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Reviews For: W9INN 160 80 40 Dipole

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : W9INN 160 80 40 Dipole
Reviews: 5MSRP:
Description:
A shortened dipole with resonactors covering those bands in 130 feet of length.
Product is in production
More Info: http://None. See Bill's QST ad.
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0053.8
NO9E Rating: 2008-03-29
Good within its limitation Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I ordered it some 10 years ago with a 30m parallel dipole. Following W9INN's instructions, it can be tuned precisely. The 2:1 bandwidth is only about 25 KHz on 80 and 160m. As expected, it becomes a dummy load on 80/160m when the 80/160 elements are close to a tree. My 90ft up inv L outperforms it by some 10-20 db on 160m, and 80m doublet fed with ladderline is usually 5-10db better on 160-30. On 160m it is much quieter than invL so I used it as a rx antenna on that band before getting K9AY loops.

While W9IN perfected the design of a multiband antenna fed with coax, such an antenna has inherent performance limits. It might still be better and cheaper than commercial shortened verticals with few or no radials on 160/80.
VE4AMN Rating: 2008-03-28
Solid performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Toward the end, Bill's health compromised the quality. I obtained one of these 6 years ago and it has survived Manitoba winters. Provided it is not close to metal (eaves) and you realize that any dipiole, especially that is shortened with inductors, need tweaking, this will work. I find that winding the extender wires back over the antenna allows me to tune the antenna very precisely. The SWR bandwidth on 160 is usable + - 20khz and my FT1000MP tuner supports a +- 60khz.

These a basic dipole that will provide good North America coverage depending on how high you get it. I was also able to tune the WARC bands with ease. So a used unit in good shape will still work ok.
WA8ICK Rating: 2008-03-28
Great Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my 40/80/160 up for 10 years. It has survived my tower falling. It has survived Michigan winters both here and in Northern Michigan and has always performed exceptionally well. W9INN antennas always radiate. SWR is such a false indicator as to how well they perform. My antenna came out of the box working well. I also have a Hi Performance Dipole that was at another property that I owned and neither of these antennas will ever leave me.

No other antenna manufactured will perform as well as a W9INN.

Bill is sadly missed.
K9YC Rating: 2004-06-23
Poor Quality Throughout Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had read so many glowing reviews of W9INN's antennas, and he talks such a good game, that I was expecting a well designed, well built antenna. I was disappointed on both counts.

I specifically asked Bill for heavy duty construction (and paid him a significant surcharge for it). What I got was 3:1 SWR at resonance on 80 and very high SWR over the band, 2:1 on 160, and 1.4:1 on 40. (The resonances were exactly where I asked for them though).

What I got was light weight construction, suitable for installation in an area with no wind and no ice. What I was promised was a "high quality balun built to his specs." What I got was a Unadilla W2DU with a loose coax connector on it. Read the reviews to see what folks think of the current build quality of that balun.

The construction of this antenna was so poor that I didn't even bother installing it at its intended location on a mountaintop in CA, but I did plan to take it out to Field Day and run it there. Saturday, we hoisted it up in the air to tune it and discovered that it isn't worth the trouble to hang on Field Day.

I don't even want to sell this turkey on EBay because I don't want to spoil my good feedback.

Yesterday, I went to Home Depot and bought the wire and other hardware and built a real antenna. It uses a DX Engineering balun. I suggest you do the same.
WV1K Rating: 2004-03-26
Built so it does not break. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I am impressed with the staying power of this antenna that has lasted a year at 50 feet in an inverted V configuration. Cape Cod is not a normal weather environment and trees twist and turn wildly much of the time.

With the W9INN, the SWR bounces up and down, seemingly at random (yes, random).

That is the only reason it did not get a 5/5.

Otherwise, signals are great stateside and into the Caribbean, I never get less than S7 running 200w and usually the tuner is not needed.

Returning to the SWR, after these undetermined events, the SWR returns right back to where I asked Bill to cut it for when I ordered it.

Adjustment was not needed, and made the above phenomenon much worse.

I assume it may not like being near tree branches, which has not been a problem with regular dipoles here. This is mentioned in the instructions due to the resonactors.