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Reviews For: Optibeam OB4-2WARC High Performance WARC dualbander

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

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Review Summary For : Optibeam OB4-2WARC High Performance WARC dualbander
Reviews: 5MSRP: 495
Description:
German designed high performance multi band 17/12m Yagi with patented efficient feed system. Computer optimized and field tested yagi without traps and with full size elements on all bands. It has 2 elements on 17 and 2 on 12 all on a 12 foot boom. Mechanically this antenna is a beauty. Get a better beam for your money, check it out!
The OB11-3 has 3 el on 20, 3 el on 15 and 5 el on 10 meters on a 6 meter boom
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.optibeam.de
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0055
WA2ETU Rating: 2011-06-18
Great Performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am pleasantly surprised at how well this relatively small beam works. Previously I was using a Mosley PRO-96 and spent little time on 17 and 12 meters. When I decided to replace the Mosley I almost decided to for go 17 and 12. However, I finally decided I did want the capability of working the WARC bands and choice this yagi to compliment the OB16-3 (see my review of the OB16-3) I ordered at the same time. It is a well constructed beam, extremely quick and easy to assemble. It works as advertised, perhaps better. Since installing this beam I spend many evenings talking to my friends in ZL, VK and other areas of the South Pacific on 17 and sometimes 12. Almost always make the contact on first call running barefoot with 200 watts. Get excellent reports on my signal. Amazing what you can do with just two properly designed elements on each band. I highly recommend this antenna.
IZ5MOQ Rating: 2008-06-12
It's a jewel! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
OB4-2/W just installed, tonight, without daylight!

High Performance WARC for real!

The antenna is installed on Pro.SiS.Tel. tower, separated from the OB11-3's main tower.

Compliments Tom!

See you to the next, maybe on "low-banding" :-)

73's - IZ5MOQ Alessandro
M3SKF Rating: 2004-01-10
TOP CLASS Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Great beam i think the quality is one of the best you can buy.Up at 50FT on my pump up mast & with high winds of late this beam never fails to amaze me.Dont hesitate to purchase one i am very pleased with the performance,go for GOLD.
G0UUK Rating: 2003-09-28
Excellent Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is a superb piece of equipment for the size, weight and most of all performance. The construction is straight forward. The instructions are well written and illustrated. The quality of the material used can only be described as excellent. No traps and no worries. At a height of only 1.7 meter from the roof top, the SWR on both 12 and 17 is completely flat across the whole band. Never in many years of using different brands that I had any thing like this. With 200 w from my transceiver I worked California in my very first contact on 17m. Many friends ask me if I am running an amplifier.
Tom, DF2BO attended to all my queries practically the same day by e-mail. He even rang me to make sure of the details of my shipping address. He had the patience to answer general questions and ideas of how best to install this and the OB-16 which I also bought at my new QTH. Thanks Tom. The OB4-2WARC deserves to be high on the list of any body on the market searching for value for money, quality and performance. This small in size big in performance Yagi does not take much of space or support. One tends to forget it after a while due to its small size but it keeps delivering the goods time and again.
HB9BGV Rating: 2002-10-02
Like a monobander! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
At the 2001 Ham Radio fair in Friedrichshafen/Germany I stumbeld across this antenna and was very attracted by the design and the mechanical construction. After quite a few words with the designer, I bought one of the first antennas of this type and installed it at our club station approx. 8m high. So I became QRV on the WARC-bands and worked within nine month 210 entities on 17m and 190 on 12m. I cracked many of the pileups within the first two calls, an very often I am told to have an outstanding signal.
At the Ham Radio fair 2002 I bought a second antenna for my own QTH, mounted only 1.5m higher than the flat roof of my house. This "damaged" the SWR to about 1:1.4 instead of 1:1.1, but the on the air results are still very impressive and the F/B and F/S is fine.
I am used to work with monobanders for 10, 15, 20 and 40m (5 el., 5 el., 6 el. and 3 el. respectively). For sure, the optibeam gives me the same feeling as the monobanders, with just 4 elements for two bands.
The assembly of this antenna is mere childs play and all my technical questions about the antenna were answered by optibeam within hours.
To sum it up: Give me another house, and I buy a third antenna of this kind!