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Reviews For: OptiBeam OB11-5 (high performance 11el fivebander 20-17-15-12-10

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

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Review Summary For : OptiBeam OB11-5 (high performance 11el fivebander 20-17-15-12-10
Reviews: 36MSRP: 2028 USD
Description:
Performant Yagi designed as interlaced monobanders for 20/15/10m plus high efficient "hidden sleeve element technique" for 17/12m.
Loss free broad band OptiBeam driver feed system reqires only one single 50 Ohm coax.
Optimized computer designed German Yagi without traps and with full size elements. High gain and f/b ratio on all bands.
The OB11-5 has 3 el on 20, 3 el on 17, 3el wide spaced on 15, 3el wide spaced on 12 and 5 el on 10 meters on a 6.00 meter boom.
No switching, no tuning, no flexible parts, an absolute trouble free performer !
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.optibeam.de
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15365
NE4CW Rating: 2014-02-25
Great performer / good looks Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I took my time with assembly of this antenna over several days, but all in all probably around 8 hours to get it together. Its a fairly large antenna with lots of parts but as stated in other reviews, all parts are marked and the boom is marked with exact element placement so assembly is not difficult. The manual is straight-forward but at times the German to English translation is a bit confusing. But Tom always quickly answered my emails and cleared things up for me.
Performance so far is great and swr curves exactly as described. Mine is at 72 feet..
This thing looks great up in the air, when the sun shines on it you can see it from a loooong way off...lol...great looking antenna!
73
WF2S Rating: 2014-01-29
Top Quality Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is an update to my 2009 review.. A squared U-Bolt had a cracked Ny-Loc nut allowing it to loosen. It was a quick fix and DF6BO sent several replacement U Bolts immediately. That was 2 years ago.. Presently we are having winds >35 MPH and higher gusts. The antenna has been packed in ice several times. NO DAMAGES. If I hear DX, the odds are good it will end up in my log in short order.
The time and attention to careful assembly has give me a worry free antenna. I can not say the same about several other Yagi manufacturer's products that I have taken off my tower in various states of failure.
K4NNL Rating: 2014-01-29
Perfection Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have the OB11-5 at 19.5 meters and an OB1-40 3 meters above that. All I can say is this is a great antenna as most of the calls I have made have been answered on the first or second call even on pileups with only 75 watts output from the transceiver. Having all the parts marked makes putting the antenna together a breeze. Thanks Tom for a great antenna and for all the support that you provided along the way.
MJ0ULE Rating: 2014-01-21
Outstanding performance and technical support.! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
We purchased an OB11-5 in late 2012 for the Jersey ARS.
Given our location on top of an exposed headland on the S/W corner of the island the build quality has been tested to the limit. Especially during the recent storms where the wind gusts reached 80 knots.! See link for short video taken day after the storm when the winds were still gusting 50 or 60 knots !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZvCAlrOESs
The only casualty was a small C clamp which Tom DF2BO very kindly has replaced immediately along with a strengthened upper wire rope clamp for the boom. Tom responded immediately to emails and has shown outstanding commitment to supporting his product and customers. Assembly was straightforward and performance was as expected. This is a 'beast' of an antenna with performance to match. Full marks to Optibeam for a first class product and grateful thanks from all at Jersey ARS. 73, Steve MJ0ULE.
G0TKJ Rating: 2013-12-02
Best Yagi I have owned Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Well what can I say just a superb antenna, very well built and very easy to put together. I have had the antenna built and running since the 12th of May and have never been so pleased. I decided to get the OptiBeam from Tom DF2BO for the simple reason of mechanical ruggedness as I didn't want stepper motors going down on me. The antenna is a real gem to put together with all of the guess work taken out of the install because all the elements are together and taped in one part so you have the right tubes for the right part and all the elements are labeled and the boom and the boom to element mounting plates are also labled so no guess work and no need to get the tape measure out either. Just a great bit of kit to go with the station.

Thanks Tom DF2BO

73's Terry G0TKJ
F8PDR Rating: 2012-05-24
So good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A very good antenna that gives us a remarkable Recption, very simple to assemble because all the elements are reported. It is a pleasure to do radio with this type of antenna. Thank you to Tom and his team
LA9DFA Rating: 2011-12-06
All over excellent! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have used the OB11-5 for 3 months now, and all I can say is that this antenna is an excellent performer. I got in contact with Tom, DF2BO early this summer and placed an order with him. The antenna arrived safely here and I did start the assembly short after. At the same time I had my tower project going on, so the antenna was finished in good time before the tower was up. It was an easy task to assembly the OB11-5. I used to days. Much longer than others I suppose, but I wanted it to be perfect. And it did get perfect!! Everything fitted nice together and all the pieces was clean and accurate produced. Well marked so assembly was really easy. Really German quality. Rock solid!!
At the 10th of September I had some friends over to help me, and we raised the tower up and put the OB11-5 up. It’s placed 18m over the ground. It’s doing great up there. SWR is low and flat all over the bands. No problem what so ever.
By now I am very spoiled working the pileups. It takes me one, sometimes two calls to break the pileup. If it takes three attempts, I often check the antenna switch or other things to see if I’m transmitting on the wrong antenna….hihi. So working DX has become easy! I’m so spoiled with this antenna. Really looking forward to 2012 and some big DXpeds to see how it performs when I must break trough huge pileups to very rare countries! Guess it will be easy!
I found myself breaking true huge pileups with a lot of hams more southern in Europe, with much better propagations than us up in north.
I only have nice things to say about Optibeam so far. Excellent service all the way by Tom, and nice communication too. I surely will go for another Optibeam antenna when the time comes.
If you consider buying a new antenna, buy Optibeam! I promise you that you won’t be disappointed!
Looking forward to work you all on this antenna!! My signal is huge :)hihi
73’s Morten LA9DFA
W3DIY Rating: 2011-08-13
Excellent Customer Service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased an OB11-5 from a local radio club who did not own a proper tower to support this beam.
Some of the factory markings had vanished over time so I e mailed Tom for help and received a response within an hour. The antenna was out of warranty for a long time but Tom was always available to answer questions promptly.
Prior to the OB11-5 a Force 12 and Hex beam were installed on the same tower. Without question the Optibeam outperforms both and the construction quality is superior to any antenna owned in the past. If you are considering an OB11-5 buy it, you will not be disappointed.
9K2OD Rating: 2011-06-12
wondrfull antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
what can i say about this antenna... its waaaaaaaaaw.... quick to plug and play.. the packing very good... evrey elment marked to other elment ( you save time ) its take 5 hours to plug the all antenna ( i was alone ) and no SWR and the proformance was very good for this antenna... i just want to say DF2BO Tom you did good jop with this antenna...

thanks to every one

9k2od, osama
DL2ND Rating: 2010-10-05
Brilliant Antenna ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm using two antennas, the OB1-40 on top and OB11-5 beneath it, both at aprox. 21 meters above the ground.

I can say:

- perfect antenna, the construction is without compromises
- very selectiv
- the gain is amazing

The support of Optibeam company is excellent !!

73, Uwe