Hi Peter, based on your reviews, I bought this antenna last summer. I must say I was highly sceptical about the performance - especially without radials, but thought I’d take a chance. I mounted the antenna on a lighting tripod about 4 feet off the ground. My QTH was a field in Herefordshire, and was operating from within my caravan with an Icom 7300, connected via 15 metres of RG58. I used the internal antenna tuner in the Icom and had a wonderful afternoon and evening on 20 and 40m making contacts in Germany, Bulgaria amongst others. I was given between 5/6 and 5/9 signal reports using 100w. To be honest, I was not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised! This antenna is great for taking on trips in the car or caravan - in 10 mins you can be on the air with a very low footprint antenna, with no radials! If the weather closes-in, you can be packed away in 10 mins. The quality of workmanship is excellent. Yes , of course it’s a compromise antenna, but it gets you on the air, and is also,great for small,gardens. Well worth the money (if you can get one!). I’ll be taking this with me on our summer holiday to Cornwall this year! :-)
Peter Finally got my BB7V and made my removable ground mount. Got on a 10 mtr local net. Works great...thanks for the review which ended in a great set up for my HOA situation....great antenna.... 73 Paul K1YOU
Thank you for the review. I appreciate the pace of video. Some UA-cam posts, while still useful, often feel as if the presenter is racing. Your conversational pace and style is very good and I enjoyed your presentation. I have subscribed to your channel. I look forward to your future content. Again, thank you.
Thanks Peter for the review. This could be a great portable antenna for those that like to operate on the coast and take advantage of mother nature's salt water amplifier. 73
Hi Paul, how have you got on with this antenna? Do you know the real impedance of the antenna? I watched a similar antenna review of the Sigam Eurocom HF360, and the impedance quoted was 50 Ohms, but in reality it was much higher. Just wondered if this antenna is worth the extra hundred or so pounds?
Peter, I have one of these and just took it down and stored it in the garage. It receives great on all bands, but it won’t transmit across the street on any band! I now have a SotaBeams Band Hopper III up in my back yard, and have made contacts all over the US and Mexico, South America, Australia, and Japan. This is temporary because it is for my portable operation and I have a TEQMAR 600 on order to replace it.
I spent two decades searching for the perfect small lot antenna, and tried antennas like the one tested here. I've finally settled on a doublet, 30ft high on top of the roof, one leg falling to 20ft high at bottom of garden and the other leg forming three sides of a square around the house roof gutter. It's very low visibility, covers every band from 6m to 80m, and has worked 50+ countries on every one of those bands. Added bonus is that feeder and top are continuous wires, no joins anywhere outside the shack, so is maintenance free and will last forever.
Hi John. It.s a great idea for small gardens. I tried it but at my QTH there was a high noise level from house electrics. Thanks for your contribution. Peter
Doublets are underrated as a versatile antenna. Had one in a previous QTH with ladder-line feed and worked 170 countries. Great antenna. I find ladder line more resistant to noise but everyone's situation is different.
@@andrewdmwalker wish i could get a doublet up at this qth however i built one before and had it running round perimetre of garden along the fencing only 6ft high and out performed this verticle but having said that the verticle performed well on 20m but so does my imax 2000 cb antenna lol but the diamond will get you on the air but for what it is way over priced
I’d love to see that _”matching unit”_ reverse engineered. I can’t imagine how it works. Also, *IF* I could purchase that matching unit separately, I could imagine making a QRP version of this antenna with a much lighter/smaller telescoping whip. Oh, one of the major sellers of ham equipment in the USA says on their website that it *DOES* require an antenna tuner. I wonder why … *73 de AF6AS*
Love the pictures in your shack. Nothing like some vintage airplanes :) Thank you for the tip on the antenna as I am currently working to fielding a FT8 portable station, and this looks like it would be a breeze to set up.. Cheers!!
Great video. I have to say, (bring on the west side of the pond) your title got my attention. My 1st thought, is this guy debating about getting an antenna or planting a garden? Didn't dawn on me at first. Great review, great video Peter. I look forward to your videos.
This appears much like the Comet CHA-250B, but nicer made. The 250 has been called a 250 watt dummy load with a whip. However, any working antenna is better than none.
Life’s a compromise and amateur radio is no different especially when it comes to antennas as you can’t cheat physics. Your evaluation is very fair and useful for those that don’t have enough space for low band antennas and want a low profile, get me on the air antenna. Looks very well made too. If I had one I’d like to experiment raising the height a little more with a few elevated tuned radials. Conditions are poor at the moment and 20 hasn’t been that good over recent weeks, 18 can be magical when others are dead. Thanks for posting Peter and for people evaluating which antenna is best for them you’ve established a useful back catalogue of videos during lockdown. I teach Foundation and Intermediate and for some it’s hard for them to visualise how easy this element of the hobby can be to get on the air. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 73 de M0AZE MIke
Very interesting. No radials is a puzzle for me. One caution, however. I've had very bad luck with aluminum rods into the earth. They erode quite fast and end up breaking off near the ground. No problem if used for a portable installation but I wouldn't use aluminum for a ground support. 73 and thanks for sharing this info.
You are fortunate to have a low noise floor. A-B testing a vertical vs. horizontal dipole might have shown a more dramatic SNR difference, especially in a noisy urban environment.
@@watersstanton Peter, there are a couple of factors that I considered in my arguement. 1. Noise tends to be vertically polarized, thus vertical antennas are tend to be noisier than their horizontal counterparts. That said, perhaps there's more randomness in the polarization of local noise than I have considered, but my anicdotal experience with vertical antennas is that they are generally noisier than dipoles. 2. More directional antennas (e.g. dipole) behave differently than verticals, of course depending on where the transmitting station is with relation to the orientiation of the receive anteanna (polarity difference not so much due to path skew). This fact may account for the observed near parity receive performance if, for example, the trasmitter is at a right angle to the orientation of your dipole. All overthinking on my part aside, the performance of this radial-less antenna is quite impressive, and it would work well for many, especially with the emergence of weak signal modes.
Good but probably expensive. A cheaper alternative is a telescopic fishing pole with wire either inside or outside of the tube. Worth a try if on a tight budget . Best wishes Brian G0rlb .
That should be good for portable use. I like the idea of no radials, but I think it is relying on a transformer to try to match it, I just wonder if small radials might have helped capacitively, but to cover all those bands it would do me if I ever get permission to put one up. I could always collapse it down when not in use, but water would eventually get in and might cause problems. I would like to see how others got on with it.
I have a home in an urban area. Just got my General license. Bought my first HF radio (Yaesu 450D) and bought the BB7v after watching your video. I need 75 ft of coax and thought of using RG 213. However, after doing research, realize there are many options. What coax did you use when testing BB7V and how long of a run did you have. Sorry to ask such a basic questions, but when you are new, the information/options seem endless.
This would be good in my location, as my wife hates all the wires up, at the bottom of our garden there a small forest area, where one of these could hide, 80ft run of decent coax would give me the perfect installation, thanks Peter 73 Paul M0BSW
Good video! Have you done an a/b test with this antenna ground mounted vs a higher base at 6 meters (around 20 feet)? Comet recommends their antenna be 30 feet high, not practical for many locations. I've used a Comet knockoff (Harvest Out250B) with fair results. Advantage of the Diamond BB7V is the telescopic construction making it easy to raise and lower.
Hello again sir. When I first reached out to you I was studying for my technician class licesense. I've since passed my General class... I'm just trying to learn the hobby. I have an inverted V di pole,resonant from 80 to 10 meters. I just don't have the ability nor expertise to erect, tie off , and properly tune it. I'm on my own. I mentioned this antenna some months back and was" dismissed" out of hand. " Too hard to tune" I was told. You come across as " shoot from the hip" honest. To me it's about the journey, not the destination. Can you coach me up for a few?
The sound difference appeared to me to be more in the noise. If i had known about this it would have made a difference to the Tranceiver i bought which was dictated by the antenna difficulties i have
Thanks for the video. I have recently moved to a new home and this antenna seems a good candidate to get me on air quickly. I have a 45mm diameter satellite dish mount in a convenient place, will the U bolts supplied fit this size pipe? 73 de VK4VT licenced since 1974. PS pity the cycle is at its lowest, I miss working the Gs on 20 metres mobile on my way home from work in the afternoon!
Hi John. I think that may be a tad too big but should be easy to make up a bracket to attach slightly smaller tube and then put the antenna on. Yes I miss the VKs in our mornings on 20m `- give it a couple more years.
I’m sure if you chuck enough power at it you will be heard... HF is very dependent of propagation a compromised antenna with good band conditions will work, but a resonant antenna with bad band conditions ....
Thank you! Excellent information. I've watched this video several times and appreciate the demonstration and how detailed you are. Most every question I had was answered in the video. I do wonder how it would perform with a lower power radio like the Xiegu G90 (20 watts) for portable work. I may give this antenna a try. 73 de W5DUI.
@@watersstanton I bought this antenna based on your review. My tests of SWR on 40 through 10 were almost identical to your findings. I mounted it on a PA speaker tripod to test it. I was able to make some DX contacts in Europe and South America. To be honest, I didn't expect this to perform well but it does a good job. Thanks! 73 - W5DUI
@@joekrepps The Xiegu G90 has a built in tuner and I've been using it. But even without the tuner, the SWR isn't bad on any band I tried. So far, I've done mostly 20 meter phone and some FT8 on both 20 and 30 meters. I set it up for portable on a PA tripod to test it and nothing is properly grounded yet. On 40 meters, it causes a lot of RF strangeness so I went back to 20. I think it will be fine when I get it grounded tomorrow. On receive, the antenna seems slightly less sensitive than my others but it's really hard to say for certain. I will try radials and see what happens. I just finished using it tonight and made some good contacts on both FT8 and phone on 20 meters. Calgary Canada - 1900 miles and he gave an honest 5/9, Garden Grove, CA - 1700 miles - an honest 5/6. Not bad for 20 watts. 73.
I’m thinking performance might be a notch better if mounted a little bit higher ? My QTH at the shore would put the base at about 15 feet above the ground . I see you tried radials without an impact, though I was thinking perhaps of a single counterpoise running at an angle down towards the adjacent salt water.
If you are near salt water you have a big advantage. Mt tests showed little benefit if using radials. If you use this antenna above ground wjth a counterpoise, you may get some benefit. However, generally the counterpoise needs to be a quarter wave at the operating frequency. 73 Peter.
@@watersstanton Thanks much. I’m shooting mostly for 40 and 20 meters - hoping that I can get across the Atlantic from the Southern New Jersey Coast (we back up to salt water and marsh) .
Watched for a second time and still grezt... I have tried to acquire one and it is impossible. Some dealers say not available for 6 months .. Any ideas??? Paul K1YOU
You can’t get hold of these antennas at the moment, several weeks away, no lead times can be confirmed. Good sell Peter but no availability 👍 keep up the good vids 73s
Before folks run and spend the money on a compromised antenna with no ground plane. I recommend figuring out what bands you are most interested in - 80? 40? 20? then look for an option that covers those before trying a compromise that covers everything. If you want to purchase something rather than DIY and that has a portable angle, look at I-PRO, DXCommander, Chameleon. Or look at drx111 on ebay for single band 5/8 wave end fed wire antennas which require a pole but still way cheaper than the BB7.
Hi Peter, your video convinced me. I have been using the BB7V for two weeks and I am happy. Thank you very much! I have not found the radiation patterns for all bands. I'm curious. Do you have it? Or do you know where I can find it? Thank you in advance. GL 73 Marzio HB3XAG And sorry for my little english
I'm interested in this antenna. Thank you very much for showing us this video. vy 73. EDIT: Did you test it with antenna on the ground? As shown on 5:00?
I’m hoping to create a 2 m Multi element vertical dipole To use as a base station antenna at home I would like for all of the elements to be in phase so that they all radiate at the same time I just don’t know how to create the wiring harness to attach it all to get it to work correctly Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated
Great video thank you. I have however noticed the BB7V has been out of stock for some time. None of the suppliers in the UK sem to have them. Any idea when you will have some stock.
Tje magnetic loop will be more efficient BUT you will have to continually tune it, even when moving just 20kHz or so. It is very narrow banded so you need to balance ease of use with efficiency. Peter.
Hi. One question: Did you ever fix the Antenna with the screws? I can't screw the screws in. They stick out about 5mm from the raw! I can't get them screwed in any deeper. Wimo doesn't know any more about this either. WIMO asked in Japan and they wrote that the screws bore their own hole. However, since there is still ALU solid material behind the hole, this does not succeed. What is your experience with this problem?
Ciao Peter, vorrei chiederti se il BB7V è adatto per uno Yaesu FT817. Inoltre, posso utilizzare l'amplificatore Sommerkamp SLA 817 e il sintonizzatore per FT817. Attendo con ansia il vostro feedback. 73 Dario
Well it would be if long enough, but I am using just 1m while portable. Adding a counterpoise makes no discernabke difference. Wea are dealing with a half wave not a quarter wave. 73 Peter.
I'm now confused after watching this after your video on vertical myths. Would this be improved with a ground connection such as described in your other video?
Hi Steven. The BB7V is a bit of an exception. It performs in a similar manner to a half wave and was intended to be used without radials. On my tests I found that radials made virtually no difference. However, if you are using a quarter wave vertical you need at least a good earth and ideally some radials. Hope that helps. 73 Peter.
Not quite true. I tested this antenna with and without a line isolator at the feed point and could detect no difference. Half-wave verticals also tend not to rely on the coax feed as a radial.
Vertical antennas work well at ground level. There is no magic height. The one advantage of raising it up is that is sees more sky and less trees and buildings. So higher is better, but not a big deal@ 73 Peter.
@@watersstanton Peter, thank you very much! I am watching your video with great pleasure. I want to buy a Diamond bb7v in my small garden. How does it work at 40 m? How much weaker is the dipole? 73!
1st , Thank U Sir for such a presentation Despite i am an ِAdvocate/Prejudice (Pro-Diamond) person. I am still considering COMET CHA-250B which work in same principle.. Besides i don't know if one on them or Both has a built-in (RF isolation device) integrated with the matching unit end ?? i wish you devote an episode with more experiments and comparisons about these Antennas.
Peter,....I also have a Diamond BB7V that I got from an estate sale from a silent key. The antenna looks brand new with no signs of ever being up in the elements. I tried to mount it on my portable speaker stand, and got horrible SWR results with my MFJ antenna analyzer. The analyzer reports a "INCREASE FREQUENCY" message on the LCD readout in which I had never seen that message before on any of my antennas. So, what do you think is wrong? should I ground mount it like your example in this video ?? Eventually, I would like to create a mount for it on my big motorhome. Please advise! ......de Russell D. (good on QRZ)
The first thing you need to do is to check the actual VSWR. Unless the antennas is fed with high power well in excess of 100W, it is pretty bomb proof. Make sure the coax lead and connectors are OK and inspect tge antenna base socket.
@@watersstanton In this case, I had not gotten to actually hook it up to my Icom 7200. I simply attached it to my larger speaker stand tripod, hooked up a piece of RG8 coax, then into my MFJ antenna analyzer. When I turned on the analyzer, it read. ....INCREASE FREQUENCY. I had never seen that message before! The tripod with the BB7V antenna on it was in the middle of the driveway in free space too. If I WAS to get any VSWR readings from my antenna analyzer, Then and only then would I have hooked it up to my Icom 7200 under 100 watts, no high power. Thanks so much for answering my comment. I really do appreciate that. ....Russell D.
@@watersstanton Peter, I got it working....low SWR on all bands although it is not as strong in the signal department as my Comet H422 rotatable dipole. Thanks for all your help
Thank-you, Peter. That's not bad for a small aerial. I'm tempted to try it in my 3.5 eire square concrete yard, with a 1 metre square garden, adjacent to the property. Would you recommend it in such a small space? G0MRB.
I have a high SWR on all bands. I did see that the coax in the house was rolled up a few meters behind the transmitter. Could that be the cause? I use RG213U
Sounds like something more basic. Check the coax feeder at the plugs for continuity and shirts. Also check socket on antenna to make sure. the centre if connectir is not damaged. 73 Peter.
Hi Peter,
based on your reviews, I bought this antenna last summer. I must say I was highly sceptical about the performance - especially without radials, but thought I’d take a chance. I mounted the antenna on a lighting tripod about 4 feet off the ground. My QTH was a field in Herefordshire, and was operating from within my caravan with an Icom 7300, connected via 15 metres of RG58. I used the internal antenna tuner in the Icom and had a wonderful afternoon and evening on 20 and 40m making contacts in Germany, Bulgaria amongst others. I was given between 5/6 and 5/9 signal reports using 100w. To be honest, I was not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised! This antenna is great for taking on trips in the car or caravan - in 10 mins you can be on the air with a very low footprint antenna, with no radials! If the weather closes-in, you can be packed away in 10 mins. The quality of workmanship is excellent. Yes , of course it’s a compromise antenna, but it gets you on the air, and is also,great for small,gardens. Well worth the money (if you can get one!). I’ll be taking this with me on our summer holiday to Cornwall this year! :-)
Hi Mike. Many thanks for sharing. 73 Peter.
Sounds good. Did you leave it fully extended on 20 and 40 meters?
Peter
Finally got my BB7V and made my removable ground mount. Got on a 10 mtr local net. Works great...thanks for the review which ended in a great set up for my HOA situation....great antenna....
73 Paul K1YOU
Thank you for the review.
I appreciate the pace of video. Some UA-cam posts, while still useful, often feel as if the presenter is racing. Your conversational pace and style is very good and I enjoyed your presentation.
I have subscribed to your channel. I look forward to your future content. Again, thank you.
I have one . Used it on 20 meter band . Works great in my very little garden. You gage my good advice thks
Thanks Peter for the review. This could be a great portable antenna for those that like to operate on the coast and take advantage of mother nature's salt water amplifier. 73
Thank you, Peter, for your informative video.
You have helped me a lot in my purchase decision.
Many greetings from Germany
Paul
Nuce to hearfrom you
Hi Paul, how have you got on with this antenna? Do you know the real impedance of the antenna? I watched a similar antenna review of the Sigam Eurocom HF360, and the impedance quoted was 50 Ohms, but in reality it was much higher. Just wondered if this antenna is worth the extra hundred or so pounds?
Peter, I have one of these and just took it down and stored it in the garage. It receives great on all bands, but it won’t transmit across the street on any band! I now have a SotaBeams Band Hopper III up in my back yard, and have made contacts all over the US and Mexico, South America, Australia, and Japan. This is temporary because it is for my portable operation and I have a TEQMAR 600 on order to replace it.
He did demonstrate making a contact to Italy with poor band conditions !!
@@saltire546 That's a piece of cake! I do that kind of distance with a wet string hanging off the kitchen table, hihi. 73 de ZL1UZM
@goinghomesomeday1 ...Why not mount it at 45deg, to get dx and nvis?
I spent two decades searching for the perfect small lot antenna, and tried antennas like the one tested here. I've finally settled on a doublet, 30ft high on top of the roof, one leg falling to 20ft high at bottom of garden and the other leg forming three sides of a square around the house roof gutter. It's very low visibility, covers every band from 6m to 80m, and has worked 50+ countries on every one of those bands. Added bonus is that feeder and top are continuous wires, no joins anywhere outside the shack, so is maintenance free and will last forever.
Hi John. It.s a great idea for small gardens. I tried it but at my QTH there was a high noise level from house electrics. Thanks for your contribution. Peter
Doublets are underrated as a versatile antenna. Had one in a previous QTH with ladder-line feed and worked 170 countries. Great antenna. I find ladder line more resistant to noise but everyone's situation is different.
@@andrewdmwalker wish i could get a doublet up at this qth however i built one before and had it running round perimetre of garden along the fencing only 6ft high and out performed this verticle but having said that the verticle performed well on 20m but so does my imax 2000 cb antenna lol but the diamond will get you on the air but for what it is way over priced
just using one as permanent installation - very happy with 73 de HB9GNK and KB9GNK
I’d love to see that _”matching unit”_ reverse engineered. I can’t imagine how it works. Also, *IF* I could purchase that matching unit separately, I could imagine making a QRP version of this antenna with a much lighter/smaller telescoping whip.
Oh, one of the major sellers of ham equipment in the USA says on their website that it *DOES* require an antenna tuner. I wonder why …
*73 de AF6AS*
thanks for stepping us through its paces
Your videos are such a delight!
Had not seen this antenna before, many thanks for the demo. It has several compelling advantages. 73.
I bought one based on your previous video. Works well on 20m and up. Not too good on 40 or 80.
Love the pictures in your shack. Nothing like some vintage airplanes :) Thank you for the tip on the antenna as I am currently working to fielding a FT8 portable station, and this looks like it would be a breeze to set up.. Cheers!!
Glad to help 73 Peter
Great video. I have to say, (bring on the west side of the pond) your title got my attention. My 1st thought, is this guy debating about getting an antenna or planting a garden? Didn't dawn on me at first. Great review, great video Peter. I look forward to your videos.
This appears much like the Comet CHA-250B, but nicer made. The 250 has been called a 250 watt dummy load with a whip. However, any working antenna is better than none.
IDK, that match unit looks less rain protected than that 250B does.
Life’s a compromise and amateur radio is no different especially when it comes to antennas as you can’t cheat physics. Your evaluation is very fair and useful for those that don’t have enough space for low band antennas and want a low profile, get me on the air antenna. Looks very well made too. If I had one I’d like to experiment raising the height a little more with a few elevated tuned radials. Conditions are poor at the moment and 20 hasn’t been that good over recent weeks, 18 can be magical when others are dead. Thanks for posting Peter and for people evaluating which antenna is best for them you’ve established a useful back catalogue of videos during lockdown. I teach Foundation and Intermediate and for some it’s hard for them to visualise how easy this element of the hobby can be to get on the air. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 73 de M0AZE MIke
Very interesting. No radials is a puzzle for me. One caution, however. I've had very bad luck with aluminum rods into the earth. They erode quite fast and end up breaking off near the ground. No problem if used for a portable installation but I wouldn't use aluminum for a ground support. 73 and thanks for sharing this info.
Great point!You are right about aluminum in the ground. For extended use I have always mounted aluminium in concrete and never had a problem. 73 Peter
You are fortunate to have a low noise floor. A-B testing a vertical vs. horizontal dipole might have shown a more dramatic SNR difference, especially in a noisy urban environment.
Local noise level does not affect the comparison providing the signal can be heard on both antennas. Peter
@@watersstanton Peter, there are a couple of factors that I considered in my arguement. 1. Noise tends to be vertically polarized, thus vertical antennas are tend to be noisier than their horizontal counterparts. That said, perhaps there's more randomness in the polarization of local noise than I have considered, but my anicdotal experience with vertical antennas is that they are generally noisier than dipoles. 2. More directional antennas (e.g. dipole) behave differently than verticals, of course depending on where the transmitting station is with relation to the orientiation of the receive anteanna (polarity difference not so much due to path skew). This fact may account for the observed near parity receive performance if, for example, the trasmitter is at a right angle to the orientation of your dipole. All overthinking on my part aside, the performance of this radial-less antenna is quite impressive, and it would work well for many, especially with the emergence of weak signal modes.
An interesting test.Very difficult to get a comparison when conditions are not stable.Still a very useful antenna.
Good but probably expensive. A cheaper alternative is a telescopic fishing pole with wire either inside or outside of the tube. Worth a try if on a tight budget . Best wishes Brian G0rlb .
That looks the business for my portable work, very well built. Definitely one to try. Thanks for the demonstration 2E0KFL.
Very nice review Peter. Thanks for taking the time to make the video. 73, George K2WO
That should be good for portable use. I like the idea of no radials, but I think it is relying on a transformer to try to match it, I just wonder if small radials might have helped capacitively, but to cover all those bands it would do me if I ever get permission to put one up. I could always collapse it down when not in use, but water would eventually get in and might cause problems. I would like to see how others got on with it.
Great video, Peter! Thank you!
Many thanks!
I have a home in an urban area. Just got my General license. Bought my first HF radio (Yaesu 450D) and bought the BB7v after watching your video. I need 75 ft of coax and thought of using RG 213. However, after doing research, realize there are many options. What coax did you use when testing BB7V and how long of a run did you have. Sorry to ask such a basic questions, but when you are new, the information/options seem endless.
RG-213 around 40ft. Peter
Thank you for the great review of this antenna. Good to hear how the antenna works and goes up. 73 Clark KG7LOI
This would be good in my location, as my wife hates all the wires up, at the bottom of our garden there a small forest area, where one of these could hide, 80ft run of decent coax would give me the perfect installation, thanks Peter
73 Paul M0BSW
Thanks for the great video. What is the transmission like in low power (5w or 10w).
Good video! Have you done an a/b test with this antenna ground mounted vs a higher base at 6 meters (around 20 feet)? Comet recommends their antenna be 30 feet high, not practical for many locations. I've used a Comet knockoff (Harvest Out250B) with fair results. Advantage of the Diamond BB7V is the telescopic construction making it easy to raise and lower.
Tape AND maybe some Coppaslip grease on the joints to prevent corrosion AND water ingress perhaps? This is exactly what I have been looking for!
Thanks for the info Colin
Great video. I think you just showed me the antenna I have been looking for multi band and discreet. Thank you. Good fit for a icom 7300.
Glad I could help
Hello again sir. When I first reached out to you I was studying for my technician class licesense. I've since passed my General class... I'm just trying to learn the hobby. I have an inverted V di pole,resonant from 80 to 10 meters. I just don't have the ability nor expertise to erect, tie off , and properly tune it. I'm on my own. I mentioned this antenna some months back and was" dismissed" out of hand. " Too hard to tune" I was told. You come across as " shoot from the hip" honest.
To me it's about the journey, not the destination. Can you coach me up for a few?
The sound difference appeared to me to be more in the noise. If i had known about this it would have made a difference to the Tranceiver i bought which was dictated by the antenna difficulties i have
This is a great digital mode antenna with 25’ of coax. I have one.
great topic
Great video om! Thanks for sharing! Made me subscribe due to your style. Excellent delivery!
Thanks for the sub! 73 Peter
Thank You Peter, another excellent video. Cheers Peter VK4VW
Many thanHi Peter, nice to hear from down yonder. Take care. 73 Peterks!
Thanks for the video. I have recently moved to a new home and this antenna seems a good candidate to get me on air quickly. I have a 45mm diameter satellite dish mount in a convenient place, will the U bolts supplied fit this size pipe? 73 de VK4VT licenced since 1974. PS pity the cycle is at its lowest, I miss working the Gs on 20 metres mobile on my way home from work in the afternoon!
Hi John. I think that may be a tad too big but should be easy to make up a bracket to attach slightly smaller tube and then put the antenna on. Yes I miss the VKs in our mornings on 20m `- give it a couple more years.
Peter. Thank you for this review I have looking for something like his for ages. Is this non resonant on all bands requiring an external ATU?
I’m sure if you chuck enough power at it you will be heard... HF is very dependent of propagation a compromised antenna with good band conditions will work, but a resonant antenna with bad band conditions ....
Thank you! Excellent information. I've watched this video several times and appreciate the demonstration and how detailed you are. Most every question I had was answered in the video. I do wonder how it would perform with a lower power radio like the Xiegu G90 (20 watts) for portable work. I may give this antenna a try. 73 de W5DUI.
Glad it was helpful!. Antenna performance does not change with power. BUT the signal strength transpired will be directtly proportional to power.
@@watersstanton I bought this antenna based on your review. My tests of SWR on 40 through 10 were almost identical to your findings. I mounted it on a PA speaker tripod to test it. I was able to make some DX contacts in Europe and South America. To be honest, I didn't expect this to perform well but it does a good job. Thanks! 73 - W5DUI
@@joekrepps The Xiegu G90 has a built in tuner and I've been using it. But even without the tuner, the SWR isn't bad on any band I tried. So far, I've done mostly 20 meter phone and some FT8 on both 20 and 30 meters. I set it up for portable on a PA tripod to test it and nothing is properly grounded yet. On 40 meters, it causes a lot of RF strangeness so I went back to 20. I think it will be fine when I get it grounded tomorrow. On receive, the antenna seems slightly less sensitive than my others but it's really hard to say for certain. I will try radials and see what happens. I just finished using it tonight and made some good contacts on both FT8 and phone on 20 meters. Calgary Canada - 1900 miles and he gave an honest 5/9, Garden Grove, CA - 1700 miles - an honest 5/6. Not bad for 20 watts. 73.
I’m thinking performance might be a notch better if mounted a little bit higher ? My QTH at the shore would put the base at about 15 feet above the ground . I see you tried radials without an impact, though I was thinking perhaps of a single counterpoise running at an angle down towards the adjacent salt water.
If you are near salt water you have a big advantage. Mt tests showed little benefit if using radials. If you use this antenna above ground wjth a counterpoise, you may get some benefit. However, generally the counterpoise needs to be a quarter wave at the operating frequency. 73 Peter.
@@watersstanton Thanks much. I’m shooting mostly for 40 and 20 meters - hoping that I can get across the Atlantic from the Southern New Jersey Coast (we back up to salt water and marsh) .
great review matey and holds its own compared to your end fed wire :D
SWR is nice, but efficiency is critical. I wonder about the efficiency is like, with no radials?
Cracking Vid, on this Ant, can see it flying out the Shop
On a Tangent your Elekcraft, was decoding the CW on screen?
Watched for a second time and still grezt... I have tried to acquire one and it is impossible. Some dealers say not available for 6 months ..
Any ideas???
Paul K1YOU
A lot of money, for a coil loaded end fed. But, convenient and quick, if you're not into homebrew.
It is not coil loaded, it is impedance matched - coil loading cannot provide broad band operation. Peter.
Nice review tnx. A lossy transformer together with an internal resistor network is a heady cocktail Peter!
its 9:1 balun on cb-antenna ... thats all ... ok the ferro cube is for "high" 250 watts or so on.... not realy special
You can’t get hold of these antennas at the moment, several weeks away, no lead times can be confirmed. Good sell Peter but no availability 👍 keep up the good vids 73s
Hi Jason - yes you are right. They have been on order since February - bad timing! But supplies generally are not easy. 73 Peter.
DX Engineering has them in stock.
Before folks run and spend the money on a compromised antenna with no ground plane. I recommend figuring out what bands you are most interested in - 80? 40? 20? then look for an option that covers those before trying a compromise that covers everything. If you want to purchase something rather than DIY and that has a portable angle, look at I-PRO, DXCommander, Chameleon. Or look at drx111 on ebay for single band 5/8 wave end fed wire antennas which require a pole but still way cheaper than the BB7.
i think you are missing the point. This was a review of an antenna that fullfils certain requirements. Peter
Hi Peter, your video convinced me. I have been using the BB7V for two weeks and I am happy. Thank you very much!
I have not found the radiation patterns for all bands. I'm curious. Do you have it? Or do you know where I can find it?
Thank you in advance.
GL 73
Marzio HB3XAG
And sorry for my little english
Good video as always!
Appreciate that 73 Peter
Would that be a 9:1 unun on the base?
How would the SWR performance improve if a counterpoise was installed? Maybe a 2/3 or 3/4 length wire?
Superb video, very well presented, thanks.
Glad you liked it! 73 Peter
Its on my list, but its quite expensive! Thanks.
The number 7 stands for 7 band. BB7V
I'm interested in this antenna. Thank you very much for showing us this video. vy 73. EDIT: Did you test it with antenna on the ground? As shown on 5:00?
Nice video Peter, thankyou.
Glad you enjoyed it
I’m hoping to create a 2 m Multi element vertical dipole To use as a base station antenna at home
I would like for all of the elements to be in phase so that they all radiate at the same time
I just don’t know how to create the wiring harness to attach it all to get it to work correctly
Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated
Great video thank you. I have however noticed the BB7V has been out of stock for some time. None of the suppliers in the UK sem to have them. Any idea when you will have some stock.
DX Engineering has them in stock.
@@dheller777 He said in the UK
Grate video, how do you think the bb7v will compare to a portable mag loop antenna.
Tje magnetic loop will be more efficient BUT you will have to continually tune it, even when moving just 20kHz or so. It is very narrow banded so you need to balance ease of use with efficiency. Peter.
Hi. One question: Did you ever fix the Antenna with the screws?
I can't screw the screws in. They stick out about 5mm from the raw! I can't get them screwed in any deeper. Wimo doesn't know any more about this either.
WIMO asked in Japan and they wrote that the screws bore their own hole. However, since there is still ALU solid material behind the hole, this does not succeed. What is your experience with this problem?
14:00 i think it is only the polarization, not the efficiency from the antenna...
Unfortunately this antenna seems impossible to get hold of. Have they been discontinued perhaps? Cannot find one for love nor money
Looks good, thank you Peter. ON8EI John 73's
I agry,John,thank you Peter!UR3IF Leo73.
DIAMOND WD 330S vs this antenna, whitch one do you prefer?
Ciao Peter, vorrei chiederti se il BB7V è adatto per uno Yaesu FT817. Inoltre, posso utilizzare l'amplificatore Sommerkamp SLA 817 e il sintonizzatore per FT817. Attendo con ansia il vostro feedback. 73 Dario
So you need a external tuner?
Oh, another thing....I noticed that you are using an iMac computer much the same as I have. What ham radio programs are you using with your Mac?
Rumlog that’s all.
Can you mount it on a mast or does it need to be on the ground? Thanks
Thumbs up, but I left off at "250 - watts". Sorry, antenna's got to take a KW for me to throw any cabbage at it.
Yes you are correct.73 Peter
Is it possible to mount this on a roof top chimney Wall. Thanks 👍
Hi,good video, well explained ,thanks from Rotterdam.
Can the antenna be fitted to a wooden post?
What kind of tape can I use to seal the joints where the sections extend?
I use self amalgamating tape.
7 bands ?
I tend to think the coax (shielding) is part of the counterpoise?
Well it would be if long enough, but I am using just 1m while portable. Adding a counterpoise makes no discernabke difference. Wea are dealing with a half wave not a quarter wave. 73 Peter.
@@watersstanton Thank you for the explanation. I've been thinking of mounting one maybe about 9 meters high if I ever get this antenna.
I'm now confused after watching this after your video on vertical myths. Would this be improved with a ground connection such as described in your other video?
Hi Steven. The BB7V is a bit of an exception. It performs in a similar manner to a half wave and was intended to be used without radials. On my tests I found that radials made virtually no difference. However, if you are using a quarter wave vertical you need at least a good earth and ideally some radials. Hope that helps. 73 Peter.
@@watersstanton Thank you.
Peter,
Great video. Thanks for the info. 73 George KB3WAQ
Maybe you all can shed light. Over in states, seems no available. Do you have in stock and could you ship to states?
Sorry, we out of stock at moment, Diamond supplies are very slow ar miment. 73 Peter
@@watersstanton Thank you Happy Holidays KG5WKO
How about hoisting to 30' above ground?
G3NBY
I live on third and top floor. Thinking of buying one and installing it on top of a 6 foot mast. I've had it messing around with my failed dipoles.
Well done video Sir!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Ralph
Every “no radial” vertical uses a radial(s) - your coax.
Not quite true. I tested this antenna with and without a line isolator at the feed point and could detect no difference. Half-wave verticals also tend not to rely on the coax feed as a radial.
Does it have to be high off the ground? or will the square section like you have be ok?
Any height is Ok - Peter
Hello! Your antenna is low to the ground. I would like to raise it 10-12 feet. What do you think is the best reception at what height from the ground?
Vertical antennas work well at ground level. There is no magic height. The one advantage of raising it up is that is sees more sky and less trees and buildings. So higher is better, but not a big deal@ 73 Peter.
@@watersstanton Peter, thank you very much! I am watching your video with great pleasure. I want to buy a Diamond bb7v in my small garden. How does it work at 40 m? How much weaker is the dipole? 73!
1st , Thank U Sir for such a presentation
Despite i am an ِAdvocate/Prejudice (Pro-Diamond) person.
I am still considering COMET CHA-250B which work in same principle..
Besides i don't know if one on them or Both has a built-in (RF isolation device) integrated with the matching unit end ??
i wish you devote an episode with more experiments and comparisons
about these Antennas.
It’s identical in performance and size. We have them in stock. You don't need any RF isolation. There is a measure of isolation built in. 73 Peter
Thank you for your video
You are welcome
I just ordered one.
OK thanks. 73 Peter
Peter,....I also have a Diamond BB7V that I got from an estate sale from a silent key. The antenna looks brand new with no signs of ever being up in the elements. I tried to mount it on my portable speaker stand, and got horrible SWR results with my MFJ antenna analyzer. The analyzer reports a "INCREASE FREQUENCY" message on the LCD readout in which I had never seen that message before on any of my antennas. So, what do you think is wrong? should I ground mount it like your example in this video ?? Eventually, I would like to create a mount for it on my big motorhome. Please advise! ......de Russell D. (good on QRZ)
The first thing you need to do is to check the actual VSWR. Unless the antennas is fed with high power well in excess of 100W, it is pretty bomb proof. Make sure the coax lead and connectors are OK and inspect tge antenna base socket.
@@watersstanton In this case, I had not gotten to actually hook it up to my Icom 7200. I simply attached it to my larger speaker stand tripod, hooked up a piece of RG8 coax, then into my MFJ antenna analyzer. When I turned on the analyzer, it read. ....INCREASE FREQUENCY. I had never seen that message before! The tripod with the BB7V antenna on it was in the middle of the driveway in free space too. If I WAS to get any VSWR readings from my antenna analyzer, Then and only then would I have hooked it up to my Icom 7200 under 100 watts, no high power. Thanks so much for answering my comment. I really do appreciate that. ....Russell D.
@@watersstanton Peter, I got it working....low SWR on all bands although it is not as strong in the signal department as my Comet H422 rotatable dipole. Thanks for all your help
What about transmition?
Very nice video.
is he running his mic cable through his fly?
Thanks Peter very good review . can this antenna be erected at height above roof level ? 73 Phil G1TST
Yes it can.
Thank-you, Peter. That's not bad for a small aerial. I'm tempted to try it in my 3.5 eire square concrete yard, with a 1 metre square garden, adjacent to the property. Would you recommend it in such a small space? G0MRB.
I got a bb7 how long does ground anker have to be?
I have a high SWR on all bands. I did see that the coax in the house was rolled up a few meters behind the transmitter. Could that be the cause? I use RG213U
Sounds like something more basic. Check the coax feeder at the plugs for continuity and shirts. Also check socket on antenna to make sure. the centre if connectir is not damaged. 73 Peter.
Thks. The antenna is brand new, but I'll check the plugs to make sure they don't close.
Would this be suitable for a newbie on 10meters? Without an ATU
Yes it will work OK.
@@watersstanton cheers Peter 👍🏻
I have a 5btv works good
Hi Dennis. Yes a gret antenna.
Great review, TNX 4 the upload !
73 N8AUM
Many thanks!