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Reviews For: Intenational Antenna Corporation Double Bazooka Antennas

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Intenational Antenna Corporation Double Bazooka Antennas
Reviews: 87MSRP: 200 (160m model) others less
Description:
Double Bazooka antennas, 160m 80m 40m 20m 17m
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.iacantennas.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00874.9
KB3IFH Rating: 2004-07-21
IAC 40M Double Bazooka Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just installed this antenna and I was impressed with the ease of installation. Quality materials and construction! Very easy install, folded back ends approx 2.5' for voice portion of 40M. Yes, 2.5 feet. I was told by the owner to start at 2 feet which I was surprised but seemed to be fairly accurate after my first try. I'm really impressed with the bandwidth of this antenna. My goal was to have an antenna I would have not have to tune and could handle 1000W. Mission complete! I was previously using a G5RV for my 40M operating. I know others with this antenna and they recommended IAC to me. Take a look at the Phased Array if you have the space. I know someone using this setup and it seems to work really well.
N3CRS Rating: 2004-03-27
IAC Bazooka Antennas Work Great!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently installed a 75 meter and a 40 meter IAC Bazooka Antenna in my back yard in the woods. I live in an antenna restricted area so I had to go stealth in the woods. The antennas are installed with the 75 meter bazooka about 60 feet in the air and the 40 meter one mounted below it at about 40 feet.Both are mounted in an inverted "V" configuration. Both are working great with no interference between the two. I did not have to make any adjustments to it so I was up and running in no time. Set up was a breeze and what a difference it made for me. I have recieved excellent signal reports from everyone I talked to. I was previously using a long wire and a tuner which is currently sitting on a shelf off to the side. I would highly recommend this antenna to any one who is interested in improving their station performance while using a simple wire antenna. Great job IAC. Keep up the good work.
W0BKR Rating: 2003-12-01
Not so great Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Bought the 75 meter Double Bazooka, installed at approximately 48 feet off side of my tower. Ends of the antenna are approximately 20 feet off the ground. Fed with new RG-213 coax, I couldn't get the antenna to resonate anywhere on 75. Folded back approximately 12 inches of antenna, no affect. SWR analyzer also indicated no match on 75 whatsoever.

Also, antenna does not come with end insulators/supports for tying it off. For the price you pay, one would kind of expect something to tie the antenna to.

I made a 75 meter dipole out of wire and it worked FB.

What a disappointement and what a loss of Money. These antenna's aren't cheap.

KG6JYK Rating: 2003-04-08
Great Product Time Owned: N.A.
After trying just about every other kind on antenna I got lucky and tried the 80 meter version Double Bazooka. I have a booming signal with receive to match. The construction quality is very good. I do not have to use a tuner for the SSB portion of the band.
W4WLZ Rating: 2002-02-10
Works Very well !! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have needed to get on 75 meters and was looking for a well built wire antenna. My reasearch has lead me to the I.A.C. Double Bazooka. This is the finest quality antenna is have used. It has met all my expectations and is also very broadbanded. I don't know what else one could want in and monobander, this one fits the bill..
AG4NX Joe McIvor
KG4BNL Rating: 2001-02-21
You cannot afford a cheaper antenna! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
These are perhaps the best quality antennas you can buy. You can try and build one, but it probably won't last as long, for better or worse, thick or thin. I like EVERYTHING over engineered, re-inforced, and done right the first time. Why? I'm retired ARMY, and my family raised me that way. I'm also paralyzed from the lower neck down, and can't afford to do things twice. This IS a big deal when your in a wheelchair.

I live in North Florida on a very wooded 100' wide, 140' deep lot. Squeezed up the middle is my 70' Rohn 25 guyed tower. It is (among other things) the center support for my three IAC Double Bazooka's. I'll explain the 80 meter in this review.

Setup was very easy. I folded the ends over and used cable ties to "shorten" the antenna. Next, black bungee cords were placed through the created loops, and act as strain relief. 7/16" black dacron was attached to the bungee's, and she was ready to go up! The 50 ohm feed point in the middle has a very sturdy loop that a rope or D ring can easily be attached to.

Using a pre installed rope and pulley, the center was hoisted up to 63', within specs. One end is at 20' tied through trees and limbs to a large pine, the other over the house, tied to an large oak. The end over the house a little high, at about 30'. She's feed with 9913f (quality deserves quality). One end is going 330 degrees, the other 150 degrees.

Barefoot, or using 500+ watts, this quiet antenna ALWAYS gets 5-9 +10 - +40 reports. Texas in the mornings, entire South East at night, my rag chewing habits are well served!

Did I say how well built this antenna is? I don't even worry about taking it down, high winds, tree branch's, it doesn't matter. If a hurricane or tornada gets near, I'll think about it.

By the way, I have the 80, 40, and 20 meter Double Bazooka's models up and running, and also have a 40m sloper, and 20m sloper ready to go off to field day, if needed.

To sum it up, they are more than most "dipoles". The end result is install once, have fun again, and again without worries. Everyday, I crank up my Icom 746, Icom PW-1 and don't even check anything but the VOX! Now that's having fun.

Check them out: http://www.iacantennas.com/
K1XV Rating: 2000-08-06
Broad banded, well made Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Limited space and a lack of tall trees has always made operation difficult for me on 160m and 80 m. I had no 160m antenna, and a flat top dipole on 80 with a feedpoint only about 20 feet high. Not so good. After intalling a 70 foot crank-up tower, I decided it would be a good hanging point for some inverted vees. However, space was still limited for 160 m., plus, that band is so wide (almost 10% difference in wavelength, band bottom to top). I heard good things about double bazookas, and they are a little shorter than an equivalent 1/2 wave antenna. However, the physical construction of a double bazooka involves grafting 300 ohm twin lead onto the ends of coax, and I heard that these antennas were always physically fragile.

I heard about the IAC antenna from a local antenna expert, and decided to give the 160m model a try. As per the instructions, I mounted the center (50 ohm coax fed) on a tower standoff at 70 feet, and the ends are about 15 feet up, using Home Depot $2 bungees for strain relief. It worked terrific. I am not a big 160 DXer, but was able to make several SSB contacts to Europe, the Caribbean, and the Clipperton Island DXpedition. The antenna is cut for the CW end of the band, but can be "shortened" to some extent by folding over the antenna ends on themselves. I use a tuner on this band (Palstar AT4K), and am able to use the antenna over the entire band, but do not run "full legal limit" above 1900 khz.

Encouraged by the experience on 160M, a bought a 80 meter version ($140) and put it up 90 degrees rotated away from the 160 antenna. Center is 70 feet up, ends are 30 feet up. I gained 10 db over my former low hung dipole. SWR on this antenna was at a minimum at about 3780 khz, with SWR at band top of 2.2 to 1 and at band bottom around 2.8. IAC claims 350 khz bandwidth at under 2 to 1, and that seems around right.

While they seem pricey, the antennas are well made. I would rather spend more on something well made that works immediately than something cheaper that gives problems. However, I would not subject these antennas to a great deal of physical strain, such as in an unsupported flat top dipole configuration supported by tension from the ends. IAC recemmends the use of a messenger line rope to suspend the antenna if you want to run it as a flat top.

Works well, and the slightly shorter than 1/2 configuration is useful in some applications. I note that the manufacturer used to claim multi-band capability, but seems to not do so any longer.