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Reviews For: Hy Power Antenna Company - Dipoles

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Hy Power Antenna Company - Dipoles
Reviews: 65MSRP: 19.95 - 112.75
Description:
HF Wire Antennas
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hypowerantenna.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00654.9
N4NSP Rating: 2009-05-01
Antenna Construction Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Hy Power antennas are made from heavy duty solid 12 gauge wire with a sturdy center insulator and robust QRO coils that easily handle the legal limit.

For camping trips and other QRP applications, Hy Power will also custom make antennas using lighter weight wire (14 and 16 gauge) and with the smaller center insulator and QRP coils.

I've used both types of antennas (QRO and QRP) and found them to work equally well at home or when operating portable. I use the 2B4080L as an NVIS antenna in the back yard. It gets 5x9 reports on ECARS on 7255 KHz and the Virginia Fone Net on 3947 KHz.

Tom Goyne, N4NSP
K6WSC Rating: 2008-12-07
The HY-POWER LD1682 (160 meter dipole) is outstanding! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I needed an antenna for the ARRL 160 Meter Contest. Barry’s customer service is excellent. I received my HY-POWER LD1682 (160 Meter loaded dipole, 82 feet long) the week before the contest. The look and construction of the antenna is also excellent. I installed the antenna in the dark just after the start of the contest. The center of the dipole is only thirteen (13) feet above the ground. The dipole is fully assembled, cut for the bottom of the band (just where I wanted it), and worked perfectly without any tuning on my part. I was on the air minutes after pulling the dipole up in the air (all 13 feet of it). I worked 63 stations in 18 different ARRL sections in the contest. This was my first160 meter experience, and it was a good one. I give my highest recommendation to Barry and the HY-POWER Antenna Company.
WU1E Rating: 2008-06-29
Good Value Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I know you can always build cheap dipoles if you have materials laying around. If you don't have the materials this is a good option. Compared to other brands, or even to buying the materials you need, this is hard to beat for about $28. I just wanted a full size monoband dipole for 20 meters and I am very happy with Hy Power product.
If you decide to get the QRP version you might want to verify stock first. Mine was backordered for awhile so I just had a regular version sent instead. Same price.
Well constructed with nice hardware. Use Coax Seal on your connection and you should be good for the long haul.
W1LDD Rating: 2008-04-14
Great 3 band antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This dipole is a great 3 band antenna.Its a little narrow on 160 meters but puts out a good signal.80 meters is wider and 40 meters is good across the band.I have it as an inverted V.Very easy to tune up.
WW3QB Rating: 2008-02-16
A great dipole! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have the 80m loaded shortened dipole, the full length 40m dipole, and the 30m/17m dual band dipole. All perform flawlessly. The 30m/17m dipole had a high SWR at first when mounted near a cast iron vent pipe. After I moved it a few feet from the pipe, the SWR was down to 2-2.5. Mount these (and all antennas) in the clear as much as possible. Barry is very fast to answer questions via e-mail, even on weekends.
ON5ZO Rating: 2007-07-30
Loading coils are UFB Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I needed a fast and easy way to get me on 160m. I don’t have the space for a full size dipole and I don’t like radials. And at that point, I lacked the time to homebrew. So I ordered a pair of 160m loading coils and added the wire myself to make a dipole. The Hy Power Antenna Company was recommended to me by a W1-friend. He was right, this is what I needed.

The coils are wound nicely and the product looks good and sturdy. I put the coils on the ends of my obsolete 80m dipole and added some wire. Resonance was right on the spot where I calculated it. The 2:1 SWR BW is rather small, as is to be expected from a short dipole loaded with coils. But this is no problem in the small CW segment on 160m and the coils accept 1kW without any problem.

I am very pleased. This simple antenna delivers what I was looking for: a short dipole QRO-proof to get me local multipliers in the contests, though I even have worked into USA occasionally HI.

The only negative point for me being outside of the USA was the payment. I understand that for a company focusing on a USA domestic market, it is of little use to accept VISA or PayPal. Luckily my W1-friend wanted to act as a go-between, but all transaction costs and customs duty more than doubled the USA price. Still: the actual product is A+.

73 de Franki ON5ZO = OQ5M
NN8B Rating: 2007-03-21
3B4016SC a great antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna to replace a G5RV antenna I have had up in a restricted space. The G5RV has done a good job over the years but I wanted something to use on 160 meters. After searching and reading reviews I settled on the Hy Power 3B4016SC at 110Ft long.

After the installation I immediatly saw an improvement of received signals in the order of 1
S unit. My auto tuner would tune all bands except 160 immediatly and quickly. The tuning cycles are much faster than with the G5RV especially on the WARC bands.

Now to solve the 160 meter problem. I had misplaced my manual so I emailed Barry of Hy Power Antennas for info. My Autek VA1 told me it was near resonate at 1.710MHz so probably needed trimmed a little. I found the manual and Barry emailed me at about the same time telling me to trim the end wires and approximately how much to trim. I'm sure the problem is because the antenna is closer to the ground than it should be for 160 meters.

After a test trim (6 inches)and check with the Autek, I decided to make another trim of 8 inches. My target frequency was 1.820MHZ and low and behold it centered the SWR at exactly 1.820MHz. I have a bandwidth of about 25 kHz between 2:1 and the auto tuner will take it to 1.850 before it's out of range. Thats plenty of space for me.

In my opinion this is a well built antenna with good strain relief for wire tension. It has heavy solid insulated copper wire. The only thing I did was to weatherproof the coil connections and center connections with RTV. If you'r in a limited space and can't get up to 60 or 80 feet in height, I would reccommend this antenna over a G5RV. For a little extra money and the addition of 160 meters and better performance it's a no brainer. Hy Power was very responsive to questions both before and after the sale and delivery was prompt.

73,
Don, NN8B
K2TPZ Rating: 2007-02-05
Great product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the Hy-Power 40/20 meter shortened Dipole (2B2040L at 44 ft) from Universal Radio. I put it up in a Vee with the apex at 30 feet. The resonance was off some so I telephoned the manufacturer to ask a few questions.

He first offered to replace it if I wasn't absolutely satisfied. As I just finished several QSOs with Europe on 40 CW I told him I was happy with the antenna but just wanted to improve the resonance. He was very friendly and gave me several suggestions which put the antenna in resonance exactly where I wanted it to be.

I am very satisfied with this antenna. I'm writing this review to let everyone else know about this product and the friendly service of the manufacturer. 73s, Mike K2TPZ
K5YY Rating: 2005-03-12
VERY good dual bander-2B7516S!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very nicely built antenna and traps looks pretty heavy duty, a KW for sure. I have the 154' 2B7516S which is cut for the lower end of the 160m and 75m bands. Putting it up at only 37 feet, I am resonant at 3750 and 1814. If I take the time to cut a foot off the 75m portion I should be able to resonate at 3800kc, no problem. Am leaving as is for now since the tuner easily resonates the system anywhere in 75/80m band and up to 1.860 easily. Another installation, higher center feed or more of an inverted V might resonate upwards somewhat more, so not cutting to "fit" now. I wud recommend the antenna. Mine came from WQ5J,Tom Stack, in a very fast fashion, nice dealer to do business with!
San K5YY
K9YC Rating: 2004-06-23
160-80-40 Is a Winner! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I needed a shortened dipole for 160 meters that was no more than 170 ft long. Hy-Power Antenna Company makes one that does that, and also covers 80 and 40 very well. In fact, its SWR on 80/75 is below 3:1 (with 75 ohm coax, my choice) from the bottom of 80 to nearly the top of the 75 m phone band! The antenna design is two full-size, parallel wire half-wave dipoles for 80 and 40, with 160 meter loading coils at the ends of the 80 meter antenna that self-resonate with their own stray capacitance on 80.

Because this antenna would be used on a mountaintop that gets a lot of wind and ice, I needed this antenna to be very rugged, so I wanted to build it myself. Hy-Power sold me only the traps, parallel wire spacers, and the design dimensions, at a significant discount from the price of a complete antenna. I added wire (#8 hard drawn copper for the 80/160 run that supports the antenna, #10 copper for the parallel 40 m dipole that didn't have to support the load), split-bolt connectors to terminate the ends, and a DX Engineering balun. (I love their baluns!)

I am VERY happy with the resulting antenna. The first QSO on 160 was into the Caribbean from CA with 100 watts, and I had no trouble working into Europe on 80.

HyPower was very easy to work with -- I told them what I wanted and that I needed it in a hurry (another vendor had let me down). And I am particularly pleased that the antenna is as broad as it is on 80/75.

My only downgrade is because the build quality of the loading coils/traps could be better.