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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
G7TEA Rating: 2008-08-07
Very Very Good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
i have had this up for sometime now and find it to be a very good Antenna tunes up on all bands no problem, i am not a dx-er but do chat to europe and all over the uk if you like me have a small back garden you can't go wrong with this one ...........m0tea
M3CJX Rating: 2008-05-29
Brilliant! Considering. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I live in a built up residential area and a large antenna outside is not really possible. I have installed the BB6W in my loft/attic and it works great. At a cost of £120 GBP and 2-30Mhz coverage its a bargain. I have been using a really small Comet VA-250 HF antenna on the back of the house but the BB6W in the loft out performs this everytime. Signals are at least 3 S-points better on all bands and the antenna tunes easily. I use a FT-450 built in tuner. It will even tune to 50Mhz and performs well! It was really easy to install (15 minutes), I was able to make contact with most of Europe with 10w on 80/40/20 as well as recieving North and south America, Canada and a few islands. I have tried a half size G5RV in the loft but the BB6W is much better and considering its only 6.5m long its ideal for small spaces. I can only image what its like installed outside!!
Well done Diamond, its a winner. I would recommend this antenna to anyone in a simular position. Enjoy!
G0VTI Rating: 2008-01-03
Not sure Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Hi,

I have a very small garden with limited space. My main HF antenna is a half size G5RV which just fits comfortably across the roof of my bungalow and terminates in a nearby tree.

My rig is the IC-7000 and I run 40 watts PSK31, and about 70 Watts CW.

I saw the Diamond HF Wide Band Antenna 2-30MHz
advertised and although quite expensive at £129 I thought that it might be worth buying as I might be able to use 80 Mtrs, as well as the other ham bands.

I purchased the BB6W and found it to be of good construction. It was quick and easy to install, one end attached to my chimney stack and one end to the tree. It is up at about 5 Mtrs. It looks very neat when installed.

My BB6W antenna does not need an ATU on 80, 40, 20, 15 or 10 Mtrs. The SWL does vary across these bands some being better than others but none being over 1.5:1. However, if I do connect my LDG-7000 ATU to the antenna it will not tune it on any band! I thought that I could work the WARC bands using this tuner. If I connect my old Vectronics manual tuner I can tune any band down to 1.1:1.

On 80 Mtrs I can hear plenty of UK and European stations but when I call CQ or answer a call on PSK31 or CW I get no replies at all! I have tried many times but no results. My half G5RV although not for 80 Mtrs will at least get me the odd reply on this band.

On 40 Mtrs I get better results and can work stations quite easily on PSK31 and CW.

On 20 Mtrs I get very poor results, also on 15 and 10 Mtrs.

On 30 Mtrs using my manual tuner I get very good results on CW and on PSK31.

I cannot get the antenna up any higher which may have increased performance. I have had the antenna for about 4 months now so still early days and I will persevere with it especially as we are now climbing out of the bottom of the cycle.

So, I like the look of the BB6W, it is neat and fits comfortably into my limited space. Performance on 40 and 30 Mtrs is quite good but so far poor on the other bands.

Looking back, would I have bought it? Not sure yet. Will report back later.

Terry

PD9RAY Rating: 2007-08-15
super antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hi, I borrowed this amazing wire from a friend, who used it as a holiday antenna.
I moved in to a new house, so my tower is not up just yet, but you need to get rit of your HF sparks.
I put this up just 3 mtrs from the ground, from the house to the shed in the garden,and i can work all of europe without problems every day.
No really, this is not a DX-GUN, but it works quite nice, receives good on my Kenwood ts-570, and Yeasu ft-897d, and I can work HF really nice.
Thanks Diamond, for this wonderful small antenna!!!