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Reviews For: Hexbeam: Traffie

Category: Antennas: HF: Yagi, Quad, Rotary dipole, LPDA

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Review Summary For : Hexbeam: Traffie
Reviews: 82MSRP: 1129.
Description:
model HX-5B
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.hexbeam.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00824.8
K2ACB Rating: 2000-09-14
An excellent antenna compared to a small 3 element tribander Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just recently put up my hex beam.At first I had reservations about purchasing this antenna.The antenna is not inexpensive and more costly than the average small 3 element tribander such as an A3 or TH3.Also I had never personally seen one or heard one on the air.I had read the review of the hex beam in the April 2000 CQ by the late Lew McCoy.This review was among the most outstanding reviews I had ever read on a radio amateur product. After reading the review I did extensive research on the internet on the hex beam.Among the articles I found was a review in the March 1998 QST and a description on the erection and performance of the antenna by K8AC.These two articles as well as most of the other articles I found were very favorable toward this antenna. After deciding to purchase the antenna I got in touch with Traffie Technology ,the manufacturer.This was at the beginnng of July.I must say that Mike Traffie the head of the company could not have been nicer.He told me there was a back order on their antennas and I would have to wait about a month for mine.I also told him that I mostly operated on the phone bands and could the antenna be modified especially for the 20 meter phone band instead of the cw portion of the band.He told me that was possible and he would modify my antenna.He even went so far as to give me his home phone number if I had any problems when I erected the antenna and the office was closed. My antenna ,which has serial number 81 was put up 2 weeks ago.My installation is on a 1.3 meter Glen Martin tower on the roof of my two story house.The antenna is on a 2 meter mast and is about three meters off the roof of my house and about 13 meters off the ground.I am using a Yaesu G450 rotator. I had two fellow radio amateurs help me assemble the antenna.This was our first experience with this type of antenna.The instructions were clear and precise .The materials used are of very fine quality.It took us about two hours to assemble the antenna. I have not had the antenna up that long and can only give preliminary performance results.I also have a Gap Titan vertical which is an excellent antenna as far as verticals are concerned.However a vertical cannot compete with a directional antenna such as a beam.My hex beam averages around 2 s units or about 6db gain over the vertical.It also has a very good front to back ratio. In the past I have owned a Mosley Classic 33 beam and a Cushcraft A3 beam.I would say the hex beam is just as good as those antennas.It has the advantage of being smaller and lighter and less obtrusive than the average small tribander.That is what attracted me to this antenna.This antenna cannot compare to a monoband or wide spaced large triband beam.I have made comparison tests with a friend who has a KLM KT34XA.His signal averages 3 to 4.5 db more than mine. Summing up ,considering its smaller size and weight,compared to a small tribander such as an A3,TH3 or TA33,the hex beam performs very well and is just as good if not better than these antennas.I thus far recommend this antenna to anyone considering purchasing it.
W1ZE Rating: 2000-09-04
Good Idea that works Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had the oppertunity to see a Hex Beam in action at the Union, Maine Hamfest. Traffie Technology had one of their Hex beams mounted atop a 35-foot push-up mast and feeding it with a 50-watt Ten-Tec 555 transceiver. WZ1J turned the fiberglass and wire array to the east and first call landed a ZL and got a 5-9 report on 20-meters.
During my conversation with the folks from Traffie I asked them some pointed questions. They said their field tests showed the antenna to work like you would expect a 2 element yagi to work on ground wave, but on sky-wave the Hex Beam worked more like a 3 element yagi. Also, the antenna was quiet, like a quad. Traffey indicated they thought the close spacing and "W" shape of the elements did some beam forming on sky-wave signals. I recommend that you read Lou McCoy's review of the antenna in CQ mag. He gave the Hex Beam an A+.