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Reviews For: Hi-Z Receive antenna array phasing controllers

Category: Antenna Switching, Phasing, Controllers

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Review Summary For : Hi-Z Receive antenna array phasing controllers
Reviews: 12MSRP:
Description:
Receive antenna arrays for 160, 80 & 40 meters
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hizantennas.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15125
WD4ELG Rating: 2023-02-03
A terrific investment, worth every penny Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Update 02 February 2023:

PHENOMENAL customer service by Lee Strahan, K7TJR.
I bought the system 11 years ago, and he STILL services the units and provides fabulous assistance via email (and yes, when I was really stuck he called me on the phone). He's a brilliant engineer, a true gentleman and a credit to our hobby.

In 2023, even with sunspots on the rise, there is lots of DX on the low bands. This is THE antenna to have if you want to hear them. What do the top DXers and contesters use? HiZ arrays.

The HiZ allowed me to finally reached 9BDXCC, getting me over the 100 target on 80 and 160.

Biggest accomplishment so far: working VK6LW via long path on 80 CW at 2245 UTC/1745 local in September 2020 in broad daylight, after several other hams discovered a consistent daily path to US East Coast. Yep, the HiZ heard him...weak but with Q5 copy even with QSB. Not a peep on any of my other antennas.

Mark Lunday, WD4ELG
wd4elg@arrl.net
K9SO Rating: 2019-11-02
No need now for another Beverage Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I really wanted to give this product 3 stars instead of 5 since it arrived with reversed wiring inside the control head, the outdoor components are not weatherproofed, the setup manual was incorrect, and in general all the boxes appeared homebrew.

But I can't. Lee worked through the problems with me and I'm simply astounded that a simple two element array worked as well as my 550 foot Beverage on 160m and 80m.

I have one reversible Beverage aimed NE/SW and always felt the need for another orthogonal one to cover SE/NW. But I didn't have any way to do it other than to run it too close to my TX antennas or across the front yard and driveway.

So I decided to try out the two element array version (expandable to 3) in a heavily wooded part of my property to the north of my house. I aligned it in the same directions as my Beverage initially so that I could do a good A/B comparison. It heard just as well (and often better than) the Beverage.

To make a long story short, I immediately ordered the third element to make it switchable in 4 directions.

No regrets other than I didn't buy the 8 element array. So 5 stars it is.

OK1RD Rating: 2018-02-16
5 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was first licensed in the year of 1964 and spent on the bands all the years on the TopBand mainly where I have confirmed and verified 351 DXCC countries all the time. So that I invited opportunity start operation on the new 60m band. It took me back over 50 years ago when I started operation on 160m band. As still keeping low bands QTH with 7 Beverages system all around for the 320m each long. I decided to use them for reception on 60m band as well. But I found during the first year / season / of using them that the length of 320m is too long for Beverage for use on 60m band. There were feeling perceivable gap in reception between Beverages. I have good practice with 8 circle RXing passive antenna on 160m band so I decided to buy active RXing antenna Hi-Z 8 circle from DX - Engineering company one well-developed by Lee - K7TJR. Because the antenna was not offered for 60m band I bought 80 meter version. With the aid of Lee, I modified Hi-Z 8 to 60m band. Now important for another users. My first idea was situated the Hi-Z 8 in my home QTH but during the antenna testing one did not work properly. We were so unhappy with Lee because he was very much co-operative with me. We tried to do our best but still nothing much compare to my Beverages. I was just about to give up my effort. Then one idea has stroke me and I took the system / BTW very easy to move / and shift one to my remote the EME QTH. Suddenly when the system moved there a miracle occurred ! The one started to listen week signals. I came into result that the Hi-Z 8 circle needed to be installed in proper environment, it means far away from everything and on strongly conductive ground. What are my experiences with the Hi-Z 8 circle and comparison with other systems it means Beverages 320m long and 2 element Moxon type Yagi antenna at 30 mtrs high.

I have had in full use these systems on 60m band for 14 month e.g. 2 low bands seasons. I spent more time by listening and watching on screen follow signals level now more and more popular FT8 mode. I prefer CW of course but FT8 shows maybe real signal strength what makes comparison easier. I confront many many times my Beverages and Hi-Z 8 and found that in 80% of cases / I made even statistic / was Hi-Z 8 better than long Beverages in correct direction towards DX station. Do not talk about gap between long Beverages where the Hi-Z 8 was always better. This experience told me that not always longer Beverage is better. Further the Hi-Z 8 is always more silent then Beverages and spite of higher signal level from Beverages the decoding was deeper in -dB it means better from Hi-Z 8 antenna system. Also the Hi-Z 8 always started listen DX earlier than one came from Beverages. As far as comparison between 2 element Yagi and Hi-Z 8 is concerned there was not so big difference, sometimes systems were on the same level but Yagi was not better any time.

Finally, thanks to the Hi-Z 8 circle antenna I worked and was issued by award WAS 60m as the 1st HAM outside from U.S.A.. It was really challenge to reach one because only 100 W or less was used on both sides what means very high demands on reception.

I wish all good luck with Hi-Z 8 circle antenna, from my experiences I can say a good word for this RXing antenna. Just be aware about QTH were the one is situated.

73, Jarda OK1RD & OK7XX on 60m band



PA5MW Rating: 2018-02-02
Stellar performance, period. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
For the 2017/18 winter contest season our contest station was upgraded by implementation of a Hi-Z 4-8 Pro 8-Circle RX array. It was setup in the 34m(113ft) diameter layout, serving also 40 and 80m.

As with every top performing product you need to provide sufficient (as in low noise environment) space to enable its full merits. From others we already learned that if you are already used to beverage top performance, a new system like this does not deliver 'the extra' in a backyard less than 60m (200ft) close to buildings/houses. But then again; you do not take an F1 car to your local in-town-racing but to a real race track.

Our QTH has several acres of field few months (only) available during winter time to install it remote from the houses at abt 150m (500ft). A simple etup of 4 times 7m50 (25ft) thick fiber poles created a stretched out rectangular top-wire from which all 8 RX vertical wires were hung. The positions are the typical 45degree intervals starting at QTF 0 deg. Due to the recent extreme storm in Europe and maybe some initial wire stretching/sloping, the bottom part of the 8-C vertical wires were dangling/touching the grass for the first meter(4ft) or so but that did not seem to matter all too much? Two reversible 300m long (880ft) beverages where installed to cover Asia/S-America and USA/M-East.

We just enjoyed the CQWW-160CW contest. So how does it perform?

The 8-C shack operation box at first seemed just 'an ugly black little box' with no text printed on it anywhere. A 'very light' rotation knob and 8 amber colored leds and that was it. During the next 48 contest hrs with 3 operators both these proved to be just perfect; minimal visual/manual stress vs maximal operational comfort.

On-air it was immediate apparent that the 8-C would deliver about 6-8 dB less gain vs the relatively high output of the loooong beverages. But was much more quiet, offering a clear signal to noise advantage. Directing it towards some 150-200m distant houses some 2-4dB extra noise was noticed. On loud signals one can rotate through 3 directions to work the other station, with one clear maximum. At very weak signals only one direction can be found. The long beverages delivered a much louder signal in every of their 4 directions; distant DX would be delivered with their typical punch along with a different sounding, more lively constantly changing sky noise. The quieter 8-C would have a more constant background noise level, offering less listening fatigue.

In a direct comparison between the 8-C and the long beverages both offered the same result at decoding & making that QSO with remote DX. Occasionally the one or the other was clearly better, probably due to the incoming sky wave angle rotation.

However, since the 8-C was quieter, one would often prefer its offered' listening comfort'.

On CQ (RUN-mode) the beverage, offering between 10-15dB less F/B than the 8-C and having several small vertical lobes, would allow you to hear any nearby European callers. The almost surgical pattern of the 8-C provided a clear risk by not hearing any of those at all. Only by rotating the knob an 90deg to 180deg offset caller would suddenly appear at S7 - S9.

At weak distant signals the beverages sometimes would offer a quick QSB vs a slower QSB at the 8-C.

Working important s.c. 'Multiplier DX stations', with their typical large pile-up QRM, the 8-C was chosen in 90% of the time to make the QSO.

At weak local European QRP signals the sharp & clean 8-C pattern offered the best option for a quicker reliable QSO, whereas it would be impossible to hear and/or complete a QSO on the very noisy beverages.

Conclusion: one can not have too many RX antennas and the Hi-Z 8-Circle is here to stay.
NO9E Rating: 2013-02-23
Excellent for its size Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought a triangular version used because at that time K7TJR could not sell. The array came damaged. I send it to K7TJR and he fixed it + updated for shipping costs.

My array is on a side of a vertical with elevated radials. K7TJR said it would not work but it does pretty well. F/B is about 15db. Probably could optimize but this is good enough. The array works well for 160-40m with some directivity on the higher bands. No problems since installation despite radials being close and a kW.

The array has 6 positions. In 160m contests often changing one position makes a difference between copy and no copy. Also, 6 positions help identifying local noise. By switching the array I can point to a bad router of my neighbor on the left side, bad TV of the neighbor of the right side, and line noise in front of the house.

I used to have K9AY. The triangular array blows it away. Narrow beamwidth, deeper nulls, consistent performance regardless of weather + more frequency coverage.
K8PO Rating: 2012-02-05
Superior product Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
My system is optimized for RDF and uses 21 foot elements with 80 foot spacing in a four square configuration. Compared to two 560 foot reversible beverages it has a similar pattern and S/N is better about half the time on 160M. Otherwise, the S/N is about the same. On 80M the Hi-Z four square S/N is better most of the time compared to the beverages.
The large elements provide higher output than 8 foot arrays and that is an advantage.
Customer service is excellent with same day or following day responses from emails sent.
Documentation is very good with considerable reference material on their website.
Highly recommended.
AA6VB Rating: 2011-10-26
Triangular Array - A Wonderful RX Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I live on a small city lot, no more than a quarter acre. I have tried over a dozen receive antennas over the years looking to improve the all important signal to noise ratio. Nothing gave a meaningful improvement. Along came the 3 Element Array, so I thought I'd give one a try.

Everything about my situation is a compromise. I can't get a 40 foot triangle with equal sides, one of the elements is 3 feet lower than the other two, the corner of the house blocks the line of sight between two of the elements, two of the elements are near a metal fence and one of the elements is within 50 feet of my vertical. Not a pretty picture.

Still, the system is highly directive on 160 meters where I spend most of my time. It provides a very good improvement in signal to noise ratio over my vertical and has truly uncovered another layer of signals for me. It REALLY does work, even with all the compromises in my situation. I am amazed at its performance and am VERY happy with the decision to install one.

I am able to run the legal limit with no harm to the array, even though the array is no more than 50 feet from my TX antenna - a great feature.

I was very pleased to find the array is highly directional on other bands - right up to 10 meters. It's just incredible.

There is a REAL solution for city lot owners with challenging situations. I highly recommend this array.

Bob/AA6VB

WD8PKF Rating: 2011-10-25
Ecellent product and Service Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I put up the Hi-Z 160 8 antenna receive array several months ago. I have had very good results with the array. The Hi-Z has usually outperformed my Beverages ( though not every time), and is usually as good if not better than my 4 square transmit ant. I had a minor problem which required service which was done in 4days! I am purchasing an 80 meter 8 element array to nest inside the 160 circle. If I did not have this array I would not have had the H40KJ in my 160 log!!
YC0LOW Rating: 2011-07-08
Makes my 160m life easier Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The real test to beat noise is surely at equatorial zone like in YC-land. Ordered one unit of Hi-Z 4sq RX Array and -after installing the system in Mt Malang (1050 m ASL), West Java- it made my 160m life easier. Tnx to Lee for cutting the phased delay line coax. 73 de Jo, YC0LOW
W4OP Rating: 2010-01-15
HI-Z RX PREAMP Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This review is for the hi dynamic range preamp that Hi-Z offers in a kit or built. I built mine- took perhaps 30 minutes. It is part of my Beverage antenna control system. I followed the preamp with a Mini-Circuits 2X power splitter- allowing me to use the Beverage on my IC-7700 and my Cubic 103 without switching. No signs of overload. Easy to build kit and very well documented//designed. Excellent value aleternative to the high priced products.

Dale W4OP