Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Buckmaster 7 Band, 300W, OCF Dipole Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Buckmaster 7 Band, 300W, OCF Dipole Antenna
Reviews: 33MSRP: 192.00
Description:
A well-constructed 7 band off-center fed dipole, designed for 75/80, 40, 20, 17, 12, 10 and 6 meters. The wire is 65 strand, 12 Ga. PVC coated wire, with EVERY copper strand tinned to prevent corrosion.
Product is in production
More Info: http://hamcall.net/7bandocf.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00334.7
N4AK Rating: 2011-01-15
Good performance with snow and ice on antenna. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
During the recent winter snow storm and following icy conditions here in the Greenville, South Carolina area, both my dipole and G5RV exhibited a very high SWR which I could not tune out. My Buckmaster OCF exibited very little change, remained well within an acceptable SWR range and kept me on the air. I was impressed.
N0RQ Rating: 2010-12-11
very close to being ideal multi-band wire antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is indeed a well-built antenna, as others have noted. I suspect it will hold up well in the South Dakota winters.

I chose it to be the main antenna at my remote HF station. It is installed close to the "ideal" per instructions, but not exactly. Performance seems to be quite good, though I haven't had opportunity to use it on 10m or 12m.

SWR is reasonable on most bands. On some bands, no tuner is needed. On some bands, SWR is a just bit off, but it is easily handled by the auto-tuner in the TS-480SAT. The SWR on 6m was off enough that I count the antenna as unusable for xmit on 6m. (I don't know why that is.) It even tunes up (with the internal tuner) on 160m, which doesn't make sense -- I suspect it isn't very efficient at all on Topband, however.

It will not tune on 30m or 15m, as it expected. That is why my other antenna at the remote station is a homebrew fan dipole for 30m/15m/6m -- which works fine.

Pictures of my installation of this Buckmaster antenna can be seen at www.powerlinenoise.com/n0rq/ , click on Remote Station.

Overall, this antenna is worthy of serious consideration as a multi-band wire. It isn't cheap, but it is well-built, and it should serve you well on 6 or 7 bands.
W8ERV Rating: 2010-08-22
Fantastic Wire Antenna! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ran a homebrew version of what is now called the 'Double Bazooka', and swore by it for years. After hearing many glowing reports of this antenna, I decided to give it a try. 20m opened up shortly after we got the antenna in place and I immediately worked stations in England and Germany on my modest 200 watt setup (Yaesu FT 1000MP Mark V). In the last 24 hours, I managed to add about 10 new countries to my list and I will not hesitate to use this antenna when the tribander doesn't do what I need. WELL WORTH THE MONEY!