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Reviews For: AtomicAntenna 6M-80M Windham

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : AtomicAntenna 6M-80M Windham
Reviews: 2MSRP: $59.99
Description:
80-6 Meter Windom Antenna w/Balun
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.vendio.com/stores/AtomicAntenna/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0024
AC8JD Rating: 2010-09-22
AWESOME!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had this antenna for a week now. I can't help but write a review on it.

I am coming from just getting rid of a Tak-Tenna to using this windom as my primary antenna at my QTH. (See my review on Tak-Tenna to see why I switched).

First off I have the 40m version which allows you to operate on 40m, 20m, 10m, 6, and 2m. I have used it on all but the 2m. I have not used it with a tuner yet. On 40 and 20m the swr is 2:1, on 10 it is 1:7 and on 6 it is 1:2. A tuner will clean off the edges of these swr readings perfectly and make it even more effective.

This antenna is very easy to install as are most all wire or windom style antennas. This is a bare copper wire windom, so the unraveling of the wire from packaging is something to be careful of or you will kink your wire. It comes with a 4:1 Balun and is nicely put together in 1 1/2" PVC pipe with eye bolt hooks to hold the antenna on your mast, or hoist it with a pulley system or into a tree. The wires come off of the balun and are attached to eye bolts as well. There is an SO239 connector in the bottom of the balun, so literally just plug in your coax and go! Everything is very well soldered and appears to be made to last a long, long time with care and thought put into its construction. Last night we had a storm blow through with 65mph winds and it withstood that perfectly!

I have mine set up in what I would call a "not so perfect inverted v". Imagine an inverted v and start lifting the ends of it to the sky as if you were going to lay the inverted v flat. The balun and feed point is at 24' on a mast. That is how I have it set up.

After just 1.5 hours of use I made 8 contacts... and very easily! If I can hear them I can work them! I even broke pileups with reports that I was the loudest station and was easily beating the others in the pileup! This was on both 40m and 20m. I am using an iCom 706 MKII with only the built in 100w. I dropped the power down to 80 watts and was still getting great reports!

This antenna does pick up a lot of "noise". It is my understanding that the bare copper wire as opposed to the jacketed wire you see on most wire antennas makes it more sensitive. I understand that the bands are also just noisier with static this time of year. However with the filters in the rig, and an external speaker, it is more than tolerable. You have to remember there is no ground system for this antenna.

With this antenna the addage of "if you can hear them you can work them" is 100% true. I can work all stations I hear. I know my friend with a Hustler vertical can hear more stations on any given band and that's fine. I am very pleased I can work what I can hear after coming off of owning that tak-tenna.

You cannot go wrong with this antenna. This is the least expensive one on the market and it will do the same job as the others that are twice as much or more. It cost $40 for this one, and some of those Carolina Windoms are over $150.

The only reason I did not give it a 5 out of 5 is because I don't know how it will last in the long run yet.
NA5XX Rating: 2010-07-16
Great performer. Tangles easy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna for field use and was not disappointed in its performance. It was erected as a sloper with on end approx 40ft and the other 8ft. The antenna heard well on all bands. Six Meters was not used as my radio does not have that band. I was using the antenna portable while camping The best band openings were 20-40M that week. At approx 22:30 local time, I made a QSO with Lithuania and France. I was located in Central ID (near Moscow). This was on 20 meters with 20 watts. The radio was an SG-2020. I was was very impressed. Setup was another thing. The wire elements tangled easy and required 2 people to de-tangle. This added about 30 min to set-up time. The center balun is heavy and I would recommend supporting it somehow when not used as an inverted V. I definitely recommend the antenna and plan to get the 2M-40M Windham Jr for home use with my TS-520.