Sunday, July 3, 2011

Falcon OUT-250B the ultimate 20m vertical ?

I promised i would post some test results about the the Falcon OUT-250B i got recently.
And finally i got some spare time to use the set again last night and today.
Now befor you read on, i only have a wire in my backyard to compare it to. it's a Wimo balun (i think a 1:9) with about 15m wire attached. This is the one: Wimo MTFT antenna

As i really like the 20 meter band, I will start my test there.....
And the first thing i noticed.... no signal ? is the antenna broken? No its not!
On 20 meters this antenna is QUIET!....
The signals might be a bit lower then compared to my wire antenna (about .5 to 1 S point) but it does not have a S3 to S5 noise level with it.... I have no idea what you would want, but i prefer to listen to a S5 clean signal then to a S7 with noise in it.

Now, the 20 meter band is also where this antenna switches from good to bad... well bad....
If you expect to work 40M, 80M well on this antenna i  have to dissapoint you.
Experience teaches us that all above 20 meters, you are better off with a wire...
So also with this antenna, it works, but do not expect miracles.
This was confirmed as well when i was listening on the 40m and 80m bands. As soon as i switched to my wire, the signal level went up as well the clarity of the signal.

On the other hand, 17m,15m,12m,10m and 6m all work above my expatiation i had of this antenna.
I do have to say i did not work on those bands  yet, but i did listen to other amateurs there.

Anyway, that's my point of view on this antenna.
If you do not have a lot of space to put multiple antennas up like wire's and beams and verticals etc, and you are stuck with just being able to put op a vertical, then this antenna is really not a bad choice.
Is it the best? i dont know. Is it the worst? for sure not.
Also the 'lack" of radials is awesome when you have lack of space.

Anyway, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to send me a mail or something....

2 comments:

  1. Hallo Alex, leuke blog heb je hier. Wat betreftt de Falcon antenne, dat is geen slechte antenne zoals sommigen beweren. Maar er zijn betere alternatieven. Kijk ook eens op de website van G8JNJ http://www.g8jnj.webs.com/ waar hij de werking en het verbeteren van deze antenne volledig uitspit.73, Bas

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  2. Hi are You still active here? What is Your experience with this antenna after longer period of time? Are You still using this?

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