Had an opportunity this afternoon to check out the ApexRadio 303WA-2 vertical antenna. The antenna itself stands about 6' tall. It was mounted about 8' above ground and fed with 60' of RG-58.
Here are the results of a side by side comparison of this antenna with a plain 50' wire antenna. Testing was done mid-afternoon when signals are generally steadiest. RX was Satellit 750.
On shortwave, the Apex antenna gave far better performance than did the 50' wire. Time signal stations WWV on 10000 and 15000 and CHU on 7850 were many S-units higher on the Apex vertical.
Dropping down to the AM broadcast band, the results were similar. WLW 700 and WGN 720 both had nice signals on the Apex. WTVN 610 Columbus 5kw and WEOL Elyria 1kw both in OH both had S9+ signals on the Apex. All signals were only S1 on the wire.
Heading down to the LW NDB band my expectations were not that great. However, what a surprise awaited me. Performance on the 50' wire was dismal as expected, but logged 35 NDBs, many out as far as 300 miles, on the Apex...wow! This was mid-afternoon, not exactly the best time for NDB hunting.
This unobtrusive relatively small ApexRadio 303WA-2 antenna is a real winner. This would be an especially useful antenna for someone who lives in an antenna restricted space.
Here are the results of a side by side comparison of this antenna with a plain 50' wire antenna. Testing was done mid-afternoon when signals are generally steadiest. RX was Satellit 750.
On shortwave, the Apex antenna gave far better performance than did the 50' wire. Time signal stations WWV on 10000 and 15000 and CHU on 7850 were many S-units higher on the Apex vertical.
Dropping down to the AM broadcast band, the results were similar. WLW 700 and WGN 720 both had nice signals on the Apex. WTVN 610 Columbus 5kw and WEOL Elyria 1kw both in OH both had S9+ signals on the Apex. All signals were only S1 on the wire.
Heading down to the LW NDB band my expectations were not that great. However, what a surprise awaited me. Performance on the 50' wire was dismal as expected, but logged 35 NDBs, many out as far as 300 miles, on the Apex...wow! This was mid-afternoon, not exactly the best time for NDB hunting.
This unobtrusive relatively small ApexRadio 303WA-2 antenna is a real winner. This would be an especially useful antenna for someone who lives in an antenna restricted space.
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