| W1JTP |
Rating:      |
2022-07-25 | |
| A3 |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have an original A3 attached to the chimney of my two story home, maybe 4 feet above the roof peak. Went up in 1985 and still going strong! Good 1.0:1 SWR on 20 and 15 and 1.2:1 over most of 10 meters. Several rotors have come and gone, but A3 has performed great. |
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| VE3TMT |
Rating:      |
2022-07-08 | |
| Still going strong after 15 years |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
It's been 5 years since my last review and the A3S still continues to do its thing. No issues with the antenna whatsoever in the 8 years it's been on the tower. I did replace the trap caps prior to installation and gave it all new SS hardware. The previous owner had it at least another 5 years. SWR is still spot on, 14.150, 21.200 and 28.400 all showing 1.0:1 SWR, and under 1.5:1 anywhere in the band's except the upper end of 10m. Small footprint, big performance.
Continues to bust pileups on the first or second call. Very impressed.
Update July 7, 2022 - the antenna has now been on the tower 14 years without a single issue. SWR is still bang on...the antenna just works. |
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| 2E0EIC |
Rating:  |
2022-07-07 | |
| Very poor antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Lots of pieces were missing on opening box i had to contact mfj twice to get all the missing parts. The build quailty is very poor with the elements more than 12 inches out of square with each other, The traps were loose on the connection which was reivited. I disliked it so much that i never installed it on the tower so i wasted nearly £700 on a pile of scrap |
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| W3KKO |
Rating:      |
2021-08-16 | |
| Very good value |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I grew up seeing dad's A3 atop his tower at home, and had an opportunity for some nostalgia with my first tower project. When picking up an early 80's Universal aluminum tower, I had the luck of the owner throwing in a similar vintage A3S for a song. He was the original owner of both, and said the SWR had begun to vary wildly. I figured what the heck, at least its nice aluminum tube! Sharpie marked the element sections and traps (later I engraved them), took it apart and brought it all home with the tower. Upon inspection, one of the balun's pigtails was frayed down to 1 wire...no wonder he had bad SWR. I did some online study and proceeded to rebuild the antenna, including redo of each trap with new hardware. Trap wires appeared to be enameled so I gently cleaned them and brushed on a coat of liquid electrical tape. Confirmed trap continuity, buffed the elements only where element connections would be made (I like the patina of the old aluminum), and no-alox'd the heck out of it while reassembling with new SS hardware. I installed the tower in November 2020 with the A3S at 42ft, and it performs wonderfully, with multiple new entities added since. Switching between the A3S, end fed wire and vertical loop shows its nice gain and F/B. The antenna has opened a whole new world even with 100W. Is it a 5+ element mono-bander, of course not. But for the money (even new), or if you can find one in need of some care, its well worth the investment. |
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| W0BKR |
Rating:     |
2020-10-15 | |
| Good antenna for the money |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Well, lots said on the A3S. Personal opinion has 3 nit areas:
1. Traps need to be stamped or engraved so one can tell which trap is which as over time the poor labelling job fades away and then it is a pain in the ass.
2. U Bolts. Can't tell you how many of these I go to remove the nut to let the antenna down and you cannot remove the nut, end up torquing the nut and half the U Bolt off. Poor quality materials used.
3. Hose clamps. Have a trash can full of these that when you tighten them up, not overly tight, they pop and not longer work - have to dig out another and try it. Very poor materials. Best to buy a bag full at the auto parts store (SS of course).
4. Why are not the dimensions in inches instead of mixing feet with inches. Just use inches. Makes better sense when assembling.
Customer support? Isn't any. |
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| KE7NJ |
Rating:      |
2020-04-28 | |
| So far, so good! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
It sounds like some have issues with this antenna over time. I just got mine, so will have to wait a few months/years to see how it lasts.
However, I am very pleased with the quality of the antenna so far... and with how easy it was to put together. I assembled it myself and only needed a little help from my son to mount on the mast. The hardware looked good and the insulator on the driven element is now fiberglass. The traps looked okay... will have to see how they hold up.
I've only operated once in the rain and didn't have any issues. I set mine up for the center frequencies and am able to work all of 15 and 20 meters under 2:1 SWR. I can operated 10 meters from 28.0 to 29.1.
I'm able to compare it to my OCF dipole on the air and, of course, it is night and day better. I'm very surprised at how quiet it is on receive. I'll be getting S4-5 noise level on the OCF dipole, then switch to the A3S and get only S1 noise level. Very pleased!
I'll update the review in a year about how well it lasts. |
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| EI7HFB |
Rating:   |
2020-01-06 | |
| Good antenna for dry countries with no wind load |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
After few years of having this antenna i decided to take it down as constant issues with water made it impossible to work on it even after spending hours on watertighting it
Antenna would perform better in dry country where space is not an issue and relatively far from any interference.
Weak point of it is the plastic separator of two arms of this dipole radiator. it is not UV resistant . require replacement if constantly exposed to light
i was always happy for few days having it up only until rain
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| K6BFL |
Rating:      |
2019-03-20 | |
| Very good DXing antenna |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I have had this antenna for about 3 months now and I am loving it. It is such a step up from the wire antenna. I got this used and set it up. I needed new parts so I contacted cushcraft and they sent it right away. I have worked over 120 countries with this and have gotten hundred of EU from CO. I want to get the A743 40m add on but the reviews are not to good. I would recommend this and is very good. 73 de k6bfl |
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| K0DXV |
Rating:      |
2018-11-04 | |
| Exactly would it should be |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
It's been a struggle to get a tower setup. Finally, with the help of my friend with a BobCat, I managed to get a free-standing 35 tower up.
For me there was no other choice than the Cushcraft A3S. For its weight, wind-loading, and ruggedness, the A3S was top of the list. Previously I had a TH3jr which I thought was very cheaply made. Having put up a tower finally, I wasn't going to cheap out on a beam.
Assembly was straight forward. The manual was very well written. All of the components were top quality and nothing was missing or improperly made. Each trap was wrapped in bubble wrap and clearly marked.
I've read where people have felt that quality has dropped since Cushcraft was bought by MFJ. I'm personally very grateful that MFJ saved this company. Clearly they have some issues getting properly trained employees and mistakes are made. But, what I have found, is that regardless of which division, MFJ always comes through. Whatever brand - MFJ, Ameritron, Cushcraft, or HyGain - I've never been disappointed in the service and support I have received. It was sometimes a little slow - but it was always successful.
The A3S is now at about 36 feet being turned by a Yaesu GS-450 rotator. The difference between the A3S and a 3-band trapped inverted V dipole at a similar height is just about exactly 2 "S" units. Level elements VS drooping elements along with a director and reflector really makes a difference.
It's well-made, of strong stuff using a great proven design that handles 1500 watts and is lightweight. It performs exactly like a classic tri-bander should. Even at only 36 feet, it's a big step up from a dipole.
So, if someone at Cushcraft/MFJ reads this -- Hey, thanks! I really feel like I got my money's worth in the A3S! |
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| NN2X |
Rating:      |
2018-11-02 | |
| It worked for 14 boom |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Lets face it, this is a 14 ft boom, with traps, what would one expect?
I bought this model, back in 1980, I did not even have a rotor, (Arm strong method, with rope), that was fun..
But it worked, had some gain, Front to Back, and side rejection. I had a SB 200 amplifier and I was off to the races!
Bottom line, not bad antenna, worked for me. |
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