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Reviews For: Cobra UltraLite Multiband Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Cobra UltraLite Multiband Antenna
Reviews: 138MSRP: 89.95
Description:
A complete 10-160 wire antenna constructed to handle extreme weather
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.k1jek.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001384.6
KB1GHH Rating: 2007-09-19
very interesting! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well,I wrote a review for this antenna as KB1GHH. I have used this antenna through 2 New England winters with great results. I haven't changed it at all. Changed the rope that holds it 55ft.off a tower. Feedline length,element length,still as before. I also have a 80m full-wave loop at 35ft. Either one...I fix it if "hurt".I live on 1/8 of an acre here...gives me a lot of choises. Only difference was the COBRA was ready-to-fly! Great support.Of course,I get the WHOLE 160m band with it..manual tuner;no problems.lot size 77ftX133ft.Inv.-"V"
W2SX Rating: 2007-09-07
Very Good Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Antenna is 35-40ft up in a flat top configuration center supported by a large maple tree branch with ends tied off to Oak trees. It's not moving. Using every inch of feed line to a W2AU balun purchased with the antenna and 18ft of coax to the radio. With no tuner can run 28.3-28.7Mhz < 2:1, entire 15M band < 1.5, and 3.9-4.0Mhz <2:1. Everything else on all bands easily handled by the internal radio tuner down to less then 2:1, including 160M. Overall I'm pleased with the operation and would recommend the antenna. I would also recommend this antenna to any Short-Wave listeners, best SWL antenna I've had in 30 years for 2-26Mhz.
KY4WRW Rating: 2007-09-04
GREAT ANTENNA Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
THIS ANTENNA DOES A GREAT JOB FOR ME. I CAN TUNE ANY FREQUENCY DOWN TO 1:1 WITH MY PALSTAR 1500 DT. IT DOES WHAT IT IS ADVERTISED TO DO. IT HAS A BROADER BAND SPREAD ON HIGHER FREQUENCIES THAN ON THE LOWER THOUGH.
WARREN WILLIS
KY4WRW
KD5MJJ Rating: 2007-08-28
It made me a believer ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.


I just replaced a 67' doublet fed with 450 ohm ladderline with The 73'Cobra.

Unscientifically, it hears 1-2 S units better and my signal reports are at least 1 S unit better. This improvement may be my imagination, but I do't think so. Using it 40-10meters with a Palstar AT1KP and 4:1 balun. I speculate the additional wire length provides better capture area.

73 Hank K5ICW, ex kd5mjj
K2NCC Rating: 2007-07-31
Great antenna for those without acerage! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've been using the UltraLite JR for over six months and have had great DX and all of the USA.

If you're looking for a cheap way to get HF, even in current low band conditions, the multi-band Cobra antennas are the way to go. I do mostly 20M, which the JR is perfect. 80 and 160 sucks on the JR, but I seldom use those bands, so all-is-well for me. I would speculate the Cobra SR would give better results on those bands.

I'm using mine with about 6' of RG8X coax to a 4:1 balun (Look for rapidrobert on eBay for perfect baluns. Don't use the Hi-Q or MFJ junk) and the ladder line, which is cut 19' short of shipped length. It's about 30' feet up and the ends are about 20' up on each.

Great QSO's, in spite of what folks say about low sun cycle, which can be seen here:
http://evokefrank.googlepages.com/

I'd certainly buy another!

73. Frank K2NCC



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Listen to W7OTV 2-meter Oregon Repeater at:
http://w7otv.no-ip.org:8000/listen.pls
Requires WinAmp (http://winamp.com/)
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VK6YAE Rating: 2007-07-21
Simple Strong and Works Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had a cobra junior with the supplied balun for over a year now and am very pleased with it.
To get the SWR down where I wanted it I found I had to move the antenna and ladderline about a bit. It certainly shows a lot of dips on an swr meter at or around the ham bands but in some instances up to a mhz away. I don't think cutting the antenna is a good option for this antenna. Joe did all that stuff when he was designing it. I varied the coax length into the shack with some success on the SWR and resisited the desire to shorten the ladderline. (100' of ladder line can be a problem to keep out of the way!)
The bottom line was that the tuner in the radio was able to match the antenna anywhere from 80-10m And I mean everywhere. I use an external tuner and 500w at the this QTH.
It does not surprise me that the military are using them. They are simple, strong, liteweight and efficient multiband antennas.
I liked the junior so much I went and ordered a senior! The junior can go on the boat with the AT130 tuner.

Downside- 100' of ladderline to stick somewhere
- SWR changes when it rains
- Keeping the ladderline away from things that affect it.

Upside - Ladderline feed (Very lo loss, Liteweight, true multiband, It works better than any other comercial multiband antenna I have tried to date. Can handle 1kw.

73
Dave
YB0AJZ
W6PSA Rating: 2007-07-21
Don't Believe the hype Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
(Junior model) It works, but you'll need a turner that can handel more than 3:1 SWR on each band. I trimmed the antenna down to 15ft, and it tunes 75,20,15 meters (under 3:1). I called for help, but didn't get a good answer on the needed lenght of Ladder Line. Instead, I was told to buy a tunner, wrong answer.

Total cost with the balun is around $140 (including shipping). At that price, I wish I would have bought a Alpha-Delta DX-CC instead. Call the sells person and ask about this problem and he'll tell you the same thing.

73's
W1WRA Rating: 2007-07-08
Another 5 review Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This antenna was a nice quick and easy setup. I strung it up about 35'. The antenna needs very little tunning and my TS-2000's built in tuner gets me my 1:1 SWR every time.

I have casually operated 24 DXCC entries in a couple weeks. The antenna is a little pricey but I am more than pleased with it's results.
KC7THH Rating: 2007-06-19
great multi-bander Time Owned: N.A.
I bought this one to replace a folded dipole that was a dud
Not only dose this one hear much better but it also gets out, unlike the folded dipole i had. the install is not ideal but it's still working well
it's only up 34 feet and because the lot is small the legs are bent about 6 feet from the ends... i also set it up with the mfj remote balun and it all handles 500 watts just fine
definatly a keeper!
K9CHP Rating: 2007-05-16
Excellent product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Easy to hang, I have it in an inverted V. Excellent performance on the bands that are open now for DX, especially 20 and 17. I made quite a few DX calls to Europe and one call to Japan. My QTH is in Central NY. I have heard stations in Africa, South America the Middle East but for could not bust the pile-ups. Mind you, I'm working barefoot with an Icom 706MKIIG at 100w. I'm very pleased with the Cobra Ultra-lite and it blends well with the environment so my XYL is not too unhappy with it. At its price, it is a bargain.