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Reviews For: Optibeam OB9-5

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

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Review Summary For : Optibeam OB9-5
Reviews: 97MSRP: 1441. USD
Description:
Performant yagi designed as stacked monobander for 20/17/15/12/10 with patented feed system. Optimized computer designed German yagi without traps and with full size elements. The OB9-5 has 2 el on 20, 2 el on 17, 2 el on 15, 2 el on 12 and 3 el on 10 meters.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.optibeam.de
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15975
OZ7MHZ Rating: 2010-10-14
First class Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have only had my OB9-5 for 2 weeks and I knew as soon as I opened the box that I had bought something special. The engineering quality is of an extremely high standard and the aluminium is heavier gauge than any other antenna I have seen before. Assembly was unbelieveably simple with everything marked and labelled and in many cases, pre-assembled.
Once assembled, the antenna looks fantastic with all the elements perfectly aligned and perfectly parallel to each other. I also like the fact this antenna has no traps, no motors and no need for a measureing tape to assemble it. The SWR is as good as or better than shown in the specs.
On the air I have had a lot of great reports from the other side of the Atlantic and had my first QSO in New Zealand with a 59+ from Wellington using only 100 watts on 20meters and my tower only half way up at 10meters in height!
I give this antenna a 5 out of 5 as it is great from start to finish. Easy assembly and great to use with no need to use the ATU and I doubt if I will ever need to buy a linear amplifier.Also with no traps or moving parts, there is nothing that can fail over time.
I wont be shopping for antennas anywhere else other than Optibeam in future.
Buy one and you´ll have no regrets, Al. OZ7MHZ
F8VOE Rating: 2010-08-31
A beautiful dream now real Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the OB9-5 for my french QTH some months ago and I put up it on a tower of 18m (60ft). With a poor propagation and only 100W I worked smoothly DX also on pile-up. Of course working barefoot need patience and skills, but in the end I caught the new one with good signal. SWR is as previewed and measures done with the MFJ-259B confirmed the quality of the project. Aluminium is first quality and instructions clear. Easy to assemble and light to put up on the tower. Assistance in "put up" is always of first order and Thomas is really very kind and always "on line" by mail. OB9-5 is really a good choice!
DH8GV Rating: 2010-07-18
The best beam antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Probably the best beam antenna. No Traps, no movable parts, outstanding performance, survived easily the storm "Norina" from July 2010 in northern Germany 20m up. Nothing more to say. Buy this one and you are satisfied.
G3SED Rating: 2010-03-28
Well built antenna with outstanding performance for it's size Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this antenna to replace a much larger Force 12 C31XR (interlaced 3 el 20, 4 el 15, 7 el 10 mtrs). I wanted WARC band coverage and had doubts about the Steppir antennas for my location near the Sea on a hill. From my first contact with Tom at Optibeam i was simply "blown away" at his fast response to E mail questions and his detailed replies- even at 11pm in the evening ! I have been in the Ham business for over 40 years and know all about customer service! BTW: I have NO business connection with Tom or his company Optibeam.
The antenna is very well built, with a superb finish and will comfortably handle any weather we experience here on the South Coast of the UK.
Assembly took me about 6 hours and was easy with the detailed manual supplied.
I put the OB9-5 on the tower at 20 metres height and fired it up. First contact was T32MI in the Pacific on 15 metres in the evening ( a really tough path from the UK). Several local stations commented on the cluster they could not hear him - a good start I thought ! Whilst the antenna does not have the front to back of the much larger C31XR on air, it "feels" as if the forward gain is the same.
David G3FPQ with his 4 element Steppir kindly agreed to work with me around the bands for a few days making signal comparisons. I was amazed to get the same signal reports as David in over 95% of reports, irrespective of the band we were on! In fairness to Steppir and David, I do have a great QTH with sloping ground ( minus 10 degrees) in three directions and I am sure this must help. But the fact that this antenna can hold it's own against a much larger one with almost 3.5 dB more gain and it's ability to break large pile ups has really pleased me. When I purchased the antenna I was really convinced that I would probably end up taking it down after a couple of months use, because I would lose so much forward gain downsizing from the C31XR. Nothing of the sort - I am delighted and now want for nothing more. in the two weeks I have had it up I have broken large piles ups for T32MI, ZK3OU, ZK3YA, H44MS and many more pacific stations with ease.
One happy Optibeam user, I simply cannot fault it or the personal service of Tom at Optibeam!
DL1CLM Rating: 2009-11-30
excellent antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am using my Optibeam for over a year now and am still very satisfied with the performance of this antenna. It is mounted on a 10 meter tower.

If you have enough space this full-size beam is excellent, mechanical very strong and performing super.
Building the parts together wasn’t a big deal because the manual was very clear.

The SWR is very good on every band for some band even better as the specifications. Breaking pileups is no problem and I am getting excellent reports, running only 100 Watts.
I worked a lot of DX.

73 Dick DL1CLM / PE1CLM
K3MEJ Rating: 2009-08-17
Great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Excellent quality. Easy to assemble. Works great. Support from Array Solutions and Optibeam is A+. The real cost of this antenna is close to $2,000 delivered. 1,219 euro's = $1,721 USD plus $275.00 for shipping and additional duty fees. It will cost you $2,000.00, but well worth it.
DL4LAM Rating: 2009-04-26
Great antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
First time I saw Optibeam products was at DJ6ZM´s station in 2005.
The quality impressed me and I thought about purchasing one of these antennas. Due to the limited space of our garden I asked Tom about an OBW 10-5. After some mails Tom convinced me to purchase an OB 9-5.
This is the smallest antenna at DJ6ZM, but it was a reliable and good antenna for 20-10 mtrs including 17 and 12 mtrs.

Delivery was just in time and I assembled the antenna a few month later in July 2008. If you know the principle of the assembly, it is easy because everything is logical.
It is good to read the assembly instructions first. I found it very positive that there are some spare nuts, screws and washers.
With help of my brother and some good friends the antenna was mounted on our tower.
The signals are very good and it is a competitive antenna. CQWW 2008 was a real fun with signals from everywhere. I like the front to back ratio.

It is worth to mention the aftersales service. I had a problem and sent Tom an e-mail on Saturday 2.30 pm. Tom called me on my cell phone at 3.00 pm this Saturday and offered his help. I was impressed, that was great – Thanks Tom.

We solved the problem and I´m very happy again with my antenna.
EC1KR Rating: 2008-12-16
a fantastic antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Really a fantastic antenna with 5 bands, I have installed since 1 year ago in a 12m tower with a 1 elm 40m monoband + 9elm 144mhz + Dipole 80 and 160m. No ROE on all bands, is a killer DX antenna, fantastic aluminium, you get all contacts in big Pile Ups withouth problem. I buy the antenna directly to Official Spanish Optibeam Provider (PABLO EA4TX - www.ea4tx.com ) and all was fantastic with him. I recomended to all this antenna. You can see more pictures in www.qrz.com/ec1kr and a complet review with pictures of the instalation: http://www.dxfun.com/modules/My_eGallery/gallery/fotos/ec1agz_ant_037.jpg , also click my call in the youtube and see nice videos. Your friend Jesus EC1KR
A71BX Rating: 2008-11-18
Great Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Long time ago I was looking to replace my X7 cushcraft by another antenna to cover 20m to 10m, Juma (A71EM) advice me to go with the OB9-5

I ordred the antenna, when I got it here I started it install all the parts of the antenna, it's easy and simple, all the parts are marked so you will find it easy to be install

SWR on this antenna is great on all the bands, on 10m SWR is increas to about 1.8 to 2 or more but you will never be disapponted becuase it powerful and great, I always break the pileup to DX station without any problems, 100w is enough

Enjoy this beautiful piece of art

Thanks Tom (DF2BO)

73s to all

de A71BX from A73A contest team
PA1BR Rating: 2008-08-11
Great DX antenna! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I was looking for a replacement for my old 2-el 3-band yagi antenna. After some research by looking at the specs and the reviews I made my choice for the Optibeam 9-5, because this antenna has no moving parts like the Steppir antenna (which is the only serious competition for this antenne). I contacted Thomas because building a 9-el antenna is something different then building a 2-el antenna. He provided me all the documentation (via email) I asked for often within hours after the request. Building of the antenna took me about 12 hours, but did take some action against corrosion, like spraying coax connections with plasti-dip. I also had to mount half of the elements from the ground because the size and objects in my garden. I only needed help to put this antenna in the tower.

SWR on all bands is fantastic, only on 10 mtr it rises in the upperband (above 29.0 Mhz). I work many DX even we are in a low sunspot period. No problem in breaking pile-ups, now and then I am using a small Power Amp (abt. 300w) to speed things up. I guess if you would buy the OB 11-5 you not even needed an Amp. to break pile-ups in minutes.
I could recommend this antenna to anyone who is looking for a great DX-antenna of this size.
Many thanks Thomas for the quick delivery, great service and fantastic antenna.
Pascal - PA1BR