New Hex Beam UP!!!
- De_Wildfire
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New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
This is the fun part, there were many stateside stations across the country that I run five watts and have no problem holding a QSO. There were a few stations on 10 meters in Europe and South America where I was running five watts also, but for the most part, 100 watts is no problem working the world on 10/11 meters. Since I put up the Hex Beam, I no longer use the amplifier.
It's taking the storms very well so far and the most wind we've had is about 45 mph with a higher wind gusts. The rotator and box is the Yaesu G-450A mounted at the bottom with a tilt down pole. The height is around 28 feet. It can't be seen from the street and it is painted black. The pole matches the color of the house. The last time I had this much fun was back in 1978-1984 when I was running a PDL-2 on 11 meters working the same countries.
I didn't take down the IMAX 2000 so I could talk locally and also to listen in all directions at time. Yes, I miss the PDL2 and that was great in it's day but now I'm having loads of fun working the world on the Hex Beam. This is the really cool part. A local friend in the area likes to work the same stations as me with 100 watts so he always asks them who is stronger. He has a five element monobander on a 75 foot tower. So far, every time the stations always say our signals are the same! The Hex beam is worth every dime. Now I have to see how it survives more storms.
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by jessejamesdallas »
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- MDYoungblood
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by MDYoungblood »
I will most likely be next year before even thinking of a beam so keep us informed of any problems that might come along.
3’s
Greg
- De_Wildfire
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
Post Merge Complete
Added 17 minutes 34 seconds after previous.
MDYoungblood,
No, I didn't install any ice kits. The weather here has changed and we always get rain when everyone else get snow. We haven't seen ice for the last two years. With these storms, especially lately, the beam has been holding up well. I run a manual tuner on two meters and it works well. I need to bring up the VHF real time propagation maps up and try more long distance contacts. I will let you know how the beam hold up. I am tempted to get the Buddi Hex, a portable Hex Beam for Field Day because launching dipoles with a air cannon into the trees becomes old with along with misfiring.
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by jessejamesdallas »
- De_Wildfire
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- Antenna: Imax 2000. Hex Beam, G5RV dipole, Jpole(UHF/VHF) Austin Suburban Tri Band (UHF/VHF)
- Radio: Washington, Tram D201, Tram D64, Robyn 520D, Cobra 139XLR, Elecraft K3S, Kenwood 590S, Yaesu FTM 400DR, Alinco DR-235, ADI-146
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
Post Merge Complete
Added 10 minutes 48 seconds after previous.
Here's website for the buddiHEX, the portable Hex Beam, not base version which is in the pic above.
Message from moderator Bozo
Post Merge Complete
Added 2 minutes 5 seconds after previous.
Just click on the info in the box above and it should go to the website.
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- De_Wildfire
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
Message from moderator Bozo
- MDYoungblood
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by MDYoungblood »
3's
Greg
- De_Wildfire
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
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- De_Wildfire
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
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- De_Wildfire
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- Real Name: Greg
- Antenna: Imax 2000. Hex Beam, G5RV dipole, Jpole(UHF/VHF) Austin Suburban Tri Band (UHF/VHF)
- Radio: Washington, Tram D201, Tram D64, Robyn 520D, Cobra 139XLR, Elecraft K3S, Kenwood 590S, Yaesu FTM 400DR, Alinco DR-235, ADI-146
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
Post Merge Complete
Added 1 month 6 days 9 hours 42 minutes 41 seconds after previous.
Today I put an antenna analyzer on the Hex Beam and got great results. I mentioned earlier that I used the turner. Now I guess that is why it tuned so well. Lol. I didn't know I had the two meter band on it. It must be utilizing the six meter wires. So the 1.0 SWR was resonant on 146.660. The range spread out on the whole two meter band was 1.0-1.3. I know the Hex is horizontal but I wanted to see how effective it was listing to a repeater 45 miles away. It was coming in not as strong as the vertical but what I wanted to do is move the beam a couple of degrees off and check the signal drop off. Sure enough, when I moved it a couple degrees, I didn't hear the repeater anymore. Horizontal is only used on two meter SSB on the lower part of the band so this will come in handy when there are temperature inversions or the two meter skip rolls in.
Post Merge Complete
Added 1 day 5 hours 34 minutes 24 seconds after previous.
Today was the best day for the Hex Beam since I got it. Normally, I can throw a tuner on it and work all kind of skip on channel 38 LSB on my Uniden Washington. That is a given. But today, was a doozy and I mean a doozy. My furthest and first contacts during the peaking of solar cycle 25. I was on 10 meters at sunset and worked two stations in Japan and a South Korean station. They all spoke good English. We actually had a good QSO. I am sure that if you are a free bander outside the regular 40 channels, you could probably call CQ and run into a rare DX station since 10 and 11 meters have similarities. I almost fell out of my chair today with all this excitement. I could kick myself for not getting the hex beam sooner decades ago.
- MDYoungblood
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by MDYoungblood »
Looks like I'll be in the market for a hex.
3's
Greg
- De_Wildfire
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- Real Name: Greg
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- Radio: Washington, Tram D201, Tram D64, Robyn 520D, Cobra 139XLR, Elecraft K3S, Kenwood 590S, Yaesu FTM 400DR, Alinco DR-235, ADI-146
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
- De_Wildfire
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- Radio: Washington, Tram D201, Tram D64, Robyn 520D, Cobra 139XLR, Elecraft K3S, Kenwood 590S, Yaesu FTM 400DR, Alinco DR-235, ADI-146
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
- De_Wildfire
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- Radio: Washington, Tram D201, Tram D64, Robyn 520D, Cobra 139XLR, Elecraft K3S, Kenwood 590S, Yaesu FTM 400DR, Alinco DR-235, ADI-146
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Re: New Hex Beam UP!!!
Post by De_Wildfire »
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