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Reviews For: Optibeam OB9-2WARC High Performance WARC dualbander

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

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Review Summary For : Optibeam OB9-2WARC High Performance WARC dualbander
Reviews: 11MSRP: 1280
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 4 elements on 17 and 5 on 12 all on a 27 foot boom. Mechanically this antenna is a beauty. Get a better beam for your money, check it out !
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.optibeam.de
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00115
AA0FO Rating: 2020-12-06
Updating to a 5 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Original Review
I purchased an OB9-2 WARC from Optibeam this past Summer. Everything went smoothly placing and receiving the order. When I went to assemble the antenna I found that the steel cable truss was cut to the wrong length. I contacted Optibeam and they referred me to Array Solutions to solve the problem. Instead of cutting and assembling a new truss for me, Array Solutions sent me a length of phillystran and thimbles with instructions on how I could recreate the truss myself.

Never having worked with phillystran or with creating a truss, for that matter, I did my best to follow the instructions. I have the antenna installed on a 55’ tower and have my fingers crossed that my construction was satisfactory and that the phillystran will perform at least as well as the original steel cable.

Yesterday, I was walking my yard and found one of the boom end caps of the OB9-2 lying in my grass. The boom caps come pre-inserted into the boom ends and there are no instructions in the assembly manual to further secure the cap. I can only assume that the cap was supposed to be secure and never come out of the boom. The boom diameter is quite large and I expect it will make a nice home to a bird and / or wasps. Short of bringing the antenna down or getting a boom truck, there is no way to reinsert the cap.

Without respect to these problems, the antenna design and construction is exceptional and performance has been excellent. However, this was an expensive antenna and you expect everything to be perfect and require no build your own construction or maintenance. I hate to be the first one to not give this antenna a 5 rating but you must agree my rating is justified based on my experience.

One piece of advice for new antenna owners. Assemble your antennas early enough to identify problems so that you can get them corrected in the best manner possible. In my situation, I already had a boom truck scheduled when I found the problem with the truss and so it was a mad rush to get the problem remedied in time.

Update (as of 12-6-2020):
I've had the OB9-2 in operation for the past 5 years with zero performance problems operating low power (< 200W). During this time, I acquired an AMP and began using it with this antenna. At some point, I guess I fried the original balun and the AMP began tripping out with ARC Fault messages.

I contacted the owner of Optibeam, Tom, and he told me which balun to purchase from DX Engineering. The balun now used with this antenna is a significant improvement in design compared with the 5 year old balun I originally received with the antenna.

I got the balun installed yesterday. Now SWR is an absolutely Flat 1:1 on both 12m and 17m and the AMP appears very happy loafing along around 1,100 Watts. To top it off, at the end of my burn in on 17m I worked a KL7, JA, and DU! I'm really looking forward to using this antenna a lot, now sun spots are returning.

I'm bumping up my original 4 Star rating to a 5 Star rating based on current performance and all of Tom's help.
EA3AKP Rating: 2017-08-24
BEST CHOICE IF YOU WANT PERFORMANCE ON 12-17 METERS Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is another Optibeam antenna that surprised me for the very good performance on the air.
I enjoy very much on 17 meters and also 12 meters when it is open. The antenna again works as Optibeam predicted in the manual. It was easy to assembly and install and never had a problem even on strong winds weather conditions.
Mechanically is very strong and well built.
The swr curves are flat although the most important thing is not swr but the spectacular performance on both bands,I can work any Dx and copy very weak stations with no problem.
If you enjoy 12 and 17 this is your antenna for sure. My antenna is I think the latest version of the model with 9,80 meters boom lenght. Installed on a 20 m crank up tower never had a problem and performed perfectly.
73+dx EA3AKP
N6MB Rating: 2017-08-01
A review for Optibeam OB9-2WARC Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a wonderful antenna. Although the band is not good recently, comparing to some big stations near my QTH it is very comparable big mono-bander.
DF2BO has gone out the way to make the antenna fit for mounting on a LUSO 36XX tower. The installation was simple.
My shipping was great and on-time( actually it was earlier than I thought); and all parts were accountable for during the installation. Nothing was missing, no bend or scratch.
It is certainly a more than joy to have this antenna as a DXer.
It is relatively expensive, but the antenna is well-constructed and well-performed. The money is well-spent.
K3FGO Rating: 2014-10-30
High quality performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Flat SWR across the bands- I don't have to re-tune between cw portion and phone band. Extremely pleased with quality and performance. Exceeded my expectations. At 66' high (20m) with 2EL 30m optibeam yagi stacked 10' above, I have become a true Optibeam fan thanks to these antennas and Tom at Optibeam for quick service which was unexpectedly needed. Highly recommend Optibeam.
CT2IRY Rating: 2007-09-11
The Best Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
What more can I say,but just reapet the other reviews.
I´m glad I bought this antenna.

Big Thanks to Tom and Diana for all the patience,and for make the very best antenna.

Nuno
CT2IRY
9K2HN Rating: 2006-10-26
OUTSTANDING preformance Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have been using this beam since April 2006, and I really enjoy working on the WARC bands with this great antenna. I have it installed 3m above OB16-3 (16 element tri-bander) Optibeam didn't recommend this installation but i had to do it this way to keep the balance between the two towers i have. I belive that optibeam is the best antenna available in the market (service + quality).
SM5AQD Rating: 2005-04-29
The Killer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had the OB9-2 for some time about 1,5 years. (see my report for the OB 16-3).
I have two of those antennas stacked with stacking distance about 15m.
I must say that the quality on the parts and the material is so good SS. First, to assembly the antenna
is very easy , the manual is very easy to read and understand. The manual even tell You who pick
all parts, all aluminium parts are winded in paper and the Boom clamp is already pre assembled.
Typical German quality.

There is no moving parts and I assembly the antenna and did the setting as the manual told me…
SWR are as promised. I am very happy about my investment.
I haven´t done any changes to that setting just put them up after what stacking distance they recommend –
This antenna is a real killer – I have worked many DX expeditions on 12m and 17m, but naturally 12m is most difficult (as conditions is getting poorer) others dosen´t even hear some of the stations.
We have had a lot of storms but one hurricane in January, I can not see any damage and difference in SWR
works as normal.

These stack is a band opener and I can start a pile of my own – I getting very good reports – I often get reports like
“ You are the strongest” on the band right now.

I really recommend this brand of antennas if You look for quality and rugged construction. I like to operate
not spend all time in the tower and repair the antennas. I have fun with mine……
DJ3FS Rating: 2004-10-27
THE BEST Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Wo will read my review regarding the OB17-4 can easily see that I am a convinced OB17-4 user.
As 12 and 17m are bands which interest me as well I wanted to have an antenna for those bands which would be equal in performance and mechanical quality.
So again I talked to Tom, DF2BO, enjoyed a detailed consulting, and 3 weeks later the OB9-2WARC arrived at my house door.
Knowing from my 17-4 how well the four elements on 20m worked at my little tower height of 11 meters I was sure that it could not be worse with the four elements of the 9-2WARC on 17m and the five on 12m.
The assembly was a snap, which did not surprise me as I was used to that by the OB17-4. And mechanically I now had a second piece of art in my hands.
Quickly my new WARC toy went up my second 11 meter high tower (I am restricted to that height by the local authorities).
The SWR on both bands was just excellent.
And performance wise the Yagi did not disappoint me either. Breaking dx pile ups becomes a sport, producing some by calling cq dx is fun.
If you are looking for the best 12/17m WARC beam available your choice should be the OB9-2WARC.
AA6NP Rating: 2004-06-20
EXCELLENT Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I am writing this review to cover three Optibeam antennas, the OB16-3, OB9-2 and the OB2-40. As an avid DX-er, my first choice would have been multiple towers with stacked monobanders on each. But with ONE tower and six bands to cover, a compromise had to be found. To be honest, I don't feel too compromised at all! The performance on all bands has been quite SUPERB.

The three antennas are stacked about 10 feet apart on mast above the tower. There was some minor interaction between the WARC antenna and the tribander, but again this was very minor and less interaction than I expected. I haven't done too much testing on 12 meters due to really dead conditions...but on 17 meters, this antenna plays very well.

Again, the on-air performance has been great. I was also very pleased with the elegantly simple design and engineering of these antennas. Top quality stainless hardware is used throughout. All the parts are clearly marked and fit together very well, making these antennas fun and quick to assemble.

Customer service from Tom at Optibeam and Jay at Array solutions was excellent. This included fielding MANY questions during the initial planning stages of this project.

I could not be more pleased with my choice of these antennas.
P43JB Rating: 2004-02-23
Dream Beam Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is an outstanding product!
The antenna has been installed at my QTH 3 mtrs above a OB16-3 and it works extremely well.
Meets all specs.
Easy construction,good materials and very pleasant contact with manufacturer and suppier.
Garanteed to generate pile-ups every time I am on the air.
Joop P43JB