I could have posted this in CB antennas or the Ham section so instead I posted this here. Maco has come out with a new antenna its called the BA1 or Balcony Antenna. The BA1 is a portable style antenna that is made for those who cant have a permanent antenna installation done. This antenna was built with these renters that cant have these permanent affixed antennas in mind.
I seen this and just HAD to get one for myself to play with
The antenna showed up via UPS yesterday. I was bored so I imediately dove into opening the box. It was a great surprise to open the box and not see 20 different parts and 6 bags of hardware!! There were 2 small bags one with hardware and the other with the 6 U-bolts and ofcourse there was the totally simplified assembly instructions with parts check list.
I got right to work laying out thhe 4 pieces of aluminum tubing 3 elements and 1 boom or mounting tube, 1 aluminum predrilled square stock plate and the pre assembled Gamma kit. I open the harware/parts bags and off to work I went. It didnt take long and was actually kind of interesting and cool to assemble.
I took my time because there was no rush and as I said not many parts to have to sort through so it was almost as if you knew or could easily figure out which hardware was married to what part. I assembled it and then went to the tuning of the Gamma match which was an absolute breeze to do. The antenna is a 10 - 11 meter antenna and there is 2 sets of adjustments 1 for 10 meters and one for 11 meters. I chose the 11 meter adjustments or setup because I knew there were local 11 meter SSB users that were always monitoring.
The antenna comes with Hardware to mount to a wrought iron railing balcony or to a wood railing balcony. Now heres the awsome thing about this particular antenna YOU CAN RUN IT VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL!! This is done with a simple adjustment and can be done in just a few short minutes!! It involves loosening 4 nuts on 2 U-Bolts rotating the antenna and re-tightening thats it!! For my tuning and assembly I used a setup we use for our beams when assembling them its a simple platform or round base plate with a mast pipe welded to it with extensions we can add to get the antennas up higher as we construct or build them. What I did was assemble my BA1 Balcony antenna in the horizontal position so there wasnt a great need for height on my antenna at this point.
It only took a few minutes to tune or adjust the Gamma Match which I was by myself or alone so it took a few extra minutes. I took and plugged the antenna into my Yaesu 857D when tuning it so when I was done I began flipping through the band listening to a surprisingly ggreat recieve. I was surprised because this antenna is just a few feet off the ground maybe 4 foot or so. I keyed up on 11 meters and found a local that heard me he said he had an S8 signal on me and he lives about 1/2 hour from me so being that I was horizonal and he was vertical that was surprising let alone the fact was as I said I was only 4 foot off the ground!!
I spun through 10 and 11 meters checking the SWR and they were super!! I didnt even need the tuner. Im going to get this up higher on one of my towers and cant wait to see how it does on horizontal and Vertical aswell. I had talked a little skip with it 4 feet off the ground I hit 2 stations in California and 2 other places so I know this antenna is gonna be a fun thing to test and play with. I got the idea for trying one because Im out of town a few times a year and usually take a G5RV along and that works great on 75 20 and 40 meters but as far as 10 - 11 meters its ok I guess so I wanted something easy to pack up and take along and to be able to run vertical or horizontal with a 2 minute adjustment I can honestly say IVE FOUND IT IVE FOUND WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!!
What I did was took red electrical tape and wrapped or marked each element at its assembly spot so I can take it apart and pack it for travel or transport and its basically just an easy re-assemble since everything is marked I cant say enough good things about this simplified antenna I am impressed with it and would recommend this to anyone who cant have that affixed permanent antenna installation or anyone just looking for a backup or spare to have around and those who want a good working portable. Yes I could you my Antrons or Imax 2000 but those dont offer the simple and quick Vertical Horizontal option.
Take a look at them they are fair priced built well and easy to assemble and install its pretty much a rotating dipole but boy does it work well. I will post as I do a few more tests as I complete them as I mentioned I just assembled it and havent got it higher up in the air yet.
http://www.macoantennas.net/NewProducts.html
I seen this and just HAD to get one for myself to play with
The antenna showed up via UPS yesterday. I was bored so I imediately dove into opening the box. It was a great surprise to open the box and not see 20 different parts and 6 bags of hardware!! There were 2 small bags one with hardware and the other with the 6 U-bolts and ofcourse there was the totally simplified assembly instructions with parts check list.I got right to work laying out thhe 4 pieces of aluminum tubing 3 elements and 1 boom or mounting tube, 1 aluminum predrilled square stock plate and the pre assembled Gamma kit. I open the harware/parts bags and off to work I went. It didnt take long and was actually kind of interesting and cool to assemble.
I took my time because there was no rush and as I said not many parts to have to sort through so it was almost as if you knew or could easily figure out which hardware was married to what part. I assembled it and then went to the tuning of the Gamma match which was an absolute breeze to do. The antenna is a 10 - 11 meter antenna and there is 2 sets of adjustments 1 for 10 meters and one for 11 meters. I chose the 11 meter adjustments or setup because I knew there were local 11 meter SSB users that were always monitoring.
The antenna comes with Hardware to mount to a wrought iron railing balcony or to a wood railing balcony. Now heres the awsome thing about this particular antenna YOU CAN RUN IT VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL!! This is done with a simple adjustment and can be done in just a few short minutes!! It involves loosening 4 nuts on 2 U-Bolts rotating the antenna and re-tightening thats it!! For my tuning and assembly I used a setup we use for our beams when assembling them its a simple platform or round base plate with a mast pipe welded to it with extensions we can add to get the antennas up higher as we construct or build them. What I did was assemble my BA1 Balcony antenna in the horizontal position so there wasnt a great need for height on my antenna at this point.
It only took a few minutes to tune or adjust the Gamma Match which I was by myself or alone so it took a few extra minutes. I took and plugged the antenna into my Yaesu 857D when tuning it so when I was done I began flipping through the band listening to a surprisingly ggreat recieve. I was surprised because this antenna is just a few feet off the ground maybe 4 foot or so. I keyed up on 11 meters and found a local that heard me he said he had an S8 signal on me and he lives about 1/2 hour from me so being that I was horizonal and he was vertical that was surprising let alone the fact was as I said I was only 4 foot off the ground!!
I spun through 10 and 11 meters checking the SWR and they were super!! I didnt even need the tuner. Im going to get this up higher on one of my towers and cant wait to see how it does on horizontal and Vertical aswell. I had talked a little skip with it 4 feet off the ground I hit 2 stations in California and 2 other places so I know this antenna is gonna be a fun thing to test and play with. I got the idea for trying one because Im out of town a few times a year and usually take a G5RV along and that works great on 75 20 and 40 meters but as far as 10 - 11 meters its ok I guess so I wanted something easy to pack up and take along and to be able to run vertical or horizontal with a 2 minute adjustment I can honestly say IVE FOUND IT IVE FOUND WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!!
What I did was took red electrical tape and wrapped or marked each element at its assembly spot so I can take it apart and pack it for travel or transport and its basically just an easy re-assemble since everything is marked
I cant say enough good things about this simplified antenna I am impressed with it and would recommend this to anyone who cant have that affixed permanent antenna installation or anyone just looking for a backup or spare to have around and those who want a good working portable. Yes I could you my Antrons or Imax 2000 but those dont offer the simple and quick Vertical Horizontal option.Take a look at them they are fair priced built well and easy to assemble and install its pretty much a rotating dipole but boy does it work well. I will post as I do a few more tests as I complete them as I mentioned I just assembled it and havent got it higher up in the air yet.
http://www.macoantennas.net/NewProducts.html
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