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Reviews For: Radio Works Carolina Windom CW40LP

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Radio Works Carolina Windom CW40LP
Reviews: 4MSRP: 115
Description:
Low-profile version of the Carolina Windom 40
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.radioworks.com-PDFCat2003-42CW40.PDF
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0044.3
KB4OIF Rating: 2009-10-11
Great dipole Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Great antenna. It's been in the air since mid January this year. First contact was Croatia with 75 watts with the antenna at 30 feet. Raised it to 35 and it was a lot better. I wanted an antenna that I could take up and down quickly because of the Hurricanes here in NW Florida. Great customer Service from the folks there. Even talked to Jim and he was very forthcoming with the answers to my many questions. His site has a wealth of info about wire antennas. I will buy my next antenna from him.
K4IA Rating: 2006-10-15
Underwhelmed Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I wouldn't think this was worth $115 but when I saw one new and unopened at a hamfest for $50, I thought I would give it a try at my second QTH.

It is stealthy, the wire is so thin it is hard to see but it is just stranded copper so I expect it to have a short life.

I ran 25 feet of coax from the bottom of the vertical radiator to the shack. I had bad RF in the shack with a very hot chassis on 20 meters running 100 watts. It took one of the big Radioworks line isolators at the radio end to cure the problem. A little Radioworks line isolator wasn't enough to stop the burn.

It plays no better than the previous G5RV. It won't tune 15 meters.

All in all, I would say it is an expensive bust. I suspect the magic "dedicated matching unit" and the line isolator at the end of the vertical radiator are not providing enough isolation to keep the RF off the rig. I plan on replacing it with a regular off-center fed windom using a 4:1 balun in the middle and no vertical radiator. That has worked very well from my home QTH. RadioWayvz makes a nice one for a lot less money.
KG4UPO Rating: 2003-10-02
A great antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the "Performance Plus" version of the low profile Carolina Windom 40. This version has a slightly longer vertical radiator.

My order was quickly shipped. It arrived within several days as promised. The installation of this antenna was very straight forward. The installation instructions were more than complete, giving the most novice of installers plenty of info. and then some. The installation instructions include two pages of common "do" & "do not" tips in addition to the how and why and theory.

My prior antennas were different size dipoles and G5RV's. The Carolina Windom was immediately superior on the bands I work; 40, 20, and 15 meters. Although I have no ability to precisely measure the differences, I can tell you that I am now working France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands whereas before I was not. The antenna is at the same height of the prior ones, about 30 feet, and my power out is generally 75 watts. I believe that this antenna is a superior product.

The antenna comes packed with the horizontal and vertical radiators, coax connectors and coax connector sealing compound, insulators, line isolator and dedicated matching unit. As usual, support rope, pulleys, feedline, etc. are user supplied.

The antenna was quickly shipped, was well made, easy to install, worked first time.
N8YV Rating: 2003-10-01
A Real Performer! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Quality of construction, assembly and materials is first-rate. Attention to quality unmatched by any wire antenna I have used. Easy-to-understand instructions that FULLY explain the operating principles, construction and installation requirements, including the "how and why", not just the "what".

It even included connector sealant material (neatly packaged), although my only complaint here is a lack of support rope, which is not included with the antenna. I'd have been VERY pleased to see a hank of about 25-40 feet of rope in the box, rather than chasing down UV-resistant material for three days. This is ONE feature where my Alpha Delta clearly stood apart from the Radio Works antenna---the ability to put it in the air, right out of the box. (Are you reading this, Jim?)

Performance has so far been much better than expected, with at least a 200-300% increase in 40-meter performance over my venerable Alpha Delta, which it replaces. Transmit performance on 15, 12 and 10 meters has exceeded my previous wire antenna by an even wider margin, with greatly improved SWR bandwidth, as well.

This antenna also "hears" well, with low noise and clear, strong signals on all HF bands 40m - up. The new, smaller balun and line isolator used by this "LP" version are very compact and low-visibility, light in weight and very well-designed. This is especially important to me, being located in a congested area.

The "LP" versions of the Carolina Windoms, as noted extensively in the manual and catalog, are not for high-power use. This is not a problem for me, with just my 100-watt PEP rig and no amplifier. In fact, I have worked DX contacts on this CW40LP with as few as 30 watts, at a mean height of only 25' above ground.

A great job, fine product, just needs the rope to be even better.