Attention hexbeam owners

[VK5IR]

G'day

I'm hearing more and more about hexbeams these days and they seem to be great antennas from all reports.

I'm curious though, what is the front to back like on them? Do they have much directivity and can you notice it when you turn the beam?

I don't have a beam at the moment but its the long term dream. The XYL is not keen on the look of any beam but I'm working on that. We also intend to sell up and move sometime in the coming future and I'm unsure of how much backyard I'll have to play with so a hexbeam might tick all the boxes as far as a modest sized beam goes.

Over to you.

Many thanks.

[VK3AV]

There is quite a bit of information to be read on this web site, Theo - http://www.karinya.net/g3txq/hexbeam/ if you have not already found it.

Steve has developed the broad band design hex that most commercial units follow.

Regards
Bernard

[VK4TI]

Quick answer , much better than a dipole , some side lobes good front to back and modest gain , you can hear the changes comfortably when rotating it and can null out quite a lot of stuff , need not be very high either to be effective

[VK2AOH]

A very useful lightweight rotatable beam. Mine is bolted onto a Hills rotary hoist as I do not have a mast and rotator. Bought a wireless headphones which plugs into the radio so I could stand outside and turn the beam listening to the incomming signals.

Certainly directive enough to null out some unwanted signals although not as effective as a full size beam such as a yagi.

I measured up my yard with a view to building a yagi but it was impossible.

Have read there is even a folding version of the hex beam which would be handy for field trips.

Very pleased with my hex beam as has opened up a whole world of dx which I just could not do with the aerials I had.

Regards, Nick

[VK4WTN]

Thesy work fine. Not as sharp as a yagi but there is about 3 to 4 s points differnce between front and back. What I like is the ability to operate between 20M and 10M. The hexbeam certainly satisfies my HF needs
regards Wayne VK4WTN

[VK2WDD]

I enjoy mine- covers ALL bands from 20m to 6m.
Do include the 6 metre elements - when 6m opens it may not be a big beam, but it does perform surprisingly well.
The supplier of mine is listed on my QRZ page.

73's Geoff VK2WDD

[VK3HJ]

Several years ago I built a G3TXQ design Broadband Hex Beam for 20 - 10 m. It worked very well indeed. Front/Back ratio was good, but F:B has never really been an issue for me. In some ways, high F:B is a nuisance, as one spends one's time spinning the beam 180 degrees to grab a DX on the opposite path one has it pointed. It certainly worked far better than the various wire antennas I have had.

In the 4 years I had mine up, I worked at least 100 countries on all bands and over 300 in total with this beam. To do better, one needs a very large multi-band single beam or two tri-band beams.

Build it, install it and have a lot more fun!

73,
Luke VK3HJ

[VK4WDM]

The other small space alternative is the Cobwebb. Its very lightweight and low cost but it is omni-directional. Very popular in G land. There is a thread on it and I am in the final stages of building one (and you can tell the XYL it is a clothes line for fairies, angels etc)

73

Wayne VK4WDM