| K8AC |
Rating:      |
2003-05-25 | |
| Still going strong... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Just passed the three year mark with my HX-5B and it's still working fine with no maintenance required. The light coating of Krylon flat black paint on the spreaders has held up well in the strong sun here. The only comment from neighbors/other so far has been from the UPS delivery man. His comment: "Sure is a big TV antenna:. My answer: "Indeed." I'm sure there are good reasons that I should have 100 lbs. of aluminum up 75 feet, but can't imagine what they might be. No problem working 328 countries so far, and just waiting for the remaining ones to get on the air. |
|
| AB0SI |
Rating:      |
2003-01-17 | |
| good antenna; GREAT service |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I have the 5-bander beastie. It is a fine radiator-- it is NOT a full size no compromise 6-element quad. Sorry, there is no magic (this is NOT Middle Earth). For those of us who need small,light weight and durable, however, it is an excellent choice. If you (like me) have no life, you can even experiment with it (it is designed for 20->10 meters) and run 40,30 and 6 meters on it (a good tuner is required). 6m actually works reasonably well. 40 & 30 are, er, possible. I even loaed it up on 75m just to see what would happen (answer: made a QSO but probably equal to loading up a bedspring).
Negative: Quite expensive.
Positive: Customer service is simply remarkable. Have a question? Give them a call. Traffle will take all the time necessary to help you out. Lost the assemply manual (ya, I did this.) Give them a call. One will be sent out the same day.
To me, the excellent customer service makes the anteanna worth every penny. |
|
| WA2NTK |
Rating:      |
2003-01-16 | |
| Very good success |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Name is Ralph, call is WA2NTK. Live up state NY in the Finger Lake region of the state. I have a 5 band Hex beam at 37ft. for about 18 months. The antenna is located on the floor of the valley 932ft above sea level. The surrounding hills are 1,000 ft above the antenna. The antenna has withstood the wind, and ice storms of this region without any damage or loss of performance.
As an airline pilot I lead a very busy life style that does not afford me a lot of "radio time". Most of the time that I have avaible to devote to Ham radio is spent just "tuning around" the bands. You could not consider me a "DX Chaser" by any means. Before I purchased the Hex Beam I was using a Brand name 5 band trap vertical. I had pretty good success with this antenna and worked 140 countries. Problem was I had just about exhausted the ability of the vertical to hear the dx let alone break into the pileup. Since I have the Hex beam up I have worked 64 additional entities ( for a total of 205 ). My base rig is a Kenwood TS930S-AT with a maximum output of 140 watts. I do not own a linear amp and therefore always run 140 watts or less.
Last time I was home I stumbled upon the following. The Kenwood TS930SAT will tune the beam on both 75 and 40M with a very low SWR and full output. Also at these frequencies the antenna seem to become omni-directional??. I had a 2 contacts on 40 and 6 on 75M that day and the signal reports I am getting are the same as I'm seeing on the TS930. On receive the performance is at least equal to or most times better than my Zepp antenna.I purchaesd this antenna because of a space requirement. I didn't expect anything more that 2 element performance and have been very pleased overall sine I put it up.
Something about the TS930SAT allows it to also tune 75 and 40M on this antenna. Providing minimum SWR and full output. Seems to work as an Omni antenna on these bands. ( The IC706MKII will not tune on these lower bnads on this antenna )
I was both surprised and pleased to discover I could do this with the 930.
Ralph WA2NTK www.qsl.net/wa2ntk |
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| KB8VWV |
Rating:      |
2002-11-15 | |
| More than I anticipated |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Have been following the comments for the last 12 months and it was time before winter to make a decision. The multitude of favorable reports swayed me to try it. Not forgetting the 30 day guaruntee. The antenna came immediately upon ordering, very nice package with assembly by myself in about 4 hours. Gives me confidence in its survbivability in Michigan winter weather. First night after assembly, and hearing of satisfactory ground operation, I connected it up to my Yaesu 817 on 20M and had no trouble making multiple contacts on 5W. The crane fineally arrived the next day and we popped it on to my 65' tower. Darkness falling I immediately went inside and proceeded to log Japan & South Korea on both 100W and at 5W on the 817. Never been able to do that before!!! The antenna is as quiet as my 80M Loop for comparison and the stations are giving me a higher RST than I am recieving them. No complaints and look forward to more great experiences. |
|
| N4PSE |
Rating:      |
2002-10-22 | |
| You can believe Lew McCoy! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
He wrote an article on the Hexbeam shortly before he passed away. It was very favorable. I worked a few of them and started to investigate. W/Out room for a tribander and not wanting to put up a tower I wanted something that was signficiantly better than my zepp and wire antennas that have performed admirably for me so far (270 DXCC countries). I finally opted to try the 10/15 meter duobander after Mike announced the 30 day money back guarantee. I figured that if I didn't see a big difference I'd send it back.
Well - it's staying. It's only up 24 feet but really works. ZL/VK's are now common; Even broke ZL7C pile up running 4 watts. Same with 7X4 today.
With a six foot turning radius and a "treed" background it is hard to see from the street. XYL hasn't even complained and she hates HR antennas!
Mike is great to work with and you will not be disappoihted. As for the price- you get what you pay for! This thing is built to stay up for years.
Try one! |
|
| KG4ARN |
Rating:      |
2002-10-20 | |
| Excellent overall |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have had my HexBeam 5 bander on the air now for about two months.
Overall this is an excellent antenna. I will elaborate on various aspects.
1) Assembly: Not as easy for me as it has been for some others, but I am somewhat
mechanically challenged. I was able to assemble the antenna alone, but a helper would
have been nice. I have a crank-up, tilt-over tower. I was able to mount the antenna on the
mast without assistance by climbing a ladder while lifting the antenna with my free hand.
2) Quality: Parts quality is excellent.
3) Tuning: None needed. It's resonant an all 5 bands without any adjustments.
4) Wind loading: I have noticed high winds that are obviously blowing the tree tops at
the same height as the beam.
The HexBeam does not appear to move at all.
5) Service: Mike Traffie has been very helpful when I had questions. I had some trouble
mounting the fiberglass rods to the base plate, so he sent me the upgraded PVC brackets
free of charge. These are much easier to install.
6) Performance: This is my first beam antenna, BUT WAIT! I had my friend who has been
a ham for 20 years operate with it and give me his assesment as well. Also, we have performed
some testing with my friend's QTH about 10 miles away.
a) The beam works so well that I actually able to effectively operate sideband for the first
time. Previously I have had only dipoles and verticals.
b) At the recieving site 10 miles away, my friend reports very deep nulls on the sides and
an excellent front to back. We performed this test while transmitting continuously and
simultaneously rotating the antenna.
c) I have calibrated the S meter on my rig using a signal generator and step attenuator.
Front to back ratios appear to be as advertised. It is difficult to tell with long range
signals that fade, but it appears to be 10-20 dB in the phone portions. The rejection
in the cw segment appears better. I will be doing more testing with my friend's station
10 miles away.
d) The most significant assesment comes from my friend who has been a Ham for 20
years and used several beams. He was impressed with the front to back and
felt that it was at least as good as his much larger beam. He felt that the nulls on the
side were a bit better.
e) It has been difficult to assess gain. In comparison tests with my friend's beam when
both of us have been transmitting to the same domestic station, the receiving op has
given the larger ( and at least 3 elements on each band)beam a slight edge.
I will report more test results as I acquire them.
This is a two element, 5 band, resonant, light weight beam that performs very, very well.
So far I am very pleased and I feel it is worth the money. |
|
| KM1B |
Rating:      |
2002-09-27 | |
| Good Design!! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I got this antenna about a month ago from a gentleman in Nova Scotia and I am very anxious to try this antenna. This review is just based on all mechanical observation, and it is excellent. The antenna is simple but well constructed. I am erecting a tower even if I don't need one for this antenna because I am putting up more antennas on the same tower.
More detailed review will follow later, but I am already a happy owner of this antenna. Special thanks to John who allowed me to take his Hexbeam at a bargain price. I am planning to buy 40m version later. |
|
| KI6YN |
Rating:      |
2002-09-27 | |
| OUTSTANDING FOR MY NEEDS |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I moved to a new QTH that borders a national park with spectacular views and didn't want to cause a problem with an antenna. I had a 2 element quad up 60 feet at the last QTH and with the 5 band hexbeam at 21 feet, tower in down most position, I can work most of the world QRP. I only work CW. It took about an hour and a half to assemble the hexbeam and it is easy to mount on tower. I get great signal reports and when I rotate it, I can see the pan display go just about blank for signals on the side. I'm an engineer, I design satellite ground systems, and I understand specs and antennas. No matter what anybody says, the bottom line is how does it perform for your area and needs; for me, it is outstanding. I can tell you about signal reports from half way around the world but that doesn't mean anything, the other guy could have a huge antenna farm and whatever, the bottom line is what is the usual situation and with hexbeam, it is being heard and hearing. It is quiet and when painted gray, almost stealth. I'm sure there are a lot of surprised hams out there when I tell them I running 5 watts to a hexbeam up 21 feet! I'm sure my neighbors love it because they don't know it is there! It is level with the peak of the roof! If you think it is costly, try designing a multiband antenna in such a small package - it takes a lot of time and trial and error, the computer models just don't do it all. It is well constructed with top line materials. High price, no way. Besides, you save on mounting hardware because you can use a light weight rotor and pushup. I used a tower because I already had it. If you hear me calling CQ most eveings around 0030, give me shout and you can ask questions or have me rotate it and adjust power. Yes, I'm enthusiastic, I have my antenna and peace in the neighborhood and YL is happy too! It doesn't get any better than that. |
|
| KC6VCH |
Rating:     |
2002-03-23 | |
| Good antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| This antenna is well constructed and easy to put together. For receiving its rated a 5, acts like a quad, low noise level, wide spread. For transmitting the antenna doesn't have the gain it needs to break through pile ups. I highly recommend this antenna for someone who has limited space. Only negative thing is the price. Expensive. |
|
| W4WB |
Rating:      |
2002-02-08 | |
| Still amazing performance |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have been using my HX-5B Hex-Beam for a while now and have been most pleased with the results. Basically, the old saying "If I can hear'em, I can work'em" is true in my case.
I have two QTHs that I operate from. They are located about 4 miles apart. One has the Hex-Beam (using FT-1000MP) and the other has a GAP Titan vertical (using FT-847). On numerous occasions, I have gone from one QTH to the other and listened to the same station. In every case, the Hex-Beam is superior. Often, I can not even hear the station on the vertical but it is R5 with the Hex-Beam. Recently, I worked VP8GEO on 20 m with his signal being a solid 55. I called a friend using a good vertical and a FT-1000D. He couldn't even hear the station.
A recent discovery by several users is that the HX-5B can work in a beam-like manner on 6, 30, 40, and 80 m! I have used it on 6, 30, and 40 m. It provides modest F/B and F/S (10-12 dB it appears). The total line loss I computed for my station was 1.7 dB on 30 m and 2.75 dB on 40 m. Last weekend, I worked a number of European stations on 40 m CW and received good reports. It was helpful to have the QRM reduction from the Hex-Beam. Others have used it on 80 m too with good reports. I note that my FT-1000MP tuner loads just fine to it on these bands (except 80 m that I haven't tried yet). Why does it work on these bands? Who knows? So for those having limited space and wanting capability from 6-80 m, you might check this out. I note that the manufacturer Traffie Technology doesn't advertise these additional 4 bands nor were they aware it seems that the HX-5B would operate on these bands. Hey, I'll take four more bands capability for free!
You can read more about Hex-Beam users' experiences on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hex-beam/ and also discuss the topic. |
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