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![]() KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog /////////////////////////////////////////// Whats the best commercial hex beam? Posted: 14 Dec 2015 12:11 PM PST http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email A K4KIO hex beam. Buoyed by the success of my latest antenna project—a homebrew version of the Cobra doublet antenna—Ive decided to put upÂ*a hex beam in the spring. I think I can mount one on a simple mast attached to the side of my house. In order to learn more about the hex beam, I have subscribed to the the hex beam Yahoo Group.Â*Yesterday, someone asked, What is the best off-the-shelf Hex Beam ?Â* Looking for it to work out of the box and not need trimming/adjusting; well built, will not require maintenance, I am willing to pay for quality. This, of course, promptedÂ*many different responses. Here are some of the most cogent: If you are in the UK the only one to go for is the one built by MW0JZE. Straight out the box, in the air and no messing about setting up.Â*http://www.g3txq-hexbeam.com/ Even if youre not in the UK, Ant, MW0JZE, makes a Hex Beam that is worth the shipping cost to the U.S.A. It is robustly built. Yes, it will cost you more, but the quality is well worth it. I had both a Traffie and K4KIO. Both worked great with no tweaking required. http://www.k4hex.com/Â*this is a great buy I have had mine up for a couple of months and its been perfect! Very well built! SWR perfect on all bands no tweaking. I have a NA4RR (http://www.k4hex.com/) and after driving a short pipe in the ground it took about 20 minutes to put it together. Now up at about 15 meters on a homemade tilt mast and working fine.Â* I did give the fiberglass a coat of Rustoleum before I put it together. If it was destroyed by lightning or something, I would buy another one. I installed an SP7IDX hexbeam on my carport roof in September. Very high quality and no tweaking required. I am still amazed how quiet this antenna is. Just dont be in a hurry to get it. Mine took about 3 months to get here. Same experience with the SP7IDX hexbeam.Â* Made of the highest quality materials and advanced engineering. Waldis hexbeam was easily assembled, no adjustment required, covers 6-bands, but expect a few months for delivery.Â* Excellent support from Waldi. The K4KIO and NA4RR Hex beams are both plug and play and simple to assemble. I assembled both brands and it took about 45 minutes to assemble either one. No cutting or trimming involved. I own the NA4RR and have it up 3 years now with no issues. Ditto for the NA4RR Hex wonderful unit. I have a Waldi SP7IDX Hexbeam (HD), and its a marvellous antenna.Â*Its hand made, and so you need time to receive it. Approximatively three to four months, but the SWR id perfect on all bands. Quality is great. 18 months ago I purchased a Textenna Tex-Hex from Texas Towers. Â*It is a plug-and-play version of the G3TXQ broadband hexagonal design. Â*All elements are pre-tuned, and the installation was quick and easy. Â*The Tex-Hex employs high-quality UV-resistent resin / fiberglass tubes for the spreaders and 13 support cords for additional support and strength. Â*Customer service is excellent from both Texas Towers and the manufacturer of the antenna. Â*I live on the coast in Gloucester, MA and last years winter with 100 inches of snow put the antenna to a severe test. Â*We had several days of 40-50 mile per hour winds and icing. Â*There were absolutely no problems. So, it looks like there are a number of good choices out there. Im going to do an analysis of how much it would cost me to build one myself versus buying a ready-made one. I know that DX Engineering sells parts for DIYers. The post Whats the best commercial hex beam? appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog. |
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