| VE3YZR |
Rating:  |
2022-08-23 | |
| Outstanding performance |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Antenna is at 140 feet, in a rural, off-grid location. Nice hight is a game changer.
Workmanship, design and material choices are excellent. Performance is outstanding: 40m long haul is VERY easy with 100W on phone, with full legal limit is a pileup destroyer, or creator is you're calling.
I am in a privileged rural location that is very, very quiet, I can hear EVERYONE specially on 40.
Rotator is Alpha Spid BigRak. Tower is 1 1/4 solid stee l bar, 3 feet face: be warned this is a large antenna in particular in these latitudes.
I have a TH7 & wire antennas to compare; I've had the 2 ele Cushcraft at 80 feet before - for comparison if you want DISTANCE use the Optibeam. No amp needed, if I can hear them I work them, and i hear everyone!! (ie DX net on 40 early am).
Higher bands 20 & 15 as of Aug 2022 are opened, i chat daily with Argentina 59+ with no amp. 10 is sporadic. 40 with Argentina is very easy, dipole on the other end.
If you can buy it and install it HIGH is an excellent performer for long distance.
|
|
| V51Q |
Rating: |
2022-07-19 | |
| 8 years later... V55A - V51Q |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
As I said 8 years ago:
German engineering at its best.
My OB17-4 was relocated and got an update. Same with my OB11-5.
These antennas are still a WOW!!!! What else is there to say!!!!!
|
|
| N3KS |
Rating: |
2017-12-08 | |
| As Good as it Gets |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have had two OB17-4 antennas, one at my Maryland, USA QTH and the other at my Ti5W / Ti7W contest station in Costa Rica. With both installations I have been extremely happy with the ease of assembly and incredible performance of the antenna on the air. The 40m signal from this antenna is amazing with its three elements and the 20, 15 and 10m performance are contest winning. DF2BO is lightning fast with his customer support and his ideas. |
|
| IK2LFF |
Rating: |
2016-07-23 | |
| a real contest machine |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
We had installed this antenna at CN3A on a >40mt tower, more than 4 years ago now.
It's "The antenna", we never had a problem... and there the conditions are not easy, the Atlantic ocean is at few Kms and winds are blowing like hell.
Dozens of thousands qsos every contest.
Great job TOM!
The CN3A team.
|
|
| V55A |
Rating: |
2014-02-28 | |
| This antenna is just freaking awesome!!! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
WOW!!!! What else is there to say!!!!!
German engineering at its best. The quality and material was of the highest possible standards existing.
This antenna is just freaking awesome. For many years I had a Fritzel Beam 660 and it worked very nice. Then lightning decided to visit my tower and Fritzel Beam was in 660 pieces…. Well and me without an antenna is like a car with no wheels. So I decided to get a new one, a better one. And while I was surfing through the net, I thought why not also a bigger one.
It took quite some time but then I read an article about the OptiBeams. I read all the articles there are about these antennas (I think) and also reports from customers about their experience and OB´s service.
I emailed Tom and boy was he fast with the answers. I had a lot of questions and he had all the answers and info I needed. So I ordered the OB17/4 and it arrived in Namibia +- 2 weeks later.
Packaging 110%. All parts were marked and it was easy to assemble. If you are alone, take your time. As soon as the beam was put together, I noticed for the first time how big this antenna was. Gee was this beam big!!!! But the moment I turned on the radio it was like Christmas and my birthday together….!!! WOW what a difference. On all 4 bands the SWR is SUPER: 1.2, 1.4, 1.2 and 1.5.
I am now all of a sudden hearing stations talking from the other side of the world with S5 or better. Before that I only could only hear a faint whisper that was it.
In a pileup I call 1 or 2 times and I’m logged. The reports I get these days: S9, S9+, S9+20 …. If I get a S5 or S6, I’m sort of getting a feeling…. Oh sh...t could there be something wrong with my antenna!
I am a 10m man and let me tell you, this beam is a KILLER!!!!! 15m and 20m: Super! 40m: I had a QSO with a ham in Italy (I used 10W). He had the feeling I was standing next to him.
All in all: THIS IS THE ULTIMATE BEAM. Nothing more to say, nothing less to say.
TOM, YOU ARE THE MAN.
A few pictures showing my little project. http://namham.phpbb8.de/post343.html#p343
P.S. I was so impressed with Tom´s antennas, that I also bought an OB11/5 with the same results as mentioned above. This one I use at my HQ.
Best 73s
Michael de V51Q / V55A Scout Clubstation Namibia
|
|
| VK2KRR |
Rating: |
2012-06-15 | |
| Awesome Antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
An amazing antenna. Very professionally made. I have never had a problem with the antenna and it went together perfectly.
I use my antenna mainly for watching propagation with WSPR Digital mode with outstanding results on all bands the antenna is designed for.
Very glad I purchased this antenna, with its performance and build quality, I will never need anything else. |
|
| OE6MBG |
Rating: |
2011-01-23 | |
| 7 years after |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
It is hard to imagine it was in 2004 that I put up this antenna. It still looks and works at the site of its initial installation like new. It has seen a few heavy storms in the past 7 years but no mechanical problems whatsoever. Some slight changes in the 40 meter elements lengths were made in order to shift the bandpass somewhat higher up in frequency when the band was opened up above 7100. A better coverage of the SSB portion could be achieved. The initial hairpin was replaced by a coil 5 or 6 years ago and is part of the standard OB 17-4 now, as far as I understand. The guy ropes to hold up the elements have not stretched and therefore have not needed any retightening. No UV damage to the black element mounting hardware has been observed, so nothing but praise for the OB 17-4 from Tom's and Diana's workshop. Thanks for a great product!
----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by OE6MBG on 2004-02-26
I have been looking for a long time for an antenna that would cover the classic bands from 40 through 10 on a single feedline. After trying out a number of homemade designs which worked quite well, Tom, DF2BO, suggested I should take a look at his flagship, the OB17-4. After getting the antenna I realized his claims turned out to be well founded: the OB17-4 exhibits outstanding performance on 40 meters, gain and FBR are excellent and the match is superb.
20, 15 and 10 work like my individual monobanders. Due to the decoupling stubs on the 40 meter elements, there seems to be no significant interaction on the higher frequency bands. The antenna is tuned for high gain on 20, 15 and 10, which I consider an advantage in a contest, versus being tuned for maximum FBR.
However, the real attraction of this antenna is its spectacular performance on 40. 3 practically loss-free elements dotted with high Q coils with their manageable lengths of under 15 meters (48 feet) open up an otherwise difficult, but very rewarding band. 2 elements are fine, but the third element improves the pattern considerably.
The mechanical construction of the antenna leaves nothing to be desired. Every little accessory is stainless steel and of top quality: the turnbuckles for the boom support alone amount to the price of a 5-band vertical. The whole antenna is a piece of art, created on the lines of German craftsmanship.
All in all, I consider it a wonderful piece of antenna, state-of-the art design along with a great visual appearance. My XYL’s comment: “You have never had such an orderly looking antenna before … I like it!”
The way I see it, there is really no alternative to this beam on the market if you want a high-performing quad-bander on a single feedline. So nothing but a high 5!
|
|
| SM4OTI |
Rating: |
2010-08-31 | |
| Excellent antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Hi,
The OB17-4 has been up for 3 years and it has performned superbly from day one. The mechanical design is the best I've ever seen and the performance on the air is even better. The antenna is a little more sensitive to static rain/snow compared to other monoband yagis with gamma match I previously owned, but not a big deal, really. I can highly recommend this antenna to any ham having the space for it.
See you on the air!
Stefan/SM4OTI |
|
| YO9FNP |
Rating: |
2009-08-18 | |
| YO9FNP |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Hi everyone!
Recently I had the pleasure I modernize my setup shake with an excellent Optibeam 17 / 4.
I am so passionate work DX, and competitions, so OB 17 / 4 seemed to me to be the perfect choice.
The antenna is installed at 20 meters high, and tests performed in competitions like All Asia CW and Iaru HF, and in traffic daily also demonstrates a significant evolution from my old beam.
SWR is excellent, and DX can get in my log often the first call.
Good job, Tom!
73, Dan - YO9FNP
|
|
| W3JK |
Rating: |
2009-06-23 | |
| Killer antenna with a Killer signal !!! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I had a TH7 stack and was very happy with it and started looking for options to put a 2-element 40mtr yagi above the TH7. I was talking to Jay WX0B and he mentioned about the Optibeam 2-40 as one of the choices. In the meantime, I was also now looking at getting a bigger mast, calculating wind load, bending movement etc. It occured to me that I need to look for an antenna that also included 40m on a single boom. The choices immediately narrowed down to Force12 and Optibeam.
Why did I choose the OB17-4? I was able to get immediate responses from Array Solutions and Optibeam, whenever I had questions. (believe me, I had lots of questions). Tom, DF2BO went one step further and he shared with me the NEC file of the OB17-4. This was great, it was like looking at the floor & structural plan of a house that you were moving into. I used Eznec myself as well as had some of the leading antenna experts in the amateur community take a look at it and they all recommended the antenna without any issues. The antenna is almost, if not a true monobander on 10, 15, 20 & 40.
I placed the order and like clock work, within 4 weeks I was notified of the shipping dates and had to pick it up at JFK with my friend (as well as tower installer) Ray W2RE. Solid packing and no issues in transport, other than the fact, the bone headed handlers in one of the airport had put in a hole with the fork lift. Still all ok with the entire packing.
It came in 2 boxes, and upon opening them, I was able to see how neatly everything was labeled and packed. When it came time to installing the antenna, the manual and the labeling of the parts helped big time. It took around a full day to assemble the antenna by Lori KB2HZI and she is an expert at this. She assembles all of Ray's W2RE antennas and I stepped aside to let the expert help me out.
The fun part of buying this antenna is that I now needed a new tower. So, I went through the process of dismantling the existing tower and the TH7 stack and putting up a new tower through Hudson Valley Towers. Please bear in mind, that this antenna is a massive one and it weight is 225lbs. By no means is this a small or medium sized antenna, its a beast. We trammed it up with lots of ingenuity and its rotated by a Prosistel PT71D and double thrust bearing etc etc.
I was keeping my fingers crossed on its performance, because the models from eznec were almost too good to be true for this antenna. Fire it away and the swr is exactly as what it is supposed to be on all bands. I setup the 40m portion on the EU setting. This gives me CW and part of the US phone band on 40m.
What's the performance? I am now all of a sudden hearing guys talking locally in 9M or Asia working EU. In the past they used to be faintly heard on 20m but now I can hear them S5 S6. I thought that it was propagation on that day but now based on the consistency ever since this antenna has been put up, I now know that this is the antenna performing A class. I shout a few times and try to get the attention of the DX stations in Asia and they are all pleasantly surprised that they hear me and vice versa with their antennas not pointed at US. Its also sometimes disappointing because, I hear these rare DX stations when there is no actual propagation into the US and I have to struggle to break the EU wall as well as local rag chewers on their dipoles in the DX window. The antenna is quiet and hears extremely well.
The antenna has given me a new layer in DX'ing and I am extremely happy that I went through all the trouble to put it up. As far as 40m goes, it works extremely well given that I am at a low height. It has a Killer signal on 40m.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely, its a killer antenna and if you can afford the time and labor, you wont be ever disappointed. I am waiting for 10 & 15 to open up to enjoy this antenna further. See you on the air.
Regards,
Ken |
|
