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Reviews For: Palomar Engineers Bullet

Category: Antenna parts, accessories, incl. baluns, hardware, etc.

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Review Summary For : Palomar Engineers Bullet
Reviews: 7MSRP: 49.95
Description:
The “Bullet” End Fed Antenna Matcher
The key to end fed antenna success is the matching network
interface between the long wire antenna and the coax feed
line and feed line choke at the transceiver. Palomar
Engineers employs a dual core matching system that offers
wide bandwidth (1-31 MHz), 500 watt PEP rating, and a
connection for a counterpoise or ground if desired.
Product is in production
More Info: http://palomar-engineers.com/tech-support/tech-topics/end-fed-antennas
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0074.3
AA2SD Rating: 2022-08-15
9:1 Excellent Results with Inverted L Dipole 135 Feeet Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I installed this with an end feed inverted L dipole antenna. My installation included a 75 foot length of coax. I tested this antenna with a 93 foot length of wire and 135 feet. These are my SWR readings at the center of the bands with the 135 foot length of wire
20 Meters 1.59 , 40 Meters 1.8 , 10 Meters 1.26 , 80 Meter 1.95, 15 meters 1.39 ,17 Meters 12, Meters 1.41 50 Meters 1.42 and 160 Meters 2.60.

Excellent results on all bands, with lots of DX contacts. I set up the end feed to the exact specs of the Palomar instructions including adding chokes before the rig, as the coax will radiate RF with the end feed set up.

Excellent results and very high quality. Palomar also provides good support with questions direct to Bob.

KD2YST
K3MAH Rating: 2022-04-16
Success with a 71' non-resonant sloper Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I'm using the Palomar 9:1 (500 watt) bullet with a 71' non resonant end-fed sloper that's 15' on the high end & 6' at the low end, 50' of RG8x coax & a Palomar Common Mode Noise Filter. The SWR is 1.4:1 or less without a tuner on 20, 17, 12, 10. Using my XPA125B amp's internal tuner the SWR is 1.7:1 or less on 160, 80/75, 60, 40, 30.

RESULTS: I've worked Japan, Australia, Portugal, the Caribbean, Canada, South and East US from Northern California with 100 watts SSB. I get 59 signal reports on 80 & 40 SSB nets. I've made multiple 1 - 20 watt QRP SSB contacts. I'm very surprised and happy with the results of this antenna setup.
KG0LH Rating: 2022-03-17
Balun DOA, trying to get it replaced Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
1B-500 Bullet balun, (actually an unun). DOA, wasted probably 4-6 hours trimming my 20m dipole trying to get it to work. I should have tested it before I hung it up in the air. Always got high ohm readings, could not tune to low SWR. Finally took it down and ran some tests that determined that the shield side of the SO-239 is not connected to anything. Z at the balun was over 1000, and when a 50 ohm resistor was attached there was no difference, and no change when I removed it! There is continuity on the pin side, none on the shield side.
Ordered it Jan 5, 2022, received it January 22. Have only had it 2 weeks, never applied any transmitter power to it. Am currently TRYING to get it replaced but Palomar is very slow responding to emails and the lady I talked to on the phone was nice but not much help. I understand that companies are short-staffed but I always worked or managed companies where customer service was a priority. Obviously not the case here!
Left a voicemail Feb 12 with followup email the following day. Got a response Feb 13 to return the unit and it would be replaced. Sent it back, it was delivered on Feb 16. On Feb 26 it still has not been replaced. Sending yet another email! No response so called, talked to Bob: they would be getting the replacement in on the weekend of Mar 5th and then would ship it out. Received replacement March 10th, seems to work ok.
K7SHR Rating: 2021-09-27
Clever Design that Works Great! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The "bullet" design of the Palomar Engineers Bullet is very clever, making it easy to attach a rope and hoist up an antenna. They are compact, which make them particularly suited for portable operation. A zip tie through the eyebolt makes it easy to hang them just about anywhere.

Another wonderful feature is the useful literature and designs that come with their baluns and ununs. Palomar Engineers are always happy to explain things over the phone. Their website also contains a lot of useful information, too.

I was recently operating portable, using the Palomar 9:1 unun, set up using one of the inverted L designs that came included with the unun (I was using an extendable mast on a tripod that took me about five minutes to set up). European and other overseas stations had no problem hearing me on 20m.

The "Bullets" are a clever design, easy to use, and they come with information on how to use them (same with Palomar's ferrite toroids and other devices to fight interference).

K6GBW Rating: 2021-01-09
Solid Unit! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Due to my QTH's layout I can't use a large dipole type antenna, so end fed antennas are pretty much were I live. I have severe tendinitis and can't really build my own, so I've looked to various manufacturers. In the last two years I've tried four different UnUn's with varying degrees of success. Recently, I bought the Palomar Engineers "Bullet" 9:1 500 watt UnUn and put it on a 71' wire. I've yet to find an UnUn that tunes as easily as this one does! It tunes up on 80, 40 and 20 with barely a touch from my Palstar AT2K. On receive it seems much better than all the other UnUn's except the Balun Designs models.

The beauty of the Bullet model isn't just in that it works well but in the shape and design. It uses the suspension eyelet as the connection point for the antenna wire. This is brilliant in that I can simply wrap the antenna wire through the eyelet with a half hitch and then attach it to the UnUn. It is all very solid and secure and the bullet shape makes it hang nicely. I have mine hung with parachute cord from a tower and this keeps it about two feet from the metal. The shape of the Bullet model makes hanging it much easier than the square models that come in a NEMA box. I plan on getting a second one for my portable antenna bag.

Performance wise I have no complaints. It works as well as the Balun Designs models and better than some of the other brands. I have made contacts on 20 meters to Indonesia from Los Angeles with this thing so I have no complaints. I'm using 75' of RG8X with this antenna and there has been NO common mode getting back to the radio. I also did not need to use radials as the coax shield seems to be enough. The price on this thing is also very fair for what you get. The guys at Palomar Engineering clearly know what they are doing and turn out stuff that works.

Update: 5/28/2020, now running two of these on the top of my mast, one in each direction. Nothing I've tried works better. Amazingly easy to put up an HF antenna that really works!

Update: 1/9/2021, Been using two of these for over six months now. These give you a LOT of flexibility as to how you can fit an antenna into smaller spaces. I've found that the wire lengths mentioned in the "Notes" provided by Palomar Engineers are right on the money. If you use only the rigs internal tuner you will find a couple of bands that just won't tune. If you add an external tuner, in my case just an MFJ-901B, then you will be amazed at how easy it is to tune up on all bands. I have a 60' wire running east and a 41' wire running north. Both tune up easily on all bands, including 60 meters. Mine are fairly low at about 27' but when the bands are working I get out just fine. Not a beam, but a solid antenna for small areas.

Brian
K6GBW
AK7LV Rating: 2020-06-26
With a Jackite Vertical Pole Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Having moved to an HOA in Las Vegas with antenna restrictions and a 5’x25’ back yard, I started with a Buddistick vertical antenna.

I then moved to a 21’ Jackite.com vertical pole and made end-fed resonant antennas for each of the bands I wanted to work. I made over 2,000 QSOs using FT8/4.

Each time I would shift to a different band I would have to change antenna wires and 1-4 radials.

I used a heavy patio umbrella stand to support the Jackite pole with no needed guys. The antenna was attached at the top with a key-type split ring and a mini-carabineer. The wire was looped using a M5 Wire Rope Clamp purchased from Amazon and a 3/8” ring connector (again Amazon) to the Buddipole VersaTee held on a PVC pipe with a pipe-threaded end in a second umbrella stand.

While I purchased 200’ of 14 ga wire from a ham outlet, you can purchase 14 ga THHN stranded wire at Home Depot.

I recently purchased a 31’ Jacktite pole and made a 29’ non-resonant vertical wire and added a Palomar Bullet9U 9:1 UnUn. The counterpoise was 25’ of RG-8U coax with some short connector RG-8X coax and a myantenna.com choke for RF.

This UnUn from Palomar worked beyond my expectations and does not require the use of an automatic tuner.

This antenna was under 3.0 SWR on all the 6-10-12-15-17-20-30 meter bands and easily tuned using my iCOM 7300. The 29’ tunes at 40 meters without the UnUn in place. The UnUn is supported with a pvc pipe in the second umbrella stand I had. The goal is to keep the UnUn weight off the Jackite pole.

This permits me to jump around in frequency and not have to change antennas. In the first 30 minutes after getting the antenna up I logged 12 QSOs across 5 bands on FT8.

From the Buddistick I learned about vertical antennas. If I were to go down this path again I would have purchased the 31’ Jacktie pole to begin as it is not that much more expensive.

The Palomar UnUn completed the antenna.
W4WAV Rating: 2017-03-05
Good product at a good price. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the Palomar Engineers "Bullet" 9:1 matcher to give me a single wire, multi-band antenna. I put it up at 25 ft. with an air-core balun and 66 ft. of wire as a sloper. Using my Icom IC-718 and an LDG IT-100 tuner, I can tune 20 through 160M with SWRs less than 1.5 on all bands. I have already made contacts all over Europe and South America with 100W. I am pleased with this product and it only took me an hour or so to get everything up and running.