I have a Hygain AV640 which is 40-6 meters which seems to work just fine.


Curtis Delzer.
HS.

K 6 V F O
San Bernardino, CA.

[log in to unmask]

skype: curtis1014


On Thu, 29 Aug 2013 10:22:41 -0700
"Alan R. Downing" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Howard, I know Tom too.  And of course, Jay Terleski, the owner of Array
> Solutions, is a very good friend.  I have Jay's home and cellphone numbers,
> and often speak with him on the weekends and/or evenings.  Array Solutions
> makes and sells all very high quality gear, including the Power Master II,
> which I have and use every day.
> 
> Best 73
> 
> 
> Alan R. Downing
> Phoenix, AZ
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Howard, W A 9 Y B W
> Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 10:12 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: There's antennas, and then, there's antennas!
> 
> Hi Ronald,
> 
> About two years ago I purchased new antennas.  After doing some research, I 
> decided on three antennas from a German company, Optibeam.
> 
> I looked at Hy-Gain and did not choose them primarily because I was afraid 
> of the quality because of MFJ.  Shortly after MFJ acquired Hy-Gain I called 
> MFJ to inquire if they had retained the engineering people from Hy-Gain, the
> 
> man on the phone said that anyone can measure and cut aluminum tubing.  His 
> response scared me off.
> 
> I looked at Force 12 and thought they were too complex and way to much 
> assembly.
> 
> I considered SteppIR and was concerned about the moving parts that surely 
> will need service and that was out of the question.  The SteppIR most 
> definitely will give you a perfect match since the controller keeps 
> adjusting the element lengths to maintain the 1:1 match.
> 
>  I finally decided upon the Optibeam company from Germany.  The Optibeam 
> line of antennas are sold here in the United States by Array Solutions, a 
> great company.  I Purchased an 11 element beam for 10, 12, 15, 17, and 20 
> meters a 2 element beam for 40 meters and a 5 element beam for 6 meters.
> 
> The 11 element beam has 3 active elements on all bands except 10 meters 
> where there are 5 active elements.
> 
> I looked at the Optibeams about 10 years ago and backed off because at the 
> time they could only ship to an international airport and I would have to go
> 
> and pick them up and deal with customs.
> 
> This is all changed and arrangements have been made with UPS and they can 
> now be delivered to your home.  I must tell you that the shipping cost and 
> the exchange rate on the Euro can add considerably to the cost.
> 
> Now, about the antennas, there are no traps, no moving parts, all hardware 
> is stainless steel and the aluminum tubing is heavy duty.  All is of the 
> highest quality.
> 
> I owned a Hy-Gain TH6DXX about 30 years ago, before they used stainless 
> hardware and that was a pain.  Also, the parts of the antenna were all just 
> dumped in to the box and one had to measure each piece of aluminum tubing 
> and match it with a drawing in the manual to determine what pieces to use to
> 
> build each element.  What a pain in the A--.  Hopefully, this is all 
> changed.
> 
> Now back to the Optibeam, the pieces for each element were bundled together 
> and marked so one knew exactly which element they would construct.  The 
> element pieces slid in to each other and fastened with a screw in a 
> pre-drilled hole so no measuring was needed to get the proper length.  There
> 
> were a few places where there were choices as to which hole to use depending
> 
> upon what part of the band you wanted to work.  Even the position of the 
> elements on the boom was pre-marked with a sharpie.  The Hy-Gain antenna 
> used compression clamps and you needed to measure each piece to get the 
> proper length, again, what a pain in the a--.
> 
> I am totally blind and was able to put 90 percent of this antenna together 
> myself after my son helped me identify what element packages were what.
> 
> As to performance, I don't really have anything to compare to.  Haven't 
> tried to break through any big DX pile-ups yet.
> 
> The translation from German to English in the manual was a little strange at
> 
> times, not a big issue.  I did have a couple of questions and e-mailed 
> Optibeam and got quick response even considering the time difference.  All 
> communications is with the owner and designer of the antennas.
> 
> I met Tom, the owner in Dayton and he is great.
> 
> Well, this got a little long.
> 
> By the way, I looked up Optibeam on e-Ham before purchasing and all ratings 
> were a 5 except one.  The only bad review was a 1 and it sounded like he was
> 
> an idiot.  There were over 250 reviews.  Over 250 reviews with a 5 ratings 
> says something to me.
> 
> Howard #3
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Dr. Ronald E. Milliman" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 10:25 AM
> Subject: Re: There's antennas, and then, there's antennas!
> 
> 
> > I'm still not making myself clear for some reason. I know all about 
> > antenna
> > theory, antennas for different bands, DB gain, front-to-back ratio, etc.,
> > etc.
> >
> > I am asking which brands and models of commercially available ham antennas
> > seem to be the best. Again, I know what they claim and what they report or
> > publish, but what has been your experiences from a real-world, hands-on,
> > operational point of view. It is like the rig that, on paper, has all of 
> > the
> > others beat in every functional specification, but if the rig is cheaply
> > constructed and keeps burning up parts, then, no matter what they report 
> > on
> > paper the specs are, the rig is still a piece of junk! The same goes for
> > commercial ham antennas. If it is rated for 1500 PEP, but when you put 
> > more
> > than 1 KW into it, it burns up the traps, then, no matter what the specs 
> > are
> > on paper, it is a piece of junk!
> >
> > So, from your experiences, which brands and models seem to really be the
> > best?
> >
> > Ron, K8HSY