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Reviews For: Marshall MB-3300 Broadband Folded Dipole

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Marshall MB-3300 Broadband Folded Dipole
Reviews: 3MSRP: USD 35
Description:
This is a cheap folded dipole with a good performance. 18,5 metre long, can handle 3,5 - 30 Mhz continuous bradband 100W Pep. SWR is 1,2 - 1,5 from 6.100 - 28.000 Mhz, but this is not so good below 5 Mhz (3,5 - 5.000 Mhz)You must add its heigh at least 20 metre above ground. You can buy in Glodok Harco Electronic Supplies for USD 35
Product is in production
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# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0033
VK2FTNY Rating: 2008-04-11
Cheap, Reliable, multiband wire Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned and used this folded dipole in an inverted v position at 10m for over 18 months.And for under $60 australian delivered to my door (thanks ebay) i certainly cant have any complaints.My main band is 10m and i use resonant verticals and beams for that band but i required a multiband wire to chat to local operators on 80-40m and thats when i bought the marshall folded dipole .The balun is cheap commercial plastic so longevity may be an issue but it seems to handle my local wildlife with ease at the moment.With a decent tuner it is very easy to obtain an ideal swr reading on all amatuer bands from 80-10m and is quite simple to erect out of the box with no assembly required.Just simply roll out and hang it up.Of course this is not the serious dxers antenna but as a cheap, effective and reliable means of getting on the bands quickly the Marshall fit the bill very well at my qth
SV2BWM Rating: 2007-12-05
Good performance, but with new balun... Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've worked this antenna for >6 months as a sloper (10m-3m high: the manual says 20m high but it was difficult). It is a cheap antenna that needs some improvement because I had always 2-3:1 SWR except 1:1 around 6-7MHz. I used LDG-1000 as an antenna tuner and the Zetagi SWR-500 to see if the results were real. When I changed the balun to 12:1 isolation TXFMR 1,5KW from Radiowavz, the VSWR dropped to 1:1 around 14MHz and it performed much better. So with the new balun installed, the results are:
-160m: just forget it!
- 80m: ok 5:1 (tuner needed for 1:1 mid)
- 40m: good 3:1 (tuner needed for 1:1 easy)
- 30m: good 2:1 (tuner needed for 1:1 easy)
- 20m: PERFECT 1:1 NO TUNER NEEDED!
- 17m: very good 1,8:1 (tuner needed for 1:1 easy)
- 15m: good 3:1 (tuner needed for 1:1 easy)
- 12m: good 3:1 (tuner needed for 1:1 easy)
- 10m: very good 2:1 (tuner needed for 1:1 easy)
Next step is to try it as an inverted vee at 15m high to see the results. Until then, 73's ...
UNCLETIMROB Rating: 2007-07-08
only buy if you can get it cheaply Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
It is well made visually, and was easy to put up. I have mine as an inverted V, but have read somewhere that folded dipoles are best oriented horizontally. As for performance:

1) 160m don't bother. Having said that, it was never to my knowledge marketed at a 160m antenna.

2) 80m this band has been terrible for some time here in Brisbane, and I find a vertical is better than the marshal. Given the length of the Marshal this is probably not surprising. I cant really make a fair comparison until the band clears.

3) 40m works well for me. Tunes up easily and I've made good
contacts in New Zealand, Tasmania and Sth Australia from Brisbane with relatively low power.

4) 20m Also works well

5) WARC bands couldn't tune the marshal to them at all.

6) 10m also cant tune this one - strange as 20m works well

If you can get one cheaply as I did, they are worth a look, but I
hesitate to recommend it. Assuming the balun and resistor are operating correctly, its worth buying - at the right price - just for those.

I am going to have go at re-orienting it as its current position is not ideal, so if my opinion changes I'll post an update.

One of my friends bought a KBT TQJ-30A recently. Non-exhaustive non-measured comparisons suggest that this is a much better antenna.