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Reviews For: TransWorld Antennas TW8080 Portable HF Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : TransWorld Antennas TW8080 Portable HF Antenna
Reviews: 3MSRP: 329.95
Description:
The TransWorld TW8080 Adventurer Monoband Antenna is the perfect antenna for high performance DX communications in a portable package. This antenna system is ideal for camping, emergencies, or permanent installations. The TW8080 switching array box covers the entire 75/80 meter band with 100 KHz of tuneable bandwidth without the necessity of either manual band changing or the need for a controller! Just attach a feedline and you are ready to talk.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.transworldantennas.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0034
N0YXE Rating: 2010-07-06
WORKS WELL Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Check out my Transworld antenna garden. I'll send you a picture of what's been growing in my garden. Three stalks of Transworld antennas, eight feet tall, six feet apart. The 8080 works, but you will need a wide range external tuner, unlike the 1020 or 1020L units. If you really want to work this band, have limited space and need to be covert in your operation, this antenna will do a nice job. Considering the height, it's a miracle of engineering. I like state nets and didn't want to not be able to check-in once in awhile. Problem solved. You will have a lot of fun with these antennas and be very glad you purchased them.

Terry, N0YXE
WB0SND Rating: 2010-06-30
Not As Advertised Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have a Transworld Bacpacker with the 30 and 40 meter resonator boxes. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. So, this is not an evaluation of those.

Since I love the antenna so much, I bought the 8080 resonator when it came out. $289 is a lot of dough, but hey, I love the antenna.

It was adverstised to cover 75 KHz of any portion of the 80 meter band from 3.5 to 4.0 MHz. The manual also gives this range. I operate primarily CW, so I wanted it to resonate around 3.520 or so. I attempted to tune the antenna and the lowest I could get it to resonate was 3.670. I emailed Transworld about it and their response was not satisfactory. They basically said, "yeah, it just covers the general portion (phone) of the band". If the coils are all squeezed as far togther as they can be, then that is the lowest it will go. (They are).

So, this antenna will NOT cover 3.5 to 4.0 Mhz. It WILL cover 3.7 to 4.0. But that is not what it was advertised to do. They should change the name of the friggin' thing from 8080 to 7575 and change the specs in the ad and the manual to 3.7 to 4.0 Mhz.

Yes, it will work if I use a tuner, but that isn't what it was advertised to do. I would have NEVER spent 300 bucks on this thing had I known the REAL specs.
N4ECW Rating: 2010-05-15
Great Portable Antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The TransWorld TW8080 is great for what it is - a quick set up, stealthy, portable antenna. It meets the ruggedness and quality of the rest of the TransWorld line.

I am rating it for what it is NOT what it isn't.

The bandwidth on the TW8080 is quite narrow, about 35-40 KHz, and with a double coil box it is more challenging to change frequencies that the other TW models.

I was surprised at how well it works for NVIS considering its low take-off angle of 27 degrees. It does work VERY nicely in the DX Window for Europe, Africa, and South America.

I have all the models but find that the efficiency drops from near 90% on 10m to 20m,to about 80 percent on 40m, to much lower on the 60m and 80m models.

Given the structure's near eight foot height, this is understandable. It's still much, much more efficient than a screwdriver, bug catcher, or hamsticks.

Considering occasional static crashes and the lower efficiency on this compromise antenna, I pump a KW from my PW-1 thru it and get no complaints. It's the only TW model with which I feel the need to use an amp.

If you have a lot of space and a place to hang an 80m dipole or bazooka, they will outperform the TW8080 for NVIS work.

If you want to try a shot at 80m DX or you have limited space, covenants, restrictions, etc., this is the antenna for you.