Diamond BB7 Review: a Perfect Back Yard Portable Antenna for HOA, POTA, or any Quick Deployment
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2022
- Lets review the features of the Diamond BB7. This is a Perfect Back Yard Portable Vertical Multiband Antenna for HOA, POTA, or any Quick Deployment
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You are the best Ham radio tutorial/vlogger I have found so far! Thank you for such excellent presentations!
Thanks for that compliment Prince Arthur; I certainly try my best!
Thanks Bob for the demonstration video. For someone who may ne living in a small space that limits the length of a dipole like myself, this antenna would be an excellent option. Easy to set up and take down. It would also serve well during a Field Day event or any radio event for that matter.
Thanks for the feedback Kenneth; you've observed the best features of this antenna...how easy it is to set up, use, and break down!
Great Video!, Great Product! Great Information! You have provided in a detailed and understandable way all the important aspects of this Antenna. Thanks!
Thanks for that positive feedback Carey, much appreciated. I try to think, "what questions did I want answered when I was considering this gear?"
Thanks for the video!!
My please as always. Been wanting to do a video on this antenna for a long time, and finally got to it.
Hi Bob, I need something that I can put up when I want to operate and take down when I am done. After watching your video I decided to order one of these and give it a try. I also ordered that flag pole from Amazon. Thanks for the demonstration .
Hope you have as much success I have had with mine Brian. Thanks for watching.
Thanks great demo
My pleasure; I have another video planned for this antenna, hopefully in the next few months.
Excellent review, Bob. I set this up in my backyard and worked S51DX right out of the box, first try! Tunes great across all of the bands. But, it is clearly less efficient than other choices - convenience vs efficiency is sometimes a good trade-off. I get out better on the other antennas I have in every a/b comparison in real time. At a local park by a lake, I could hear dx on 20m well, but they did not come back to repeated calls on the bb7v. Switched a 20m hamstick dipole up 8 feet - and got several EU stations on the first try, including a station who could not hear me on the bb7v. Same for tests at home, compared to a horizontal wire and a center loaded 20 m whip antenna with 2 tuned radials. My 80m net heard me for check-in, but complained my signal was not up to par on the bb7v. It is beautifully made and a pleasure to handle and look at! The matching unit is very well ventilated - as it needs to be since it has a lossy 6:1 unun and heavy duty termination resistors to dump reflected power as heat. 73, N7RLV
Rob, your comments and observations are very useful. Thanks for watching and sharing.
I replaced the lossy unun with a more efficient 4:1 current balun and mines a monster now.
I know this comment is old, but maybe you can help. I am looking for the best, vertical HF, easy deploy antenna that I can deploy at home when I want to do HF, but then collapse and hide behind a tree or put away when not using my radio. I live in a HOA in SoCal, so they aren't very accomodating, I don't want to have a huge radial antenna, nor do I have space for 3 20ft wire radials spread out. Any suggestions for something better than this?
@@softscrubb I use a 23' painters pole and a 9:1 unun, I can make it into a loop, endfed or dipole. Comes up and down in a few minutes. I use a loop on ground for casual listening, Nobody notices.
Well, after a full year of using it now, it has become one of my favorite antennas. But, I use it by a saltwater harbor, just above the high tide level behind a bulkhead. There is a 40 foot cliff on the inland side and a mile of saltwater towards Europe on the other side. This antenna lets me make qrp dx contacts on ssb to Europe when propagation is good. The saltwater is a big part of the magic and the antenna is easy to use on all the bands. It is very well made and fun to use. @@softscrubb
Thanks for posting. I am a fan of this antenna as well for the reasons you mentioned as well. Love the Diamond buil quality. I am seriously considering a permanent base installation 😀 73...
Most people who haven't used it are not fans, everyone I've talked to who owns and uses it is a big fan. Thanks for sharing.
I have one fitted on a 12m mast, easy to take on and off for portable or base station. It fits in and on the car a treat. 73
Just ordered one thanks!!
Hope you find it as useful as I do mine!
@@HOAHamRadio I hope so. I'm in a kinda HOA me that says no visible antennas from street unless temporary and enjoy 80m when propagation is favorable. I'm exact opposite of you in the NW corner of WA. Fist contact on my TS830s was a gentleman in Fiji. On my home made slinky dipole 8' off the ground. Sadly it did not like 150w passed thru it. lol swr on my Tuner went crazy after making. 6 contacts look out seeing parts of my slinky glowing and start falling apart and srung back with a flash of sparks. Lol
I made my first HF contact on a slinky antenna... I don't use it often or maybe I would have lit mine up by now also.
Do me a favor and keep me in the loop. I don't do well on 80 no matter what antenna I use. I've tried several verticals, wires (all compromised in the HOA of course) but never seem to have luck. I just assumed it was me or my aera.
Thanks!
Thanks, very much appreciated.
Great contacts on that antenna i love it even in bad band CONDITIONS 👍🤣
Yep, I was glad the net control pointed that out. If I had said it, anyone viewing might of thought I was making it up. Net control was an independent 3rd party telling it like it was....
I got I a BB7V for about 2 years now, and I'm a big fan.
I live right in the middle of Munich / Germany in the second floor of an apartment building with a tiny garden.
I can't set up any fixed antennas.
When I want to operate I throw the cable out the window and set up the BB7V fixed to a small tripod.
The whole procedure does take less than 10 minutes.
Although I am surrounded by high buildings, the BB7V enabled me to work stations all over Europe, lots of stateside contacts on several bands and even Japan on 17m (over 9.100km).
The antenna may be a compromise, especially on 80m and funny enough also on 10m, although it is nearly a perfect 5/8 wave on 10, but it does for me what no other antenna could.
It brings me on all the bands from 80 to 10 in a super confined space and ham radio hostile environment, and it does it in no time at all.
To flee the city QRM I do a lot of portable and mobile work but at home the BB7V is my only antenna and I absolutely love it.
I would buy it again and again, absolutely recommend it.
Thanks for this great feedback B. Anytime I talk about this antenna it brings out plenty of people who offer negative opinions....then people who actually own and use it brag about it. I'm glad you have such a positive experience.
@@HOAHamRadio I think the reason for lots if prejudices against this antenna lies in the construction of the broadband matching unit.
It's grounded via a resistor, this seems off-putting to a lot of hams.
Of course there is some loss, but this loss buys you convince.
You made a great video and I really like your content, it would be great if you would do some real life comparison as another guy already suggested maybe against the MPAS or even against some ham sticks.
It should also be some kind of compromise antenna to be fair.
But then people could see that the BB7V isn't bad at all.
And hey, it is always an absolutely amazing feeling when you can toggle through the band on your radio without any switchig, cable changing, adjusting, unscrewing etc. That's worth some dB ;)
73 from Munich
@@_0815_ Spot on!
Nice video Bob! Would be interesting to see a side by side with the Chameleon MPAS Lite as they are pretty close in size and configuration.
That is a great suggestion. Sounds like a future video to me.....
@@HOAHamRadio please do so, I'm also very interested in this comparison 👍
Nice antenna. I’ll have to add it to my list of antennas…
I'm afraid to make a list of all I own; I don't need any more reminders I have a problem....
Great video, tried to order one in July and the BB7 was on back order with no timeline for when it would be in so I ordered a DX commander with 80, it has been a good antenna, I may have to see if I can get the bb7 to play with, will also have to get the flagpole spike
When I ordered mine, it was on back order also; they don't seem to be able to keep them in stock. Only took about 3 weeks before mine arrived. People love the DX Commander products!
You dodged a bullet. The DX Commander blows the BB7 out of the water.. It's nothing more than a expensive dummy load . Deaf as a wooden post. Mine is back in its box collecting dust..
Hi Bob,
Great video. I just received my BB7V and was wondering how long of a piece of pipeing did you use to attach to the BB7V brackets. I must admit after watching your video, I purchased all componenets. Cant wait to put it up. Too much snow on the ground now.
Thanks for watching and commenting. The galvanized pipe I purchased at Home Depot is 3/4" X 36" -- works perfect for this set up. Hope you enjoy!
Hey I was wondering if you could tell me where you purchased the coax panel that you mounted on the outside of your house I really like that design I would like to duplicate that
Hey Pat, here's the link to DX Engineering; unfortunately, they say it is out of stock until November....yikes! I'm going to reach out to them to confirm, because I'll have an entire video an external utility box, and I know others will ask for the "ready to go" version.
www.dxengineering.com/parts/DXE-UE-2P
Looking like a possibility for RV portable ops and my ft891/mfj939y, with the flag pole stake.
Its a great antenna in the right set of circumstances. Thanks for watching.
I would love to see the same antenna set up and worked against a radial field. The radials could be below the grass. Just a thought.
I'll have to try that sometime and see how much difference it makes; great suggestion.
Hello Bob,
the antenna needs the cable as a counterweight, with the LDG 1:1 that is blocked?
Do I need a radial then?
73:Thomas
Thomas, for my set up the 1:1 keeps out the common mode current without radials. Some have suggested I add radials for improved performance, but I have not tried that yet. So, yes, it can be operated without radials; that is how I have used it.
How do you have the Unun attached to the antenna? Both are female OS-239 is why I ask.
Thanks for watching GhostmanDKA. It's a male / male PL-259 -- amzn.to/3WxkvW1 (affiliate link)
Galvanized steel pipe required is a 3/4 by 36 inch. Made a mistake and got the 1 inch diameter.
Dang it, I didn't do a very good job of explaining that part of my set up, did I...
Where to purchase the flag pole holder you used to secure the diamond bb7v.
Here's an Amazon link to the flag pole spike: amzn.to/3HyS8R9
Due to HOA restrictions, I am interested in this antenna but my condo has no "yard." How well would the BB7V work if mounted outside at the corner of an elevated deck with a floor 14' above ground and no space to deploy radials? Would SWR suffer if the antenna was mounted in an elevated position above ground?
I have heard of others elevating the BB7, but I have no actual experience with it myself. Your coax run, 25' or more, could act as a radial; the antenna is designed to work without radials. Make sure you have a grounding / bonding / lightning protection solution.
Very cool👍⚛
Thanks as always N1SCA.
@@HOAHamRadio your very welcome
I see that you are using a SDR for receive. How are you protecting it when you transmit?
Tnx es 73 de Arnie W8DU
Arnie, I use an MFJ RF Sensing Switch that protects the SDR when I key up on my FT991A
How much tuner do you need I have a Yaesu ft-450d that has a built-in tuner of limited capacity. Will that work?
Unfortunately I've never tested it with an internal 3:1 tuner, so I can't answer that right now.
Its a great question and I need to find that out. Next time I set it up I will give that a try.
What length/diameter and type of mast are you using here? Thanks
This is not a mast, but a preconfigured antenna from Diamond; BB7V. Thanks for watching.
I am using your links to get this antenna and flag pole mount. Can you tell me what size pipe and its length you use ? Thank you
The label on the Home Depot galvanized pipe says 3/4" X 36"
@@HOAHamRadio Thank you !
I wonder how the Diamond BB7 would stack up to say an antenna that doesn't require a tuner, say like a DX Commander. The DX Commander Expidition only has at most 5 bands depending on how you configure it, 40M (and thus 15M), 30M (or 17M), 20M, and 10M, but that is without a tuner and you can set up and take down inside of 15 minutes for portable (MUST less if you just collapse the mast and don't worry about nicely coiling up the wires).
W9HJ, I would bet the Commander would perform better given it is resonant. The question might be, how much better, and is it worth it for the extra set up time. I don't own one so won't have the opportunity to compare anytime soon...but it would be an interesting comparison. Thanks for watching and offering helpful insight.
I'm gonna order one and mount it on my elevated deck about 15 feet off the ground all wooden deck.. What's the best grounding solution? Does it have a spot to ground to antenna with ease? I'm gonna leave it mounted to deck but take it down when not in use
If you're meaning radials, its "design" is to be used without them....meaning its using the coax shield for that purpose. Elevated you won't have that option. If you're meaning grounding as in ground rod, you'd run your coax to a ground rod solution.
Seems like a viable option. The ground spike flag holder is something I might be able to use for my mast as well.
The flag pole spike is awesome. Every thing I look at around me gets interpreted like a piece of ham gear; doesn't matter what the original intent was, its ham gear.
@@HOAHamRadio Me too. I've noted several houses for having nice masts only to be told "those are oak trees". 😀
What software are you using on the MacBook?
I was using HAMRS logging software. Some people have had issues with it losing data; I haven't had that negative experience.
The Diamond BB7 antenna is out of stock. Is there an upgrade or something of equal specifications?
Unfortunately, I am not aware of another antenna out there just like this. It is hard sometimes to find stock.
I just got a BB7V and set it up close to the ground like yours. I am unable to tune any band above 20 meters. Any advice? Oh, I also bought the LDG 1:1 you have. I am using a Yaesu FT-890/AT. Thanks., Steve VA3SPX
Steve, only a guess here. Most internal tuners can't handle a significant mismatch. I use an external tuner the LDG AT100 PRO II. It tunes the antenna on 40 & 80 no problem. So I think the tuner in you 890 can't handle the mismatch.
@@HOAHamRadio Thanks for the tip. I can actually tune 80, 40 and 20 and even 160. It's the higher frequencies that won't tune.
I also wonder whether proximity to the house is an issue. Maybe too close. We have a small yard.
OK I may look at an external tuner, even as a test.
Thanks!
@@HOAHamRadio I feel a bit stupid now. If I turn off the tuner the SWR on the other bands is fine.
@@CrownedWarriorBand absolutely nothing to feel stupid about! Every piece of gear brings new variables. I've found experimenting gets to the best answer. Glad it is working for you.
Hi, KD4LEC here. I just bought a BB7. Where did you get the tapered antenna pole? Home Depot doesn't have short ones like yours.
KD4LEC, the pipe attached the Diamond brackets is a 3/4" X 36" galvanized pipe picked up from Home Depot, and the stake I put in the ground, that receives the galvanized pipe is from Amazon, here is a link amzn.to/40QvRap
Thanks!
Glad I live in a trailer park... I've run single band copper water pipes along the length of my 70X14' raised steel ground plane for decades. 40M has 3 nylon guys. 75M has #10 copper wire from the feedpoint to 1/4 wave up an oak with 50KV insulator. Each 23-32 ohm serious feedpoint impedance has a toroid autotransformer to raise the feedpoint to 50 ohms at the legal limit. The 4 amplifiers in my modified TenTec Hercules II linear is quite happy at 15V at 125A from a bank of CaOH 600AH wet cell Edison cells I saved from destruction in 1977. Calcium Hydroxide cells never wear out if you replace the electrolyte every 10-15 years. You just don't want to move them. A 9 ft grand piano weighs less. They are stored under the house to vent off the hydrogen. I sold off my twin 4-1000A linear years ago....
73 DE W4CSC "Power is our friend!"
What type of unun is used for the matching unit?
LDG www.gigaparts.com/ldg-ru-1-1-unun.html?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAn-2tBhDVARIsAGmStVkmdFsvfvMyPEuPUMqge9DCMDAOX3gwgJu6MJdhgpYwwsuVsWc9tMsaAh9pEALw_wcB
No, What type of matching unit does the Diamond BB7 use? What is the turns ratio ie., 9:1. 4:1, 6:1, etc?
The LDG unit you referenced is used as a choke
I have to say with this antenna and any others like it they do perform reasonably well on 20m and thats about it, most of the reviews you will see based on this type of antenna are all being tested on 20m why not any of the other bands i wonder why? lol. I do own one and i was dissapointed, i should of known better, well built with quality materials, if you are looking for a non radial vertical for 20m then this is for you.
Thanks for the view and comment; I'll admit I go straight to 20 on all my antennas. You've inspired me to test this one a little further in the coming months.
I'm here purely because I seen this antenna up for sale and it's only a month old, I need something that I can store away because I can't have an antenna up so having a temporary antenna is the way to go for me, now I'm wondering how it works on other bands?
Is it possible to mount this antenna on the rooftop? I am planning to buy one. Thanks 73
VU3MES, you can mount it to a mast. Google for the instructions and they will tell you the size pipe their brackets will fit. So, yes, it will work. Hope it provides many contacts for you.
@@HOAHamRadio Thanks very much 73 good day 🙏
Very good info Bob. Like you I am HOA Restricted but they can’t restrict me from a flagpole. Attach a flag to that vertical and what do I have?? A flagpole!
Outlaw, good observation. Now you have me wondering how I can attach a flag to this..... May have to investigate that.
@@HOAHamRadio Gorilla Tape?
Genius!
Question. How feasible do you think it is, to buy one of the flagpole kits from your box hardware store and convert it to an antenna? I know there are “flagpole” antennas for sale, but to me converting a kit from a box hardware store would be cheaper.
As states HOAs are generally receptive of flag poles.
@@outlaw6595 In theory its a great idea, in reality, it would likely damage the antenna. The antenna manufacturers make the antenna strong enough to handle the wind load only of the antenna. Adding a flag to it would increase the wind load on the aluminum section and likely cause it to fail with even mild wind. Keep thinking creatively, its how the best ideas come about.
Are there any other options that don’t cost $400.00 just for the antenna
Thanks for watching Rob. There are hundreds of antenna options in all price ranges, and you can make you own wire antennas with cheap speaker wire. It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
hi bob do we ground the bb7v
The BB7V was designed to not use ground radials. If this is a QTH shack antenna, the shack system should of course be grounded and have lighting protection, but the antenna itself does not use radials. Thanks for watching.
@@HOAHamRadio yes ok all understood and the video was great 73
Had my BB7V for 2 years...I have a PVC ground mount mount and simply slide it it that set up...GREAT antenna in my HOA too.
Paul K1YOU
Englewood, Florida
Paul, glad to here of your positive experience. I've really enjoyed this antenna and have always wondered why more people don't talk about it.
Now experiencing a problem.
Can't retract 1 section from the top now matter what I do...any ideas?😮
I just saw this comment while reviewing some old info. Were you able to resolve this? And if not, did the distributor make it right for you?
@HOAHamRadio NO still one section unable to retract...sent it back once and now again on second section from top...
@@paulaubuchon2336 Totally not acceptable for the price. Your is the first I have heard of this issue and I do appreciate you keeping me informed. I like to know user experiences, good & bod, for anything I recommend.
To bad...it appears they have stopped making them
]
In stock on Amazon amzn.to/4a3iBDu , GigaParts, and Ham Radio Outlet
Not happy Bob, you are making me want to spend 400$.
My apologies to Mrs. Ape and your bank account. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.
@@HOAHamRadio I’ll let them know in advance. It’s sold out everywhere 👀
@@TheSmokinApe Moonraker has them in stock!
@@ghostmandka5498 now I don’t have an excuse.
Ouch on the freight.....
Is this something you could put a flag on, and pretend it is just a flagpole?
A small flag would not interfere with the performance. I think you would just need to be concerned about putting a large flag with wind drag; the antenna would not be made for that.
What brand and value of choke did you use with this antenna?
It's the LDG Electronics RU-1:1. www.dxengineering.com/parts/ldg-ru-1-1?seid=dxese1&gclid=CjwKCAjwseSoBhBXEiwA9iZtxn7p1VvHtmfP-OPG62mlyDcqe9Kjl1YN18DAR1UyP2pebicJKoIHJhoC8rMQAvD_BwE