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Reviews For: ULTIMAX 100 End Fed HF Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : ULTIMAX 100 End Fed HF Antenna
Reviews: 78MSRP: 85.00
Description:
SPECS:
Configuration - End Fed
Power - 1500 Watts PEP rating
Length - 24 feet
Weight - 3.5 pounds
Polarization – Vertical, Horizontal, Sloped
Connector – SO-239-50 ohm
SWR < 2.5:1 – (3:1 tuner required all radio tuners work)
Bands – from 3.0 MHz to 54 MHz (80 to 6 meters)
Radials - none required
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ultimax-antennas.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
35784.5
N4UP Rating: 2012-05-28
Good for the Attic but Be Careful Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought two of these about six weeks ago. Very easy to deploy in the attic. I used an MFJ-915 line isolator at the antenna end of the feed-line and ran the coax down the attic stairs into the radio room. Why did I buy two? I have no idea, but in retrospect it proved an excellent decision, as the first one failed.

Power --- The Ultimax works very well at 200 watts, but since mine is installed in the third floor attic, the noise level is quite high. On some bands connecting a six foot wire to the transceiver's RX jack works better than the Ultimax on receive. And by works better I mean less noise. However, as soon as I increased power to 500 watts it melted the matching network and from that point on the antenna would not work. So I threw it away and installed the second one. So --- Do not believe the advertised 500 watt rating. I now stick with 200 watts and it has worked well.

Tuning --- Tunes easily with an external antenna tuner. Of course once you melt the matching network you get very high SWR just a few seconds after feeding RF. SO --- Don't run more than 200 watts and it should be okay.

Performance --- Well, keep in mind where mine is located. On a weekday or normal weekend it is hard to hear more than just a few stations if the band is open, and on SSB I routinely get signal reports of, well, 33. It is hard to make contacts on SSB. On CW on a contest weekend, a different story altogether. Yesterday I worked maybe 100 stations on CW and almost all of them were DX. Worked around 60 different countries in just one afternoon on 15 and 20 meters. Just think what I could do with a real antenna ( mounted outside ).

Bands --- Have yet to hear anything on 160 or 80 or 6 meters but it works okay for me on 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10 meters, when a band is open, and especially at night when the noise level is lower ( or the signals are louder ).

So what to do about the attic? I believe the answer is the MFJ-1775 which is a rotatable dipole that has a radius of just 7 feet and will easily fit in my attic and handle higher power. That's my next project.
KL2D Rating: 2012-05-12
Ok for low power Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is a good antenna, but tends to saturate the unun during high power (750 watts plus) transmissions longer than about 90 seconds. This causes the SWR to rise to over 3:1 or higher. It falls again after the unun cools off, and if you stay below 200 watts it works great. I'd reccomend it if you are not using an amp. Easy to tune on any band, I've used it to make many dx contacts.
former_AI7Z Rating: 2012-03-16
Outstanding antenna for HOA Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered the Ultimax DXtreme in the 88 foot version. Received it in four days. Placed the box under the eaves of the garage and ran the wire up to the peak of the roof (24 feet) and from there out to a tree in the corner of the lot. Easy to hide from the HOA snoops. Works great. Low SWR on all bands 10-80. One of my ham neighbors saw mine and liked it so much he ordered one.

It isn't a beam on a tower, but it works just fine for my needs. Now if I could just get the XYL to let me buy an amp.......someday.
MI5CFM Rating: 2012-03-09
Mi5cfm Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just like to say got this antenna this week and put it up in 5mins good all round antenna for my small back garden will keep this one as I've had many antennas
N0YG Rating: 2012-03-04
Great Antenna and customer support A1 !! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
When I originally placed my order online and went to pay through PayPal, PayPal website said it would ship in 2-3 weeks. I thought noway and emailed Ultimax Antenna @ 10 PM and told them so. To my surprize Albert answered me within 10-15 minutes wanting to know where I had this problem at and so on. Anyway I placed my order and received it in 3 days, thanks Albert. Installed it in about 15 minutes and to my surprize it works better than advertised. Just take it out of the box and put it up with NO trimming involved. WORKS EXACTLY AS ADVERTISED ! I am in the MidWest and have made contacts with 100 watts to Baker- Howland Island, KH1 , Argentina and all over the US. Nice to buy a product that does what it advertises it does. Nice Product.
N8CXU Rating: 2012-02-26
ULTIMAX100 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I RATE THIS ANTENNA AT A PERFECT 10+ IF YOU ORDER ONE OF THESE ANTENNAS BE SURE TO HAVE ALBERT INCLUDE A GROUND LUG BECAUSE IT WORKS MUCH BETTER I HAD HIM MAKE THE ANTENNA 65 FT AND I PUT IN A GROUND ROD 6 FEET IN THE GROUND AND WHAT A DIFFERANCE. GREAT ANTENNA.
K4LXJ Rating: 2012-02-12
Surprised Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Live in restricted community, altho very easy going, dont care much if nothing Large is out back . I saw this ant a year ago , but waited until some good reviews came in til buying one. I have a LARGE PVC Hook with Rope and pulley 45 feet up a pine tree. I Changed WIRE to 67 feet of #12 and sloped it down to the 6 foot fence in the yard , ran 100 feet of 8X coax with 6 inch choke loop to shack. Worked about the same as my PAR 40 , limited to 40 only Antenna . The Ultimax was able to make good contacts on 12,17 and 20 meters no problem with TS440S Auto tuner. I added 67 MORE feet to the HOT side and ran it along 6 ft fence - in L Fashion , It didnt make much difference . The 2nd 67 feet was #22 Small speaker wire with an alligator clip . tonight I Changed the alligator clip to a SCREW on the Connector SO239 making it a 67 foot L Counterpoise. Came up on 80 meters and WHAT A SURPRISE in RECEPTION , Had to turn RF GAIN Almost all the way closed . Wondered if it would TX on 80 with only 100 Watts , so popped into a QSO With EXCELLENT REPORTS . Was VERY Surprised. Will throw the counterpoise wire across top of the house roof next taking it up above 20 feet higher . For only having one antenna , works great, Seems the more wire, the better it works . Very Happy with this purchase and may get a 2nd one , for a spare . Nice having instant access to all bands instead of only one .( Formerly 40 ) Was Never able to get on 80 meters before , 10+ over signal reports ...VERY PLEASED - as also acts as EXCELLENT SWL antenna on all UTILITY BANDS WITHOUT USE OF the tuner .
VK2GJT Rating: 2011-12-05
Wonderful Stealth Antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I moved into a rental place and needed an antenna that was nearly totally stealth whilst mounted outside - after lots of research and trying and failing with other ideas, I came across the Ultimax 100.

Installed it from the front of the house, under the eaves to a low tree out in the front yard (right under the noses of the nasty neighbours)and it is virtually impossible to see - at least everyone that I have defied to find it has not seen it til it was pointed out.

How does it perform? In a word - great! Works better than dipoles that I have used, and I'm really happy that I took the gamble and bought two of them. One stays permanently at home, and the other comes with me portable. Portable has been in places like out in the bush, to strung around in motel rooms, where I've managed to tune it and get it working.

I use an Icom IC-706MKIIG, and it matches everywhere with an MFJ-993B, from 160m to 6m and every ham band in between. Do yourself a favour and buy one, or two....
KJ4NWZ Rating: 2011-11-22
Great Bang for My Buck! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I saw the Ultimax100 end-fed antenna on eBay for some time before I took the plunge. It works! I made the air coil at the feed point as instructed and connected the coax to my ATU, again as recommended. I've been bagging DX QSOs ever since. I especially enjoy not having to deal with radials.
KD7KMZ Rating: 2011-11-10
Awesome Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
As in other reviews the ULTIMAX 100 is not a full size antenna, it is not a beam with gain on a tower, but it is a very impressive wire antenna that ROCKS for what it can do and not be seen!!
I have had the antenna up for about 12 months and made contacts all over the world, DX expeditions and yes some of the rare ones. I live in a restricted community and have had an Alpha Delta multi band dipole in my attic for the last 6 years and yes I know performance is reduced but was able to put in as my house was being built. After putting up the ULTIMAX 100 have tripled my contacts and yet the antenna can hardly be seen from my yard and is almost invisible from my neighbor’s yards. The antenna has an SWR of 2.0 on 12M and less than 1.8 on all the rest. It is mounted on a slope matching the hill and averages 25’ off the ground. I run from 85W to 450W and usually in a pile up get in within the first few calls. Would I recommend this antenna? … heck yes if you want to get out and not be seen!!