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Reviews For: Hexbeam: by K4KIO

Category: Antennas: HF: Yagi, Quad, Rotary dipole, LPDA

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Review Summary For : Hexbeam: by K4KIO
Reviews: 181MSRP: 669
Description:
A six band, broadband, G3TXQ- designed, hexagonal beam with performance on par with a two element Yagi but a much smaller physical footprint is fully tuned and ready to go. This is a plug and play antenna, not a kit. It can be assembled in an evening with no measurements or tuning needed. No traps or coils are required and a single coax feeds all bands. Available for Bands 20 – 6 meters in various combinations. All steel components are stainless and non metallic components are UV resistant. Mount on a push up mast or rooftop. The sturdy aircraft aluminum base plate has never been reported to fail by hundreds of users. A “no questions asked” 30 day refund offer comes with each beam.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.k4kio.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
64.81814.9
W4ISH Rating: 2013-05-11
Easy, quick and works Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
           I ordered the 5 band beam and added 6 meters to it. It is now on the end of a 7 foot piece of sched 80 Al. pipe extending from my 37 foot crank up tower, so It is about 45' in the air. The assembly was straightforward, but tedious for someone like me. I stuck a 3' piece of 1&1/5" sched 40 PVC in the ground, and set the base plate on that for construction purposes. This allowed me to "rotate" the beam as I threaded the wires through the supports.
          I constructed it one evening after 6 pm, and the sun had not set when I finished, so the time involved was a little over one hour. The next day I went out and dried it acorn nuts off (It had rained overnight) and painted liquid electrical tape over them to keep the wires from becoming corroded. (The antenna is to be permanently mounted, so I have no plans to take it back apart.) I then spent the rest of the day preparing my tower (which had been tilted over to receive the antenna).
          The tower is a tilt-over, crank up tower which has seen service for 40 years. While I had it down, I replaced the cable and winch and painted the tower aluminum, so it should give me another good 40 years and outlive me! I used my tractor with its front end loader to raise the tower up to a point where the top was about 12 feet off the ground. Then I lifted the Hexagonal Beam with my weak left arm (broken last year and in a sling for 6 months -- lost a lot of muscle in that time!) and walked it up a ladder to place it on the end of the mast. That was tricky since I had to juggle it around to keep from getting caught in other objects in the area (my garden, specifically!).
          Once it was attached, I used two tractors to lift the tower into place (one to pull it up with a rope, and the other to lift it up with the front end loader) Serendipitously, a couple of friends, also hams, stopped by at this point and helped to put the bolts in the tower base while I sloooowly adjusted the tractors.
          I was not able to attach the coax hanging from the antenna to the coax going up the tower until the next day since I also decided to revamp the grounding of the tower and the other 4 wire antennas attached to the tower. Once that was done and it started raining again (we have had over 3 inches of rain in the last week!), I went in to try out the beam. All bands seemed to have a good SWR except for 20 Meters where the SWR was right at 2:1 for part of the band. I listened on 15 meters and heard someone calling CQ so I answered him. He was in Penn. which is extremely short skip from Kentucky. I tried turning the rotor while I was listening to him, and I could not see that there was any difference in signal strength as it turned. It was then that I noticed I was talking to him on my vertical. After switching over to the Beam, the signal came up about 5-7 dB. We had a good QSO, and then a station in Germany broke in to tell me I had a good 5X5 signal there. So the three of us had a QSO since everyone was hearing everyone else (Strange conditions for 15 -- Both short and long skip!)
          It seems that the beam works well. It does not have the gain nor the F/B ratio of my previous beam, but that was expected. What I do like about it is that it works almost as well for 1/2 the cost and 1/2 the weight. And I did not have to measure and cut the wires and then try and figure out a way to mount them! Leo did all the hard work, and we have benefited from his work! Thanks!
WB8RJY Rating: 2013-05-05
first class antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Assembled in about two hours.checked every thing to perfection.
At 4 feet off the ground I was getting 5 by 9 reports from
All over Europe.On a 40 ft tower swr is 1.2:1 on every
Band.At least 3 s units better than a full wave 75 meter loop
Up 40 ft fed with ladder line on s7 to s9 signals.
When signals are s3 on the hex i cant hear them on the loop.
I will be working stations i could not even hear before.
Very happy with the antenna.Leo is always available to
Answer your questions.
K2EDW Rating: 2013-04-30
I am extremely satisfied with my hex beam by K4KIO. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is an outstanding product. My hex beam was assembled by members of the Orleans County Amateur Radio Club. Everyone was impressed with the quality of the materials, the ease of assembly and the helpful directions. When a question came up, Leo at K4KIO was extremely helpful. The hex beam went together quickly and easily without any problems. It is mounted on a Glen Martin 8 foot tower.

Although I've only had it on the air a few days, I am very impressed with its performance. Running just 100 W, I have received outstanding signal reports from DX contacts.A station I contacted in Germany told me my signal was 10 DB stronger then with my G5RV.

I recommend the K4KIO hex beam most heartily.
OD5ZZ Rating: 2013-04-28
Great Antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
After being away from the hobby for 15 years I decided to come back and chose hexbeam as my antenna , well what can I say Leo have been a great help , the antenna outperformed my expectations on all 5 bands, I even can tune it on 40m , as a DX'er and I am sure some who is reading this review have worked OD5ZZ highly recommend this antenna , the cost compared to other antennas is minimal , easy to construct , do not let the HEX shape fool you , you need a rotator since it is a directional antenna , I pushed legal limit through my AL -1500 had no problem and SWR on all 5 bands is below 1.3

I highly recommend the HexBeam antenna by K4KIO for serious DX'ing
KE4QZW Rating: 2013-04-23
SOLID Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I added a Heil PR781 to my setup and coupled with this antenna, I now have some bragging rights. I've had this antenna up for quite some time now and have been working Europe like they are in the next county.
N7BD Rating: 2013-04-16
1st Class! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had my Hex up and operating for just over one month. I had (still have) a SteppIR vertical with an excellant ground system. May not be quite apples to apples, however: The Hex has absolutely amazed me with the performance. I have it right at 70' and seldom have to call DX more than twice; three times in a pileup and I only run about 550W. In one month I've picked up 21 new countries! Bottom line: For the $$ spent, you can't do ANY better!
KK4OW Rating: 2013-04-08
Great antenna for price. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the KIO Hexbeam and could not be more satisfied. It has great quality and is easy to assemble. I have at a little over 25 ft. and it works great. I assembled a Hy-gain av620 vertical
and it was a nightmare but this hexbeam was easier and has a lot better directions and went very smooth. I would highly recommend, great product.
KK4CIR Rating: 2013-03-06
Best of the Best! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Before buying an antenna just like anything else you always want to read what people that own the product have to say. I was in the market for a beam antenna and looked at every possible one out there from Mosley to Cushcraft from three bander to 5 band coverage. The price of the antenna is not the only thing that we have to consider, also comes the mounting possibilities based on location and available area as we all well know! I read many reviews on almost any brand out there and could not find one that would have a perfect score based on performance, price, easy to assemble and the whole nine yards! I had my K4KIO Hex for a short two months but I don't have to wait anymore just to prove how great of an antenna this is and what a great performer on all five bands, I got every band with exception of 6 meters. The antenna has very low SWR accross the band and is under 1.5 on all five bands, 20 and 17 being the best at 1.0 flat. I used a push up mast from Rohn and is up about 30 ft. Every signal report that I get is S9+ and sometimes get up to 30-40+! All reports on only 100 watts are S9 or better. Have not used my amp since I installed the antenna and happen to break through pile ups on the first minute of trying. What a great product and I give it a FULL rating of "5". If you are in the market for a beam that is price effective and don't have to spend another 1 to 2K in tower and expensive rotor try this one that you will not be disapointed. Like I said, read the reviews out there and let me know if you find another beam within the price range and capabilities of this on with a 5 rating accross the board. If you would like to see my set up you can visit my web page on QRZ.com and see how easy of intatllation this one would be for you! Thanks for reading! Paul KK4CIR
KB9UWU Rating: 2013-02-19
Great antenna and service! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Just last weekend in ARRL DX CW I got DXCC on 15 and 20 meters with my KIO hexbeam at 45'! It is a snap to put together and erect, even by yourself. Performance is as advertised and service from Leo is top notch. He quickly answers questions and is very helpful and courteous.
K1YXP Rating: 2013-02-06
BUY THE K4KIO HEX BEAM Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I will be brief,everything has already been said in the reviews, so I will not be redundant. BUY THIS ANTENNA IF YOU AR CONIDERING A HEX BEAM. My only complaint is that Leo does not have all 50 states.