Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Cushcraft A148-10

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Directional (Yagi, quad, etc.)

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Cushcraft A148-10
Reviews: 17MSRP: 129.95
Description:
10 element 2 meter yagi beam
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cushcraftamateur.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00174.4
KA3NXN Rating: 2006-04-30
Works ok, some issues though Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I agree with KI4MYD on the length of a few short screws. My other assembly issue is with the clamp used to set the SWR. A very important clamp I must admit. On mine I locked down the screw as tight as it would go and the clamp would still spin on the element freely. I had to put some conductive material between the clamp and the element so it would grab tight and not move around. I also was missing one element of one length and got 2 of another. Fortunatly I was able to shorten the one spare element to make the element that was missing. If this was my first beam antenna, these minor issues could have been show stoppers, if one didn't have basic intuition or expierence to make the nececessary corrections like I had done. If I had never used any other antenna like the M-Squared or a K1FO antenna, then I would say that this is a top performer. Having used the others, this is at best, a poor performer. Quality wise & performance wise the Cushcraft does not even hold a candle to the M-Squared or the K1FO. If price is your biggst factor, then go with the Cushcraft. If performance is, then go with the M-Squared or the K1FO. Another excellent performer, but not as sturdy to the elements is a good old cubicle quad. You can build them very easily or purchase them commercially from the folks at Cubex. Do your homework before you build or buy.
KI4MYD Rating: 2006-04-30
Just Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had the antenna up for about 3 weeks now and it is amazing in the clear.

Assembly can be frustrating because a couple of the screws Cushcraft includes with their product just aren't long enough to put everything on them (washers, lockwashers, nut, etc.), so in a couple places I simply left off the washer. Assembly can be done inside if you leave the boom apart in 3 sections (i.e. attach the elements and construct the driven element), then take it ouside and assemble the boom in full length.

Antenna tunes up excellent. We managed to get the SWR 1.1:1 across the major part of the band and the SWR peaks at 1.2:1.

I am using it verticle for repeater and simplex use. Because I'm surrounded by such a large number of trees I can't get out quite like I want to in all directions, but for the areas that are clear, I can now key repeaters 50mi+ away with 5-10 watts (I had to use 50w on my verticle) and the antenna is only at about 40ft. It really brings in the simplex activity and the directionality of the antenna is pretty specific. It handles wind well because it's not very bulky and the elements are slim. Pair it up with low loss coax and this will be the best antenna investment you ever made. The price difference between this and the 13b2 is kind of steep so if you don't want to invest the extra, this will still do an amazing job.
NE0P Rating: 2006-01-19
On my second one Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had one of these up for almost 2 years now. Put it up the morning of the CQVHF contest after having to redo the mounting hardware a bit (I bought it used). The first one I bought was replaced shortly afterwards with a 13B2. There was probably a little improvement but not really noticable. For the price difference this is probably the way to go unless you plan on stacking a couple together. The antenna is well built, easy to assemble, and tunes great across the entire 2 meter band.

I have used these on meteor scatter, 2 meter Eskip, tropo, and the satellites with good performance. Last summer worked from Southwest Oklahoma (EM04) to Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa on Tropo, and then to PA, MI, and OH on 2 meter Eskip.

This is a lightweight, fairly small antenna that you can turn with any rotor. Highly recommended for 2 meter SSB or CW work.
W8GTX Rating: 2005-02-13
Another good one Time Owned: more than 12 months.
In hindsight I should have purchased the 13B2 for it's better gain. No issues what so ever with this antenna. Easy to tune and has held up for close to 10 years now.
K7VO Rating: 2004-05-28
Reliable performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my 10 element Cushcraft from a local ham who had replaced his with something "better" for all of $25. It was already assembled so I can't comment on building the antenna. What I can say is that this beam is sharp and that I manage to get out as well as I'd expect even running QRP (anywhere from 1-10W) SSB/CW with the beam mounted horizontally and up about 37'. Thanks to a change in the local antenna ordinance it will probably be moved up to 45' or so soon to improve my ability to get out, but I see no reason to change the antenna. It works and has survived an ice storm and a tree falling on it with only minor (easily repairable) element bending. I'm satisfied.
G4EDY Rating: 2004-02-23
Works Well Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this in a hurry to replace my 30 year old 8 element J Beam that broke a week before my 30 year anniversary of first becoming an active ham on 2m!!

It went together well, instructions are well written, no shortages, took about an hour.

Observations as follows:

1.Boom is a little lightweight, the end sections only telescope about 3 inches into the centre section and there is a very obvious droop at each end of the boom.

2.Gamma match was spot on with factory dimensions, SWR 1.2:1 at 144.5MHz.

3.Performance seems to match with what you could expect from the boom length, a dB up on the J Beam.

4.E Plane beamwidth is wide at 40 degrees which helps when searching for stations but not so good if you have a noise problem from a particular direction.

5.Overall construction is 'lightweight', great as far as the XYL is concerned!

Overall a fine product but a little expensive in the UK ($180 ish), some more technical stuff in the manual would be useful such as tuning info for optimising for 144-146MHz that we have here in the UK.

Would I buy another, well actually I am considering stacking another one!!

Martin G4EDY
KB7EA Rating: 2003-12-21
Works great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this antenna up since the spring of 1995 at about 40 feet. I found it easy to construct, and the antenna works great. I have really shocked some hams that I heard on simplex by giving them a call from the other side of the Cascade mountains and over 100 miles away. It's not every day that a guy will ask me to QSL on 2 meters. I can literally work every thing I can hear, and I can hear stations that others in town have never heard.