| K9AMF |
Rating:  |
2021-04-04 | |
| Great packable setup |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Outstanding little antenna. Went out last night for some antenna comparison. Yours performed great on 5w x5105. Had to deploy multiple counterpoise with my other mobile antennas to get same performance. Even then, I have to admit yours performed better. The ease of deployment, portability , size, build quality is outstanding. Very happy customer. It's a little pricey but you get what you pay for for sure.
Cheers
Chris |
|
| WB0BBO |
Rating: |
2017-07-06 | |
| Great low power antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have owned many low power antennas for QRP, but this Versa-Tenna is BY FAR the best !!!
The components and quality of construction are 1st rate, and my test results were pretty amazing.
I anchored the matching box in a bush up about 5ft and the end of the antenna up at about 20ft in a tree. Even with the antenna this low my RAW ( untuned ) SWR readings were as follows: 80M (1.4 )... 40M ( >10 )... 30M ( 4.7 )... 20M ( 1.3 )... 17M ( 1.8 ...) 15M ( 1.4 )... 12M ( 1.2 )... 10M ( 1.4 ). These readings were from a Palstar Ant Analyzer.
So I could have used it on 6 of the 8 bands without my internal tuner, and using my new Elecraft KX2 on 40M the worst band, it tuned for 1.0:1 in about 2 sec.
My antenna came with the basic 37ft length attached to the match box, and an extra 12ft to lengthen for a total of 49ft for better efficiency on 80M & 40M.
This is now my "GO TO" antenna when I take my KX2 out for camping.....best QRP antenna I have ever owned. Tnx & 73's Bill WB0BBO |
|
| AE2L |
Rating: |
2017-05-22 | |
| Fantastic multi band antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This review is for the Versa-Tenna KX series designed for the Elecraft KX2/3 and available on ebay by Bruce, K7BHB.
I recently brought this antenna on a trip I made to Iceland. I operated from the 4th floow patio in Iceland, with the antenna suspended out on a 15ft pole about 40ft up, and made dx contacts from Iceland all over Europe portable with the KX2. I was using 5-10w. It tunes easily with the built in KX2 tuner. The fact that it works from 3.5 - 30 makes it very useful. I've mostly used it on 20m and 40m.
I made good contacts to Iceland (Ground wave), Belgium, Russia, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. I'm very pleased. |
|
| K7AU |
Rating: |
2017-01-28 | |
| Verso-Tenna KX Series |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I like homebrewing just about everything when it comes to ham radio. Antennas are my favorite and with a good analyzer and adequate supplies such as proper soldering tools, shrink wrap, coax, wire connector and screws it is not a difficult task. I recently retired and donated everything related to electronics and ham radio to the local effort. It was about a month later that I started to feel I was premature and bought a pre-built KX1 and decided to be content in the cw world. The radio included a very nice endfed multi-band antenna. As luck would have it the kx1 setup I bought was from k7bhb who is the founder of the versa-tenna for kx1 multi-band endfed antenna system. He enchanced my purchase with his new passion which is a trail version of the same antenna that is a very lightweight, compact and rugged in a qrp fashion. I was pleased because starting with an empty shack and no junk box I would have to have invested in all the pieces to build the un-un balun and design the coax and stinger lengths for the 20-30 -40 meter trail antenna. I contacted Bruce and thanked him for the extra consideration and promised him a review would be soon to follow.
This antenna is exactly what I would have attempted to build to drop in the grab and go field kit. Your imagination for the geometry and orientation is all you need to get up and running. It is quality coax and shrink wrapped termination BNC which feeds the un-un 9:1 balun for the impedance requirements. The stinger is quality wire with teflon class protection from cuts and scrapes. There is a toss line with weight attached for finding that elevation point and a pop fitting for the 60/80 meter extension required for resonance on those bands. The limited antenna tuner for the kx1 does a fine job matching the antenna. What else can I say, I am having fun on my second thought extension of my 50 years of ham radio. You will be happy with this antenna for your k series radios and others as well.
73 bob k7au
|
|
| W6REG |
Rating: |
2015-09-26 | |
| Easy set up |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have been using the Versa-Tenna with an Elecraft K1. Excellent customer support from Bruce. He helped me get set up and I have the following results on my K1 with internal tuner:
25 ft of mil-spec RG-58
30 ft Versa-Tenna
40 meters SWR of 1.3:1
30 meters SWR of 1.5:1
Very easy to pack and set up. This is my antenna of choice for portable ops when I am hiking. |
|
| K7JBQ |
Rating: |
2014-01-24 | |
| Well made. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Nothing magic about it, but I've used it for over a year now, snaking around my condo balcony at about 30'.
Good DX antenna on the higher bands. Even with all kinds of metal crap in the vicinity, it tunes 15, 12 and 10 without using the tuner. 17, as I expected, needs the tuner.
It's down about 2 S units on 20 to my homebrew halfsquare, but that's also to be expected.
For a well-made, easy to deploy portable antenna, this is an excellent choice. |
|
| WB4TJH |
Rating: |
2013-06-13 | |
| Good all bander for portable use |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I put my Versa Tenna on a telescoping 18 foot painter's pole in the back yard and ran the far end up of the 52 and a half foot wire in a tree about the same height for some tests. I'm feeding it with 50 feet of coax. For comparison, I have a 135 foot dipole at 45 feet, fed with balanced feed line. On 75, the Versa Tenna is about 3-4 S units below the full sized half wave at 45 feet, so it's use on that band will be very marginal. But on 40 and up, this antenna really comes into its own. On 40 the Versa Tenna is within one S unit of the big dipole, but remember, the big antenna is a FULL wave on 40 and is at 45 fee at the apex. On 20 and up, the Versa Tenna is an outstanding antenna. On 20 and 17 I worked many stations all over the country, getting many S9+10 to 15db and I'm only running about 95 watts to it. I bought this antenna primarily to use for portable qrp with my Elecraft K2 at 10 or so watts, and I think having the multi band capability will really make portable operation with it a lot of fun. I have used a Par Electronics Endz Fed qrp antenna for 40, 20, and 10 for several years now and am very pleased with it. But that antenna is limited to 25 watts max, and if I want to work 17 meters with it, I have to haul it down and replace the factory tri-band wire with a homebrew wire cut for 17. The Versa Tenna will work ALL bands 40 meters and up with only an external tuner, so it will be much more convenient than the Par, plus I can run up to 200 watts SSB, 100 watts CW into the Versa Tenna, so that is a big plus. The real secret to this antenna is to use at least 50 feet of coax, as the coax braid is the needed counterpoise. The same is true with the Par end fed antenna. I'm using a little Kenwood AT-130 tuner with the Versa Tenna, but any outboard tuner should do fine. Bruce is quick to respond to emails, and the antenna and matching unit are well made and work as advertised. He'll stand behind his products, and that is a BIG plus these days. I actually would give this antenna a 4.5 out of 5. I don't give it a perfect 5 because even tho it will tune easily on 80/75, performance on that band is only marginal. But qrp really comes into its own on 40 meters and up, and for that fact the Versa Tenna is a solid investment. It also does a better job than my Hustler 5BTV vertical, which is ground mounted with a thousand feet of radials under it. The Versa Tenna is a keeper and will find a lot of use in my portable qrp operation. I will still carry my Par antenna, but for those times when I want to really band hop or use a 100 watt radio, the Versa Tuner will fill the bill. It will run rings around any of the little, short 8 to 12 foot portable verticals, which are little more than dummy loads that also radiate. It gives you 52 and a half feet of wire radiator, and that alone makes it a much better antenna than the little verticals that you see for sale. A telescoping painter's pole suffices for a mast and is easy to pack and transport. NOTHING beats a lot of wire in qrp operation. You are already handicapping yourself with low power, so why further reduce your signal with a little vertical that is little more than a dummy load that radiates? Give the Versa Tenna a try and I think you will see. |
|
| K7AAT |
Rating: |
2013-04-13 | |
| Excellent for portable ops |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Club members evaluated this antenna with our new portable Field Emergency Radio package a few weeks ago and I found this antenna to meet all of our important requirements -- an ability to effectively cover the entire HF amateur spectrum to 10M, extremely easy setup with minimal accessory parts required, small and very portable so that if fit in our limited space equipment housing. Setup was a breeze for even our newest amateurs. Little space was needed for installation. Performance was much better than I had expected for an end fed, even though this was being used as a NVIS antenna -- We had located it only about 10 feet off the ground. The quality of the components and workmanship appears to be very good. I realize that many other types of more complex antennas would likely perform better, but for small, portable, easy to set up installations this would be a great and effective choice. If you have limited space at home this would be a good choice, too. |
|
| REMOVED_N7MQ |
Rating: |
2013-04-11 | |
| Nice Antenna |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I have used lots of antennas for portable use, verticals (both aluminum and wire on fiberglass push masts) and vertical arrays. Mostly on camping trips or PSK field events, EmComm SETs, and Field Day. But almost always, I put a wire or two, and am more satisfied with the wire antenna. So the Versa Tenna looked promising. Got it and well made product. Put fed end up about 25 feet and free end in tree up about 6 feet, all across my back yard. I then used WSPR and ran it at 5 watts on 30, 40, and 80 meters. Did the same on 20 with 1 watt. Then checked for reports on WSPRNet website. On 80 got out a few hundred miles, about twice as far on 40, and some about 800 miles on 30. Reports of my signal on 20 over as much as 1200 miles. Was using an ICOM 7000 through a LDG Z11 Pro 2 tuner. Anecdotal testing, but to me, indicates the antenna performs well, within its design. 73, Mark N7MQ |
|
| W7RFS |
Rating: |
2013-04-09 | |
| very good antenna |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I have a limmited space back yard with low trees. I installed the 50ft antenna across the back of the lot at a height of about 25ft. My Yaesu FT1000MP Mk5 tunes the antenna easily on all bands, including 160 (although the efficiency on 160 will obviously be marginal). When the bands are open, the antenna performs as well as the multi-band Alpha Delta I had installed as an inverted V. The buid quality is excellent, and I have received excellent support from K7BHB. |
|
