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Reviews For: Diamond BB6W

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Diamond BB6W
Reviews: 14MSRP: 149 euro
Description:
Wire antenna, 6,20 mtrs long
3.5 to 30mhz
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00143.8
EA7GAH Rating: 2022-05-04
It hasn't gone well for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Tested material and result: disenchanted. With a 9:1 balun and a 7 meter cable I have obtained better reception and better DX.

In the provisional tests it worked well but in the final installation the results have been depressing. Why? I do not know! Possible causes: counterpoise? location ? I do not know.

Luckily it hasn't been an important outlay and it's good to experiment but you can't expect miracles from a 6 meter long antenna.

Good luck!
M0ZOL Rating: 2021-08-03
Portable or at home Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Great package , well built antennas always by diamond.
Have only a small plot now and this works well for the size . Don't expect as good a result as a full size diapole or beam antenna lol , for its 6.5m length it certainly is easy to put up and get on the bands , I've also used portable with military sets . great quality and design.
2E0BJL Rating: 2020-02-16
Absolutely rabbish Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Absolutely awful dipole I know that is very short dipole and you can't aspect lots, but the Diamond manufacturer as been in business for long time why they sell this kind of rubbish???
Well reports signal in all the band is poor you can't ear nothing just qrm.
Report in tx poor as well just work at point of view just in 30 Mt.
I manage to install again my g5rv and wow boom of signals in every band. Guest what??? cost me only £20 in rispect of £200.
73
V85CZ Rating: 2016-04-28
Unexpected Performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my primary HF antenna, Bands worked are as advertised from 80 to 10m, although SWR on low 80 are above 1.5 with my FT450.

I have this antenna hanging from a 30 foot tree to the 2nd story of my house, tuned in to the 15m band and started calling CQ with 100w a couple of times and didnt get any feedback. In a few minutes bam! my first contact was from Germany! with rst 57 tx and 58 rx on my end. following that was contacts from Croatia, France, Italy, Belarus and Russia!!
PC5F Rating: 2012-12-16
A compromise for specific needs Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I don't agree with the glowing reviews.
My antennas are in the attic. I have a fan dipole with elements for 20m, 15m and 10m on which 30m, 17m and 12m are tunable. And a whip dipole for the 40m band. The dipoles perform MUCH better than the BB6W on those bands.
But... there are still the 80m and 160m bands. I tried a whip dipole for the 80m band, but it performed really poorly and I sold it. The BB6W has a meagre but still somewhat acceptable performance (for a small antenna) on 80m and the same holds true for 160m (that one with the help of an MFJ-914). I've been able to work 8 dxcc's and up to 800 kilometers on the 160m band with the BB6W, which I think is not so bad for a small antenna. Furthermore it is broadband and thus has a good swr response over the whole 80m band without tuning and on the 160m band I only have to set the MFJ-914 to one position and the BB6W is good for the whole band.
The bands 40m up to 10m do not need tuning on my BB6W, although I don't use it for those bands.
Another use for the BB6W is for temporary locations, such as on vacation. Easy to set up, works on all the HF bands and tuning is hardly needed (although certain environments may need tuning).
YO3FXF Rating: 2012-10-21
Great! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
...Past 4 years,...this antena work perfect in the same place!Meteorological conditions don't affect this antena!It's like new one!Thank you Diamond!

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by YO3FXF on 2008-05-19

I use this antena with good results!Work ok with LDG AT 200 PRO with swr 1:1 in all HF bands!(I use this antena in SLOPER at 45 degre angle).Excelent for limited space!Good Job DIAMOND!
SV4NYZ Rating: 2010-10-20
When less is more ? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well, two months ago i purchased a BB-6W rather than a longer/better HF radiator, mainly due to the lack of spacious roof. Knowing in advance that i would have to accept suboptimal (to say the least) performance, i was not expecting too much, and i was right on the 80m band. The same holds true for the 40m, yet performance was a bit better.On 20m-17m-15m the performance is unexpectedly good, always keeping in mind that we are talking about a short "Long Wire"... In my case, it is set up as "flat topper", only 2 meters above the roof, which is my share on it's poor performance on 80m & 40m. I have worked Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Ukraine, Russia and Jordan with this 6.4-meter wire. Not bad, right ?
The only thing that kept me from giving it a solid "5" is that i believe the antenna is a bit expensive. All in all, if you are space-limited both vertically and horizontally and you are not looking for a top performer, then most likely you will be satisfied with the BB-6W. If not, though, then i guess you should go with another type of radiator.
EA3HAB Rating: 2010-05-02
An excellent choice for reduced spaces Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm using the BB6W last year, in horizontal position (E-W), 13 metres over the ground with a MFJ993 Tuner and 300w. (QTH in the Pyrenees Mountains 1000m. AMSL)

I know physically is only a 6 metres long wire and for sure I can't compare it with other longer or directive antennas more efficient, but this one it's doing the job that I need, because no room in my QTH for a big one.

With the improving of conditions I can work easy all the East Coast, Caribean and South America better in 15-17-20 metres and sometimes in 40m, also UA9 stations are usually contacted in all bands.

I match it and often work all that I listen from 80 to 12 metres (distance record in 10m. is 4L, but conditions in this band are poor in the last year).

An advice from my experience: it must to be clear and no walls near.
G8JNJ Rating: 2010-04-26
Useful for general monitoring and occasional QSOs Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The BB6W matching unit is the same as the BB7V.

I have tested a BB7V in comparison to a Comet CHA-250 and also a few other methods of matching a similar length radiating element.

Pictures of inside the matching unit and other information can be found here.

http://g8jnj.webs.com/cometcha250b.htm

Martin – G8JNJ

www.g8jnj.webs.com

M0RDI Rating: 2009-02-12
Really good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
If I could give this small wire antenna a six I would
I'm one of those unlucky people with a very small garden so my bigest obstacle to operating on Hf was the antenna.. enter the BB6W by diamond at about 6.5 metres long I dont think it could ever outperform a full sized G5RV however It has given me great performance and even some modest dx ... using just the 10 watts permited by the uk foundation licence I have worked Malta,Italy,Greece,Germany,Bulgaria,Hungary.
Estonia,Latvia and Russia ....if like me someone has restricted space ,requires stealth (this will also fit into a loft space) ,or needs an antenna for hill topping or camping in my very humble opinion they should get this one its money well spent