Callsign	Required
Password

If you've forgotten and/or need to reset your password, please enter your Callsign and use the button below.

You *must* have a verified email address on the account.

If you are not a member of the eHam community

Please consider registering to e-Ham.

Manager

Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: OptiBeam OB7-2WARC. High Performance Dualbander.

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 OB7-2WARC. High Performance Dualbander.
	Reviews: 5	MSRP: 825
	Description: German desingned high performance antenna for the Warc bands. Computer optimized with an exclusive patented feed system and full size elements. It has 4 elements active on 12 meters and 3 on 17 meters. Furthermore there is a separate director for the 17 m band and two for the 12 m band and a separate reflector for each of the two bands. Excellent high gain, bandwidth, clear pattern and low swr with unlimited power handling are achieved.
	Product is in production
More Info: http://www.optibeam.de
# last 180 days	Avg. Rating last 180 days	Total reviews	Avg. overall rating
0	0	5	5

OH1EB	Rating:	2020-11-07
Steady performer			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I needed a dualbander for WARCs since 30m was already covered and this antenna was perfect choice. The performance is as expected. The construction is well planned and easy to build. All parts and marked and well packed. No need for extra hands to make it ready. The balun is big enough. The tuning for 12m is not as good as on 17m but within spec. According to my tests the antenna works as specified. OptiBeam has a great service, e-mails are answered in a day and things solved out promptly. Great company to work with!

OH2WC	Rating:	2006-03-16
Best buy!			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been active on HF-bands more than 30 years, mostly on those traditional ones. Some years ago I got also interested in WARC-bands. At the same time I planned to replaced my old TH6 to another Tri-bander beam. I wanted to have a modern design, good performance and resistant for adverse wx conditions. My QTH locates not too far away from the Arctic Circle. I made careful studies to find a suitable antenna for my demands. While hosting one of the top WRTC-teams (2002), I got very handy information and experiences of different WARC-antennas. During the choice process, I found that Tom (designer of Optibeam) was very capable of co-operation to give the answers to my needs and questions. Final result, OB7-2WARC from Optibeam. It has been a success story and a great delight through more than 2,5 years. Delivery on time, good documentation, easy to assemble and after nearly three years of operating experience (Dxing and rag chewing), all the granted electrical and mechanical performance characteristics have been fulfilled. If you wonder, which was my choice to replace TH6? That is another story on another forum (OB11-3). I was the first customer to buy Optibeam antennas here in Finland and so it took some time to get experience enough to say: Optibeam, highly recommended. Need more info? Pse email oh2wc@sral.fi

IZ0FMA	Rating:	2004-04-03
NO LIMITS			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Together with the OB12-4 i have also in use a OB7-2WARC. The way it must be assembled is easy like 1,2,3 Pre-assembled, robust. Low SWR and generous in bandwidht. I consider it a "No Limit" antenna. Very efficent. Impressive gain in RX and TX. I do consider my Antenna's Farm almost completed after this installation.

K1UO	Rating:	2003-08-02
Provides 2 band monoband performance			Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Well I finally got around to getting the Optibeam OB-7-2WARC antenna to compliment my High Performance OB16-3 tribander. Compliment it does...excellent patterns for gain, F/B and SWR on this WARC 17/12 duobander. At first I thought something was wrong as the receive noise level for either 12 or 17 way always so low on this beam. That "worry" was short lived as I soon discovered I was hearing as much or more than the others around this area with WARC yagis! The interlaced design of 3 full sized elements on 17 and 4 full sized elements on 12, along with the excellent coupled feed system, gives this dual band antenna monoband performance on a single boom. The Alpha 87A simply loves the solid SWR levels at no worse than 1.2:1 on either band. Construction was a breeze, although the square boom threw me for a while! but then again the elements stay aligned no matter what. This antenna along with its cousin, the big 33ft boom OB16-3 tribander, have survived the Maine winter, complete with ice storms, with NO problems. I recommend throwing away the provided SO-239 feed point assembly and installing the EB-2 balun in its place. The balun output has a much better fit to US made PL259's and there is much less chance for ice/snow buildup at the feed junction.

EA1XF	Rating:	2003-01-04
: The best WARC band antenna nowdays!			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This antenna replaces my Cushcraft A3WS. As soon as you unpack the antenna, you will see that they have developed a work of art, beginning with the element transition, and a direct coupled feed system with no losses, making the antenna the easiest one I have ever put together. Most of the antenna already comes pre-assembled, saving a lot of work and making the assembly very easy. In the manual you will also find some extra help given by some included pictures in detail. Every piece is marked and every tube will fit into the other perfectly with no need of using the tape measure. So the required lengths of the element sections are achieved automatically. This will make the antenna assembling very easy and quick, just plug and play”. The square boom is extremely solid and you won´t have to waist your time and patient aligning the elements. Even the boom marks will tell you where to place them!. The final result is a perfect antenna looking work, meeting all the specifications given by the manufacturer. You will see real gain and a fantastic F/B and F/S. If you are looking for an antenna to add on top of you other tribander, you will love this one.. In my case, I have it 10 feet above my OB 16/3, and there is no interaction at all between them and no change on the swr curve or bandwidth on both. What a big difference compared to the previous antenna I had!. The antenna has gone through high winds up to 65 mph several times this winter, without any damage. This confirms its strong and solid construction . Next thing that I will do is to replace my KLM 40 M1 for the new OptiBeam 40 meters rotatable dipole OB1-40, and I will place it in between my OB16/3 and OB7-2Warc. This will complete my antenna system. 73 de EA1XF.

Category:

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

Product:

OptiBeam OB7-2WARC. High Performance Dualbander.

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:
Great! Good OK Needs Help Poor Awful!	0 - 3 Months 3 - 6 Months 6 - 12 Months More than 12 Months

Remarks:

Describe your experience with the OptiBeam OB7-2WARC. High Performance Dualbander. and tell us why you give it the rating you did (required). Other useful information would include your experience with similar products, infomation on a product that you would purchase instead of this one, and so on.