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Anyone own this Beam


A local here had one, but took it down. Not sure if his was a 8 or maybe a 4, but either way he didn't like it at all.
It was hard to tune and he discovered that when he transmitted on the vertical, there was lots of power coming back down the horizontal feed line.

So he has it for sale and now has up a 4 element quad.....
 
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I have one and have had it for 6 years. Has held up to the harsh western NY winters and wind storms with no issues. I did not have tuning problems nor does the vertical reflect power back down the horizontal line that I know off. I use 9913 cable.
Tuning wise if you can't get to the desired frequency even though you went by the instruction specs, you can lengthen or reduce the elements obviously while using a digital antenna analyzer.
 
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I have a wilson shooting star in need of a boom, its the same as the maco, have heard good things about them one of these days I will get it up and running. If you have a place to mount it and rotor and such I would go for it.
 
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Xracerx13 said:
I have one and have had it for 6 years. Has held up to the harsh western NY winters and wind storms with no issues. I did not have tuning problems nor does the vertical reflect power back down the horizontal line that I know off. I use 9913 cable.
Tuning wise if you can't get to the desired frequency even though you went by the instruction specs, you can lengthen or reduce the elements obviously while using a digital antenna analyzer.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your quick reply and good to hear from someone who actually owns one. Has it reaped you many long distance contacts ? I'll have to do a lot of study first because I never used a beam 10-11 meter antenna before only Omnis. I don't understand about horizontal & vertical lines. Also have to learn about quality rotors that will hold up to the task at hand. Thanks again! Mike
 
TIN_CAN said:
I have a wilson shooting star in need of a boom, its the same as the maco, have heard good things about them one of these days I will get it up and running. If you have a place to mount it and rotor and such I would go for it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input. Right now I'm thinking ahead because I have to finish this house I'm working on to sell it and then get a more radio friendly environment and time to study and learn some more. Hopefully if I live long enough I will get a Ham license to expand the horizons.
 
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I have made many long distance contacts using just my original penetrator and using more power. The beauty of the beam is you can use less power as the shooting star amplifies your power 28 times, supposedly.
As far as the horizontal part....When you don't hear anything on the vertical and switch to the horizontal its a whole new ball game. A lot of people use horizontal that you may not hear when on vertical.
In the summer I crank up the tower and its 50' up at the boom. In the winter when its cranked down its 30' up.
For a rotor I am using a modified Ham 3 with extra bearings for strength, but it has a disc brake. The Ham 3 actually allows the antenna to turn with high wind which sucks.
I suggest the Ham 4 rotor. Nothing less because it has a notch brake which a hurricane wind will not make the antenna turn.
AND you have to have good cable.
The vertical part works best at a minimum of 40' off the ground. The higher the better.
I got mine at R and L for a lot cheaper than anywhere else.
 
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Xracerx13 said:
I have made many long distance contacts using just my original penetrator and using more power. The beauty of the beam is you can use less power as the shooting star amplifies your power 28 times, supposedly.
As far as the horizontal part....When you don't hear anything on the vertical and switch to the horizontal its a whole new ball game. A lot of people use horizontal that you may not hear when on vertical.
In the summer I crank up the tower and its 50' up at the boom. In the winter when its cranked down its 30' up.
For a rotor I am using a modified Ham 3 with extra bearings for strength, but it has a disc brake. The Ham 3 actually allows the antenna to turn with high wind which sucks.
I suggest the Ham 4 rotor. Nothing less because it has a notch brake which a hurricane wind will not make the antenna turn.
AND you have to have good cable.
The vertical part works best at a minimum of 40' off the ground. The higher the better.
I got mine at R and L for a lot cheaper than anywhere else.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the valuable info as it all helps because I've never done a beam for 2-way Radio before. The problem is by the time I'm ready to do it I'll have to hire some help. LOL When I was a young buck I would take on anything alone, but as you become a Old Fart you have to face the bitter truth. LOL
 
w9cll said:
The Shooting Star as been around since the 70s, I knew many that used them and they held up well. The Avanti Moonraker 4 was another popular one but was weaker because of the fiberglass hubs that would break.
Click to expand...
Thanks for bringing that up. I totally forgot about that scenario.
 
w9cll said:
The Shooting Star as been around since the 70s, I knew many that used them and they held up well. The Avanti Moonraker 4 was another popular one but was weaker because of the fiberglass hubs that would break.
Click to expand...
That is the 2nd time that is confirmed. A radio friend from another forum said he had a Shooting Star for 8 years and it was built like a tank and the only reason he took it down was because he wanted to put up a bigger beam that would get him out World Wide. He still has the Shooting Star and said it got him all over this country but not world wide. But he is from Dallas Texas so I'm closer to Europe than he is. I guess it depends on who you ask. Just like a lot of people bad mouth the Star Duster and a lot swear by them. I have one that gives me a great SWR and gets me out pretty good but this lousy valley leaves something to be desired ! What I have determined is when I'm ready I will try that Shooting Star because sounds like they can hold up to bad weather and I'm too old to jump thru Hoops all the time. LOL
 

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