Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Optibeam OB9-5

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
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
DJ2HD Rating: 2005-04-21
fabulous antennna for DX Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
We were long thinking about an antenna which should be used during our long Dx-pedition to Tonga
and New Zealand in March 2004 as there are many aspects to be considered.
It should be a Yagi for all bands over 14 MHz with best performance, good stability and low wheight.
There were a few brands and types under evaluation.
The helpfulness of Thomas DF2BO and his wife Diana convinced us to try this antenna which was the
the 1st use for a Dxpedition. They supported us with useful hints during the pretest.


The rectangular boom makes the assembly of the thoroughly preassembled elements very comfortable
and prevents the twisting. They stay horizontally in any case.
As the Optibeam manufacturing is near to our QTH we could get a good impression about the minutious
production, preparation and packing of the antennas.


The OB9-5 showed a great performance and allowed us thousands of contacts. Even with only 100 watts
output power we got 59+ reports from Europe, half around the world. All calling stations were astonished
about our big signal. During the sometimes bad conditions we had the strongest signal in Europe
from this area. So we were sure to have made the best choice.

This is why I decided to buy the next bigger version OB12-6 for my home station.

Mathias A35DJ/DJ2HD
DJ7RE Rating: 2005-04-06
DJ7RE Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have installed the beam on a Versatower model BP40.After 3 severe winter storms with a wind up to 178Km/h (111mp/h) not a single mechanical failure. My location is in Northern Germany with flat surrounding. Best dx succsess in spite of "just" 100W using, delivered from a Kenw. TS570. Almost one time arround the globe as well when very weak signals from the other side.
DJ7RE Bernd from Heide
HB9DUC Rating: 2005-02-10
All what you read about this OB9-5 is TRUE Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hello everybody,

Sorry if I can give only a 5. Why I cannot give one 6 ? ;-)

OK. I have Optibeam OB9-5 since July 2003.

It is an excellent antenna and I have not had any problem for more than 18 months. All that I can say or write was already written in these reviews.

Optibeam does a very good work and job. You wish to buy a Optibeam antenna? You can do it with closed eyes and you will be VERY VERY HAPPY !

Greetings from Switzerland
Didier, HB9DUC and HE3RSI (http://www.hb9mm.com/sottens)
GM0EGI Rating: 2005-01-14
excellent construction-looks good works great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had this antenna for 2 months now, I had some initial problems when building it, which were ALL my fault, I tried to put antenna up in a hurry, and did not carefully read the manual. Tom DF2BO was great with all the help I needed to sort out the problems, my questions were answered basically BY RETURN of e-mail, even when I sent an e-mail at about 2300 gmt!. I have worked EVERYTHING that I wanted to since putting up this antenna, even worked the VU4 on my THIRD call on 20 metres. I had a klm kt34 for 10 years, that was a good antenna but I needed something directional for 12 and 17 metres and I feel that I have made a good choice.In an e-mail from tom he mentioned that the antenna was designed to withstand 100mph winds, and he jokingly said that we would probably not be able to test that, WELL, I cannot confirm that it will stand up to 100 mph but CAN confirm that gusts to 90 mph did NO damage, My QTH was badly hit by the hurricane winds to hit Scotland on Tuesday 11th January, the antenna took the full force and was not affected, the swr readings and performance was the same as before the storm. All I can say about this antenna during the short time of use is that I have no regrets in buying it and the customer service is best ever,I would have no hesitation in buying another product from optibeam, if they are all of this standard they should last a long time.
G8WVW Rating: 2004-11-03
Fantastisch!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
There is a certain satisfaction in owning a quality piece of engineering be it a motor car, watch, golf club or for readers of this site, Ham Radio equipment; the feel that somebody crafted something with a passion and strived for the highest standard achievable. This statement epitomises the Optibeam 9-5.

All tube and section is thick walled aluminium, there are no pressed steel plates, holes are drilled rather than punched, fixings are by stainless steel Allen-headed machines screws, assemblies align perfectly and there isn’t a hole-clamp anywhere.

Production engineering is first class but does it work? Assembled mine temporarily at 10m AGL for October’s CQWWDX contest; VSWR at all band centres doesn’t move my Bird43 needle and at the very worst is 1.3:1 at the top of 10m. With just 100W, worked 2,290 stations, 108 countries achieving 2.1M points in 27-hours of operation. There is no doubt my ZD8 call helped but if stations couldn’t have heard me, they couldn’t have worked me!

Great antenna and very highly recommended by an Engineer with 20-years in the broadcast/communications business.

Ian,
G8WVW, ZD8I & VP8DHW.
PA3CNX Rating: 2004-09-15
Amazingly good! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Two weeks ago I put up my OB9-5 in the mast.
I fully agree on the comments of the short assembly time and the good manual.
The mechanical desing looks absolutely good and standard available materials are used.
Then my first results on HF; ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.
I worked 109 DXCC-cuntries(mainly outside Europe) in only two weaks time with this antenna(@20m above the ground). I am NOT running QRO, just the 100 watts from the IC-756PRO.
This thing really breaks through pile ups!
I got more than once comments from North America like "You are the only european station I hear on the band".
Comparing this antenna with a FD-4 Windom and a GAP Titan vertical, which I used so far, this beam brings a new dimension to my HF-Hobby!

Thom and Diana, keep up the good work in designing and manufacturing these great antennas.

73's

Peter, PA3CNX
http://pa3cnx.pi4utc.net
SV2DGH Rating: 2004-06-02
outstanding antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
We used OB9-5 on SY8DX dx-pedition for first time.

It took abt 2 hours to asseble whole antenna. All parts of antenna was marked, the assembling was easy and the manual very informative. The manufacturing quality is “five-star”, especially the way that the screws “clever” clam the elements so well-knit. The material width of aluminum on elements, boom and general to all antenna gives anyone sense of a very robust antenna non obstante its size.

We made some measurement compares with other two HF antennas installed at the same hights. We had 2el Qquad(10-12-15-17-20m) and 3el Yagi A3S+A743(10-15-20-40m). We made real time compares, all antennas in the same shack, direction, band-frequency-mode, radio. I refer suggestively 1-2 measurements, We observe that NOISE, 3el Yagi-noise: S4-5 / 2QQ-noise: S3-4 / OB9-5-noise: S2-3. At the same weak DX signal-station, GAIN SSB 3elYagi-gain: S43 / 2QQ-gain: S43 / OB9-5-gain: S54. The OptiBeam OB9-5 proved as better.
It's an outstanding antenna, WITHOUT tuning, WITHOUT lossy traps on it and we had possitive comments from all over hams for the "big signal" to them.

Generally, we’re very sold on its performance and we’re proud to have it in our hold.

A great thanks to Tom DF2BO and the high customer servise level, informative, patient and very quick to message replies!!!

Chris SV2DGH
www.qsl.net/sv2dgh/sy8dx/sy8dx_photos.html
DJ6ZM Rating: 2004-04-12
perfect Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had a th6dxx before. It has been a good ant for many years. Was looking for a better one in same size incl. warc bands. the ob9-5 is much better and works great. The assembling was very easy. just plug and play. The swr is better than manufacturer sad. I was astonished, that the front to back and front to side was better than on my th6dxx. The OB9-5 exceed all my expectations.
DF3VM Rating: 2003-12-31
Simply outstanding! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I got this antenna about 7 months ago. It took less than 4 hours to put up the whole antenna
without any help. The parts are all marked and assembling is a dream. And the best of all:
absolutely no tuning and no lossy traps. The engineering and the used materials are outstanding and the anteanna is worth every penny.

It's not necessary to write down here all the technical details of the antenna, you'll find them at optibeam's website. Fact is, that the antenna fits to all the specifications given there, in some cases (SWR and F/B) even better. There is an additional point i want to mention: it's unbelievable how quiet the antenna is. After the first power-on i thought, there is something wrong. I agree to all reviews written below, don't want to repeat 'em all.

The performance is great on any of the five bands. Working pile ups is so easy now, that i'm
running barefoot in most cases. With my old TH6DXX (Sure also a great antenna, over 15yrs old!) i often had to use my amplifier. No longer search and try, it's search and punch now. Working rag chewing QSOs i very often hear comments like "big signal", and the antenna is only 11 meters up. The OB 9-5 is simply the best multi-band yagi i ever used, it's really amazing. I can highly recommend the antenna, you'll never feel you purchased a compromise. Compare the antenna with all your trap-yagi using neighbours and you know what i mean.

The support from Tom, DF2BO and his wife Diana is the best of the best. We had a lot of
email-contacts and i got the answers within one day (sometines within a few minutes). This is
what i call client-orientation! Great.

Summing up i can say, that you'll not find a better five-band antenna in performance and
engineering in this size. Don't miss my TH6... The OB 9-5 makes really fun!

Now i'm waiting for a smallsized dualband 30/40 (perhaps a double mox?) from optibeam to complete
my system.

73's and hear you on the bands

Mike, DF3VM
DL3OH Rating: 2003-12-17
An outstanding 5 Band Yagi Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Since Mai 2002 I am using an Opti Beam Type OB9/5 for the Bands 10 down to 20 m including the WARC Bands 12 and 17 m.
The assembly was very simple and a pleasure. All is very precise and fits together perfectly. I need for the assembling about 4 hours without trouble.
After mounting the Antenna to my 17 m high Versa Tower first I checket the SWR with the CIA-HF Impedance Analycer. The SWR is on all Bands excellent and better as the manufacturer published.
In the pileups I often get trough at my first or second call and very often comments like "a big signal". I am running most of the time with my IC 756 pro without Linear.
The Antenna has gone through high winds several times in the last two winters with no damage at all. Watching how it swings under this situation, i am shure it capable of resist much more wind pressure. This was the final test to me to confirm that I rally have a great Antenna.

73´s Peter, DL3OH