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Reviews For: Array Solutions AS-BB-Series BroadBand Wire Antennas

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Array Solutions AS-BB-Series BroadBand Wire Antennas
	Reviews: 3	MSRP: 650+
	Description: Array Solutions AS-BB-Series of commercial, military, MARS, Emcomm broadband Antennas. Low VSWR from 1 to 180 MHz featuring a Single cable feedsystem 150 Watts to 2 kW+
	Product is in production
More Info: http://www.arraysolutions.com/Products/broadbandterminated.htm#top%20of%20page
# last 180 days	Avg. Rating last 180 days	Total reviews	Avg. overall rating
0	0	3	5

K6EN	Rating:	2009-11-13
It's just a great antenna!			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I originally acquired an Array Solutions AA-BB-500-175 for MARS NVIS work. It is a tremendous antenna! Frequencies where my former antenna/tuner combinations once struggled are now easy...tuning is generally not necessary. Even solid state rigs find an acceptable ratio and operate flawlessly at full power, without a tuner. The great extra is the antenna performs equally well for regular amateur use. No more dipoles, OCF wires, and longwires. The antenna works for traffic nets, casual CW/SSB, and DX. Quality materials and construction have made this a no-worry antenna for the past 6 months. I'd encourage anyone thinking about one to go for it. Just make certain you have adequate trees, masts, or other supports to hold the array in the air. As with all wire, the higher the better.

AA7ZC	Rating:	2009-02-18
Great for MARS			Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have the AS-BB-2 K-175 three wire antenna. It is mounted between two tall Ponderosa Pines and is primarily for NVIS operations (2-10 MHz) although the antenna is not limited to this use based on height and is quite useable throughout the HF range. So far it has survived and done a wonderful job at 4000 feet in central Oregon. This includes 60 plus MPH winds, ice, snow, etc. I can reliably work a 500 mile radius and more often than not 1000 miles for my MARS voice work. This gives me good coverage of FEMA Region 10 and Region 9 with overlap into Region 8. Coverage and quality is improved with selected digital modes. I also had the good fortune to have my antenna delivered by Robin and Kathy who live in Oregon and build antennas for Array Solutions. Therefore Robin had an opportunity to brief me on the antenna and it’s mounting. Truly this antenna is an engineering work of art. Everything has been thought out regarding structure details. Since I live in a forest, I appreciate the slippery wire coating which lets me run the antenna through trees. I will also mention that putting up this antenna is not typically a one person operation since it is big and heavy, and hence care needs to be taken with erection and mounting. I have run B&W antennas for many years and they have served me well, but my current location demanded something better which the new antenna fulfills.

K7UXO	Rating:	2008-05-22
great mutliband antenna			Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have the first two production copies of this antenna. Array Solutions is producing a high quality antenna that fills the need for no-tune broadband hf antenna. This antenna is very similar to the Bushcom BBA antenna in that both are 3 wire terminated folded dipoles. It is somewhat similar to the B&W folded dipole antenna that uses 2 wires. The extra wire in the Array Solutions antenna results in significantly improved performance over the B&W or any other 2 wire T2FD. The antenna is quality build all the way through. Materials are first rate and put together very well. The balun used is a high quality product - what you would expect from Array Solutions. This antenna is of much better construction than the B&W two wire antennas. I have not seen the Bushcom antenna up close, so cannot make a workmanship and material quality comparison there. First a note about this antenna, and what is to be expected. It is a dipole type antenna with a resistor and therefore should be sized to be a half wavelength at the lowest planned frequency used. This is true for the B&W two wire antennas, and the Bushcom two and three wire antennas too. This is not a limitation of SWR, the antenna will exhibit a low SWR at frequencies much lower than it's half wavelength, but a limitation on performance. When the antenna is used at frequencies less than it's half wave frequency, resistor losses increase dramatically - to the point where the antenna becomes a dummy load with wires. When the antenna is one half wave or larger than the frequency used, it exhibits good performance, I calculate about 3 db less than a resonate dipole. On average 3dB less than a resonate dipole performance should be expected. This should not scare you if your looking for a broadband antenna, and I believe it is at least as good as other broadband alternatives. For instance placing an antenna coupler at the center feed of an antenna will also give frequency agility - but antenna coupler losses are undocumented and can become extreme at some frequencies. Most people will use a feed line between the antenna and tuner, and again at some frequencies, transmission line losses due to high SWR even with ladder line can become severe - much more than 3db. With this antenna, these factors are known up front and accounted for. I have the 177 foot version mounted at approximately 60 feet. This antenna works VERY well on 80 meters, and MARS frequencies in the 3.3 MHZ range. It also work well on all higher HF frequencies, both Amateur and MARS. Directional pattern will be like a 177 foot long dipole. Height above ground will determine elevation of the pattern. Like any horizontal dipole antenna, place the antenna too close to the ground (less than 1/10 WL) and a significant portion of your transmitted power will warm the worms in the ground below it. The antenna is somewhat heavy due to the quality construction - and if supported by only two supports on the ends, they should be strong trees, poles, or towers. I recommend 3/8 or larger rope. This is a great antenna. I have eliminated antenna couplers from my system, and all the maintenance and expense that goes with them. I no longer have frequencies I just cannot tune, or certain frequencies that mysteriously don't work well. Oh yeah, this antenna looks cool too, like from the days of "old radio" with three parallel wires.

Category:

Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

Product:

Array Solutions AS-BB-Series BroadBand Wire Antennas

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:
Great! Good OK Needs Help Poor Awful!	0 - 3 Months 3 - 6 Months 6 - 12 Months More than 12 Months

Remarks:

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