I have known Tom and Diana for many years having first met at Friedrichshafen. Both Tom and Diana are passionate about Optibeam - nothing is to much trouble - ok onto the review. Operation: The antenna itself is wonderful. I have a height restriction here in my small Montana town, and could only mount the beam up at 30 feet; even so, in the first week I made many 20 meter contacts in Europe, several in the middle east, and all over the US.
Contrast that with my inverted vee, with which I was able to work within the US and nearby Canada only over the period of a year -- I could neither hear anything further away, or be heard.
The antenna is light, durable, offers a very small wind load, and its visibility is low because it's mostly wire. So far, I've only worked the 17 and 20 meter bands with it, nothing else has been open when I've been home to play radio, but I've looked at the SWR everywhere on all five bands and it's as advertised. I can even hear quite a bit on 75 meters. No possibility of transmit on these bands, but I was very surprised to hear signals on them. Given these results, of course I'm happy.
More like ecstatic. The translation isn't great, and what delays and problems in assembly we experienced were all due to this. But it's good enough to get the antenna assembled correctly IF you read carefully, and that's good enough in my estimation. All the parts were clearly marked and sorted into various bags. We did the assembly on a short 5' stick of 2" mast in order to get the tensioning correct while on the ground, then removed the short mast for the mounting process; the mast we were actually going to use was already up and mounted in the rotor.
I highly recommend this slight alteration to the process, because it means you don't have to maneuver both the mast AND the antenna when the time comes to mount it, which means you're carrying considerably less weight on the ladder, bucket, etc.
It's also a lot easier to turn the antenna sideways when there isn't a mast stuck through it. It just doesn't get any easier than that. Price: Ouch. But what you get for that expenditure is a combination of features and convenience I could not find anywhere else in months of searching and asking other hams.
The precut and premounted stainless steel wires and hardware remove all uncertainty about tuning and spacing; simply follow the directions and hang it, and you're up and running and likely to remain so for years to come.
Shipping: My antenna was shipped to me from the US distributor and I had it just a couple days after I ordered it. It was well packaged, undamaged, and all the parts were there. Summary: This is a five band, 2-element-per-band beam that is assembled fairly easily, is light, durable, low visibility, and offers exactly the performance one would hope to get from such a beam without any particular weak spots.
SWR is low across all supported bands and you can operate without a tuner, enabling instant QSY without concern with a modern transceiver. My only regret is that I can't mount it higher, and that is certainly no fault of the manufacturer.
Highly recommended. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. I bought this antenna from a local ham who used it very briefly in C6 for about 3 months or so.
This antenna has exceeded my expectations and has performed outstanding. The antenna is built better than any other beam I have ever seen, it is built to last. It is a little more costly than other beams, but you get what you pay for. The craftsmanship and engineering of this antenna is head and shoulders above other regular antennas.
If I am ever in the market for another antenna, I will look at OptiBeam first before all others. Also, the customer service is fantastic!! I am sold on OptiBeam!! This is a follow up for my previous posting from a year ago After using it on a daily basis for more than a year now, this antenna is the best that I've ever had. Strong windy condition, this antenna handled like there was no wind at all.
I'm sold on Optibeam antenna! I thought it was a bit pricey but on receipt I understood why - very well engineered and everything a precision fit. I think it very much proves the adage "in this world you get what you pay for". Assembly is straightforward with all parts carefully marked but you do need a flat space big enough to take the flat plane of the antenna.
Getting the tension correct on the 4 fibre glass Y pieces was the only tricky bit but I was doing it alone - a friend helps! The only help I actually had was at the end, lifting the assembled antenna on its mast on to my rotator Yaesu GS which is quite big enough for this antenna.
My location is very windy and so far it has shown no signs of stress. Excellent sales service from Tom at Optibeam. I reckon I have made the right choice and have a product which will see me through for a long time to come. Instruction manual very well done and very clear. No any complaint from the neighbors and most important thinks …. SWR almost null in all 5 bands 1. Pile up from the first call. Really satisfied with this 5 stars antenna. Could not get the fiber glass arms supporting the antenna wires stable.
The antenna would either flip up or down about 15 degrees versus staying in the horizontal plane as pictured. Problem most likely due to a defective part. Returned antenna and received full refund- Do not agree that the antenna was stealth or easy to assemble out of box due to pre-assembly at factory. Still had to build the supporting frame and assemble using nylon bungie tie straps. Glad we went with stateside distributor.
While heavier, Both were smaller foot prints than the OBW which seemed to blanket the roof. Worst part was having to pick up antenna at the airport flown in directly from Germany. Was expensive on import duties and took sometime for Customs to figure out shipping duties. They don't get one of these everyday. With some proactive measures from the shipper, I believe a lot of our headaches could have been avoided. We thought when we ordered it it would come from Array Solutions.
Waited weeks for it to arrive- If they had stocked one or two, life would have been a lot simplier- Sometimes i don't understand what "distributor" really means- All of these reviews sound good to me- wish the parts we received would have been better QC'd-. More than 12 Months. There is a delay before newly submitted reviews are Approved and posted in eHam's reviews. On 24 and 28 there is claimed to be some extra gain from interaction with unused elements.
I have no way of measuring forward gain but a series of measurements of front to back ratio under various conditions showed that it was very close to claimed specification Table 1.
The practical SWR measurements antenna at 18M , 20M feeder were substantially to specification as well and the antenna permitted my transceiver to generate full power over all bands covered Table 1. Table 2. SWR measurements. Band edge SWR. Lower Upper. I have used this antenna to crack a few DXpedition pile ups and its performance was as expected. Yes, I know that this is hardly an objective test — but anyone who has waited in line will know exactly what I mean.
Looking at the performance differences between various antenna designs shows that the OBW gives up less than a dB to a beam with conventional elements like the OptiBeam OB which weighs in at 25kg and has a boom length of 5. Indeed the OBW is only about a dB below the gain often quoted for a typical 3 element yagi! Of course with a light weight antenna one can often mount it higher than a heavier one and thus exploit height gain for even better performance, and be able to leave it up during the winter gales!
Although the longest components the fibreglass rods are a bit long for the average ski bag, with some judicious disassembly and packing it might be possible to make them fit. The OBW seems to me to be an excellent antenna. Frankly its performance is very good for its size. It should easily outperform many so-called miniature beams especially if they use lumped loading devices or traps.
The OBW should be considered by anyone who needs a low visual impact antenna, which at the same time is light weight and well constructed. It should last for years. Further thoughts. This enabled me to give it a close inspection for corrosion and wear. It was in near perfect condition, a tribute to the designed-in quality of OptiBeam products.
Finally if you want to read more about the Moxon antenna one of the best websites is, that of L. Cebik , W4RNL[ 3]. The views in this review are those of the author and do not imply any liability or warranty with regard to this product either direct or arising from any comments made here. Price and delivery. Check the OptiBeam website for latest pricing.
Many thanks to OptiBeam for the supply of this antenna for evaluation. OptiBeam www. Vine www. Cebik Antenna pages www. Table 1. Bands covered. Gain dBd. Front to back ratio dB.
SWR: 14,00 - 14,13 14, Active elements per band. Longest element m. Boom length m. Turning radius m. Weight kg. List price. Post a Comment. Assembly The antenna consists of a frame made up from the boom, half of which is the phasing line, and the 28MHz element. First impressions When the OBW was up in the air I was immediately stuck by how small and compact it looked. Conclusion The OBW seems to me to be an excellent antenna. Website OptiBeam www. Posted by yf1ar at Thursday, June 23,
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