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Reviews For: Status Quad, 2 STQ 5L

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Directional (Yagi, quad, etc.)

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Review Summary For : Status Quad, 2 STQ 5L
Reviews: 1MSRP: $882.52
Description:
Two Element, Multi Band, Quad Antenna. 20,17,15,12, and 10 meters. 6 meters is available as an add on
Product is in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
WC6T Rating: 2020-11-27
Best Antenna I've ever owned. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Description: I'm updating this because I had actually allowed my crank up to "FREEFALL" about 4 or 5 feet from pure stupidity. What really surprised me is that nothing broke, cracked, bent, or otherwise was damaged in any way. This made me VERY HAPPY that I chose the antenna I did. I had read many bad stories about Quads and ICE, Quads and WIND, ETC.

Most folks don't mention that they dropped their antenna. Well folks that was many weeks back now and everything is just as good as when I installed the antenna in the first place. And trust me. If I can build an antenna and tune it up and have FANTASTIC results, ANYONE can.

I routinely use my End Fed antenna as a base line as long as the Quad is facing in directions the End Fed is strong. You may not believe me but here goes. And I may repeat this sentiment further down. My Hex Beam that I really liked, had an average increase in performance by 1 to 2 S units.

The Status Quad had an average improvement of 6 - 9 S Units. I still find it to be amazing sometimes. I have such a tiny QTH with such a modest mast. Maybe modest for the mast isn't correct though. It's an AB577. For a portable crank up, maybe modest isn't the best description


Two Element, Multi Band, Quad Antenna. 20,17,15,12, and 10 meters. 6 meters is available as an add on if I remember correctly. I assume the "L" in 5L stands for "light". It is lighter. So the first thing I noticed when looking at the website for Status Quad is just how well made the antenna is. I understand that Quad Antennas have fallen out of favor for many people because they believe that the antennas can not stand up to wind or ice. There is a video on the website that shows a blizzard's effect on a multiband antenna if you want to get an idea of how it does in a tough situation. I can only attest to looking at photos of competitors antennas. From the photos I have to say that the Status Quad appears to be a much, much sturdier antenna than it's competitors. I know a gentleman that lives in New Caledonia. He deals with Severe winds on said South Pacific Island. He has had his Status Quad for years without problems. The manual. WOW! This is the BEST manual I've ever seen for an antenna. It is available on the web site and you receive a full color Binder with many detailed photos. Everything you need to know is in the manual. But that's not all. Lino, the owner of Status Quads, lets you know before you even buy the antenna that he will be available via "WHATSAPP". Trust me! He is available. The first time I tried to get him on what's app it was about 11:00 P.M. Italian time. ( I realized this after it started ringing. Because I felt horrible about the time, I only let it ring a couple of times. To my surprise he called back in under five minutes. He then went on to answer all my questions for that evening. He said, "That is what I'm here for." His English is quite good. I'm actually jealous as I only speak one language The build; The build went well. It is a bit time consuming if you don't know what you're doing. This was my case. I had NEVER built an antenna like this. I must say at this juncture that my QTH is absolutely NOT what one would consider as "Antenna Friendly" I live on an extremely small lot. I had actually felt like the KIO Hex Beam I had was as big as I could pull off. But upon walking around the yard with a tape measure, I decided that I could, just barely, make it work. I did a good job as I literally only have a couple of inches of clearance when the antenna is cranked down. I needed to buy a new ladder (Ten feet high) to make this work. I was able to put the bracket that holds the "Spreaders" on the boom and then install the spreaders themselves. Once I had threaded the wires in the supports on the bottom half of the element, I was able to pull the whole assembly off the boom and rotate it 180 degrees so that I could get the other half of the element near the ground. I did end up making some shims to hold the bracket "Open" enough to make it easy to pull it off and put it back on with ease. This while the Spreaders were tightened enough to keep them from falling out. That's always a good thing 'eh? So a standard, buy at a local hardware store, ladder works for doing the maintenance on this antenna. In the case of a crank up mast, all the work could be done WITHOUT the need for a bucket truck or climbing gear. Performance; Oh My! Oh My indeed! To cut to the chase, I use an end fed antenna as a baseline. My Kio Hex Beam had between a 1 and 2 S Unit improvement over the end fed. My Status Quad on the other hand, get ready for it, has a 6-9 S Unit improvement over the end fed. And when I first got the end fed I thought it was a very nice antenna that I did a considerable amount of DX with. I would give anything if I could manage a third element. I don't think that's going to happen though. Not until I buy a new home. ( I'm planning on it ) The Front to back is very nice. Last night I checked out the F to B while listening to a station in New Zealand. From the front of the antenna I pulled in an S9. When rotated 180 degrees I pulled an S2. I don't know what that comes to in db, but I like it. The front to side, well, wow! Many stations are effectively and actually nulled out when rotating the antenna 90 degrees. In another experiment, I copied the S Unit level on a station in Las Vegas only 600 kilometers away. When I turned the antenna directly towards this station, he COMPLETELY disappeared. When turned 180 degrees from there, again, he completely disappeared. This tells me that my take off angle is definitely much lower than my hex beam. I was only able to hear this station with the sides of the Quad. But the front or the back were null. With the KIO Hex Beam pointing directly at Las Vegas would get me signal reports of 10 or 20 over 9. I've also made many DX contacts already with this Quad. Most of them had severe pileups. Most of them I contacted on the first attempt. The others, two or three attempts. Many of these stations I couldn't even hear with the end fed antenna. When I used the Hex Beam I could virtually always still hear a station with the end fed that I could hear with the Hex Beam. What can I say? I wanted a Better antenna even though I was very happy with the Hex Beam. I mean, who doesn't want better performance? I had pretty much decided on a Step IR antenna. But every time I did the figures, my increase in performance was not what I would hope for given the cost and extreme complexity of a Step IR or UltraBeam. Not to mention the weight and size of one that had serious gain. For some reason I never even looked at quads. When I did and looked at the gain possible as well as the take off angle, ( I know, the EZNEC doesn't show a low take off angle. That is some folks opinion anyhow. But I know now that the take off angle of this Quad is definitely lower than that of the Hex Beam. By quite a bit.) the size, the weight, and the pretty low cost, it seemed like a no brainer. I'll admit there was a time or two while constructing the Quad that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it. But I just took ONE THING AT A TIME and it all worked out well. And, I have it fifty feet in the air right now with an AB577 military surplus portable mast. I am so completely excited about this antenna I can't stand it. There is only two things I can think of that take off a point or two. The shipping cost from Italy as well as a 75 dollar export fee. ( I have never had that before so I'm lost on that one. The export fee that is.) And the fact that you need a remote antenna switcher. I know most folks seem to use the Ameritron switch box which is reasonable, but I was fearful of that brand due to the failure rate of about one or two per ten units. (According to eham.net) It may not be that bad. I ended up buying a DX Engineering 8 port switch box that seems to be rated very high. Time will tell as I don't even have it hooked up yet. I am currently only running one band. It's only been up one week. (DX Engineering Switch Box is doing fine. Absolutely NO NOISE is created or allowed in from this box. It's built like a tank. It is expensive. Five to Six hundred dollars expensive. But I expect it last me for a very long time.)
Product is in production