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Reviews For: Radio Works Carolina Windom Compact 40

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Radio Works Carolina Windom Compact 40
Reviews: 3MSRP: 140
Description:
Carolina Windom 40-6 meter antenna with folded elements reducing total length to 34 feet.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.radioworks.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0034.3
K4MZR Rating: 2015-11-19
Great Compact Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered the Compact 40 from Radio Works after swapping a couple of emails with Jim and determining I simply didn't have room for the Compact 80. The antenna arrived quickly and the overall build quality is top-notch. Even the packaging & instructions are well-ordered with color-coded ties to prevent unnecessary wrangling with the wires. I put the antenna up horizontally at 35' between two trees. Unfortunately, after two minutes the vertical radiator fell! Inspection revealed a poor connector ... I emailed Jim and quickly received a replacement.
The antenna works as advertised: my FT-450D will tune it on all bands 40-6 using the internal tuner with one small caveat. 4ft. of cable must be added to tune 12m which makes 17m untunable until the extra cable is removed. Not a bad compromise at all. Obviously, your installation may have different results.
This is my first HF antenna but I would definitely purchase another Radio Works product!
NU6Y Rating: 2013-03-26
Perfect attic fit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have put this antenna up in my attic at +24' Yes it calls for a minimum of 30' but I was looking for stealth. It took a while to get it tuned on 40, I have to use my external tuner, but It has a low SWR now. Not the best antenna out there but probably the best I can fit in my attic for working 40 meters
WB4TJH Rating: 2009-07-24
works very well Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I decided to give this brand new model Carolina Windom a try because I already had a CW80 Special model up for the past five years and was getting good results from it. My current Carolina Windom I have is 67 feet long, and runs north to south, and I wanted a comparable antenna running east and west for better coverage in the opposite directions from the original. The Compact 40 is also 67 feet long, but it folds part of each wire element underneath reducing the total room needed to mount the antenna to 34 feet, yet it still covers 40 thru 6 meters. My lot is rectangular and this antenna fits perfectly in the narrower east/west direction. I have it up in my pine trees almost 40 feet in a flattop configuration, as recommended. It does a good job in filling in the gaps in coverage that my other CW had with comparable signal strenths on all bands. It does load a bit differently than the other one, being 1:1 in the 20 meter band without a tuner, whereas, the original 40 meter model I have has low swr in the 40 meter band without a tuner, but SWR does not get out of hand on any band, and with my outboard tuner, an MFJ 962D, it tunes flat all the way from the low end of 40 thru 6 meters. I am also using my SB201 Heath linear amplifier up to 600 watts output with no problems whatever with the new antenna. The Compact model is also offered in an 75/80 meter version, called the Compact 80, for ten bucks more, with a total length of 69 feet, also using the folded under element method of reducing overall length. My Compact 40 antenna does a good job on 6 meters also, and I have worked all over the country on 6, when I can catch the band open. WARC bands do well also. I give the antenna a 4.5 at present, because I just put it up a few days ago, and want some more time to experiment with it. But the antenna does work well, and I expect that it will earn a "5" from me after I have some more on-air time with it. It's is well made, and the components, the line isolator, balun and 10 foot coax/vetical radiator are well made and finished and a bit slimmer than my old antenna. Like all the Carolina Windoms from Radio Works, you MUST do a first class job of waterproofing the balun and line isolator coax connections before you put the antenna up. My other Carolina Windom is now 5 years old, and has withstood the salt air and high winds here in subtropical south Florida with no problems at all. But I do emphasize that you MUST properly seal/waterproof the coax connections as it states in the product manual for the antenna. I think Radio Works has a winner with this new model, and I will probably eventually replace my older model 80 Special with a new Compact 80 to give me better performance on 80/75 meters. Having both of the antennas on line and instantly selectable selectable with a manual switch has made my operating much more versatile. If I can hear them, I can usually work them.