| W3DAB |
Rating:  |
2019-05-03 | |
| Great Performance, Not So Great Quality |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I built my own 80-6M "Bux Windom" off-center-fed dipole using their 4:1 balun and other parts ordered form their web site. I was super impressed with the bandwidth and the nearly flat SWR across ALL OF 80M and 40M!! I was also impressed with the SWR not exceeding much more than about 2:1 across 20M, 10M, and 6M bands. Over all, seems a VERY good performer.
However, the build quality I found to be lacking. They use what looks like zinc eyelet wood screws twisted into the plastic balun that are not sized up to the task of holding up to the 30-60 mph winds associated with our typical thunderstorms. I am not in the busyness of manufacturing baluns, but even I would not expect these small zinc eyelet screws twisted into the plastic balun to hold the weight of the balun, the wire radials, and reasonable coax like RG-213U. My antenna came crashing to the ground after a T-storm this week with max winds of 60mph. The bent eyelet screws reviled where the failure occurred. The eyelet used for holding up the balun/antenna, and one of the eyelets used to hold one of the wire radials were both bent to the point of failure causing the antenna to fall to the ground.
A moot point now as the company has recently gone out of business due to the owner's failing health. But it is a shame, since Buck was a pioneer of the OCF antenna, and he figured out how to get the widest bandwidth of any I am aware of from his baluns and OCF antennas. Higher build quality would have made this balun the absolute, undisputed king of the hill. |
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| VE1YY |
Rating: |
2018-08-17 | |
| RIP to a Valiant Antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This antenna has well served me at two different QTHs and for 20 years. Originally purchased to facilitate my NCS duties on an 80m Band net while running full legal SSB power, it later served during HF band contests and DX-ing.
The antenna wire crimps failed at the insulator ends and the balun case parts separated, both easily repaired.
The unit never 'liked' legal limit power at a net control duty cycle: the core would saturate but halving power avoided the issue.
Finally, the antenna wire, beautiful, stranded, non-kinking stuff, failed days before a new antenna was to be mounted.
Still, all considered those niggling issues are minor compared to all the antenna delivered.
RIP. |
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| NG2O |
Rating: |
2013-05-11 | |
| Works well, well made |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Works as advertised. I have it mounted on a pole on the roof peak, roof at 30 feet, antenna at about 42 feet, inverted vee configuration. Low SWR on 80, 40, 20, and 10m. About 2:1 on 17 and 12m. Quite a bit higher on 30 and 15, but the tuner in my TenTec Omni VII handles it just fine. In a couple of days, I have worked all continents, and lots of DX in the CQM CW contest. It is more broad-banded than a commercial multi-wire antenna I used last summer. I think (not scientific, but my impression) it works better than the R8 and R6000 verticals that I have used in the past, and it's easier to put up and take down. Also quieter than the verticals.
Construction seems fine. None of the problems voiced by reviewers in the past.
I have always been skeptical of the windom, but I'm satisfied now that it is a great compromise antenna for HF 80-10 (I haven't tried 6 - I have a small beam for 6, hi) in my situation: not much land, no desire for big installations, no towers to climb, tunable with the tuner in my rig.
GIve one a try.
Joe Clayton NG2O |
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| KB2HUK |
Rating: |
2011-11-29 | |
| Great service |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Turns out I ordered the wrong balun for a 160 mtr. dipole I had bought from Buxcomm . Buck called me to let me know that same evening and then beat feet down to the local post office The next morning to retrieve the wrong balun and replaced it with the correct one . Thank you Buck ! Unheard of customer service ! |
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| K5YC |
Rating: |
2010-04-15 | |
| Balun failure |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Since first review balun saturated and is not
usable. Tried to repair. No use. Antenna was
good for 2 yrs then major failure. Would I
now recommend this product, no! Enjoyed it
while working, but not long lasting. I never ran more than 200 watts.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by K5YC on 2007-01-16
After using an old trap dipole for years, I decided something else had to be better. Comparing antennas and price I settled on this one. Does it work, YES! Being not able to QSY
up or down the band with the trap dipole, it is
no problem now. Have worked Hawaii on 40 SSB with
5 watts (5/3) and all but 3 states now. People ask what antenna am I using? Can't believe an
OCF Windom. Others make this antenna for much more money, but Buxcomm got it right and a fair price. |
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| K2VI |
Rating: |
2009-12-12 | |
| Bad Attitude |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Not only does he make his antenna's out of scrap pieces of wire but he has the attitude he is doing you a favor and he talks down to you.Good way to go out of bussiness buck.But what do we know were all a bunch of idiot's in bucks world.Also the balun i bought from him is now smoked and trashed.1.5 kw rating but only put in 600 watts SSB and a near flat swr.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by K2VI on 2007-05-24
this ocf windom crushes my 80 meter dipole in short daytime signal reports as well as dx,It really shows a big difference with night time long haul communication,If you get one you will be so happy with this windom i bet you get one for the future.I did.
tony k2vi |
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| N4WEQ |
Rating: |
2009-09-08 | |
| Poorly Constructed |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I purchased a Buxcomm Windom 80-6 OCF antenna a couple of weeks ago and noticed the short leg had two wire splices and the long had one. This is straight out of the box. The joints had been wire crimped with a heat shrink over it. Also, the heat shrink at the point where the wire connects to the balun had slipped off and was showing bear copper to which I used almost a roll of coax-seal to fix. I thought what the heck; it looked like they made the whole thing out of wire scraps.
Yesterday I was working 20 meters and noticed my SWR was off. Wandered out to the back yard and here was the short side of the antenna flopping on the ground. Thank God neither of the wife’s dogs was out there at the time. Come to find out the crimp was gone from the short end insulator.
The build quality on this antenna is about as poor as I have ever seen.
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| K8MFO |
Rating: |
2009-07-13 | |
| Perfect For Me! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have been licensed for 51 years and am a serious DXer, with a 120 foot tower and an "aluminum jungle" in my back yard, and the latest and greatest radios in an air conditioned shack.
However, I am also a fancier of "boatanchor radios". I love the GLOW of old tube transmitters and receivers. In my barn/workshop I have some fine old radios. At the moment a Johnson Viking Ranger II is the transmitter, and I have the choice of either a Collins 75A4 receiver, or Drake 2B and R4C models. I have long been a fan of center fed dipoles using open wire or ladder line. Of course you also need an antenna tuner, and I have my choice of several. However, I wanted an antenna that would cover 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters with coaxial feed, and did not require a tuner. I looked at the G5RV and dismissed that option. Later I stumbled onto the BUXCOMM web site and read Buck Rogers' most interesting comments on the Windom. Decades ago I helped a top notch DXer and contester put up a Windom in a residential neighborhood when I was a student at Michigan State. His results were excellent!
Anyway, in the fall of 2007 I called BUXCOMM one evening and Buck Rogers - K4ABT himself answered the phone. I will leave it to you personally to decide whether that was good! Initially , Buck seemed to be in a hurry to close up shop and go home, and he was muttering a bit under his breath. So, being a bit direct, I said, "What are you muttering about, Buck?" That seemed to catch his attention! He and I proceeded to have a very pleasant conversation, and we talked about old radios and the GLORY DAYS of radio,etc. At that point I told Buck that I was interested in the "CW MODEL" of his 80 through 6 meter Windom. He told me that he would personally make one up for me as soon as we hung up, and he did! He also apologized for his earlier "muttering" and said he was going to include his high power balun at no additional charge!
My results with the 30 watts of output from my Ranger II have been quite satisfactory. In the CW Sweepstakes, 2007 running, I decided to go for a Clean Sweep of sections. So I made 80 QSOs in 80 sections -- this took 8 hours. OK -- Worked All States and most Canadian provinces in the time that most people sleep each night! At the end of November 2007 I decided to enter the CQ World Wide CW DX Contest, again with the Ranger II at 30 watts and the BUXCOMM Windom. Remember we are at the bottom of the sunspot cycle, so I only operated casually for 25 hours. The results again were satisfactory with a half million points and 108 countries in the log. I guess DXCC must have taken about 20 hours, which is not bad.
I continue to play around in various contests and to rag chew to my hearts content with the old radios and the Windom! Of course I am not saying the Windom is as good as my aluminum jungle on the big tower, but I do have a reference antenna out at the barn to compare it to. To put it simply, the Buxcomm Windom runs circles around a Cushcraft R7 vertical, and I have always been pleased with that antenna too!
I should also mention that my Ranger II loads just fine into the Windom on 15 meters, even though that is not advertised as an optimum band. Guess what? It also beats the R7 performance wise on that band!
So, what do you want? A well designed antenna that works? Then you may want to consider the BUXCOMM. Buck may be a foul mood when you call him on the phone, but he obviously knows how to design an antenna that works as advertised. Go to the website and read his thoughtful insight yourself, and make your own decision.
Thanks Buck! 73 .... Don K8MFO |
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| KJ4JGD |
Rating: |
2009-06-02 | |
| Satisfied Customer |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Being a swl'er for years, I decided to take the plunge and get my ham license. I have used various long wire and verticals which were all home brewed. Since swr was never a problem on the receive side and I wanted to be on the air fast, I decided to go store bought. I have not been disappointed. I got the low power 4:1 version. Although not deployed by the book due to trees, building etc. the swr readings were great out of the box with no trimming. All bands were 1.6 or less except 80 and 10 which were both a little over 2.1, which I believe is more an installation issue (too low on one side,too close to trees on the other) rather than the antenna itself. The folks were polite, friendly and helpful. I will be happy to do business with them again. |
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| W9MHB |
Rating: |
2009-01-06 | |
| Great!! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have this antenna hung between two pine trees at 40ft. I have used it on every band from 80m through 70cm and it works as advertised. On HF I use it with a little manual tuner and I have no problems getting an SWR of 1:1. On 40m, and 20m I really wouldn't have to use a tuner as the SWR is below 1.5:1, however I choose to in order to get it to 1:1. I have worked 30 countries, and 46 states within my first year of being a HAM. I use this antenna on SSB and a multitude of digital modes.
Can't ask for much more for such a simple antenna, if you can't put up a tower and want a low profile antenna that gets the job done, order it!!! |
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