| KG0WX |
Rating:      |
2006-04-16 | |
| Update after 1 year of use |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My R-7000 continues to perform VERY well with NO problems. Using Caig DeoXit on all the connecting parts and hose clamping the traps was a good idea.
I just aquired a Kenwood TS-850SAT and moved to a new QTH. Instead of being up on the roof, the R-7000 is ground mounted on a 2' mast with radials from a previous installation going out in many directions underground. I had to retune the antenna when I moved (it was on my roof).
The poly guy lines I used didn't last half a year before they UV rotted and broke. Turns out the antenna really dosen't need them - I've gone out on windy days and the top of the antenna only moves 12-18" in a 40mph wind gust. Nice!
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Earlier 4-star review posted by KG0WX on 2005-04-06
I think my review might be worse if I had actually shelled out $380 for one of these. As it was, Robert, KB0OMQ actually GAVE me this antenna! Robert also gave me a 3' tripod and sold me the hex bolts for the legs and eyebolts for the guy lines. All I had to buy was buy rope, hose clamps and a 5' mast. I already had 150' of RG8 on hand.
I read all the reviews here and noticed a pattern from which I developed a set of rules:
1) Put hose clamps on the bottom of each trap
2) Clean & seal everything
3) Install non conductive guy ropes
4) Do NOT run power!
I used Caig Industries "De-Oxit" spray wherever needed. De-Oxit is expensive but worth it. I was tempted to assemble the antenna where marked by Robert but decided to opt for the default settings. I installed the antenna with a radial height of 24' (= 48' to the top) with 3 24' guy ropes.
The antenna resonated in the lower end of each band and with my AT-200 Pro auto tuner, tuned up nicely.
My reference antenna is a Van Gordon "All Bander", up 20' and trimmed for 40m. The Van Gordon has worked flawlessly for years. I figured the R7000 would equal the dipole on 40m NA stations and probably have an edge for DX & on the higher bands. I was right! 40m was pretty dead yesterday but I did manage a QSO with a station in Belize. The station was S3 on the dipole and S5-6 on the R7000. Not bad!
I surfed around, switching antennas and comparing. On 30m I had a really good test: WWVH was 3x2 on the dipole and 5x5 on the R7000, Man - it really came up! Another QSO was on 17m and again, the R7000 beat the dipole by 2-3 S units, esp. on DX. 10 meters was open at 05:00z last night (?) and again, the R7000 beat the dipole.
I initially had some SWR flicker but after 30 minutes up the antenna had settled down.
Overall, I'd say that with mods & prep, this is a good antenna. I'll never put more than 250w into it, though. It's a shame that Cushcraft dropped the ball here - the addition of support ropes and hose clamps on the trap bolts turned what would have been usless junk into a performer of an antenna. They should have done high power testing, too. I looked at the traps and I'd NEVER put more than 250w into them! Matter of fact, I'll probably never put more than 100w up the coax - 100w is all my FT-857D's do.
To summarise - expensive, not for high power & needs a few simple mods to be reliable but does perform very well when these issues are addressed.
Ken KG0WX |
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| W8WLC |
Rating:     |
2005-12-21 | |
| good but not great |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I had one of these several years ago right after they hit the market. When it worked it was great. The big secret to preventing problems with this dude is to open the traps up and replace the screws with ones that stay tight as well as apply a generous coating of no-allox to the connection. After doing this and guying the unit no problems. Cushcraft was very good on providing warrenty parts but they are a little harder to get hold of than some other companies |
|
| VA2DV |
Rating:      |
2005-09-28 | |
| Do i have the same antenna ? |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have bought this antenna to replace a Cushcraft MA5V mainly to add 40m capabilitie and to have a more permanent setup.I was lucky enough
to find a new old-stock R-7000 for about 1/4 the price of a new R-8 ; so the choice was easy.
At first, i was a little affraid about the bad reviews here on eHam but finally, i was surprised
to find a well-built antenna.I believe i have the second version of the antenna.Mine is double-walled all the way thru the last trap.Not a single washer or bolt were missing.Assembly time was around 1 hour (i have assembled several Cushcraft antennas in the past so i am a little familiar with there products).My R-7000 is mounted on a 10' pipe about 15' from my double-story house.A minor adjustment was needed to tune
the 40m section on my favorite part of the band (around 7070 KHz).I was happy to found that the vertical was not to much detuned by the proximity of the house.I usually get much stronger and steady signals on the vertical than
on my 67'wire.I have also acquired the R-80 kit
and will update my review after further testing.Overall, i am quite satisfied with this product.It's seems to me like an easy task to repair it if necessary in the future. |
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| KJ7BS |
Rating:      |
2005-07-01 | |
| It Takes A Licking And Keeps On Working |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I purchased my R-7000 in 1996 shortly after upgrading from Technician+ to Advanced. It is the second vertical I've owned. Let me tell you about my experiences.
I was skeptical about a vertical without ground radials, but the matching unit and counterpoise got my attention.
I purchased the antenna locally from Ham Radio Outlet and it took a couple of hours to assemble and tune it. I had it in a 3' Radio Shack tripod on a 4' mast sitting in the middle of my back yard.
Time to check it out. I was using a Kenwood TS-520S and an MFJ antenna tuner. I tuned around on each of the bands and it appeared it "heard" more than my dipole and other vertical. I tuned up on 20m and called CQ a few times. My first contact on the antenna, remember it is 4' above ground, was to VR6ME on Pitcairn Island for a 57 signal report. I found the SWR profiles to be very similar to those published by Cushcraft.
This antenna has been mounted at 30' above ground at both of the houses I've owned since purchase and has performed exceptionally well for a "no radials" vertical.
In 1998, I started camping with my son's Boy Scout troop and decided to take my radio gear with me and living in the desert southwest, there are not a lot of tall trees in which to string a dipole. A vertical was a natural choice. I made it easy to disconnect the antenna from the mast and found that separating it above the 10/12 meter coil allowed me to transport it on top of my Suburban. This also made for easy re-assembly in the field. Remember that tripod when I first got the antenna? It went with me on the camping trips. From 1998 to 2002, this antenna went camping with us every other month (Field Days, too).
I was moving the antenna to a new permanent location last week and one of the SS nuts on the U-Bolts that holds the mast froze. I had to cut the U-Bolt off and replace it. Parts are on the way from Cushcraft.
This antenna survived a straight-line windstorm that took the roofing and part of the roof off my current house. The mast bent, but the R-7000 survived without a bend.
I've had no problems with wacky SWR and have never done anything to the coils. I do not run high power. My current radios are a Kenwood TS-850S/AT (100w), Elecraft K2 (QRP), HTX-100 (25w), and ICOM IC-706MKIIG (100w). I operate mostly CW with come SSB, but enjoy the digital modes and operate RTTY when possible.
In short, this antenna is amazing. It has done more that I ever expected from a vertical. I believe what I've done with my R-7000 falls into the abusive category. Clearly these antennas are designed to go up and stay up, not what I've done.
I see there are two versions of the R-7000, not including the R-7000+) and wonder if the change is responsible for the complaints represented on this forum.
I am looking at the MA4080V vertical for 40 and 80 meters now.
Mark, KJ7BS
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|
| OE3JTB |
Rating:     |
2005-03-19 | |
| Good value |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I got it 8 years ago and only used it for listening, it did a good job.
In March 2004 in OE HF was free for CEPT2, so I began to transmit with this antenna. In a few months, I worked 150 countires, also in PSK31, RTTY etc..
Also I am using a PA FL7000, but because of the not so good SWR I have to reasemble the antenna.
Meanwhile the problem, which is described in this forum and on the net, catched my antenna too, the SWR trouble 1:1,5 - 1:9.
I located the screws in the traps, fixed them with clamps, and from there on, I have NO troubles again.
In the whole, the antenna did und does a good job for a vertical, even with more power no problem.
73 Alex |
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| AB2EZ |
Rating:     |
2004-03-26 | |
| Ok at <200 watts |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This is an update after six years of ownership of an R7000.
For the last several years I have been limiting the power into the antenna to 200 watts or less. I have had no problems with it since I have done that, and it continues to be an excellent performer under certain propagation conditions... when compared to various wire dipole antennas I have.
Prior to that, when I operated the antenna at higher power levels (400 watts, etc.) I had a lot of problems with traps arcing over and destroying themselves.
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Earlier 4-star review posted by AB2EZ on 2000-11-27
I have been using my R7000 for about 3 years. I have worked 220 DX entities, typically
running around 500-700 watts when I'm in a pile-up. I worked 90 DX entities last
weekend during the CQ DX CW contest...breaking through many fierce pile-ups.
On the negative side...as others have indicated... this antenna requires a lot of routine
maintanence, and it can be damaged easily by high power levels. Every few months,
I have to tighten the screws that connect the trap coil wires to the outer cases of their traps. It is a good idea to replace these screws with larger size, and slightly longer screws...because
the self tapping screws that come with the antenna easily strip their threads in the
plastic coil forms when one tries to tighten them. I had one trap develop a short between two of its turns...and I had to unwind and rewind it..skipping the damaged thread. One trap appears to have been wound with one turn too many at the factory. After I removed a turn, it
worked fine on the band it controls. To diagnose problems, one needs an antenna analyzer.
During the CQ DX contest, the resonant frequency on 15 meters suddenly moved down
500 kHz when the temperature outside rose from 20F on Saturday to 45F on Sunday. So
this weekend I'll have to take down the antenna and tighten the screws on the traps again.
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|
| NETHERSDENIZEN |
Rating:     |
2004-02-13 | |
| It's ok for me |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| This antenna has a lot of bad reveiws but I haven't had too much trouble with it. Got it about 6 years ago and it's still up, even after storms with sustained 60mph winds and gusts up to 100+. I live on a hill and it gets very windy. It also has been in a number of ice storms, the radials bend down but never get damaged. The screws on the traps did get loose after a while and I tighed them up then put hose clamps on them as someone here suggested. Works great with the clamps, the SWR does not bounce when the wind blows. I have one from the first run, where the traps are 16 inches apart. It wont burn up with 100 watts power but a lot of people burned theirs up with higher power levels which is a shame. It is mounted about 10 feet up on a mast made from water pipes. It is somewhat close to a few apple trees but they don't affect it that I can see. The 40 meter coverage is narrow, only get partial coverage from 7.08-7.200ish. 20 meter SWR picks up at the very top of that band, can't seem to adjust it any better. 30 meters is 1.5 across the band. All other bands are great. Don't mount it next to a building or anything else that can detune it. The price I paid was a little high but it should last many more years. If you can get one used for a fair price and don't plan to run high power this is a fine antenna once you put clamps over the screws on the traps. |
|
| N9EF |
Rating:     |
2004-02-05 | |
| Still works good |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I've had my R7000 up for about 7 years and have had only to replace one trap. This was my fault as I was using a tuner and about 1KW. The antenna is mounted on a heavy duty 2 inch galvanized pipe about 30 feet up (5 feet above my roof). It's survived years of high winds in the western suburbs of Chicago. If you're expecting the same performance as a yagi, you'll be disappointed. It works well as a low-profile, omni-directional antenna which fits within my townhouse association rules. Operated within it's design limits the antenna has been a very good performer. |
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| N1MT |
Rating:    |
2003-10-13 | |
| Works Fair - Needed Some TLC First |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| A found a local ham who was getting out of the hobby and giving away a used R7000 vertical, probably 4 to 5 years old. The original owner had it up for 1 year and stored it in his basement for the remaining. He mentioned that it initially resonated on all bands fine and performed OK. After about 1 year he said it no longer resonated in the ham bands and he took it down for repairs. He never got around to fixing whatever issue existed. When I got it a few months back, it was missing a few parts, which I ordered from Cushcraft. I assembled (which was fairly easy) and installed on an 8' pipe in the back yard. Yes, I picked up where he left off. I analyzed the antenna on my MFJ-259 and found the antenna didn't resonate anywhere near the ham bands. Based on the reviews here, I immediately looked into loose screws on the traps. I found all but one to be very loose. I tighted them up, re-checked the measurements and put it back up on the 8' pipe. Like magic, it resonated in all 7 ham bands as specified. Over the weekend, I worked one station on 40, a few on 30, and one on 20. In all cases, I was giving out better reports than I was receiving. The antenna appears to hear OK, and I'll have to make more contacts to fully assess the transmit side. For now, I gave it a 3 rating "OK" but based on others feedback, I know I'll be needing to take down and repair something soon. Because I only needed to invested minimal $ to get this antenna working, I guess it's been worth it for me. I don't recommend folks paying anything substancial for a used R7000, probably not worth it ! |
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| M0AFJ |
Rating:     |
2003-07-22 | |
| Good all round performer |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Having recently moved to a small garden in a `area of natural beauty', I couldnt put up a tri-bander!, so looked around for a vertical and found a second hand R7000. Went together really well in a couple of hours and was easily installed on a 15ft pole clamped to the garden building. VSWR checks out OK, bit narrow on 20, but not over 2:1 at band edges. Seem to be able to work most thinks, VK/ZL/W on 10MHz, Various DX stuff on other bands. you cannot expect beam perfomance on a vertical but it does `what it says on the packe!'. PS Its been up 4 months now with no problems. |
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