| former_AE6CP_LH |
Rating:      |
2007-06-29 | |
| Magic |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Ok so I've had the 20 meter lightweight version for about a year but I wanted to wait till after field day to give it a review. We had it on top of a 30' Force 12 mast. Running 100 watts I worked everything I heard, all pileups were broken with one or two calls. One guy in Georga said our signal was S-9+60 and then some!! He said when we called him our signal was so loud in his headset that the audio tripped his rig's VOX!! We heard 'nice signal' all weekend on 20 meters. (our 10,109ft elevation may have helped) Operating from new mexico near the VLA, I could point the hexbeam NorthEast and all but the strongest Californians faded into the QRM, when I turned it around however, W6's were all I heard! This is my first directional antenna so it probably wouldn't have taken much to impress me but if you're a dipole guy and thinking about upgrading to a beam but cant afford the $2000 tower and $500 rotator then get a 30' mast and a $50 TV rotator and you'll only be about a dB or two down from the three element tribander guys.
It's lightweight and very durable, once the tower which was laid across the corner of my truck slipped off just after I had put the antenna on the top and it fell to the ground and all the weight landed on just two of the spreader arms. I just knew they would crack and buckle but they didnt at all, they just flexed a bit and upon inspection after we broke down on Sunday, I could not see any wear or bowing of any of the arms.
Thanks Mr Traffie!!!
-Larry
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| NX7TT |
Rating:      |
2007-06-11 | |
| Great antenna |
Time Owned: N.A. |
1st off let me say Mike Traffie puts out a great product. He goes to great lengths to ensure a quality product. His customer service is great also. Actually caught Mike on the air and will answer questions easily. Very easy to chat with.
I now have had the antenna for over a year. Have worked over 252 countries all low power. And I am amazed how well this little antenna works. And how durable it is. This antenna has taken 107 MPH gusts, ice fog, snow, ice, hail, sleet, minus 20 to 110 temps. And it sits on top of a rohn 40' pole and is turned by a TV antenna rotor. Have worked about 30 others all using the beam and all are very pleased.
You can go to my web page WWW.NT4TT.COM and go to the personal side and you can see a pretty good photo of the antenna. Mike will not beat his own drum so I do not mind doing it for him. If tyou have any questions that I might can answer
NX7TTatMSNdotCOM will find me..
I am usually on 17 meters and am easily found.
i understand there is a small wait for the antenna due to Mike wanting quality parts but it will be worth the wait.. |
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| WB4PAP |
Rating:      |
2007-03-13 | |
| Still Working Great!!!! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
It's been almost two years since I've installed this antenna so I thought I'd give it an updated review. I have over the last two years used this antenna extensively. I live in Florida, it has survived at least four hurricanes, numerous tropical storms, summer storms and everything the elements have thrown at it. There is no visible degradation of the antenna at all and it's performance continues to amaze me. It looks and works as good as the day it was installed. I have made thousands of contacts, more DX countries in the last two years than in my previous 35 years in ham radio using a multitude of other antennas. Europe is like working the local repeater and I have made so many friends from abroad I feel like I'm talking stateside. Obviously this is within gray line limitations but my point is that this antenna has worked consistently well for me and I couldn't imagine that any antenna could be much better. I've had ham friends visit the station and leave mumbling that they don't hear anything on thier rigs and chalked it up to sunspot cycles. The truth is this antenna has made the bottom of the cycle totally workable from my standpoint. There isn't a day that goes by that I cant make multiple European and stateside contacts on 17 meters and 20 is always active yet some hams go for days without hearing anything but static. It's probably your antenna!! In two years I've probably only fired the amplifier up three or four times because I wanted to make sure I got through to a DX station or expedition in a timely manner. 100 watts always works and always will get me through, 1000 watts just makes it quicker. Those that use pile ups as a measure of an antennas effectiveness saying I always get through on the first or second call are unrealistic. The best antenna in the world isn't going to make up for propagation allowables or if there are hundreds of stations calling a DX station. It's propagation, technique and equipment. Pretty much in that order. Lots of power can be useless if the antenna isn't very efficient and equipment is only as good as it's antenna. With that said, this antenna works as good or better than anything out there. Why??? I don't really know. Obviously some laws of physics just seem to favor this particular design because it works very well for it's size. I've tried a lot of them, I've read a lot of specs and manufacturers claims. Everybody is happy with thier antenna when the band is open and curses it when it's not. I doubt there is a better antenna out there for it's size, It acts like a much bigger system than it is and you will immediately start realizing that there is a lot to be worked out there during the bottom of the cycle. The SteppIR seems to be the fad right now and they seem to be doing well with them. Seems at the gray line I'm still talking to DX stations or across the country along with the SteppIR owners or we're talking to each other when the band is dying out and everyone else is fading. It's a good antenna, this ones just as good in my estimation and I wont be replacing any motors or maintaining associated equipment that will fail over time. And last but not least, I don't believe there are any other manufacturers out there that give you a 30 day money back guarrantee if you're not happy with it! Traffie does and I doubt they have ever gotten one back. They are great people and I'd buy another one in a heart beat. I doubt I'll ever need another antenna though!
Tom, WB4PAP |
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| F8AFC |
Rating:      |
2007-02-15 | |
| Excellent antenna!!!!!!!!! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
After exactly 1 year with the Hx5-Bi up at 30 feet only, more than 260 DXCC contacted...I'm impressed by the good results in this low portion of the solar cycle. This antenna, easy to assemble, very light, wind resisting (> 120 km/h here), is definitely a pile-up breaker. I generally run a max power of 600-700 W PEP in the biggest pile-up (VU4/VU7/ZL8/YW0/JD1/VK9N etc etc). Working LP and "all band new ones" has become possible, and great reports are given from the other side of the world.
I wish I could set it a little bit higher (in the pipe), and well as setting up the 40m version...
A more than excellent deal for limited areas. |
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| AH6RQ |
Rating:      |
2006-11-12 | |
| Great Antenna in less than optimum conditions |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I am located in Maui HI and I have a big problem with power line noise. I was running a trap vertical, but the power line noise made opertaion almost impossible much of the time, particularly in the evening. I was about to give up when I thought about a small beam antenna.The dfirectivity and horizontal polarization might allow me to continue my hobby. I did much research on the air and on the net for compact beams and decided the hex beam was the antenna that could best fit my needs. I bought the 20 meter version, because I was uncertain about the performance and and I didn't want to invest in the 5 bander before I verified that it would work. Also, since I have community rules about antennas, I needed to be sure that I could conceal it behind the upper story of my house to be essentially unnoticable from the house front view. I ended up buying the 20 meter mono band hex beam and installing it about 21 feet high (definitely not the optimum height. but this was as high as I could go and still keep it stealthy from the front of the house.
I short, this antenna has performed unbelievably well even at its low height. I kept the vertical up for a while and many times I could not hear a station on the vertical, but it was arm chair copy with the hex beam. Truly amazing. I have received consistantly good reports both from DX and mainland stations. It seems as if the antenna's sensitivity to power line noise is much less than I would have guessed, but whatever the reason, I am a real happy camper. This may be due to the reduced ground wave gain as explained on Mike's web page. It has good front to back and even though I see its match change a bit as I rotate it, probably due to interaction with the flashing on the second floor roof, it still works very well and the change in match is not significant.
Next step for me will be the 5 bander.
Aloha
Joe |
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| KN7T |
Rating:      |
2006-11-08 | |
| Superb |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
When I first started looking for a directional antenna for my QTH, the biggest limiting factor was the amount of available real estate and airspace in which to install it. As such, my choices were fairly limited but the HX-5Bi hexbeam certainly fit the criteria. I also looked at antennas from Force 12, OptiBeam, and a couple of others.
I decided on the hexbeam for a couple of different reasons. One was the extremely light weight. At about 20 pounds, it is very easy to handle and install. The other reason was the small turning radius, less than 10 feet. I called Mike Traffie and we had a very frank discussion on the hexbeam - he answered all of my questions and helped me decide on a couple of other items so I decided to order one. I ended up having to wait a few weeks before the antenna arrived as there was a bit of an order backlog at the time.
The quality of materials and design is first rate and the instructions included with the antenna are crystal clear - some of the best I've ever seen. The antenna's wire elements and loose hardware are packaged in individual parts bags so there's no chance of mixing things up.
I assembled the antenna by myself and it took about 3 to 4 hours to accomplish. I tend to work slow and deliberate so it probably took me longer than it would for the average person. It would have been a bit easier with a helper, especially when trying to join the wire elements to the spreaders but I managed to do it OK with a minimum of difficulty. One word of advice, drill the hole for the hub crossbolt before you start assembly of the antenna as recommended in the instructions. Once construction was complete, I quickly hooked up a length of coax and my Palstar antenna analyzer to do a quick SWR sanity check. Everything measured out as expected and it was now ready to install.
I have an AB-577 military surplus tower and it's an ideal way to support a hexbeam but you can certainly use a push-up or other type of light/medium duty mast to support this antenna. The hexbeam's installed height on the AB-577 is right around 40 feet, the recommended distance as prescribed in the instructions.
I wasn't quite sure what the expect when I first hooked it up to my rig but I was blown away by the number of signals that suddenly appeared out of the ether which I wasn't hearing with previous antennas. Since I run only 100 watts output, trying to crack large DX pile-ups was previously an exercise in futility - not necessarily so with the hexbeam. It's amazing what this thing can do given the right circumstances.
In the short time I've owned it, the signal reports I've received are quite good and recently I worked a QRP contest with it and was amazed at the relative ease in which I was making contacts. It felt like I was running a kilowatt.
The real test was during this year's ARRL CW Sweepstakes - running just 100 watts, I had my best ever effort and I credit the vast majority of that success to the hexbeam.
As others have said in previous reviews, the hexbeam is not inexpensive but when you consider what you're getting in terms of compactness, lightweight, true 5 band coverage, and expected longevity, it's a tough combination to beat. |
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| HK3OZ |
Rating:      |
2006-10-23 | |
| Superb Product Quality |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The Traffie HexBeam is, in one word, incomparable! Materials are first rate, build quality is superior and on-the-air performance is as good or better than advertised. My HX-5Bi has survived Canada’s east coast 100+ mph winter winds, and baked under Bogota’s brutal UV radiation without a performance hiccup, looking as good today as when first assembled five years ago.
Finally, Mike Traffie provides outstanding customer service.
John – HK3OZ / VE1OZ (ve1oz@rac.ca)
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| W7PTT |
Rating:      |
2006-10-23 | |
| STILL AN AWESOME ANTENNA |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This is a follow-up review to my original review. With this 5 band Hexbeam Antenna I have now worked over 180 countries. Not too bad considering we are at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. If I had it to do all over again, I would definately buy this antenna again.
73
Bill
W7PTT |
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| AD1Y |
Rating:      |
2006-10-16 | |
| Pleased |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I purchased the second production model HB in 1997, so I guess I've been somewhat late in posting a review.
I became active in the hobby in early '97 with a 10-band MFJ vertical. I worked 150 countries in 10 months, then hit the proverbial plateau.
I purchased serial #4 (Mike tells me #1 and #2 were prototypes) in October '97. It went up on a Radio Shack 36-foot push-up pole with a TV antenna rotator.
I won't pretend to be able to provide scientific data on how the antenna has performed nor will I make any assertions that, given the option, I'd select it over much larger antennae. All I can relate with regard to the 5-band HB are my anecdotal experiences.
It immediately added "fun" to my hamming. I still recall that practically the first day the antenna went up, I broke a pileup into V6 on the first call, then had an HL answer my CQ. Previous to this, I had never even heard either entity with the vertical.
The antenna (at 36 feet) helped me to put over 300 countries in the log before I had three years in the hobby, and it currently has 333 entities to its credit thus far.
It's been up at 80 feet for the past few years (on an AB-577) and seems to perform well at this height. While it's not an inexpensive antenna, the fact that it can be supported at 80 feet on a $600 tower that does not require a concrete base and can be turned with a $90 rotator mitigates the overall expense rather substantially.
As others have mentioned, Mike (and his entire family for that matter) are a pleasure to speak to on the phone, and go beyond expectations to accommodate in any way they can to provide outstanding customer support.
Mike has, in my experience, always been adamant about making no outlandish claims for the antenna. In keeping with that philosophy, I will simply state that it helps provide a greater enjoyment of the hobby for those of us unable or disinclined to put up large towers with large rotators to support large antennae. In my experience with the HB it fits its niche, and serves its purposes therein, quite satisfactorily.
Thanks Mike for a fine product and excellent customer support. |
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| KB9BPF |
Rating:      |
2006-07-17 | |
| Great for my application |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I was fantasizing about having a multiband beam beam I could put on a telescoping mast mounted on a tripod on the roof to replce my homebrew 3-element 10M beam. I considered the small log-periodics but they seemed like an awful lot of hardware to keep on a telescoping mast. Saw this at Hamvention and was intrigued, but I must say I was put off by the over-the-top promotions by the manufacturer. Still, I couldn't get it out of my head. Called Traffie a few months later and told him I was interested in the antenna but found some of his claims hard to believe. After almost an hour he won me by telling me I could send it back for a full refund if I didn't like it.
That was several years ago and I continue to enjoy my HexBeam HX-5Bi, turned by a modest Yaesu G-450 rotor. Other than the homebrew 10M beam I'd never had a a directional antenna so I didn't know what I was missing on 20M using a wire. This beam opened up a whole new world to me - using a 1KW amp I've been able to bust pileups, most of the time on the first call - and it fits on a very modest support system. While I'm sure other, larger beams will outperform it, you need much more substantial support hardware which not everyone wanst to contend with. So it's a perfect engineering compromise for my application. |
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