K4KIO Hexbeam Discussion - Who has built their own?

[AE7F]

http://www.leoshoemaker.com/hexbeambyk4kio/general.html

VERY informative and helpful site.

I've spent hours pouring over various sites and the hex is a heck of an antenna in a small package. I think I might just have to try one. I'm now very aware of their performance and so forth so I'm looking for opinions at this point: homebrew or purchase?

A project is fine and I am capable of doing it. I also could have a baseplate machined. But I'm wondering how much money is really saved (excluding time of course) by doing it yourself? If you can get a 5 bander for say... ~600, what's it going to end up as scrounging parts and paying taxes and shipping charges?

I could always make an el-cheapo version and play with it for a few months and if it worked well, go for better construction.

Which of you has built your own and what was the bottom line?

[G3TXQ]

As you might imagine, I have built several

I started just the way you suggested - I built a really cheap version using fishing poles for the spreaders and a baseplate made from plastic chopping boards. It only lasted until the first severe wind, but it gave me enough experience to know this was an antenna I wanted to develop further. It's a low cost way of discovering if you want to make a more serious investment. If you start with a monobander - say 20m or 17m - it becomes even easier and cheaper.

If like most of us you get "hooked" and decide to build a more robust version, you would need to compare carefully the cost of a home build vs a commercial offering. The economics are quite different over here in the UK where the materials are more difficult to source. My current antenna, which has been up for about 2 years, was built with a home-made baseplate, fibreglass spreaders from Spiderbeam, and a thick-wall fibreglass tube for the Centre Post.

Alternatively, if you decided to go immediately with a commercial version, I see Leo (K4KIO) offers a 30 day unconditional money back guarantee which would allow you to check it out at low risk.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Steve G3TXQ

[AE7F]

Steve, your site is also very helpful. The design is proven. I wonder if someone has a list of parts/numbers for the complete assembly? Basically, you buy the kit and do it yourself. I looked at the DX site and if I'm not mistaken, they are selling the kit for $600 and you put together? Some are saying you can get all the parts and so forth for $3-400...

[AC0H]

I am about to build one myself and have gone through all the permutations in regards to build it from parts or buy a commercial version.

IMHO commercial wins hands down. Buy the time you buy raw materials from however many suppliers and pay shipping on the several purchases you come out ahead buying from one vendor.

To my knowledge there are two entities producing complete "kits" here in the US.
DX Engineering and K4KIO.
DX engineering is $20 cheaper but you get a box full of parts, about 200 if I recall correctly, and you get to put it together.
K4KIO ships the antenna in sub assemblies.
You pull it out of the box and put the sub assemblies together. No measuring, no cutting, no real way to screw it up other than not following the instructions.

Compare the size of the DX Engineering manual to the size of K4KIO's assembly instructions.
DX Engineering is 36 pages, K4KIO's is 7.

I am about to order one.

[AE7F]

I am about to build one myself and have gone through all the permutations in regards to build it from parts or buy a commercial version.

IMHO commercial wins hands down. Buy the time you buy raw materials from however many suppliers and pay shipping on the several purchases you come out ahead buying from one vendor.

To my knowledge there are two entities producing complete "kits" here in the US.
DX Engineering and K4KIO.
DX engineering is $20 cheaper but you get a box full of parts, about 200 if I recall correctly, and you get to put it together.
K4KIO ships the antenna in sub assemblies.
You pull it out of the box and put the sub assemblies together. No measuring, no cutting, no real way to screw it up other than not following the instructions.

Compare the size of the DX Engineering manual to the size of K4KIO's assembly instructions.
DX Engineering is 36 pages, K4KIO's is 7.

I am about to order one.

Very good to hear. I hope you can create a small writeup on your project.

MaxGain (http://www.mgs4u.com/hexbeam-kit.htm) sells some of the parts but I didn't find a hub, center post, or hardware on their site - only rope, wire, and spreaders. $600 is not bad but imagine getting the parts for $400 and then using $100 for a rotator and $100 for nice coax and something else.... that's why I'm looking around. The answers are out there but I haven't found them yet. You got it right: permutations.

[G3TXQ]

MaxGain (http://www.mgs4u.com/hexbeam-kit.htm) sells some of the parts but I didn't find a hub, center post, or hardware on their site - only rope, wire, and spreaders. $600 is not bad but imagine getting the parts for $400 and then using $100 for a rotator and $100 for nice coax and something else.... that's why I'm looking around. The answers are out there but I haven't found them yet. You got it right: permutations.

MaxGain include the tubing for the Centre Post as part of their HexKit2 package. I believe Ron still supplies the baseplates:
http://www.hexkit.com/BasePlateKits.html

Steve G3TXQ

[EI4GMB]

Hi Steve,

I see you got a mention for the Hexbeam in this months Radcom. Many congratulations.

Kind Regards

Fred EI4GMB

[WA4OTD]

I would like to hear how well you like this antenna when you have it up. I have looked at these for some time to put in my attic.

[KF7NUA]

Steve - I have been reading your articles and I thank you for writing them. I say this because as a new ham there are many other articles that are out there that are above my knowledge level and I have a difficult time to understand and yours are better for me. I do have a question for you, would you choose a Hexbeam over a cobwebb design. The Hex will cost more and then the additional costs for a rotor setup makes it 2 times the cost of a cobwebb when completed. Did I miss someting in your articles about each one? Thanks - Nick

[KF7NUA]

Steve - I think I have found the answer as to why, the Beam vs non beam.
I wish I could use either one of these but at a height of about 20ft, they would be marginal and not be at their best. Also a tilt up mast would make it even worse.