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Reviews For: Hexbeam: VHQ Hexbeam

Category: Antennas: HF: Yagi, Quad, Rotary dipole, LPDA

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Review Summary For : Hexbeam: VHQ Hexbeam
Reviews: 13MSRP:
Description:
HEAVY DUTY HEXBEAM WITH SUPERIOR GAIN AND BANDWIDTH. ALL MADE IN AMERICA. TOP QUALITY PARTS. ESPECIALLY WELL BUILT TO WITHSTAND HARSH WEATHER. LIFETIME GUARANTEE ! PARTS INCLUDE BILLET ALUMINUM HUB AND SUPPORT. EXTRA HEAVY GAUGE WIRE FOR GREATER BANDWIDTH AND GAIN AS WELL AS SWR. CNC PRECISION MADE. NEARLY PLUG AND PLAY WITH MINIMAL ASSEMBLY. COVERS 20 thru 2 meters !
Product is in production
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# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
55135
K4QJZ Rating: 2021-05-11
A First class product and design! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
As an avid fan of Hex beams, I wanted to let the community know of a new HEX Beam, VHQ, which is the fourth Hex Beam I have now built, that I have installed.
First let me say there are several good Hex Beams to look at, but my environment is deadly to any antenna including small UHF beams. I live on a Mountain top 1900’ above the average terrain. The ridge is the first one from the coast which defines the edge of the Shenandoah Valley in the North Western part of VA.
The winds on the tower are normally 5-20Mph all day long in good weather with them constantly and quickly changing direction. When a storm blows through 40-60Mph is normal with gusts to 90Mph.
In the winter we can get extreme Ice build up due to the clouds rolling over the top. The ice buildup on trees and antennas is often 1-3”. (last winter with one storm resulting in 5-7” measured, worst in 28 years) Now add in the wind and you can see why not much lasts long up here.
I have now been through 3 complete total HEX beam rebuilds in five years. The primary manufacture previously was DX Engineering, a really good product which I enjoyed but even with performing multiple modifications to try to strengthen it, some of which came from engineers at DX Engineering who were very helpful, it just couldn’t survive the winters.
After another total loss this year I again spent lots of time searching the internet, several phone calls to other manufactures and users of other HEX beams.
I found VHQ due to a strong recommendation by a user in the HEXBEAM I/O group.
After talking with Dave Lavoie, KC1NYY, at VHQ, about how and why he did things differently than others I was very impressed with his engineering rational for the significant changes. They matched my experience and included several things I had done and some I had wanted to find a way to do to my previous Hex beams-based on my experience with multiple failures.
When the Kit arrived and I unpacked it, it was immediately obvious that a great deal of care and time had been utilized in its production. The workmanship, from the central hub to the care in marking each critical adjustment, production of each set of cords, to the extra strengthening of the spreaders (Arms of the Hex Beam) and the use of Flex Weave wire for increased bandwidth and its flexibility all stood out.
While I read where one user has reported they could assemble this hex Beam in a few hours, due to all the work already done, I took additional steps and care. As an example, I spent 3 days just sanding, cleaning, and painting each fiberglass spreader with multiple coats of marine topcoat paint to ensure long term UV aging of the fiberglass so that years from they now would not become an issue. (A step strongly recommended for all Hex Beams in the user groups.)
It went together very quick after that with a minimum of tools. I also purchased and installed the only option, ICE cords, knowing what winter could bring. Did I have any issues when putting it together, NONE? My previous Hex beams required many more hours of work due to the fact none of the preassembly was done. In the VHQ kit all the key sub-assemblies are already done, such as support cords and antenna elements. Also, in the VHQ kit, measurements for all the spreaders were pre-marked, all retaining clips for the antenna wires were preinstalled on the spreaders, etc. All this work by VHQ saved me days and significantly reduced the chances of making a mistake.
It is easily assembled in a day, even with my constant checking and rechecking of all my work.
The results of the design speak wonders for the VHQ Hex Beam, the Bands accept 6M were all flat across the full bands (Under 1.5/1), no tweaking of element lengths were needed. (6M was under 2/1) I was very surprised at how well the bands looked at 20’ and 38’, and even at the assembly height of 3’ they weren’t too bad. I had not seen results like this before with the previous Hex Beams. With my previous Hex Beams, I spent a lot of time carefully tweaking each band elements and reflectors which had to be done for most of the bands. The VHQ SWR plots are better on most of bands than I could get on my previous Hex beams.
Bottom line for me, the increased cost of the VHQ was fully offset by the amount of work done in advance, the quality of materials and their care in thinking out the improvements applied in their design over other products I considered. If you have a possible tough environment, for me this looks to be the design and quality which can offer you the best chance to enjoy the benefits of a Hex Beam long term.
Watts
K4QJZ

PS Check out his Warranty, no one else had that.
WB8PKK Rating: 2021-04-25
Absolutely the best there is Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I lost my first hex in the first ice storm of 2020 here in Mass. It was 1.5 years old and included all the extra ice cords. Cost was over $1k.

Looked at the VHQ hex and was immediately impressed This antenna is built by a true engineer for engineers. It is like the Perivale brick "out house" Instead of a thin wall aluminum that bent and small screws that ripped out of schedule 80 plastic pipe. it is 1/4 thick stock and a solid piece of 1 1/2 fiberglass dowel. It is true for locations that get lots of wind or ice you get what you pay for. I will be placing lots of pictures and a video on youtube.

Highly recommend anyone looking for a Hex to look at this

Ken WB8PKK


4-25-21 Update

What a fantastic antenna - went through the big wind/wet snow/ice storm we just a week ago without issue.

What's even better the reception is far better than other hex's I have owned. Just got my DXCC and almost 9 band WAS. Just need AK and HI for 10 mtr

Ken WB8PKK
K1GHC Rating: 2021-02-08
Excellent performance, very well built. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I lost my previous Hex Beam in a early December ice storm. After getting everything down the defect became clear; ice had accumulated unevenly on the wires and spreader arms, this induced uneven force at the connection point at the top of the center post forcing the post to bend at the bottom.
I purchased the VHQ hex after hearing about it on a local net and am very satisfied with the design and overall quality of this antenna. This is not the least expensive Hex on the market, but when you consider the time, effort and cost to replace faulty antennas, the difference becomes negligible.