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Reviews For: Solarcon I-MAX 2000

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Solarcon I-MAX 2000
Reviews: 101MSRP: 80 SHIPPED
Description:
3 piece, over 21 foot tall fiberglass 10 meter base antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001014.5
N6ETO Rating: 2011-11-04
Good antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This past weekend was CQ WW SSB contest and my A3S was not working properly and I use my I-MAX 2000 on 10m, 15m and 20m. Using it on 15m direct no tuner 1:2:1 swr and was putting out 1500 watts out of my ETO 91B, 10m and 20m with the tuner also doing 1500 watts I work all over the world with this antenna no ground plane kit and 22 ft of the ground. Next contest I'll put it up on top of my tower.
N4DOV Rating: 2011-10-29
Cheap and effective. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
My trusty other antenna suffered storm damage and I put up the Imax. At only 15 foot above the ground just above the roof gutter, I have been able to work Europe, Africa and Pacific on 12 and 17 meters. Have also made 20m contacts locally. SWR on 10 and 15m is <1.5:1 and on 12 and 17m is <3:1, (on 20 is high) which my Ten-Tec internal tuner easily handles. It hears the same as my rotatable dipole but is a bit noisier on the similar bands. Adding radials detuned my antenna very significantly, so I would not recommend. Tuning rings were adjusted to the bottom. Most of my contacts have been with 100 watts, but I have used up to 800 watts without any problems.It does sway in the wind but has held up so far to a few storms. The white color of the antenna blends in well with surroundings. The antenna takes a few minutes to screw together and attach to a pole., so it could not be easier. For $95 (from Cheapham.com), I think it is a bargain especially if one is space restricted.

Forgot to mention that I incorporated a 6 turn 4.5 inch diameter ugly balun below feedoint to my setup with the aforementioned results.Radials made things much worse for me.
N8MJS Rating: 2011-09-18
Works for me Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I'am sure there are far better antennas to use but for the price this antenna can't be beat. I run 100 watts and talk all over Europe on 17-10 meters with this antenna 40 feet off the ground.
I do have the ground plane radials on my antenna. I have no problem getting a good swr match with my LDG AT-200 Pro Autotuner on 17,15,12 and 10 meters.
I still have a somewhat similar (Antron 99) antenna on the roof of my parents house. It still works and it has been up for 15 years in the cold Michigan winters.
I will be very happy if this Imax 2000 lasts that long.
KI6USW Rating: 2011-08-08
Versatile, Inexpensive, and Fun Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Some have claimed to work 6 and 20m on the Imax. I never got that result. But neither do I doubt that.

It works 10, 12, 15, and 17m for me with results that are far more than I expected. Didn't need to re-tune the antenna after just taking out of the box and putting it up either. Have it on 20 ft of metal masting on a 10 ft roof - also cheap (I AM cheep!) The match on these bands only needed minor smoothing with my rig's internal tuner for smoothing to a flat SWR.

I've talked to Japan a half dozen times on 17m. Same goes for Belgium and Ireland - you can see them all on my logbook on QRZ - if you like.

BTW - did I say that I am 'cheep'? OK; just wanted to make that clear. For the money spent for this antenna an installing it, it is THE BEST BANG FER BUCK antenna for those bands I've mentioned.

I do not run the ground plane kit with it - because I am CHEEP!

It just flat out works and is a workhorse.
'Nuff said . . .

CX8DH Rating: 2011-06-30
Good Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The antenna performs well, better than for-99 without doubt I was fairly mediocre in every way, but I recently acquired Opek hcs-100 and compared, price, quality and performance, I'll no doubt Opek with IMAX-2000 and sold it to a friend, but it is quite acceptable as an antenna.
KU4XO Rating: 2011-06-01
The best vertical for 10m ever made. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
DXCC and WAS on 10 meters using the I-Max 2000 @ 50ft with no radials 100 watts...nuff said
KD5PXH Rating: 2011-05-17
Amazing for 17M, 15M, 12M and 10 Meters Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Purchased 1 year ago. Other stations are stunned when they learn I am using an IMAX-2000 vertical. Recently completed a QSO with an operator in VU2 India on 12 Meter band and 100W. He gave me a 5-5, and a QSL card for proof. The IMAX is on 20 foot of TV mast, and LMR-400 for feed line. Did not purchase the radial kit.

The auto-tuner on my HF rig hardly blinked when I hit the Tune button. Flat SWR.

Some of my fellow ham operators, upon hearing my comments, went and bought themselves IMAX-2000's. They report its solid performance.

Shop around on ebay for lowest price and least expensive shipping.

You will enjoy this antenna.

Mike
KE4JLE Rating: 2011-05-07
imax 2000 survives tornado Time Owned: N.A.
ive had the solarcon imax 2000 for a couple of months now, and am amazed at the performance over my dipole, we recently had a bunch of tornados come through and i lost some trees and tree tops but the imax 2000 is still standing tall. I think it is built stronger than its getting credit for. the antenna was at the same height of the trees that got topped during the storm.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KE4JLE on 2011-03-31

I recently purchased the imax 2000 cut off 11 inches and installed 23 ft off the ground. Turned on the radio flat swr on the 10 meter band, worked several stations in europe and africa and a few state side, always got through usually on the first call, biggest difference i seen with this antenna are if i herd a station that wasnt moving my s meter i could work them with the imax, i couldnt do that with the dipole so im definately seeing a gain over the dipole, antenna works great and is pretty quite. I was running 100 watts through it, my best dx was greece, also had no stray rf floating down the coax
N4ZAW Rating: 2011-03-31
Temporary only Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It's not ALL bad, but given their short lives, what's the point? The positives are;
Decent price.
Super easy assembly and tuning.
Super performance (even without ground radials).
low wind loading.

But the fact that lightning has it out for glass antennas, negates all of that. I've owned two Imax2K's, a Shakespeare "big stick" and two antron99's. All died early from lightning strikes. Sure, I live in the "lightning capitol of the United States", but I have documentation that shows lightning's preference for fiberglass verticals, that being the fact lightning seeks out lower glass antennas, while skipping-over aluminum antennas twice as high.
I know (and trust me, I've HEARD) all the rebuttals. I don't care to debate it anymore. If you thinking about getting one of these lightning rods, go ahead -- buy one. Just know I have purchased my last fiberglass stick, shy of tying fishing line, a hook, and a dough ball to the end of it.


N2SLO Rating: 2011-03-10
Amazing for 10M Time Owned: more than 12 months.
One year later a follow-up... This past weekend was the ARRL SSB DX contest. The SFI was around 130, so conditions were very good. With this antenna up only 10 feet on the side of my house, with 50 watts I worked Cook Islands, and New Zealand from eastern Long Island, and another 20 countries. I am amazed how well this antenna works. Best $89 spent. Now I need to get it up higher, and add additional power.