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Reviews For: Western HF-10

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Western HF-10
Reviews: 34MSRP: 72 UK pounds
Description:
A G5RV type wire dipole for 160 to 6m with an ATU - 67 feet in length
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.qrz.com/db/M0BZI
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00344.9
2E0BTX Rating: 2014-09-07
Brilliant Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This aerial is fantastic ...... all the other reviews are 100% correct ... im working DX like i never have before ... noise is still there but its nothing like it is on my vertical .

i was lucky enough to collect my antenna from Fred personally, Hes very Helpful and a true gentleman

the reviews on here speak for themselves
go buy one you wont regret it !

M0SAZ Rating: 2014-07-28
Now using it as main base Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I reviewed this antenna some time ago when I was using it portable for GB2HEN. I have since moved and was going to install an Alpha Delta DX-LB Plus after having good results with my DX-CC at my previous QTH. I decided to go a little more stealthy and try the HF-10 instead.

First few contacts were all DX and they were not a fluke, since then I have worked all over. The antenna is only about 20ft in the middle and about 25ft on the ends - in a V configuration.

I have extended the tails to make the antenna resonant in the centre of 80m so my internal tuner can do the whole band - I am sure with some more height I might not have needed to do this. I can't get it high enough or the ladder line vertical enough to tune 160m but I am not too bothered about that.

On 20m and 10m it is also a low enough SWR to operate without an ATU and a fair chunk of 80m. Anywhere else, the internal ATU of my TS-590s copes perfectly. The SWR is also low enough for TX on 6m, 2m and 70cm!

I have since taken down 3 verticals, Cushcraft MA-6VA, Sandpiper MV5+2 and PKW Allrad because there was no advantage to having them swaying around in the wind when doing A-B comparisons with the HF-10.

I now have a Sandpiper PBX-100 MKII and my Alexloop set-up as a backup but for my HF operations the Western HF-10 is the antenna of choice.

The build quality is something else. When I decided to make the HF-10 a permanent fixture, I lowered it down to put some sealant on the connections, when I discovered the coils were self weatherproofing by the fact the exposed metal is inside the formers - very clever design.

I would rate this antenna as good as my DX-CC on the bands the DX-CC was resonant on, and better on the WARC bands by virtue it shows a better match so the ATU has an easier time of things.
M0SHZ Rating: 2014-07-13
Amazing Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Replaced a 75 foot end fed wire with this antenna I suffered from high noise levels with the long wire, but with the HF10 the noise has gone all of it, it is a pleasure to search the bands and hear signals I could not hear before I have the antenna about 23 foot in the air with the legs out in a v shape it is flat top and not sloping, I have had many contacts with it with no complaints, I was a bit sceptical about the performance etc but boy does this thing deliver, if you are thinking about getting one of these don't hesitate get one you will not be dissapointed
VK7HAL Rating: 2014-05-25
Great easy to set up antenna at home QTH or Mobile. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Owned two of Freds Western HF-10 G5RV antennas for four years, One set up at the home QTH see my QRZ site for proof of just how well this works.
Use the second Western HF-10 when Mobile up a 7mtr Pole or friendly tree its simple to set up and itw works great what more is there to say. 73
G0PNM Rating: 2014-05-08
Fantastic Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna on recommendation from a friend. Up to then I have never heard of it.
The antenna arrived this morning (8th May 2014) and from the outset, it look the part. All fittings are very well made and the traps are very neat.
In the instructions, Fred says that it is not simply a plug and play antenna. Well I wanted to see how it performed 'out of the box' so i inwrapped it and strung it up, in place of my 66' windom. My 3rd contact was with a station 3505 miles away in the Caribbean!
The other main BIG difference is, unlike the windom, I did not need an ugly balun/RF choke as there is NO RF in my shack with the Western HF10.
I am running an FT450 with LDG YT450 tuner, which tunes the HF10 from 160-6m with an SWR less than 1.5:1 on all bands.
I would recommend this antenna to anyone!
2E0BWF Rating: 2014-04-05
EXCELLENT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
JUST ERECTED PLUG AND PLAY NO PROBLEMS
WELL MADE STAINLESS STEEL WIRE GREAT
I HAD MY DOUBTS BUT IT WORKS
FRED M0BZI VERY HELP FULL


M0PRH Rating: 2014-03-24
Fantastic!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned 4 Western HF-10 antennas and as this is a hobby I've always been tempted to try and improve my set up, so tried other antennas also. But I have ended up coming back to the Western HF-10 time after time. Why? It's quiet, it tunes on 6,10,12,15,17,20,40,80 with my Kenwood TS-590's built in tuner. I personally can't tune 160m but hey I'm sure I could if I thought about it a bit more.
This antenna is amazing! I can't rate it highly enough. Mine is in a very limited space in an inverted L not ideal but I can still work the world with great reports.
The build quality and workmanship that goes into making these is also 10/10 and Fred is also a really nice person to deal with. This is much better than any other commercially built doublet or G5RV that I have tried. I've wound a 19.5ft air choke on a plastic pipe under the feed point also and this has prevented all RFI. For £68 plus postage this is a bargain and damn good antenna.
2E0JJH Rating: 2013-09-20
Unbelieveable !! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
.

I have been using this antenna on all bands from 160 to 6 Metres for the last 3 months. With 50 Watts or less, I have now worked 92 entities in that time....Australia and NZ, Antarctica, Japan, China, Alaska - in fact - The World !!!

Even more important is that I live in a retirement bungalow complex, with just a tiny 12ft by 12ft back yard, and I have to be very 'Stealthy'. The dipole centre is attached to the top of a 26ft fibreglass fishing pole, and the vertical ladderline is taped to that all the way down, with the two ends of the dipole being attached at one end to my bungalow chimney, and the other end to a tree in the communal garden, with both en ds dropping from the 26ft middle, to about 15ft.

Surprisingly, the antenna is not resonant on any band and the internal tuner of my FT-950 only tunes the antenna on a couple of bands, so it is not used at all - instead I use the MFJ-949E ATU. I don't have much money on my State Pension, but I am now saving for an Auto Tuner, which will be the icing on a really tasty cake !!

Check out my QRZ page to see the 'Last 30' stations I have worked..

Recommended to all without any caveats.

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M0AWN Rating: 2013-02-09
£68 expensive ?????? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
£68 for an all bands low profile antenna expensive ?? I think not !

This last year i've experimented with many antennas including cobwebb, dipoles etc.etc. and can safley say that i'm over the moon with the WF10's performance. Yes, the critics can say it's an extended 1/2 G5RV with a balun but this antenna has been thought out properly. The quality of build is second to none with stainless components and a nice balun. I've only had it up 1 week and had regular contacts on 10,12,15,20 and 40 with N .America, Canada, Africa and middle East. i'm over the moon and NO it's not expensive.
G0STF Rating: 2013-01-30
Is it a g5rv with 80mtr add on kit Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned one for 2years and just had to change the flexiweave wire as mine had crumbled prob uv while I had it down I took it to bits then got all the wire and parts on eBay fixed my one and built another including the bifalar balun and traps total cost £35 better than the advertised £85. I used a half size g5rv with the 80mtr add on kit with a choke balun I found worked better. The build is excellent but expensive for a g5 clone.