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Reviews For: Cushcraft D3W

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

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Review Summary For : Cushcraft D3W
Reviews: 17MSRP: $225
Description:
WARC band rotatable dipole
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cushcraftamateur.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00174.3
OE5CSP Rating: 2007-03-19
Happy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this antenna for 150 Euro and mounted it 2m above my FB33 beam.SWR is fine except 12m-haven´t found out why, maybe a broken trap.This antenna performs very well and I´ve worked some great dx.It has survived a few heavy storms and very cold winters with lots if snow and I´d definitely buy it again.
K0KES Rating: 2006-11-22
Excellent!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I mounted the D3W about three feet above my KLM KT34A which is at 60 FT. Wow is all I can say the antenna works much better than I could have emagined,It is directive and at that height it out performs my full wave loop by at least 3 to 4 s-units and is quieter on receive. It is an excellent value for the money and appears to be well built. I feed mine thru a balun rather than the coil of coax recomended by CushCraft.Get one you will love it!!!
OE3SGU Rating: 2006-10-15
Not bad Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Installed one years ago just 1 m above the beam and it really performed very well on the WARC-bands. Some directivity is they key to wipe out noise, would buy again.
YO3VU Rating: 2006-10-07
Buy it Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It is a great antenna which does it's job and would not let you down. Instead of the coax coil buy an balun 1:1 and will be better. Worked VU4 on 12 17 and 30m with only 200W. It took just first call in 30m rtty and VU4 in the bag.

73' from Mike in Bucharest
AB4D Rating: 2006-09-02
Great Attic Stealth Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I used Cushcraft's D3 and D3W during my exodus into an HOA controlled area. These antennas were just what I needed to get on the air without having to mount them outside. I successfully mounted a D3 and D3W in my attic which was about 35 feet by 50 feet. I just assembled the antennas in the attic in a straight line fashion and hung them from the roof trusses with a 2X4 and used nylon ties to keep the elements level, with one antenna on each side of the attic. Tuning was a little difficult because of tight spaces, but the plus side is you don't have to really tighten the elements too snug because there are no weather or wind issues. My only suggestions for this configuration is to get all the antennas in place before you tune to avoid any interaction you may get from adding an antenna later, and if necessary, use a tunable counterpoise system if your on an upper floor to minimize any stray RF, and use as little power as necessary. On the air I got good reports and many Ops were shocked to learn that I was using attic mounted antennas. If you check the logs for some of the ARRL's DX phone contests during the years for 2001-2003, under my call, you will see the results of using these antennas and a 150 foot wire loop in my logs for a couple of contests, but keep in mind that I am not a very good contester. I rated this antenna a five because of the versatilty, construction is outstanding, and in my opinion, performance is very good for a trap dipole.

Jim/AB4D
K9EL Rating: 2005-10-12
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I wanted a better antenna on 30m than my Inv vee. I wrote to Cushcraft and asked about modifying their 40m rotatable dipole for 30m. Ed Hammond sent me the manual for the 40m unit, but suggested I look at the D3W. He claimed I would get good 30m performance, plus the benefit of 12 and 17 as well. I also wrote to another manufacturer, but never received a reply. I went with Ed's recommendation and ordered the D3W. I installed it between my Tri-bander and my 2 el 40m yagi. It is light enough that I could do final assembly and erection at the top of the tower. I am very impressed with the performance of the antenna and very happy that I listened to Ed. If you need to get on the WARC bands and want to do it with little windload and an easy installation, then this antenna is for you. It is many dB above my inv vee. I highly recommend the D3W.
K0WV Rating: 2002-12-15
Great antenna!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Put the D3W up in 1995. First on the roof, then on a 55ft tower. The D3W is mounted between a 20 meter mono band beam (top)and triband beam (below) on the same mast with 8 feet of seperation between them. Interaction? Who knows?
I can only say that the antenna has always worked flawlessly with a very noticable front to side null. To date: 237 confirmed 30M. 214 confirmed 17M. And 209 confirmed 12M. At approximately 45ft in the air, I don't think that's to shabby. I recently picked up another one used and have been experimenting on a 2 el version...mostly for better performance on 30 meters. It is a nicely constructed antenna that plays well and perfect for limited space installations. Cushcraft did a good job with this one. 5+