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Reviews For: DX Engineering MBVE-1

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : DX Engineering MBVE-1
Reviews: 44MSRP: $299.50
Description:
The DX Engineering MBVE-1 is a fast taper, high performance 160 thru 10 meter vertical multi-band antenna that is tunable to operate with an SWR of 1.5:1 or less. Tuning is accomplished by using a DX Engineering 4:1 UN-43 UNUN with coax feed and your in- shack wide-range tuner - or by installing an automatic tuner at the base of the antenna.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.dxengineering.com/search?keyword=dxe-mbve-1&dds=1
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00444.9
W4RIG Rating: 2010-12-03
Very good vertical performance Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This antenna has been operating with my FT=2000 for the past 6 months with 63 radials and great reception. My favorite experience was when I copied a QSO between a station in Bejing, China and La Paz, Bolivia and then contacted the Chinese station with PSK31 and 3 days later the Bolivian station with PSK31 - I have also contacted both Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean and New Caledonia on 20 M with PSK-31. My only complaint was that three of the pipe bands used in the assembly were not the right size, but I did obtain three replacements from the local hardware store that were of superior quality and the right size. The engineers and purchasing agents for DX Engineering need to get together so that the correct strap bands are part of the original equipment they send out - I have found alternative uses for the straps, so I lost nothing but the time to get the replacements - probably a new supplier of bands? Maybe China rather than US manufacture? Buy USA! - the few cents difference does not make up for customer dissatisfaction if they put the antenna together a great distance from a neighborhood hardware store. Hank - W4RIG
N5PU Rating: 2010-07-19
WOW! It works great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna in May of 2010, just got it put together and up Yesterday (July 18, 2010). All I can say is WOW! I only have 9-25ft radials down for now. I ran out of wire and staples! I couldn't wait to get the coax into PVC and buried, so laid the coax(LMR-400) across the ground (about 100ft) and got the MFJ analyzer out and made a chart for some of my favorite PSK freqs (using Palstar manual tuner) and then hooked up the Flex 5000A and made a CQ call on 30 meters this morning and VK3XQ came back to me! I am hearing stations on 20 meters that I couldn't hear on the vee @ 40 ft! The workmanship of this antenna is great. It went together so easy (for a 70 yr old man!) and the supplied tilt base makes it so easy to put it up! I have some other verticals in the past, but this one so far has really impressed me! Can't wait to get the rest of the 40 radials I plan to put under it! (Using DX Engineering radial plate) Would I buy it again, you bet. DX Engineering makes some of the best equipment out there! (Their hats ain't bad either hi-hi)
KD8EPA Rating: 2010-06-23
Great Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The first reason for this antenna is to talk on HF with some good results. Reason number 2 was: It's a local company. If I need a part, I just call on the phone and an hour later I can go pick it as it is only 12 miles away. The 3rd reason is the quality of their product, (Very Good). Also a few of the local hams work there. They believe in the product that they manufacture. I know that this sounds like a commercial for DX Engineering but I really like this antenna. The manual is well written and even someone like me can have the antenna up and working in short order. This speaks well for this antenna. The very first contact was made to Poland. Not bad, over 4000 miles on 100 watts out of my FT450. Next was Spain, Lithuania, and Maine, USA. WOW. I'm so glad I picked this antenna. Way to go DX Engineering.

I'll Gladly rate this @ 5 X 5. 73 everyone, Dan, KD8EPA.
N3XRU Rating: 2010-02-24
If I could only have one antenna... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
...it would be this one. As it is I also have a Force 12 C-4 multi-band yagi and the DX Engineering 43' vertical runs circles around it. I can talk to people on the vertical that I can't even hear on the beam.

I dug the hole and poured the concrete for the support pipe at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and had the antenna erected by noon the next day. No problems at all. The instructions are clear and the parts were all there just as I expected.

With the antenna I purchased the radial plate, 4:1 UNUN and associated mounting hardware. Everything slipped together just as it should. I was so excited that I drove a ground stake, connected the antenna and went on the air with no radials. Got a 5/9 from Cuba, 10 over from Japan, 5/9 from Hawaii and 5/9 from Argentina on 17 meters. I could not believe how well it works. It is much quieter than my beam.

I had also ordered a 500' spool of wire so I laid down 17 radials before I ran out of wire. I ordered some more and pigged out on DX while I waited for the wire to arrive. It arrived today so I'll be able to put some more radials down before the CQ WW 160M contest on Friday.

I have a MFJ-998 auto tuner which is very happy with all bands on the antenna except for the lowest part of the 160M band. It doesn't quite have the range to tune there. I intend to add AD5X's matching circuit to solve that problem.

I have only had this antenna up for a month and am completely enamored. Years ago I had a Cushcraft R-7000 which was junk and soured me on verticals. I eventually took it down, leaned it against a tree and left it when we moved.

Some say that the antenna isn't so good on 10M. Hah! I got Antarctica on 10M from Nevada. I am sold.

So, if you want superior performance, quality parts and a company that will stand behind its products I suggest that you look at DX Engineering. You won't be disappointed.

W1AJT Rating: 2009-12-11
Beyond Expectations Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I put up my DX Engineering Vertical MBVE-1 November 6, 2009. I knew it was going to be a compromise antenna but I am in a heavily deed restricted area in North Carolina. The antenna is fully camouflaged and is not visible from 10 feet away in my patch of woods unless you know it’s there. I used 200 sq ft of galvanized poultry wire for a ground system. I will let the results speak for themselves. From 11/6/2009 to 12/6/2009 with 100w (no activity in CQWW from here) and little operating time worked 76 DXCC / 43 states with 10 DXCC on 160m. My K3 antenna tuner tunes it on all bands with best SWR on 160m being 1.3:1 on the low portion. Wired up my amp on 12/7 and as of 12/11 worked 85 DXCC adding HI, I, LY, SM on 160m plus JA, and E51 on 80m. I am amazed that it works so well. It exceeds my expectations in quality and performance. Of course it is not a Yagi but a great antenna for a small space with a low profile.
KB3Z Rating: 2009-10-04
Easy to Build Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the Antenna with Radial Plate and Balun last December 2008. It only took me 9 months to install the antenna. And then to boot they changed the balun to a unun. The balun switch was very easy. Dxengineering made that very nice. Installing the antenna was quite easy for one person. The directions are very specific and there are alot of pictures to help in the manual. The only complaint is that 160 meters is not that great even after using a KW on transmit. But I can finally hear VK's with no problem and I am in Eastern Pennsylvania. My only complaint is that the DX Engineering Unun has higher SWR's then a Balun Designs Unun. So I am using the Balun Design instead. Overall I am extremely happy with the antenna and DX Engineering.
K8ALM Rating: 2009-06-26
Rugged Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I erected this monster to replace my flimsy HF9V and boy what a difference. I primarily use the MVBE-1 for 160-30 meters and I think it works very well. I am very impressed with the construction of the tilt over mast, radial plate and aluminum tubing. I have my MVBE-1 ground mounted with no guy wires and it holds up extemely well in relatively high winds. If I'm home and I know that a storm or high winds are coming I just tilt the antenna to the ground. My installation allowed me to install about 36 radials of various lengths. The longest being 66 feet and the shortest around 10 feet. Most radials are 20 feet. I am very satisfied with the performance.
K0OD Rating: 2009-04-13
Effective and very flexible Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Rather than reiterate what others have said about this nice "43 footer," I'm providing a link to my recap of its performance over a weekend of low power multiband contesting in the CQWW CW DX. My contest breakdown on each band is included.

Total different countries worked in 48 hours: exactly 100. Not bad for a simple aluminum pole!

I also played briefly with the MBVE-1 in the ARRL 160 Meter Contest (ugh!) and the ARRL 10 Meter Contest.

The sturdy and sleek MBVE-1 isn't a Yagi or even a very high dipole, but it is surprisingly effective on the middle bands.

http://www.eham.net/forums/TowerTalk/16123
NY2KW Rating: 2008-12-22
Great Vertical Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I put up the MBVE-1 during the summer to replace my Hustler 6BTV. I live in a development community on a 1/2 acre but surrounded by 60' high trees so I painted the vertical in flat camo colors pattern and it is virtually invisible, even now with all the leaves down and sticking up higher than my house its really impossible to spot. How does it compare to my Hustler? Well, I worked almost 100 DXCC in th past 4 months. If I hear it I can work it. Yes there is more noise with a vertical plus the added losses of a high-SWR system but it does everything plus more than you would expect. I have laid down about 60 radials (each about 65-72') on the lawn with their biodegradable stakes plus some 40' radials in quadrants that I did not have enough space. I made my first SSB and AM contacts on 160m with great signal reports. I live in CT at average height and I easily have worked Alaska PSK31 on 20m and 40m to SSB contacts with Iceland to Ukraine down to South Africa and New Zealand/Australia. This month I am just hearing my first JA stations ever ! Am I happy... well I would love a tower but since that's not possible, this Vertical is as good as it gets. Plus Rod has always been readily available by phone or email for any questions. The quality of the materials was excellent as were the manuals. Key to a good installation is setting in into a few feet of concrete and making sure its 'plumb'.
K8JHR Rating: 2008-12-18
Finally Having Fun on HF Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased and installed the DX-Engineering MBVE-1 monopole vertical antenna with great pleasure. While a compromise antenna, I give it a -5- rating because it does well for what it is.

First - I commend the DX-Engineering sales team who answered my several e-mail inquiries with detailed, and comprehensive answers - much more helpful than any other company selling similar antennas. Second - I commend the company for making what I believe is a superior product.

I am really pleased with the quality of the DXE radial plate, antenna tilt mounting plate, and all related hardware provided to compete the installation. I purchased the radial ground wire kit and installed 36 approximately 40-foot long radials, using the supplied biodegradable lawn staples, with ease and in a reasonable time. Other than asking my neighbor for a little assistance in digging the hole (using a motorized 12 inch by 4-foot power auger) I was able to assemble and erect the antenna system by myself (although my wife did help me bury the LMR-400DB feed line...)

All parts went together easily as designed and intended. The only glitch was that I used a 2 inch OD water pipe as a mounting base, and had to use slightly larger U-bolts to accommodate the size of the pipe (the u-bolts supplied with the tilt base kit are not quite big enough for that sized pipe, - but if you used a slightly smaller OD water pipe, then you would have no problem.)

I am well-pleased with the initial performance of this antenna. For the first time, I am the big signal in a group, and have reached several far away States heretofore out of reach on my various dipoles and wire antennas.

I have written a more detailed account of the assembly and performance of my new vertical antenna from DX-Engineering, which you can see here:

http://k8jhr.com/linked/43_ft_vertical_antenna.pdf

I will not try to convince you by printing my DX log... or by any other subjective measuring stick. I will say I am having more fun with ham radio lately as a result of this new antenna. So far, so good.

Oh, yeah... and did I mention the superior service I received from DX-Engineering? I had a small question/problem with one of the aluminum tubes, and they delivered a replacement part to my home in less than 36 hours. I am a happy customer of this company. Patient, thorough assistance as I agonized over what antenna to try next. I met them at the Dayton Hamvention and was warmly received and given plenty of helpful information to assist me in making a decision and in completing the installation quickly and easily.

Just MY take.... Your mileage may vary... Happy trails to ya. // James - K8JHR //