches, and I like my trees! Although there are no tuning instructions, I was able to tune it somewhat by using a 17" piece of heavy gauge stranded wire with alligator clips on the ends. I effectively shortened one end of the antenna by clipping the wire across the two dipole strands a foot or so from the end. This will change VSWR on all the bands up or down. Experimentation is needed here. I use this method to get a nearly 1.2:1 on 10 meters and parts of 15, 17 and 20 meters. This probably compensates for the inductive coupling with nearby trees, ground and the house. No improvement on 80 or 160 was found yet.

In summary, the antenna is Okay, but is not quite as good as expected. I am not very impressed, and have a somewhat neutral opinion of this antenna. It was not fully "plug and play" as was expected. It's nice to switch bands and not need to re-tune anything. It is sufficiently broadbanded that the VSWR is uniform across the individual bands it does work with. It seems to radiate and receive as well as a conventional dipole would on each band. In retrospect, I would either build my own cheap (but equally effective) dipoles from spare wire, rope and PVC pipe scraps. This would save $200. Putting the money towards a decent antenna tuner and a good quality G5RV dipole would've been the way to go. I may eventually do that