Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Bilal Isotron

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Bilal Isotron
Reviews: 82MSRP: 59.95 to 179.95
Description:
HF Antennas for SMALL Spaces
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.k1cra.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15824
W0SWR Rating: 2005-05-28
Yes it works very well for its size. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I read the reviews with interest and remembered back to around 1986 when I purchased a 15 mtr. Isotron. When I opened the package I figured this can't do much but I put it together in about 5 minutes and up the tower I went. I placed it at at the top of the mast on the tower at about 45 feet and 3 feet above a beam and went back into the shack to check swr. after several trips up and down the tower I found the best SWR was around 2.5 without a ground connected and 1.6 with a ground. The swr was in part due to my beam being so close to the Isotron. I tested it in the cw portion of 15 and my first qso was to Germany at 25 watts. I had a hard time convincing other Hams that this little antenna worked so well, but after several of them wittnessed actual demos of this 'little wonder' they became believers. Since then I have heard several Isotron on 20 and 40 and YES they put a good signal out. If you have space limitations and want to get some radio time this might be the answer. These are small and built well. I used mine for several years and made a lot of contacts.
WB2JEP Rating: 2005-04-04
Isotron 80 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have never operated 80 meters in the many years that I have been a ham. As I have a small property, I have no room for a G5RV or other such long antenna. I read the reviews of the Isotron 80 here and thought that I would give it a try. Assembly was very simple. A good quality picture or two of the assembled antenna would have made the assembly even more simple.
I put the finished product on a 20 foot TV mast, about 5 feet from the side of my 2 story house, not even clearing the roof line. No grounding post was attached, but the mast is strapped to a steel fence post that is driven and cemented into the ground. I set up the antenna for resonance at the lowest frequency, as my interest is in CW, RTTY and PSK31 at the low end of the band. Without any adjustments, my SWR was 2:1 or a bit lower. As I use a tuner, I was really satisfied.

The proof is in the performance. I have been able to work into Minnesota several times on PSK31, with 599 reports running 45 watts. I also made many stateside QSO's during the recent EA RTTY contest, running about 250 watts out. During this time, I worked 4 DX countries as well; England, Spain, Slovenia and Venezuela, all from Southern NJ. As you can imagine, I am blown away by the performance of this strange looking antenna. I plan to raise it into it's permanent location at a height of 30 feet. I'm sure that the performance will only improve.

If your situation is such that, like me, you had little hope for an 80 meter antenna, I wouldn't hesitate to give this antenna a try. I am amazed so far!
WA3CJF Rating: 2005-04-01
Works For Me Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Moved into apartment,Tried two Hamsticks as a
Dipole &couldn'be heard on 75 meters Tried the
Isotron on a 5' TV mast taped to the 3rd floor
balcony & all net controls on WPA traffic net can
hear me & it hears close to my old dipole.
Didn't try to tune it , Use a small tuner,no grounds & it works fine.
K1DX Rating: 2005-03-31
Works quite well, but wx sensitive Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Like earlier reviews, I opened the box for the 80M Isotron and thought that this might be a waste of money. But after about 30 min. assembly and mounting to a mast, it was ready for tuning. I tuned it using an MFJ analyzer, making the job much easier. I tuned it for the 75M DX window, centered on 3790. At resonance, the SWR was about 3:1, but that was with a poorly grounded mast, and about 8 ft from my one-story house that is aluminum sided. The antenna is just above the edge of the roof.

After connecting the radio in the shack, the SWR dropped to 1.5:1. The bandwidth was nearly as advertised.

I tried it the same evening on 75M during the WPX contest and got out with ease with 1kW PEP SSB RF output. DX was no problem at all. I was able to beat out a number of other stations in the contest when calling DX stations. I even had a 3-way ragchew with an EI and a PA. We exchanged good reports (57-59).

I tried it again a few days later and the resonance was way off, probably due to the heavy rain storm we were having. I tried it again today (dry) and the SWR is back to a normal 1.5:1.

The instructions are fair- a bit better than GAP's manuals. Better illustrations would speed up the assembly, but it still is fairly easy to put together in 30 min. The quality of materials is fairly good. Prior to mounting on the mast, the antenna feels flimsy, but I'd trust it in a pretty stiff wind.

Would I buy another one? Absolutely! I'm sorely tempted to get the 160M Isotron for next winter.

If you are limited on space, this is probably the best, most cost-effective solution. No doubt the Isotron is a compromise antenna, but does work quite well.
NU4J Rating: 2004-12-30
Another 75m - 40m Review Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After reading and re-reading the 21 reviews posted here I decided to order the 80m 40m combo. I so much wanted to see a SWR plot on both antennas but I didn't find it in the 21 reviews. I ordered both the 80m and 40m antennas from AES. Construction was very easy although I think the instructions was written for the 1960 time frame. It took about an hour to put both the 40m and 80m antennas together. Nothing difficult about the assembly.

Both antennas were mounted 15 feet off the ground (a 5 foot and a 10 foot section of Radio Shack TV mast). The 40m antenna had one capacitor arm and hat mounted on it. The 80m was resonate at 4.010 so I added both capacitor arms with no hat. Both arms lowered the resonate point approximately 200khz. Here's the SWR chart I made with both antenna's 15 feet off the ground fed with 100 feet of RG-213.

3.775 ----- 2.3
3.785 ----- 2.0
3.795 ----- 1.9
3.805 ----- 1.7
8.815 ----- 1.6
3.825 ----- 1.7
3.835 ----- 2.0
3.845 ----- 2.4

7.000 ----- 1.8
7.050 ----- 1.6
7.100 ----- 1.4
7.150 ----- 1.4
7.200 ----- 1.7
7.250 ----- 2.0
7.300 ----- 2.5

SWR measurements was taken with an Autek RF Analyst Model RF-1 at the transmitter end. Not bad! Not bad at all! 50khz between 2.0 SWR on 75m and over 250khz on 40m. If I removed the capacity arm off the 40m antenna it appears all the 40m band would be under 2 to 1 SWR.

I will be using both these antennas with my 706MkIIG. I first tried 40m and got a few dis-beliefs about what type antenna I was using. Talked to a good friend on 40m in Michigan and I was 57 there and he was 59 here in Kentucky. He was running 500 watts and I was running 100. Went to 3.762khz and got an excellent report. Qsy'ed to 3.768 and got good reports from some of the guy's. Here's the kicker. I don't get good reports using my GAP Titan on 75m. On 75m the receive signal strength was exactly the same between the 80m Isotron and a Kenwood TS 570S with a G5RV up 35 feet for a number of stations. I didn't compare the transmit signal but if the Isotron is within 2 S units of the G5RV it would still be an excellent antenna. I'm happy! Although I wonder how they would play up 50 feet. I'll save that for a summer project. If you don't have room for dipoles, I would seriously consider giving the Isotrons a try. These are definitely not toys.
VA7ACA Rating: 2004-11-17
80mt and 40mt work very well Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have taken the time to give both my 40mt and 80mt Isotron antenna a solid workout and they have passed the test. I have them both 9 meters off the ground on a popup mast. I work QRP mode with both and have had great results. I find them to be equal in performance with a dipole. With the 40mt antenna I have worked Europe, most of the USA and Hawaii in QRP mode from Northern BC. The 80mt. works as advertised and perfect for small spaces. Both antenna seem to be circularly polarized and that can pickup more noise than a dipole but the up side is I can hear those using verticle antennas very well and this makes up the difference. The low SWR is narrow (20khz) but they are resonant on the band designed for and tunable, however a turner is recommended. Overall I am satisified with the product.
N8BPI Rating: 2004-03-08
It works!!!!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
When my dad was still living, I used to work him (about 800 miles away)using an Isotron 20-meter antenna. He would say, "I can't believe you're working me with that little antenna." I'd reply, "I'm working you. Believe it." I also regularly worked a friend in Denver (another 500 miles) on 20 meters with the same antenna.

If I'd had the Isotron when I first got my ticket, I would have saved many, many hours of messing with dipoles in all kinds of nasty weather. The Isotron is available for 160, 80, 40, 20 and 10 (maybe more now). I bought mine about 20 years ago. I highly recommend it.
LU1HQV Rating: 2003-07-08
WWWOOOWWW!!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
When I received that little box, I thinked "This is my worst transacction!!!"
Anyway... I hooked whit my kenwood 570, and installed inside my bedroom, close to window..
Wooowwww!!! I started to copy station from mexico, east coast and italy in 20 mts.!!!
And station copied me whit excelent report!!!
I don't know a lot about antenna... but this antenna work very well, it's cheap and small and sthealt.
That last is very important if you live in a condo like me, and your manage don't like what you install any kind of antenna.
Actually I bougth a 15 mts antenna.
I have just one complait... Customer service not is a lot good. You have a lot of patience or buy by AES.
N1ODL Rating: 2002-10-19
NN1F It Works!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the 20 meter antenna a few years ago for travel and when I lived in a condo. I now live on 4 acres and have been playing with this antenna again after about a year. I made a mount for it so I could attach it to the outside of a window when I travel. Took a wooden round pole and attached two suction cups to it. mounted it to the outside of my den window and hooked it up to my K2 and my WM2 wattmeter to see if I could get it adjusted easily. It took me about an hour of playing with it to get the SWR down to where I could use it without a tuner. Made a few contacts with it in this setup and was able to reach England, Spain, and several stateside stations with most reports in the 559-569 range. I then tried it with my ZM-2 Tuner and was able to tune it down to close to 1:1. this allowed me to get Germany and Italy with no trouble. I am now going to again start using this antenna in my travels in a hotel and ski condo. I did mark the plastic to where the counterpoise bar was the best. this helps me setup faster and not have to worry about tuning as much.If you spend some time learning how to use this antenna while traveling, you will have a great antenna to make contacts with. Just be careful how you pack it so you dont break off the counterpoise in transit....I learned the hard way last year in Canada.
Don't hesitate using this antenna at home or on the road.
KB1HPH Rating: 2002-05-17
Great Antennas Time Owned: N.A.
I'm a relatively new ham and live in a townhouse complex that does not allow any outside antennas. I mounted the 20, 15, and 10 meter Isotron antennas in the corner of the third floor bedroom and am using them with an FT-817 an HL-50B amp at about 50 watts. In just over three weeks I logged 28 countries, including Australia so I'm a satisfied customer. I just placed an order for the 40 and 80 meter antennas.