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Reviews For: Cushcraft AR-10 Ringo

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Cushcraft AR-10 Ringo
Reviews: 24MSRP: 79.95
Description:
Cushcraft AR-10 Ringo vertical , 1/2 wave monoband for 10 meters
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cushcraftamateur.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00244.2
KB2SMS Rating: 2024-01-03
Excellent vertical antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought the antenna last fall to replace a Mako that got damaged during an ice/wind storm a few years earlier. It was easy to assemble and is very low profile. Performs excellently, I've been all over the globe with it and have received excellent signal reports. I recommend the AR-10 to anyone just getting into 10m or needing a replacement vertical. I'm highly satisfied with mine!

Update: Here we are 26 years later and this antenna is still going strong. Have not touched it since I put it up.
W2QH Rating: 2024-01-01
Quality Control is beyond bad Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I been off the air for 30 years. I purchased this antenna as it is easy to assemble, would go up quick and I had missed every sun spot cycle since first licensed in 1975. One (of two) SO-239 threads directly to the aluminum bracket was completely STRIPPED; the the threaded SO-239 wiggled around and could not be tighten to make a proper bonding connection. Fortunately I had a stainless steel washer and nut to securely fasten the connector to it's bracket. the manual is of poor reprint quality, which is not an issue since the antenna is a simple assembly. I do not trust MFJ's quality control.
N5CSU Rating: 2023-09-24
Great low footprint antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned this antenna for probably at least three sunspot cycles. It has held up in Chicago winters and Dallas summers and has never failed me. If I can hear them well, I can work them as they say. Can't say if the build quality is still as good as it was years ago but, for a flat SWR across all of 10, I'll take it! Definitely works better than my EFLW and doesn't require a tuner. FYI the retail price is now around $200.
AE4KR Rating: 2023-07-13
Great Performance, Typical MFJ Quality Control Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Updated: I have found this antenna to be a nice step up in performance from a quarter-wave ground plane, and the small footprint without radials is unique. The MFJ takeover of CushCraft has not been good for quality control. While tubing fit together properly and no parts were missing, both AR-10s I bought came with the hole in the mast too small to accept the set-screw which is supposed to secure it to a mast. Three recent buyers in our local 10-meter group have received coax stubs with cold or otherwise defective solder joints at the center pin of the PL259 of the supplied coax capacitor stub. One of mine had that issue and also a shield which was not attached to the connector. These issues will make the antenna impossible to tune below 3:1. So, make sure the hardware is secure, and know you may have a soldering job. The coax stub appears to be 40 pF, in case you have to make a new one, as I did. Use full-size (.405" diameter) RG8 for that stub to preserve the 1 kW power rating.
N2MDV Rating: 2019-10-20
A very nice freebie for me. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Normally, I'm not a fan of Ringos, but a friend of mine gave this AR-10 to me for free. It was laying, 1/2 buried, in his yard for over a decade. So, the actual cost was the time to clean it up, rebuild it, and add the section locking bolts modification. I've tuned it right to 28.400MHz and it's matched to a 1.1:1 VSWR, so far. Thus far, any station I can hear, I seem to be able to work. Even running just stock 18W from an RCI-2950 10M All-mode rig. The SWR curves are 1.9 on 29MHz even, for 10M AM, but I do need a tuner for 10M 29MHz FM and to use a CB down on 27MHz. Still, if I hear them, I seem to be able to work them on barefoot power levels. This Ringo replaces an A-99 CB antenna that broke at the base earlier in the Spring. Let's see how it takes Winter. Thus far, it's been a nice performing local and Sporadic E 10M / 11M antenna. The price for me was certainly right.
KK9H Rating: 2017-06-23
Good 10M beacon antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My local club has been operating a 10M beacon since it was built back in 2001. It was originally installed on a high school building and used an Antron 99 for over 10 years. The school then remodeled their building so we had to relocate our beacon. At that time the beacon was rebuilt and updated which included a new antenna. We chose the Cushcraft AR-10. The AR-10 was easy to assemble and tune to our frequency. Our beacon is now installed on a park district administrative building where our club holds its monthly meetings and the AR-10 is performing very well according to the Reverse Beacon Network monitoring stations. You may be able to hear it too when the band opens. Our beacon consists of an Ultimate PicoKeyer keying a Radio Shack HTX-100 running 5 watts out on 28.297 with the call NS9RC from Highland Park, IL near Chicago.
N9SRA Rating: 2013-11-24
Great Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After losing my tree mounted wire antenna in a very bad wind storm, I put up the AR-10. Just before the weather turned cold,
For good. I will say the instruction sheet could be better, That said, the antenna has been great. No it won't bust any pile up's, but I can work stateside stations at will, and on a good day you may work a little DX, as I did with a pappa alpha station in Holland. This antenna is very broad banded & I have a flat match across the entire 10 meter band. If you don't have room for a beam, Buy this Antenna !, you won't be sorry.
N9SRA
WA7PRC Rating: 2013-04-02
Works FB Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Around 2010, I was wanting to work the locals and had sold the AR-10 in two ham stores as far back as the mid 1970s. In that time not one had been returned nor had I heard anything bad said about it.

I mounted it atop a 11' mast, around 20' AGL and it performed flawlessly (no issues whatsoever). When I installed my 72' tower, I mounted it atop the mast at 83' AGL. The only difference in performance is, it now works DX nearly as well as my yagi.
KA7NIQ Rating: 2013-01-10
Nothing Special Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Mine was an 11 meter Ringo, given to me by a CB'er who replaced it with a Starduster.
It is an end fed antenna, and full of common mode.
Be sure to use an RF Choke with it, or risk radiating coax and mast.
I replaced mine with a Starduster 1/4 wave ground plane with 45 degree sloping radials, much better performance!
Now, with the Starduster 1/4 wave ground plane, I can run power, w/o RF in the shack.
DX and local are better, and the 1/4 wave Ground Plane with sloping radials is also much quieter.
W8JI was right!
W7MCP Rating: 2012-12-27
Great for the price. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought my first HF rig right before the AARL 10 meter contest for 2012. I needed an antenna for 10m so I was lucky enough that my favorite online amateur radio store had the AR-10 in stock. Showed up the day before the contest. A friend came over to help me get it assembled and in the air. Assembly and tuning was very easy. With just a little tuning was able to get a 1:1 swr. Contest day I made 15 contacts into South America running about 30 Watts. And numerous contacts on the East Coast. Luckily the band opened up that day. For someone looking for a reasonably priced antenna that is easily assembled and tuned. I recommend this highly. I did develop an issue with noise. I cured this with an ICE 10m bandpass filter.