| N9ZWY |
Rating:  |
2016-10-12 | |
| Good Product & Exceptionally Great Service |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've been an on-and-off ham for the last 21 years. My experience with the Tak-Tenna has been awesome.
Back in 2011 I purchased the 80 Tak-Tenna. A good friend of mine, Mark (KB9SCT) helped me build the antenna in my back yard. The process was not terrible, and really kept my interest - as opposed to being a chore or something.
The Tak-Tenna was 90% assembled, but because of children, job changes, and moves, I had to keep putting the antenna in the rafters of the garage.
Enter 2016...the dawn of the completion of my Tak-Tenna journey. Steve was incredible with his support of helping me polish this project. (At one point, we even had a phone tag thing going and he would go out of his way to seek me out. Never had that kind of support before.)
Admittedly, the process of tuning took a bit of time. However, it is something I have learned a lot from, and is something that is a time-honored part of amateur radio. As of tonight, a Comet CAA-500 Mark 2 antenna analyzer shows that the antenna literally has an SWR of 1.0:1 at 3.7MHz. Had to take a picture of the Comet's LCD display for posterity.
Although I'm dealing with issues with high SWR on certain bands at the moment, I've sent a message to Steve to see if he has any suggestions. He really seems to know his product, in and out.
Cheers to Steve, his creation, and his support.
Todd
N9ZWY |
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| N2RRA |
Rating: |
2016-03-18 | |
| It works, but got to be honest. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Have to be honest here.
Wrote a review back in 2007 a bit to hastily. I finally got this antenna to work, but for me worked great in the vertical position. Couldn't get it to work in the horizontal position, but that could've been my fault due to being in patient with it. Even then, I can't take away the fact this antenna did work well and I think now I was better off. When I did use it I enjoyed making the contacts with good signal reports when I didn't think it was gonna be possible.
My expectations were very high cause I am spoiled with much bigger arrays and my experience with home brewing all my various wire antennas through the years. That being said if it didn't meet my specific requirements I would'nt have held on too it all this time.
This antenna is great to experiment with and will help those in living quarters that are restricted from putting up anything twenty times larger.
Luckily just moved and back in the game installing a tower so off it goes to the next ham that will enjoy making DX and local contacts he, or she couldn't make before. Tax-Tenna produced a good thing for those in need.
Probably would've rated a 3 being its a pain to tune, but rated a 4 for over all performance for apartment dwellers and HOA needs along with performance.
73!
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| WB4MWT |
Rating: |
2016-03-14 | |
| Great small antenna that rivals larger wire antennas |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I purchased the 40 meter antenna in 2010. In the vertical omni-directional position at 9' high and running 100 watts, I have worked a lot of DX with no real problems. Compared to my S-9 vertical, the antenna's performance is close to equal during the day with state-side contacts, and slightly below working DX at night.
After having some external line noise problem, I contacted Steve, the owner, for advice. With many emails back and forth for a week, I found out I had my antenna improperly tuned, and Steve led me through the process of retuning the antenna with my transceiver that came out near perfect to the desired frequencies and with low SWR.
I cannot say enough about the customer service. Steve went the extra mile with his time and effort to help me get my antenna tuned right. In the process of collecting data on my antenna, I learned a whole lot more about how this antenna works and operates. It was a fun and enjoyable experience working with Steve.
The TAK-tenna for its size, foot print, performance, and ease of maintenance is more than a portable antenna. One outstanding feature is that this small antenna can be operated with up to 1000 watts. Most other antennas this size can only be operated with low power. With all the these features I highly recommend the TAK-tenna.
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| AB2JD |
Rating: |
2016-01-24 | |
| Very effective |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| This is a really effective antenna for people who do not have much space. I mainly use it for digital operation (PSK 31/JT9/JT65) and my station was monitored as far away as Western Australia using just 15W. Another advantage is that the TAK-tenna does not have to be erected very high. Mine is just 15' up on glass fiber poles. I assembled it together with a friend of mine, who is a lot handier than I am. But I am sure that you can do the assembly yourself if you follow the instructions carefully. Right now, the TAK-tenna is mounted horizontally and I am anxious to see if results are different when it is up vertically. In conclusion, a great product if you are space restricted and still want to be heard outside your own country or even continent. |
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| KR3NO |
Rating: |
2016-01-21 | |
| ??????? |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I bought one of these antennas years ago. It just hit me, it was not a joy to put together (a kit, I mean KIT!) for $200 bucks. They should be ashamed. The two end elements should be assembled for that kind of money (it's only copper wire). Total cost of parts in the box, $15 on the outside. As a matter of fact I remember making one side and giving up because of the effort I had put into it. So I never did complete it. The box contains basically copper weld wire, a few pieces of PVC and some tie wraps. It should be half the price. |
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| KW0K |
Rating: |
2015-11-22 | |
| Great on my RV |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| This antenna is a 5 all the way, especially for RV USE. Used It for 3 years from all over the US, Canada & Mexico. Used iron water pipe for mounting on roof ladder about 6 ft above RV roof,,,no radials needed added to convenience. Configured it for easy assembly and disassembly and storage under main bed while enroute. Follow instructions for building and setting resonance and you will not be disappointed. Doug KW0K |
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| K6TUH |
Rating: |
2015-06-16 | |
| great antenna |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Purchased a 20 meter antenna. Great customer service. Answered all my question.
Very quick in responding. |
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| WB2QWU |
Rating: |
2015-01-26 | |
| Great for HOA restricted homes |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Living in an HOA antenna restricted community I need an antenna that would allow me to get back onto the HF frequencies. The Tak-tenna was easy to put together. The pre-drilled holes aligned perfectly and the slots for the wire were cut so the wires stayed tightly in place until they were secured with the wire ties. The Tak-tenna is installed vertically about 10 feet off the ground between a wall and the house, not the best of locations, but the best I can do. I had no problems getting the antenna to resonate at 1.3:1 at 7.175 mhz. Using my tuner, I have made contacts on 80, 40, 20, 18, 15 meters with reports from S-4 to S-9 depending on conditions. Also, I do not pick up much background noise like I did on a wire antenna. All in all, this is a great antenna. Sure you can make it yourself for cheaper, but I would rather spend my time making QSO,s then trying to DOY it.
Photo of the installation can be seen on TAK-tenna web page. |
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| N2AMA |
Rating: |
2014-12-05 | |
| Excellent no compromise antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The TAK-tenna is a great no compromise antenna.
I have tried several other antennas for restricted spaces including long wire end fed designs and verticals with an autotuner and this is hands down the best!
The TAK-tenna was a fun to build kit and only took the afternoon build and install including spray painting a coat of matte black and it looks really sharp!
The TAK-tenna tunes up easily with my IT-100 tuner and I regularly use it for Winlink and I have made SSB contacts on 40 Meters as far away as Italy from my home in upstate NY
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| N5ATZ |
Rating: |
2014-07-15 | |
| TAK-Tenna is great on small lots! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have been using TAK-tennas for over two years. I have owned four of them. I have read many reviews stating that they do not work. If you can read and follow directions, they can work very well.
I am currently running the 80-meter version mounted at about 15 feet. It takes up a very small footprint.
Since I have been using TAK-tennas, I have made numerous DX contacts, including stations in Croatia, Finland, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico, Japan, and other countries in Europe and South and Central America. I have also made many US and Canada contacts as well. I ran the 40-meter version for over a year and I was quite satisfied with it. However, my personal experience suggests that the 80-meter antenna works better on 40 meters than does the 40-meter version. Both versions work very well on 20, 17, 15, and 10 meters. An antenna tuner is required to use any of them on bands other that which they were originally designed.
My rig is an ICOM IC-7200 working in conjunction with an LDG IT-100 Autotuner. I normally run the ICOM at about 90 watts.
One must absolutely follow the assembly instructions to the letter to get these antennas working properly. It is not that difficult. Additionally, they must be resonated as described in the instructions. I initially tried to accomplish this by using the SWR meter on my transceiver. That got me sort of in the ball park, but when I used an antenna analyzer to resonate it, that process went much better. I would never again try to resonate one without an analyzer. The process takes some time, it is an iterative process, but just be patient and it will all come together.
Steve, the proprietor of the tak-tenna company, is a very helpful individual. I have talked with him on the phone and exchanged numerous emails with him since I have been using these antennas. He will get back to you very quickly and is a very knowledgeable ham and engineer. When I ordered my last antenna from him, he was in the process of moving to another state. He dropped what he was doing and shipped my antenna the day I ordered it. Talk about service!
One more thing, if your TAK-tenna becomes damaged (as in a Texas wind storm), you can go down to the local hardware store and find materiel to fix it.
I have a very small lot, and this antenna has performed very nicely for me, tucked in it's small corner of the back yard.
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