| KC2OYZ |
Rating:   |
2006-03-18 | |
| It will make a good bird feeder... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I live in a very difficult QTH when it comes to antennas. I had tried 'apartment antennas' from Mighty Fine Junk, and managed to make only a few local contacts. So I bought the Isotronics for 20m and 40m.... AND... it was... a TOTAL BUST... I didn't make even one contact in a month's worth of trying, even with my Palstar tuner! I decided to cut a dipole, feed it with twin lead and hang it out the window, which is about 70 feet above the ground, even though the dipole is surrounded on three sides by walls - and suddenly I was 5/9 in Arizona, Serbia and Austria. |
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| N4VNV |
Rating:   |
2006-02-14 | |
| Beats Nothing?? |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| For those of you not happy with this antenna...Let me make you feel better. I bought one of those "Hula-Hoop" antennas. You know, the one that's supposed to work even lying in the trunk of your car. There's one of us "Dummies" born evey minute. |
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| VE2JKA |
Rating:     |
2006-02-14 | |
| 80 & 20 Meter |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
80 meter antenna test
Received this antenna on February 9th order was placed on January 16.. Customs Canada opened the package therefore there's a little delay time associated with this...I got the 80/40 combo and I also ordered the 20 Meter antenna for mobile use :-). These antennas are easy to setup (assemble) with out reading the instructions and simply going by some pictures the antenna can be easily assembled in 10 to 15 minutes. I mounted mine approx. 30' high on a telescopic mast which is grounded with a 8' ground rod. I tuned absolutely nothing I simply included 1 of the rods/hat with my install.
Results, radio used Kenwood 570
S.W.R. 1:1 =3.825 2:1=3.775 ~ 3.875 Not Bad!! I tuned nothing.
Signal/Noise...There's more noise than my g5rv which is mounted as an inverted V @ 30'. In my setup the isotron brings in more noise and less signal compared to my g5rv I must mention that my g5rv IS not tuned for 80 my SWR is wayyyy off on this band still, it performs better than the isotron on RX.
20 Meter antenna test
Took down the 80 meter and replaced it with the 20 meter isotron. I can't beleive it!.. Way better than mu g5rv low noise better signals and the SWR is low across the band!!! again I tuned nothing, up she went from the box as this one was already put together when it arrived... Stunned and suprized highly recommended +++++
Read the full review and see pictures link bellow.
http://hamradio.iqf.ca/showthread.php?p=100#post100 |
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| VE3CXB |
Rating:      |
2005-11-26 | |
| 40m version works |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I bought the 40m version after trying to put up a wire antenna on small property. I just didn't have the room for a full half wave dipole and the end fed random wire antenna I had strung up was causing me grief (RF in the shack, etc.) so I thought I'd give the Isotron a try.
When it arrived it seemed like an expensive antenna for what was in the box. Of course it was even more expensive once I got it across the border into Canada. Also it didn't seem like it would be a very sturdy antenna. It did seem to be of good quality though with stainless steel hardware. I put it all together and it wobbled around. However, once I got it mounted everything tightened up quite a bit and it is a lot more sturdy now. It did manage to survive a bad wind storm we had here a while back with gusts over 100km per hour. One thing I did was to mount it so that it presented the smallest cross sectional area to the prevailing winds in my area. I was surprised that while the winds were blowing it didn't seem to move all that much. That was a relief.
Even though everyone (including Bilal) says to mount the antenna as high as possible, it just wasn't possible at my QTH. I mounted it on two sections of inch and a quarter TV antenna mast. The instructions say it must be mounted on a metal mast. In fact the antenna is electrically connected to the mast. So, at my location this antenna is only 20ft. above ground. It is also right above our sunroom and only about 10 feet away from our brick house. Bilal also suggest grounding the mast at the bottom nearest to the ground. I "did not" ground my mast. The mast is just sitting on top of a piece of PVC pipe that I stuck in the ground. I also did not bother with the tuning steps given in the instructions. I'm partially disabled and once this antenna went up it was going to stay up - for the time being at least.
One thing I did was to tape all the electrical connections with silicone stretchy tape. I also put liquid electrical tape on the connections. Some of the connections are exposed to the weather and I wanted get them covered up. There is no way water was going to get into anything.
The antenna is fed with about 25 feet of RG-8X. The coax is neatly run down the mast using twist ties and more of that stretchy tape. My signal source is a Yaesu FT-840 (100 watts) which then feeds into a Dentron Super Tuner Plus. I did a rough estimate of where the centre frequency of this antenna is and it seems to be just about darned near in the middle of the 40m band. Remember now that I did not tune this antenna. The instructions say that objects in the immediate area may cause the tuning to shift. I guess I was just lucky.
Well, to get to the point, this antenna does indeed work. RF is going out and I'm having QSO's with other hams. Using the Dentron tuner is a bit finicky as the antenna is somewhat narrow banded so when I QSY I have to touch up the tuner fairly frequently. I can get right down to a 1:1 SWR no problem. I've managed to work a good part of Canada (from the east coast to as far as the central Canadian prairie provinces and up north to the Hudson's Bay region) and also a good chunk of the eastern and central U.S. I usually get 57 to 59 signal reports. No it is not like a 40m beam fed with a linear, but it does get me out on 40m, which I otherwise would not be able to do.
I'm still not sure what the radiation pattern is. I'm new to ham radio and have only been on HF a few weeks so I don't have hundreds of QSO's to help determine a pattern. However if someone were to tell me it was omnidirectinal in the horizontal plane I don't think I would argue with them. Even the fact that the antenna is so close to my house doesn't seem to make much of a difference. One of these days when I get a lot more QSO's on 40m I'll draw everything out on a map to see where my RF is getting to.
One thing is that because this antenna is a parallel tuned circuit it most definitely does not work outside the band. Even for receiving. With most antennas if you go to another band you can at least still receive some signals. Not with this antenna. Go to 20m or 80m and the radio is pretty quiet.
So far I'm happy with the performance. The RF is going out and people are hearing me. If you're lacking enough space to put up a wire antenna I would say the Isotron is worth a try.
The 40m version is the only one I've tried so I can't comment on the versions for other bands. I've also not had a need to deal with the company other than making the purchase so I can't comment on customer service.
Since putting it up I've noticed my neighbours gawking at it. Nobody's said anything yet but if they ask I'll just ask them right back what they think it is. If I tell them it's some sort of high tech bird feeder I'm sure they'll believe me since that's what it looks like. |
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| OCEANARADIO |
Rating:     |
2005-11-16 | |
| 150m works well |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
The good:
An outstanding listener, and for a small vertical, makes a very large footprint. It does not have to radiate the feedline to work.
The bad:
Low grade aluminum rods are as soft as butter, and this may not survive anywhere near its advertised wind speeds. I plan to lower it about 8' for any expected winds in excess of 50mph.
The ugly:
Contracted for a 2182 KHz antenna, and it was nowhere near that. Tuning was impossible, but the owner had suggestions which eventually did work, albeit after dozens of hours of meticulous measurements and work aloft.
Fine tuning cannot be measured on or near the ground, and involved adding vertical wires pulled down from the capacity hat. When it finally worked, it really worked. Its also easy to see why some might have gotten lucky on first few measurements, and others throw in the towel.
I am NOT radiating the feedline, at least not below the 15' of roof mounted mast, where several tight turns of RG-8X form a choke below the first shield-ground.
Air terminal bonding conductors (#4 solid) traverse the roof peaks where this is mounted. The Isotron's mast bonds to those conductors, and three ground rods tie to each down conductor. And the coax shield is grounded both at the mast/bonding connection and at the grounding bulhead where an ICE lightning impulse arrestor preceeds its connection to an MFJ-994 ATU. So the antenna is about as well grounded as it can be, and the lightning rod conductors may provide quite a set of both elevated and in the ground radials.
All I asked Bilal Co. to do was guarantee me at least 100 miles of summer-daytime coverage on low power (125w). He met and exceeded that with his product, which I had to modify slightly at his direction. Summer-daytime tx-range is about 200 miles on low power. Summer evenings it extends to several hundred miles without the linear. And as a listener, it is absolutely superb.
There was a disabled fishing vessel 460 miles away that might be happier with my Isotron than anything I can say, but the pleasure is all mine.
Oceana Radio |
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| ND3F |
Rating:      |
2005-10-24 | |
| surprisingly great! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Have had the 80/40 Isotron combination which I took unassembled to a couple of island expeditions in the Caribbean--was easy to carry and assemble. Even at only 30' on a push up mast, it worked great--but I did have to fiddle with the tuning quite a bit. Bought the 160M version for use at home. Last year, mounted it to a leg of a low tower at 35', and worked 22 countries (yes, on 22 countries on 160M), including WAC during the CQWW test. It was too close to other antennas, and affected the tuning of the low tribander. So this weekend I put it up on a 30 pneumatic mast "in the clear"...again it was a bear to tune--but I added an 18" tuning rod perpendicular to the main adjustable rod, and got it to tune well from 1800-1880 (1.8:1 at the lowest end, 1.1:1 at 1830 and almost 3:1 at the higher end, without a tuner, but I use a tuner for operating). With 800w last night, I worked 10 countries including KP4, S5, LY3, OZ1, ES1, PJ2, SM5, PA, G and F, many on the first or second call. I heard some others (EA8, GM, I, 9G, but missed them this time). No kidding. This tiny 160M antenna at 30' really works...it just does...it's not as good as any full size antenna up high, but for my situation, it's super. |
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| KG4RUL |
Rating:  |
2005-10-10 | |
| The Coax radiates as well as the antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I tried to tune up the 6M version of this 'joke' antenna. Tune it on the ground, put it up the pole, resonance and SWR changes, retune it on the ground, put it up the pole, resonance and SWR changes, repeat ad nauseum. Finally I decided it was as good as it was going to get.
I barely managed to contact another station and asked him to standby while I made a quick adjustment. Then I quickly pulled down the antenna hoisted just the coax on the pole.
Well what do you know! The other station said I went from an s3 to a 20 over s9.
Draw your own conclusions from my actual experience.
Dennis KG4RUL |
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| KB7RGT |
Rating:   |
2005-10-10 | |
| Sent it back! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I tried the 160m version. Took me a couple of hours to assemble. Lying on the floor assembled it had a great SWR across the specified band width. On the tower (Rohn 25 @ 40'), I could not get it to tune, despite multiple calls to the guy who makes them, and multiple "try this" attempts to get it to work. Finally gave up and sent it back. The only positive about the experience was the telephone help - except that it was fruitless. |
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| K0NHV |
Rating:     |
2005-09-08 | |
| Isotron Antennas |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I own 10, 20, 40 and 80 meter Isotrons and have just ordered the 6 meter version. These antennas work fine if: (1) They are mounted in the clear and as high as possible. (2) They are well grounded. Grounding will improve S/N ratio. An I.C.E. Lightning Arrestor inline will further improve the S/N ratio. (3) The station equipment is well grounded. (4) Use good coax like 9913.
I have mine mounted on the roof of the garage with a tripod and 5 foot mast at 25 feet and use a tuner. Did not attempt to tune the antennas with the hardware provided.
These antennas are not toys or dummy loads and will perform as well as a dipole under the same conditions. |
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| KC9GOP |
Rating:      |
2005-06-15 | |
| Great antenna, works very well! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Got mine about 2 months ago 15-20-40 combo. First setup was in the attic; no good, too much noise (S6-S8) all the time. Great SWR on all bands though no problem there. From attic they went to my deck. Mounted on a 10' Radio Shack mast about 15 feet of the ground. With lousy band conditions made lot of contacts to Europe, South and Central America, Caribbean on 15 and 20. RST no less than 57 most of the time 59 running only 200W. Antennas work equally well on all bands they are designed for. Got contacts on 40 coast to coast with 20 over reports. They resonate fine as advertised but I still use an MFJ-993 tuner (I’m a sucker for 1:1 SWR). Called Bill with an issue, best customer support experience ever. I recommend this antenna to anyone. Also they are great for limited space. Built very well, built to last. Have no doubts at all they work great! |
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