| GM4DMA |
Rating:  |
2005-02-18 | |
| weak construction |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| No Ford vs Chevy here my friend. Bottom line, low cost low performance. I used one for 1 year. It is what it is. And it is not very good. |
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| N1RRU |
Rating:  |
2005-02-18 | |
| SUB-STANDARD |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Now we have claims that the A-99 is better than a 3 element rotatable beam @ 50 feet! ROTFL! What's next? S9 signals from Mars with the A-99??? It's just a piece of wire in a fiberglass tube folks!!!! Nothing MAGICAL about it!
SERIOUSLY, the A-99 is a SUB-STANDARD quality antenna, with SUB-STANDARD performance. Just cut one into, and you'll see how shabby this thing really is. A center fed vertical dipole will radiate as well, if not better than the A-99, for 1/3 the cost. The problem is, most hams of today, don’t want to spend the time and effort required to design, build, and install a nice antenna system.
Read, and re-read the reviews CAREFULLY. Not all, but most of the hams who have rated the A-99 low, are directly comparing the A-99 to another antenna at their QTH. Most, but not all, of the hams who have rated the antenna high, aren't comparing it to any other antenna at their QTH, they just say it works good for them because that's all they have at their disposal. I'm sure it does. BUT, how does it work compared to _____________ (fill in the blank). If you enter the word(s) “nothing”, or “that’s all I have up right now” in the blank, then the A-99 rates a 4 or 5. Any thing else, it rates 0 to 2. There are much, much better constructed and efficient CB antennas on the market if that's what one wants to use. |
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| KB9YGD |
Rating: |
2005-02-17 | |
| Excellent Antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Wow i cant belive some of the negative reports some of the hams have given this antenna! well mine was bought new in 89 and has not suffered any water dammage and works 15 through 6 meters with an antenna tunner at a kw on ssb and 550 pep on AM with no problems.with a good tuner you are all set my A-99 dos not have a bad vswr on 15,12,11,10 0r 6 usualy not over 2.5 and thats what they make tuners for.I could not get along without this antenna,i have a 1/2 dipole for 10 at 50 feet and it works very well but many times when a station is comming in the reflected signal has its polarty changed in the process of being reflected and all i have to do is switch in the a99 and he comes right back up and when it happens again il do the same.Its like magic.is the A-99 a single 8 element monoband no but i wouldnt be without it! ``THE REAL HAM``
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Earlier 5-star review posted by KB9YGD on 2002-04-17
I have had my antron99 up since 1989 and have worked the world with power and only 100 watts.I used to have it on the sewer waste pipe vent on the roof with no ground plane kit on it and i worked many stations i used it with a mfj 989C tuner and 600 watts and now i have it at 30 feet on a 3` tripod on the garage and i like to use it and 100 watts on CW on 10,12,&15.This is a great performer on 10 meter AM & FM.73 Norm |
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| KD4JGU |
Rating: |
2005-02-17 | |
| Poor Performance Here |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Performance on 10 meters was less than a random length of wire with a tuner. As for the performance on 15, 17, or 20 meters, forget it. Just because one can tune a 1 to 1 SWR with a tuner, doesn’t mean a thing! There are much better choices on the market in the vertical antenna design. |
|
| KM5DV |
Rating: |
2005-02-17 | |
| Very Over-Rated |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| It’s a over-rated CB antenna that performs like a over-rated CB antenna. 10-20M my foot. Not much to get excited about. Any my rating is very warranted. I had one of the crapy things. |
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| KA6AXW |
Rating: |
2005-02-17 | |
| Priceless!!! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
40 Meter Inverted V @ 35 feet (Feedpoint)
Center insulator..............$8.00
End insulators.................$2.00
65 Feet of copper wire....$3.90
Total Cost.......................$13.90
Works 6,10,12,15,17,20,30, and 40 Meters with aid of tuner
Solarcon A99 @ 50 feet
A-99 Vertical Antenna...$59.95
Works 10, 12 (claims to work on 15,17, and 20 Meters with aid of tuner)
Hearing a fellow ham across town on a A-99 attempting to answering a CQ from a VK0 on 10M, for 5 mins without success, then I call on my wire and receive a 5/8 report on my first attempt, PRICELESS.
Steve never did work the VK0!!!
BTW, my friend across town now uses a wire… LOL |
|
| KC6STT |
Rating: |
2005-02-16 | |
| A reasonable buy |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I owned one for several months. Its performance, in my opinion, for an inductively-fed halfwave, was very acceptable. I had no trouble with it in sunny Southern California. Of course we normally don't get all that much rain here, but the intense sun causes the fiberglass to start shedding real quick. I did make sure to seal up all of the joints where the sections go together. This precaution came in handy later on when I did an experiment. I replaced the top 6 ft. section with a 9 ft. Francis whip. In this configuration, the antenna SWR dropped dead flat on 17 meters with the rings centered. It also had a useable SWR on 15 and 12 meters (under 2:1), but was an SWR disaster on 10 meters. The performance using either the original or modified configuration was not 'explosive', but reasonable.
I have since replaced this antenna with the B-2000. It's kind of the big brother to the A-99. A 24 foot tall, 5/8 wave monster that is constructed, and tunes, the same way as the A-99. The performance of the B-2000 was noticably superior to the '99 on 10M, and it has survived the unusually severe winter (high winds, lots of rain) without any problems so far.
All in all, if you are looking for a hi-HF antenna on a budget, or for portable ops, you can't beat the A-99. |
|
| NA5XX |
Rating: |
2005-02-16 | |
| Very Happy |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| A "4" because nothing is perfect. However this is a great antenna. I bought it last year at hamfest and made a portable mount for it. An 8 foot aluminun pole in a 5 gal bucket on cement. I mounted the A-99 at the top (8 feet above ground) and made a contact on 17 meters with 20 watts from OK to RI. No tuning of antenna and no antenna tuner. I couldnt be happier. |
|
| K9ZF |
Rating: |
2005-02-16 | |
| good performer |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I don't understand all of the negative reviews. In the past 15 years, I've owned 3 different Antron/Solarcon A-99's, and each has worked well. The first two came down in two different storms...
They work great on 10 meters, and fine for 12. I would give it an "OK" at best for 15 meters, and on 20 it's about 3 DB-dl [3db over a dummy load]. Have never tried it on 17, but would assume it would only slightly better than 20...
My opinion: If you can't put up a beam for 10, go with the A-99, it will work well.
BTW, they also make a great 'portable' antenna as they break down into three, 6 foot sections and weighs only a few pounds. I used to enjoy working the ARRL 10 meter contest from a hill top. Throw a mast pipe and an A-99 in the truck, drive to a hilltop, stand it up and go!
73 and have fun!
Dan
K9ZF /R no budget Rover ***QRP-l #1269
Check out the Rover Resource Page at:
List Administrator for: InHam+grid-loc+ham-books |
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| M3SKF |
Rating: |
2005-02-16 | |
| HORSES FOR COURSES |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have used one of these antenna on the 11-10-12 & 15m bands for many years it has given satisfactory performance on all the said bands.From the uk i have worked many dx stations around the world i have never had cause for any concern about this product it has remained stable & intact for many years.I have had to replace on many occasions similar type ham radio vertical antenna (ie..2/70/4&6m)due to poor quality & materials used in these products that have cost twice the price.So to be fair to this 10m antenna it does a great job at a very good price,Stick a tuner on it & you will work good dx on other bands as an added plus.All in all Cheap & cheerfull a great product for any ham on a budget. |
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