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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: 191MSRP: 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
24.51914.9
KJ5W Rating: 2019-05-20
Better than I imagined Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Looked at the reviews and talked on the air to some folks that seemed to love them. Thunderstorm wrecked my antennas so I pulled the card out and called. The best customer service I could imagine. Wanted to try it at a portable event and he got one ready and rushed it to me. Just 20m but then I ordered the other bands and installed them. Buy all the bands at once if you can, it will lesson installation time. Quiet...when I had it on the ground on a bucket made 2 contacts on 20m, one to Cuba and one to Canary Islands. Its now on 25 foot pole awaiting to put on my 45 foot tower. At 25 foot it is picking up all those weak ones I wasn't hearing. Almost no noise....Can't wait to get it up on the tower. It is already exceeding my expectations by a quantum leap. I wished every company had the customer service that this one does.
K4WQ Rating: 2019-01-23
Great DX Antenna for a Small Space Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I brought this antenna pretty much based on the reviews here. Everything positive that has been said here is true. Great antenna. Very well packed. Excellent materials. Went together well and quickly. The only issue I had was that some of the spreaders had a small amount of sideways tilt to them. Emailed Leo who answered me within an hour. His suggestions helped somewhat but not entirely. Not to worry. Once I raised the antenna, it looked great. SWR on the ground was well within 2:1 for most bands. Upper bands were 2-3:1. Once raised to the operating height, SWR was 2:1 or less across all bands. A little unwieldy to walk up the antenna onto the mast from the ground solo. So far, get callbacks on FT-8 first time much more often than vertical I had been using for 20 meters. Quieter than vertical. Seems signal strength is 1-2 tick marks better than vertical. Overall, very pleased.
N1JAO Rating: 2018-11-15
1st New England storm Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had one on my rooftop tower last winter and was really enjoying it until the very 1st big storm of the season and wham- totally destroyed the fiberglass arms and the center assembly. Crumbled like a pretzel. Antenna was unrecognizable ice cords and all. Can not recommend at all if you get anything like Boston winters. Three years ago 9 feet of snow!
K6RIM Rating: 2018-10-24
A DX Magnet Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
All of the good things you have read about the K4KIO hexbeam (the “KIO”) are true.

Leo, K4KIO, is a living example of great customer service. He goes the extra mile.

He promptly responds to your questions or concerns, and works with you to help solve product related issues.

The KIO is made of high quality materials which look like they will last a long time. Leo recommends that you paint the spreaders to protect them from exposure to the sun. Painting the spreaders adds to construction time, but it is cheap insurance.

My previous hex beam was a great performer, but once a year it experienced a corona event, requiring replacement parts and time and labor to perform the repair. When parts became unavailable, it was time for me to consider a replacement. I’m delighted with my choice, the KIO.

The KIO is designed to avoid corona, and I believe that it’s extremely unlikely that corona will be an issue with the KIO. To put this theory to the test, I have spent many hours running legal limit to the KIO. The result: a lot of DX!

Construction is straightforward, largely due to the excellent written instructions and the fact that the wires are precut and no measurements or tuning is required. SWR is as-advertised, and sufficiently low that no tuner is required on any band.

The KIO is a DX magnet that’s light on your budget, but heavy on your operating satisfaction. Very highly recommended.

NP4GW Rating: 2018-08-30
I am happy A+++++ Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just put up the antenna 3 days ago and I was surprised how easy it was to assemble it.
Explanations were detailed and clear to understand. Now it's on top on my tower with a small AR-40 rotor AND I am getting 5/9 plus most of the time. I am happy about this antenna and I am expecting to do some great DX with it.
Good job
WR8O Rating: 2018-08-02
Works Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Only gave it a 4 because it keeps getting knocked down here in the winds of Wyoming. Just put it up for the third time and keeping my fingers crossed.

Last winter wind gusts were really strong 70 - 80 mph. If the strong winds lasted a short time it might be no problem but sometimes they last for days.

The problem is with the aluminum mast to bottom plate bracket. The high winds got to flexing the 90 deg. angle until it just snapped with the Hexbeam winding up in my back yard. You need to keep those u bolt holes to a minimum so as to not weaken the bracket.

Notice where the top of the mast should fit flat against the bottom of the bracket which would reduce flexing in that direction. With the 90 deg. inside bend of the bracket being rounded, once the u bolts are tightened the top of the mast can't get any closer to the bottom of the bracket than 1/8 to 1/4 inch. you'll need to file down some of the to edge of the mast so that when the u bolts are tightened. most the mast top rests up against the bottom of the mounting bracket.

Along with making sure the mast top and bracket are tight, when you park the ant, you might make sure the part of the mounting bracket that bolts to the mast is in line with the prevailing winds so there is minimal flexing of the 90 deg. bend.

If you don't have strong winds, just enjoy as the KIO Hexbeam is operationally excellent. If it gets knocked down again, I love the ant and I'll put it up again.

73 Ron WR8O
W4PIG Rating: 2018-07-29
4YEARS GREAT ANTENNA Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I HAVE HAD MY HEX BEAM UP 4 YEARS OF GREAT SERVICE. PLUS GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM LEO YOU CANT BEAT IT FOR WHAT IT IS WORKED LOTS OF PILE UPS WITH IT. 73

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W4PIG on 2012-11-18

WHAT A ANTENNA MINE HAS BEEN UP 1 YEAR I HAVE WORKED THE WORLD WITH 100 WATTS. LEO IS THE BEST AT SERVICE HE WILL ALWAYS HELP GREAT SERVICE. DON'T LET THE SIZE AND THE LOOKS DECEIVE YOU THIS IS ONE GREAT ANTENNA WISHED I HAD PUT ONE UP YEARS AGO I HAVE THE 6-20 METER BEAM. ONE COAX 6 BANDS I NEVER HAVE TO USE THE ANTENNA TUNER MY HIGHEST SWR IS 1.5.1 ON 15 METERS. IF YOU WANT A GREAT ANTENNA HERE IT IS AT A GREAT PRICE. 73S
AE7KB Rating: 2018-06-01
5 Year Report Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After five long years baking in the Arizona sun, I collapsed the mast and removed the Hexbeam to replace the coax and perform a detailed inspection. The station was running fine when I took it down.

I upgraded to the universal mast mount system but the antenna itself required only minimal maintenance and adjustment.

Tucson isn’t famous for it’s ice and snow but the summer sun down here relentlessly destroys almost everything over time along with our fair share of high winds but this antenna just begs for more.

Thanks Leo K4KIO for one tough antenna. Money well spent.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by AE7KB on 2013-02-17

All things considered, this could be the best overall deal on directional antennas. All previous reviews are 5.0. Not much I can say that hasn't already been said. I'm not one to reinvent the wheel. Great signal and audio reports from the start. People keep asking me what amp I'm using.

Bill AE7KB
KK4WL Rating: 2018-03-08
Great. Seems as good as my TA33 Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
It took me 3 hours to assemble. The only ant I have ever assembled that I did not have to tune.I put my rigexpert on it before I put it up on tower and all 6 bands were 1.3 or less in the center. I thought that such a silly looking ant could never work as good as the published specs. Boy was I wrong.
I am completely satisfied with the performance and construction. I have made over 400 DX contacts in the first month with ant at 35 feet.

I painted the spreaders. If you don't paint them like is recommended they will be damaged by the sun. Plan on it.
A great ant and great company.
Thanks to Leo K4KIO for such good service.
73
KI6EQW Rating: 2017-10-31
California Sun is doing it in.. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Concur with AE5GG's remarks. Support cords have failed, and fiberglass is heavily oxidized by the sun. Replaced cords with larger diameter material, but I am waiting for band wires/fiberglass spreaders to fail. May replace it then with the same, or move to a SteppIr urban beam. Antenna has worked well for me.