| DL8UI |
Rating:      |
2013-10-04 | |
| Best Yagi Antenna I ever had |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I was looking for a new beam including WARC bands.
Tom, DF2BO, from OptiBeam answered all my questions very fast by E-Mail.
Thanks Tom for the outstanding service.
When I received my OB9-5, I was very delighted about the quality and easy mounting of this antenna.
After Installation of the antenna I listen on 10m.
I never have heard so many PY's stations before with such a loud signal.
When I called them, my signal in Brasil was also unbelievable loud.
I use the OB9-5 now for 2 weeks and must say, I did the right decission to buy this great antenna.
The SWR is better then published.
Thanks to Tom and his team from OptiBeam for such a superb antenna and service
Real good German engineering and quality. |
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| HB9FAX |
Rating:      |
2013-09-10 | |
| OB9-5 |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My new purchase is a company Optibeam antenna.
I've heard good things about these antennas, and I must say that once it is mounted, I did just right beautiful.
I am convinced that I will have a lot of satisfaction, thanks to a lady antenna. an OB-9-5 I have no words to describe it, you have to try it to believe it.
thanks Optibam jacky hb9fax |
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| K3UL |
Rating:      |
2013-08-17 | |
| A Good Decision |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| My OB9-5 has only been up for a few weeks however, I do have some observations. I replaced a Cushcraft X7 tribander and Cushcraft A3WS with this yagi. My first impressions is that it works better than the other antennas. If I can hear it, I have been able to work it. I run 800 watts and the OB9-5 is mounted at 85 feet on Rohn 25G. The construction was well documented and as long as you follow the directions, you'll have no problem assembling this antenna. The SWR is better than the published specifications. The support from Tom DF2BO is outstanding, even over the weekend. So far, I'm very pleased. I will give another review after a few months. 73, Bob K3UL |
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| PA3HGT |
Rating:      |
2013-07-10 | |
| Recommended ! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Very good and constructive antenna to work with.
SWR specs are better than factory given.
Tom is indeed very fast to give reply on your qeustions by mail and is very helpfull.
When you need an antenna who is dependable and rocksolid,look for this one.
No moving parts/motors what can be defective,just no nonsense German contruction.
Look for photo's for this DX-antenna : http://www.pa3hgt.nl/antenneperikelen.htm .
Cheers for now.
73,Hans,PA3HGT
www.pa3hgt.nl |
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| DD2FG |
Rating:      |
2013-07-09 | |
| Easy to install, surprising results! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I’m living near the shore of the Baltic Sea and looked for a simple beam antenna without corrodible traps. After sorrow investigations I decided to buy an Optibeam 9-5. The parcel was surprisingly small, but the different elements were packed in a really smart manner. After a little bit more than 4 hours the antenna was completed and ready for lift-off. By means of a crane and the help of a nearby OM it took another hour to attach the antenna to the mast on our house. The first attempts to feed some HF into this rig were really surprising to me. Some Japanese stations answered immediately, whom I couldn’t impress at all with my dipole (2x 15 m) or a 60 m delta-loop before! Today I worked the first time VK with 100 Watts out of an IC 7410. The antenna is mounted appr. 3 m above the roof and 9 m above ground. Compliments to Tom, DF2BO, for the development of these simple but effectfull beam-antennas. |
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| GI4SIZ |
Rating:      |
2013-07-08 | |
| Replaced 2 yagis with this 5 bander. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
After having lost my tower and antennas in a storm at the beginning of 2012 I had to start and rebuild my whole receiving system.
At first I was going to go back and replace my 2 antennas with the same 2 yagi's that I had been using for many years.
After having given much thought and having read many reviews I decided on the Optibeam OB9-5.
I contacted Tom and even though he was in the USA at Dayton he immediately replied to my e-mail with an extensive answer and description of the product. Ordered immediately and on his return to Germany deal was finalised and within 5 days was delivered to my door.
I now have my OB9-5 up for 2 weeks now and can truthfully say that I am delighted with the end result. The antenna construction went without any problems due to the easy to follow markings on boom and element pieces. The build quality is superb.
SWR was as good or better than that specified.
Although the antenna has only been up 2 weeks I can already see the benefits and that my choice was the correct one and am sure this antenna will last for many years. |
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| OE2GEN |
Rating:      |
2013-06-27 | |
| Fantastic |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Have used about the last 30 years all well known Antenna manufacturer.
The Last One that I are used Force12 and Fritzel.
But the OB9-5 is really a well performed Antenna for the high bands with less windload. Mounted on a Cranck up Tower about 20 Meter above the Ground.
Mechanical parts real good german quality, Easy to install. A Antenna for a lot of coming years. Real good SWR to the overall bands. For 30 and 40 Meter I use now the OB-4030, no more comments are neccessary.
Good price and performance ratio.
Email traffic with Tom DF2BO are very quick in the answers, very nice and a real Ham.
Gerald
OE2GEN, ....
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| VK3HDX |
Rating:      |
2013-06-02 | |
| Amazing Antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
While living & working in another state for the last 4 years, I've had a lot of time to think about how I would rebuild my station once I returned home.
I had previously used a Cushcraft A4s with average results, so I started researching different options. I initially thought I would go down the dynamic antenna path (Steppir Ultrabeam) as I wanted something for 5 bands.
After reading about many users experiences (both good & bad) I had a few reservations.
I had come across Optibeam while researching on this site, a quick email to the local Australian agent resulted in an almost immediate response from Tom in Germany. He answered all my questions & concerns. At the end of this process I felt that if i were to have any issues Tom & Brenton (local Agent) would do whatever was necessary to sort it out.
One week later the Optibeam arrived, the quality of this antenna is astounding, I'm sure this antenna is going to outlast me!
Assembly was straight forward, this is a big antenna and I took my time, about 6 hours, having all the parts conveniently labeled and the boom marked up from the factory made the job simple.
Once up in the air (13M) I checked all bands, all SWR lower than advertised 1.2 or lower on every band. I can her stations that I've never heard before, my first contact was with an EA on 10m, he couldn't believe I was only using 100W with 5/9++ reports exchanged, and this is proving consistent on every band. I've been able to break into any pile up I've attempted so far.
I am extremely happy with this antenna, no traps no motors. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is considering a new multiband yagi.
Don
VK3HDX
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| PA3WB |
Rating:      |
2013-04-19 | |
| best beam i had till now |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
i have this OB9-5 for12 mounths in my tower,and work very good,and good performents,gread construction,very simple to assemble in 1 day,no traps,low swr and looks gread,if you look for good 5 bands HF antanna this is the one!!!
best 73,s Wil-PA3WB |
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| N4AN |
Rating:      |
2013-01-27 | |
| A Simply Amazing Antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I was checking the reports to find a good multiband Yagi , which can withstand the high winds we experience in South Florida as well as the corrosive atmosphere at the ocean.
Tom, DF2BlueOcean was very helpful in selecting the right model based on my requirements.I bought the 50 Ohm 1:1 Balun from Array Solutions, which is easily mounted, as all connections fit nicely with the antenna feed points.
Assembly was surprisingly easy, as everything was well labeled and I had pictures and blow-ups to make sure, I don't miss anything.
Contrary to one report by VK4HO I did not have any difficulties of mounting all elements .
We made however one mistake by placing the center boom truss on one side to close to the center, which theoretically gives less support for the 5 m long boom.
As I had sent pictures of the installation to Tom, he immediately recognized it and sent me an email with the description of the exact location of the support wire mounting point.
The real joy was the performance:
The antenna is mounted about 13 ft above the roof of a 300 ft high condo building.
The SWR was measured with a AA-1000 Rig Expert analyzer.
For all 5 bands the SWR was well below 1.2 mostly below 1.1 to 1.0 (Ask me by Email for the Graphs) at the best points. Most of the bands I would be able to tune better than 1.5. Being so close to the roof and also to my Windom Antenna, the results varied with the pointing direction of the antenna.
The receiving rapports were amazingly great with about 3 S-units better with the Optibeam compared to the Windom.
In most cases I would not hear anything on a band, unless I used the Optibeam.
Truly an amazing antenna , I may look into their 40m Dipole as an addition, even though I may have to do something with the rotator support because of the additional wind load.
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