New Hex Beam UP!!!

[De_Wildfire]

Well, we recently put up a new Hex Beam from K4KIO. All I can say that it is amazing from 20-6 meters with a flat SWR except on six with a 1.3 SWR. For 11 meters, the tuner doesn't even break out a sweat to bring it down a little. On 10 meters, I've made contact with all of Europe, a few African countries, many stations in Russia, all of south America, Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, Western Canada, Eastern Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Mexico, the West Indies. On 20 meters, I chatted with two Antarctica research bases and all over the world but 20 meters behaves a little differently.

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.

[jessejamesdallas]

pic's?

[Verified]

[MDYoungblood]

I’ve been looking at that antenna myself, I would probably stretch the 10m a tad to bring it closer to the 11m band since I never use the 29th portion on 10m. Did you install the “ice kit”, if not it is worth looking into. I have also read the 6m will tune most of the 2m band, I would check it with an analyzer.
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]

Sorry, here is the pic. Thanks Bozo!

Stealth Hex.jpg

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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.

[jessejamesdallas]

still trying to figure out how to mount mine on a pole....

[De_Wildfire]

I have custom made clamps to the side of the house that hold the pole. I did have other ideas before that by buying one of those Amish made heavy duty picnic tables and putting the pole right down the center where the umbrella goes. Hex Beams by design don't need to be real high to get out. I happen to talk to the owner of the BUDDY HEX on the air and he is making a prototype flipped the other way and disguising it as an umbrella for the beach. I actually heard him talk to Europe on another prototype from his bicycle. I think I was on 10 meters or one of the upper bands when I heard his QSO.

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Here's website for the buddiHEX, the portable Hex Beam, not base version which is in the pic above.

Message from moderator Bozo

non sponsor buddipole link removed

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Just click on the info in the box above and it should go to the website.

[Stoneman]

Ain't those Antenna's like 7-8 hundred bucks??

[De_Wildfire]

They are pricey but you can order them with one band like 10 meters and throw a tuner on it. It works well. I don't know if the owner K4KIO ships the wire cut for 11 meters. He was very nice on the phone and I was comfortable ordering from him.

Message from moderator Bozo

Link Removed - Non Sponsor

[MDYoungblood]

I think you can stretch the 10m wire at the insulator to tune at 28.0mhz and that should let you go down to 27mhz and still be in a good SWR range but I'd still have the tuner. I rarely go up to 29mhz, most do vertical there for the repeaters. Does yours have the 6m wire? I have read that it tunes well on 2m, might want to check that out.

3's

Greg

[De_Wildfire]

The Hex beam will tune down to 11 meters with a tuner with no problem from 10 meters. It does have six meter wire on it and it tunes a 1.3 . The other bands it will tune a 1.1 without a tuner. I have tried a manual VHF MFJ tuner on the Hex beam and it does tune in case I want to run two meter SSB in which they all use horizontal on the lower portion of two meters. I mainly use my verticals on two meter FM and spend more time there.

[tibadoe]

A little late buy congrats on your Hex Beam. I put mine up last year but went with the k4hex beam. Came with all the bands and includes shipping!

[De_Wildfire]

Joe, that is great! I guess you are working those rare dx stations on SSB that show up on DX Summit. What a difference compared to the dipole or vertical. I guess it's each individual's preference. These last three weekends storms of 50+ mph plus winds, the Hex is still holding up. It has been up since February of 2023. I heard K4KEX is another good company too. There is a station in Columbia, SA I chat with all the time and his has been up over 20 years. Which rotator do you have?

[tibadoe]

Glad the HB is handling the winds. I remember when I first put up the antenna, I keep an eye on it during every storm. Now days when the winds blow, I don't think twice. I am also using the Yaesu G-450A.

[De_Wildfire]

That is a great rotator. I like the G-450 better than the CDE Ham 2 rotator and box back in the day with my old PDL2 quad. It is easier to read when pointing at different countries and I like the red light that comes on at the north.

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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.

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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]

Wow, I did ask you about 2m on the 6m wire , I had only read it could be done and 2m SSB is fun, some of my Baltimore friends do SSB, 144.100 MHz to 144.275 MHz USB.
Looks like I'll be in the market for a hex.

3's

Greg

[De_Wildfire]

Right now I am having too much fun down on HF but I will be on two meter SSB testing the HB when the temperature inversions start rolling in towards the Spring. I will listen out on 144.100 to 144.275. I guess I can take down my home made horizontal loop in the attic now.

[De_Wildfire]

Update on the Hex Beam. Last weekend I used the Hex Beam on the 10 meter band and logged 250 countries in a day. I am sure 11 meters was also open on the 40 SSB and also on the free band. This solar cycle is great near the top for all the DX. For a small foot print and confined space, the Hex Beam is the way to go. It is easy to hide and doesn't have to be high to grab the Dx.