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Reviews For: Cushcraft A3S

Category: Antennas: HF: Yagi, Quad, Rotary dipole, LPDA

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Review Summary For : Cushcraft A3S
Reviews: 87MSRP: 599
Description:
3 ELEMENT BEAM ON A 14' BOOM
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cushcraftamateur.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00874
PJ2GT Rating: 2005-03-06
VERY good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Living on the Island of Curacao (PJ2) it is difficult to get HAM stuff in. I checked on this site to see what was good and not to big to be flown in by plane. A friend recommended an A3S since it is a good antenna as well.

The box arrived about 6 weeks ago (after paying American Airlines an extra $100) and I good start to assemble.

Everything was in the box as promised. One trap was damaged and had a ditch. One other trap had a seal that was not properly made.... Check them. I used silicone to fill up all the seals and on the other side I taped them, just as extra precautions.

In the manual I good find only one mistake. (The length of one of the tubes was incorrect, but if you are a bit OK in the head you figure it out

See http://www.pj2gt.com for the pictures.

Using it.
Well what can I say? This is my first beam and I am impressed. I know it is also the callusing and the fact that Curacao is such a good Island for working DX, but so for in ALL pile up's I is heard after 2 or three calls. Often by the first call.

The antenna seems to work very very well. I am a happy camper.... The reports I get are amazing and I hear things I never dreamed of....

Very nice antenna....

How it will stay on the long term. We have a lot of salt water around us but I will put in a report in about a year...

If you need to know more... you can contact me at mark@pj2gt.com
W0LC Rating: 2004-10-27
Changing Brands! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had an A3S at my former QTH and it worked okay, but it developed a problem with 15 meters being intermittent. Turned out to be a bad trap. Ended up replacing both.

Well, moved to new QTH 3 years ago, erected a brand new A3S and now, less then 2 years after it went up, same problem again, probably a defective trap on 15 and I have been running 100 watts, low SWR. Now the SWR is high, and SWR jumps all over the place.

I plan on replacing with Force 12 C3SS or similar. No more trapped antennas for me!

Funny though, never meet anyone with a Hygain or Mosley trapped antenna that has had this sort of problem, only Cushcraft.

About time they start looking at their design else extend the warranty!!!
K6ZOE Rating: 2004-09-01
Very good antenna and great customer service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Put up the A3S with the 40mtr add on kit. swr as the manual says, great customer service from ed. This is my first full size beam and the front to back is outstanding. The first contact i made was on PSK31 was EM1HO, S7. CUSHCRAFT and customer service is very good. I like this antenna and i shoud have many yrs of service from it..oh yes i can transmitt without using the tuner,the only time i have to use the tuner is on the band edges. 73 bob K6ZOE
KC0GOX Rating: 2004-08-28
Does the Job Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this antenna up about 5 years now, and it has given steady, reliable service. The only problem I had with this antenna was self-induced. I inadvertently installed a pair of 15 meter traps backwards. Once this problem was fixed, this thing was a performer! Its swr specs are pretty much as advertised, I cover all three bands at less than 2:1. I have the 40 meter add on kit, and get 150khz of bandwidth less than 2:1, my Kenwood 570 finds it an easy match with the auto tuner over the entire band. This antenna is mounted at about 55 feet, and my tower is guyed with non-conductive phillystran. I mention this because both performance and the swr curve both improved noteably after the non-conductive guys were installed. This is not a phenomenon limited to the A3S; non conductive guys will improve the performance of most any large directional array. Plus, this allows me to mount and use an extremely effective sloper antenna on the tower with excellent results.
Why a 4 rating instead of a 5? This beam has increased in price considerably since I purchased it in 1999, and I am not sure it is as good a value as it once was. If you are not interested in the WARC bands, I would give this antenna a 5; if you want WARC capabilities, you are probably better off going for a log periodic antenna. In spite of the hype and claims of various manufacturers, the A3S and, say, an 18 foot boom log are going to perform very similarly to one another. So, depending on your operating preferences, this may still be a good choice. For those who want the WARC bands in addition to 10,15,and 20, there are more efficient and cost effective methods of putting out a big signal on five bands.
KC4COJ Rating: 2004-01-26
Up 17 years, no problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I gave this antenna a 5, for a small HF beam and considering the low cost in comparison to others. I have had no problems after installation now for over 17 years, with no maintenance. Fair front to back rejection and good front to side rejection. Always a performer dry or wet.
AB7UW-MONTANA Rating: 2003-11-08
Great antenna! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had this antenna with the 40 meter add onkit up now for about a month. It exhibits excellent f/b ratio and am working dx on 40 with only 100w ! Easy to understand instructions. Had a wind storm with gusts reaching over 80 mph about 2 weeks ago, I was thinking that I was not going to have a beam the next morning, well, the antenna held with no issues and no realignment. I rate this beam a solid 5. Vaughn-N1XV ex AB7UW
KD5WUN Rating: 2003-08-05
Outstanding first Yagi!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Let me start off by saying that I don't have the experience (or privilege) to have worked with many different Yagi, Log Periodic or Quads in the past years. I just received my ticket in May of 03' and I started off with a G5RV. Now my G5RV (10 - 80m @ 45’ high) works very well especially with good band conditions and I have talked to a few stations around the world. So my experience with the A3(S) will be compared to the G5RV. I know this is not apples to apples, but for those who are thinking about a Yagi, Log Periodic or Quad, I hope this will help.
My experience with the A3(S);
Very good SWR readings. You will have to choose on 20 meters either the CW or Phone settings for the correct SWR. Very good front to back and side attenuation. The gain over the G5RV varies from +6 to 9db! I can here and TALK to stations that cannot be heard on the G5RV. I even get “spotted” now and then!

Bottom line, the difference is almost night and day. Again, I know this is not a fair comparison, and I’m not putting down the G5RV AT ALL. As a matter of fact, I still have it up and use it daily. I’m just trying to give someone who may be thinking about purchasing a beam antenna an idea of the benefits.

So far the A3 (I say A3 and not A3S because I purchased a 10~ year old used antenna) has worked very well. I live in Texas so ice is not a problem. I do get high winds and so far no problems.

I have the A3 up 50’ on a Rohn 25g tower. I also live in the country so I have no buildings or neighbors close by.

I hope this is helpful,

73,
Kevin
KD5WUN
WI3K Rating: 2003-01-29
So far.........so good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my first time around with a tribander and it's going well so far. It went together easy enough, even for a first timer. After assembly, the driven and director elements actually came out too long. I put it in position, checked the SWR and was surprised to find that even though two of the elements measured long that the SWR curves were as advertised and where I set them, in the center of each band.

The A3S has performed well for me so far. No trouble with rain or ice even though we've had a bit here in southern PA. The results on the bands have been good and I've finally gotten into SE Asia where I never got with a vertical.

Right now, all is well. I'll update as time goes on.
NZ0T Rating: 2002-11-06
Good tribander Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I replaced my old HyGain TH3JR with a used A3 about three months ago. So far, it has exceeded my expectations with great performance on all three bands. As expected bandwidth is much better than the smaller HyGain and the A3 does not suffer with SWR problems during wet weather like the TH3JR did.
These (like all antennas these days) are very expensive new but there are plenty of good used ones available that may just require a cleanup and light repair to bring them back to new performance at a used price.
W7TJ Rating: 2002-07-26
Good for a small Tribander Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The A3S is a good buy for the dollar for a small tribander. Performance with respect to front to back on all bands is excellent- 25db.Gain Performace is best on 10, 15, and 20 respectively. The antenna will handle legal limit; but I would not "push" it....the only shortfall is it is not very broad banded. VSWR is reasonable on 20, but not broadbanded enough on 10 & 15. You really have to pick your mode ( set lengths for phone or cw ) Randy - W7TJ