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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
NF6V Rating: 2008-12-02
Good compromise antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Like many of us I have always had a luke-warm feeling about verticals. I've worked too many stations in the past with mediocre signals to be a solid believer in verticals. I've been reading ON4UN's Low-Band DXing handbook and since it so highly endorses verticals I thought I give one a try. I have an operating situation here in Australia where I can set up a temporary operating position for the major contests at my in-law's family dairy farm where there is lots of space with clear views to the horizon. I decided to purchase and try the MBVE-1 for this application and here is what I found:

The product design, the hardware quality and the technical and commercial support from DX Engineering is as good as can be imagined. First class all the way. Shipping to Australia it got here in 3 days!

I assembled the antenna in a few hours with no problems and elected to install 34 64-foot radials using #22AWG wire. The radial installation took by far the most time as one would expect. When assembled I took impedance measurements with an MFJ-259B at the 4:1 balun input and back in my shack at the end of 175 feet of RG-213. At the antenna the input impdances ranged from 5 ohms to 240 ohms depending on the band so that's why the 4:1 balun in recommended. At the shack end of the line the impedance transformation of the feedline did magic and the SWR on all bands was less than 2.5:1. An antenna tuner was actually not needed!

As I have learned and as the textbooks will tell us, SWR is good to watch but does not give an accurate indication of the system radiation efficiency. In actual operation in the CQ WW DX CW contest I found very mediocre performance on 20, 15 and 10 and I never tried 160. On 80 meters the antenna seemed to get out quite well but 40 meters where the length is closest to a quarter wave was the true sweet-spot. I spent the entire weekend answering pileups and while running 400 watts I never heard a station I couldn't work. I was thrilled to have such a dominant signal.

The reason I give this product a 4 out of 5 is simply because this is a compromise antenna that has varying performance over the several bands. If you are looking for a multiband antenna that looks good, is sturdy, has good factory support and will get you out I endorse this product. If you're looking for peak efficiency in a vertical you can't beat a full size single band design.

Thanks to DX Engineering for their support and a very well built product.

If you would like my detailed impedance and SWR data please email me at VK3TDX@AOL.com

Steve VK3TDX
N2QQF Rating: 2008-11-28
Solid Performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna about a week ago and finally got around to installing it on Thanksgiving day. This was a bit of an undertaking considering the time frame I had to work with and what needed to be done. I will admit I had my reservations about verticals since I previously have had two verticals in the past and they simply didn't perform well at all. I had two other Cushcraft verticals R5 & R7 and the both performed poorly in comparison to my dipoles. I received the antenna quite quickly from DX Engineering from the time I ordered it from George. When the shipment arrived it was very well packaged. So well, I considered using it as a bomb shelter. Everything was packaged properly and labeled with a good set of instructions. The directions were a little confusing at times but after careful review I saw this was my fault as I overlooked some small details in my haste.

The construction of the Balun to mounting plate were very simple as well as the overall construction of the antenna. the build of just the antenna and balun etc took about 1 hour not including mounting and radials. On the day of the installation I drove a 1-1/2" pipe into the ground as a mounting post which took a little bit of time. I then proceeded to mount the remaining pieces after construction of the antenna which again went very well and the directions clearly labeled the correct lengths which were exact as detailed in the manual. I managed to get all the pieces together rather quickly but the only time consuming parts were the preparation process of the mounting post and the ever dreaded radials. After laying out all the necessary radials and getting the antenna mounted and feed with coax into the 4:1 Balun and properly guying the antenna 2/3 of the way up. I turned on the rig and was quite surprised at the performance of the antenna. I have various antennas spread out along my property which include a 80 & 40 meter loop and a six (6) element TH6DX mounted a top a 70' tower.

I had some problems loading the antenna on 80 meters but this is primarily due to some issues on my side (I think?) but I wouldn't use the vertical for 80 based on my setup. I had amazing performance on 40 meters just as good or even better than my 40 meter Delta loop at 65' which socked the heck out of me. I had good performance on the other bands 30,20,17 & 10 meters as well but again marginal in comparison to my beam on 20 & 10 meters. I like the fact that I have something to use on 60 & 30 meters as well since my present setup just barely covers these bands. I was quite pleased with the antenna and plan to keep it especially after laying out all the radials. I only laid out the minimum requirements of (16) - 30' radials but I am sure (30) - 65' radials would provide much better performance but due to the amount of wire I had only allowed me to layout the minimum because Home depot was closed for the holidays and I was not about to put the project off any longer.

The overall performance was very good and certainly the best vertical without question that I have used to date. There are a few other antennas that are similar such as Zero five but I decided to go with DX Engineering simply because I have used their products previously and have been happy with the success and quality of their end product. I will suggest that you purchase the radial plate as this would certainly make life easier and it is well recognized product within the amateur community. This is a fine product and it will work well for many limited space areas an alike. well worth the money and you will be pleased. I will follow up with any notable changes with the radials once I install the recommended lengths but first I will need to purchase a radial plate before considering that undertaking. One other note, it is suggested that you guy the antenna or any antenna at this height as it will certainly provide you the comfort of worry about breaks and bends in high winds and ice loading conditions.

73 & God Bless and Thanks DX Engineering for putting out quality products. You will keep me as a customer for a long time to come.
VK2BMU Rating: 2008-08-26
Simlpicity and Efficiency Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The MBVE-1 is a very well made, simple plain vanilla vertical antenna. For those looking for an efficient multi-band antenna that fits on a small lot and has minimal visual impact, this one fits the bill. It is not, however, a plug and play antenna. It requires a little more effort to setup and use than a typical trap vertical.

The MBVE-1 is a non-resonant antenna and requires a tuner and a 4:1 broadband matching transformer or some other means to match the feedpoint impedance to 50 Ohms. Ideally, this should be done at the feedpoint. DXE suggests using their 4:1 current balun at the base of the antenna with coax to a tuner located in the shack. I decided to use a homebrew transformer and an auto-tuner at the base of the antenna to reduce the SWR on the coax run to the shack and minimize the loss.

The antenna, base and hardware are all well made. The materials are aluminum, stainless steel and fiberglass. Assembly is straight forward following the 27 page assembly manual.

My only complaint is that the assembly dimensions in the manual do not provide sufficient overlap between the foot sections of tubing. After assebly and errection according to the instructions, I found that the antenna would not stay vertical. It would lean to one side at an angle of 5-10 degrees at the top. A slight gust of wind would cause it to flop over and lean in another direction. This seemed more of a visual problem than a serious structual problem. After a few weeks I lowered the antenna and adjusted the overlap between all sections to 100mm (4 inches). This cured the problem and the antenna now stands straight and tall. Curiously, the height is now exactly the advertised 43 feet. When assembled according to the instructions it is nearly 45 feet.

As vertical antennas go, this one is a efficient as they get. The only significant sources of loss are the ground and matching systems.

The ground system has a big impact on the performance of any ground mounted vertical. DXE suggests a minimum of sixteen 30 foot radials. In my installation, due to space limitations, I have only three ground rods and no radials.

Even with my minimal ground system the MBVE-1 consistantly outperforms my 20 metre dipole by 1-3 S units. On 160, 80 and 40 metres the antenna gives a good account of itself by comparison of signal reports with local amateurs using full size horizontal antennas.

In summary, with quality materials, workmanship and a reasonable price, I rate this antenna a five.
W9PMZ Rating: 2008-06-30
Nice antenna, great price! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this antenna in May and have been using it now for a few weeks.

Overall impression is good.

- great price as compared to other offerings
- works great on 75M and 40M
- have made contacts on 160M, 15M and 10M, not necessarily a cloud warmer
- really need to guy this antenna
- a good ground plane is necessary
- despite being 43' in height, neighbors object less than the 5BTV (go figure....)

73,

Carl - W9PMZ