| K5QED |
Rating:      |
2006-07-19 | |
| Great antenna for starters |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have owned this antenna for a little under a year, but did not use it extensively until this year's Es season began back in May.
For someone starting out on 6m, it is highly recommended in terms of an easily installed, and reasonably priced antenna that performs well.
Mine is mounted on galvanixed mast that I dropped down one of the drain vents, and is only 5 feet above my roof line. I ran the co-ax into another nearby vent pipe and out the side into my attic.
This installation can easily be reversed if necessary by splicing in a short section of PVC in the attic.
The antenna presents a very small profile and wind load and is almost invisible against the backdrop of trees from street level.
I have used it extensively this year, and have logged close to 100 grids in 35 states, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, typically running less than 100W from my TS-480.
The only small disadvantage is that being omni-directional, it can not be pointed towards that rare grid that pops up, or away from stations that have already been worked. This is no way detracts from my overall satisfaction in using it so far.
As stated by others, Dale at Par puts customer service at the top of his list, and is a pleasure to deal with.
I am in no way affiliated with the manufacturer -- just a satisfied customer.
Charles
K5QED
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| K3YD |
Rating:      |
2006-06-26 | |
| Pleasantly surprised! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
After living in its shipping box for far too long, my OA-50 became a last minute addition to my club's 2006 FD effort. It took about 25 minutes to assemble, then tune, the antenna using an antenna analyzer. I hadn't realized that tuning was accomplished by just adjusting the length of the two legs which extend forward of the boom. With two quick adjustments the SWR was 1.2:1 at about 50.25 MHz. The antenna was mounted at about 28' on top of portable push-up mast. [Note: The factory supplied bolts will accomodate a mast up to 1.25" diameter; larger masts need longer bolts.)
Operating from a far-from-optimum VHF location we found that on groundwave we easily worked everything within about 150 miles. (From EPA, that's everything from CT down to MDC/DE and out to WPA) What surprised us was how well the antenna performed when the band opened. By 1700Z Sunday we had worked 39 sections (all districts ex. W6 & W7) and several Canadian provinces. Unfortunately,our final FD log won't show how well we did. With about an hour remaining in the event our logging program crashed and the VHF-log became digital vapor! We recreated the log, as best we could, from operator notes but over half of our contacts were lost.
So,if you worked W3OK on 6-meters in FD'06, you worked a PAR OA-50. If you QSL, we'd appreciate a card so we can continue to rebuild our log. |
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| KD7UFF |
Rating:      |
2006-03-16 | |
| 6 Meters Best Friend |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
1st i must say Dale is the Man.. Honest,Friendly & even a hareder worker.. I emailed Dale a few times.. Always full of more info. After reading the reviews here and getting told by some people at PNWVHFS that this antenna is the one to get.. I like the other ham just listed under me got a Ranger RCI 5054dx100.. Granted i am newer to DX'ing. and living in a hard to get out area (CN77) I love it.. I LOVE IT!! So contests comming up you can find me on 6M if you want a CN77 grid contact! i will talk to you threw my OA-50.. In my little red Blazer from the hill sides from Forks, WA. I will be buying SM-50 Stressed Moxon for house... Dale will get many more orders from me.. 2 meters ssb comming next via Via PAR & DALE.
I would tell anyone to buy this or any product from Dale and his fine Company
73,Dan/KD7UFF
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| W5BP |
Rating:      |
2006-02-20 | |
| Great Antenna-Great Company |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I contacted Dale at PAR after finding out that all of the online stores that sell his antennas were out of stock of the OA-50.
When I emailed Dale it was about 10:30PM CT, so this was 11:30PM for him. I told him that I was really in a hurry to get set up for 6 meters the up coming weekend. He was already very busy building antennas and so was his crew (At 11:30PM!).
After telling him that all the stores were out of stock, he started on my antenna right away and had it shipped out by noon the next day! Is that service or what!
After receiving my OA-50 and also my brand new Ranger RCI-5054DX-100 I installed the antenna on my 30 foot telescoping push up pole, about 5 feet under my 20 element 2 meter beam. So it is sitting about 25 feet up.
By the way, the installation day was Saturday and we were having a cold front moving through. Winds were gusting at 35mph and steady at 15-20mph.
That evening I was working the locals on 6m SSB, and in the next couple of days had worked a few grids. This was my first time on 6 meters and I was very excited. My first contact was a guy in Indiana (I'm in Louisiana).
I know the magic band is pretty much closed right now, but will soon be opening. But almost everyday there is a short opening where I can work far off grids.
My local 2m FM/SSB, and 6m SSB friends were AMAZED at how good my signal was with the little PAR OA-50, and with the Ranger.
This is one GREAT antenna, and yes it is literally put together in about 2 minutes. Mounting takes about another 2 minutes.
I am now thinking of trying a pair of stacked moxons for beaming and pulling in those far off weak signals.
I HIGHLY recommend anyone wanting a GREAT omni 6m antenna to get the PAR OA-50. You will LOVE this antenna! And for the price it's a STEAL!
Thanks Dale for a GREAT antenna!
I will be doing more business with PAR Electronics! |
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| KB3LWH |
Rating:      |
2006-02-19 | |
| Fantastic |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Great antenna. Easily assembled and great support from Dale. I live in south central PA (FN10) and my first contact was in eastern TX(EM31).
Up on a chimney mount at 30' I worked Mexico City, western Canada, Bermuda, and many states inbetween, all at 90 watts or less. All confirmed!!!
Great price!! Get one you will enjoy 6 meters when the band opens.
Bill W3LWH, formerly KB3LWH |
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| KG6MXV |
Rating:      |
2006-02-08 | |
| Works as advertised |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Bought this antenna last year for Christmas - never really spent much time with it & with all the low solar activity began to think there wasn't much happening on Six meters.
last week I really tried to listen off and on whenever I could. Finally got rewarded with a contact from my QTH in California Central Valley all the way to British Columbia, Canada. This equipment works when the band is open! |
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| KG4IXR |
Rating:      |
2005-08-19 | |
| Great antenna - Small footprint and price! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
When I first saw the antenna I wondered if it would be decent. I read the reviews here and decised to buy one. Dale was always prompt with emails and we had a great conversation on the phone. I had the antenna on my doorstep in 2 days. The antenna itself is amazing. It weighs almost nothing and assembly was a breeze. I literally had the antenna assembled in minutes, and had it bolted up to my push-up mast in even less time. I called a buddy and told him I wanted to test it out. The SWR was perfect as I had put it together and he gave me a great signal report! While we were talking another friend of ours came across us and said I sounded great. He asked what antenna I had and I told him. He said he has the same antenna along with a stacked pair of Omniangles for 2m. He told me I had definitely bought a great antenna. I am very excited to own and use one.
Ya gotta get one!
73,
David |
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| K8CXM |
Rating:      |
2005-08-05 | |
| Easy to get this one right! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I've tried a variety of different 6 meter antennas, and they have all fallen short. I wanted something simple and omni directional as well as small and inconspicious. After hearing about a friend's Omniangle, I ordered one up. It arrived in 3 days and was assembled in 15 minutes. I put it on the roof of my house, maybe 30 feet up, and tuned it where I wanted it (took one extra trip up to get it to 1.1:1) and immediately started hearing some weak signals (band was quite dead on the dipole I was using). Think this ones a keeper!
Easy to assemble
Quality materials
Works as advertised
Very pleased!
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| KI4JGH |
Rating:      |
2005-07-11 | |
| The PAR OA-50 is a great antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The OA-50 6 Meter Omnidirectional Horizontally polarized antenna is "DX-citing".
My OA-50 from Par Electronics arrived at my QTH a few days ago, and I could not wait to put it up.
First of all, I was so impressed with the way the antenna was packaged and sent to me.
Secondly the assembly instructions were very easy to follow and the installation therefore was a breeze,
from the unboxing to the complete mounting on my Telescopic mast took only 27 minutes.
The Fun Begins
I am a newby to Ham Radio, and have never made any contacts at all on 6 meter SSB, so I was anxious to see if what I had read about this antenna was actually true.
I went to my shack and turned on the Alinco DX-70T (only 10 watts on 6 meters) and checked the SWR and was pleasantly surprised to find it at 1.2 on 50.125, wow..now
I was ready to talk. The band opened shortly thereafter so I decided to give it a go. On my very first transmit , I received a come back from Mississippi grid EM53, and
I am located in EL98, I had successfully made my first 6 Meter Dx QSO, this was especially gratifying since I only have 10 watts of power and the Omniangle OA-50 was
mounted just 30 feet high.
It Gets Even Better
Fast forward a few days, it is now Saturday July 09, 2005 and a Hurricane is bearing down on the State of Florida and although the storm is headed away from
Orlando, the driving winds and rain still pounded us, so I decided to lower all of my antennas to protect them from damage. As fate would have it, the band opened
up just after I had dropped my antennas down to two feet above roof level (less than 12 feet). So I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and call CQ, everyone
that I called for responded and the antenna continued to perform as if it still was at the 30 foot level.
What next ?
Well, I would like to try 2 meter SSB, so I have placed an order for a OA-144 , which I'm sure will perform at the same level as my OA-50 has for me. I truly feel
that these antennas offer the very best in value and performance than any other on the market today. If you don't have one yet, you need to get one !
Thanks,
73.
KI4JGH
Orlando, Florida |
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| W8KQE |
Rating:      |
2005-05-27 | |
| 255 grids worked so far! Barefoot! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I've had this wondrous little 6m antenna at only 25 feet up since 2001, and on both CW/SSB, have recently worked my 255th grid square, all the lower 48 states, AND 24 foreign countries running only 'barefoot'! I am not heaping accolades upon myself here, but would love to give credit where credit is due. Mainly, for this superbly designed low-profile, high bandwidth antenna that works incredibly well on 6m for what it is. There is a reason all the reviews here are fives! |
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