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write your own review of the Cushcraft D4.
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KR4RA
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 16, 2008 14:50
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Good antenna
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have this antenna mounted in the attic due to neighborhood restrictions. It tunes very well with little tweaking after assembly. Materials are average grade. I'll have to give a 4, however, due the very poor instructions it comes with. It's not that it's difficult to assemble, but for $400 you'd expect more than something that looks like a 12 year old wrote.
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KL1AS
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 25, 2008 14:23
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Good limited space antenna.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had the D4 for almost three years. It is suspended from a short piece of mast anchored to the balcony of the condo above mine about 20 feet off the ground. I use a 1:1 balun instead of the rf choke recommended in Cushcraft's instructions. I have made many contacts icluding Japan and Puerto Rico from my Juneau, Alaska location. I occasionally experience difficulty in tuning the antenna on some bands(I usea Ten-Tec 238B tuner) but overall it is a great fit for my situation.
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KY6R
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 24, 2008 10:40
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Nice compromise
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I wanted to replace 3 antennas with just one - that would cover 40M - 10M, and mount it at 45' on my Force-12 42' tower.
Even though for the last several years I was smug not having trapped antennas - I'm very happy with the D4 - it works very well given its limited size, and I was very happy to work several new DXCC band mode slots on 80M (with a tuner of course).
While it may not be as efficient as a full size antenna on each band, it is a very good compromise.
I will order a set of traps though - just in case. It was very easy to assemble and put up on my tower, and is more "stealth" than what I used to have.
It solved the problem I attempted to solve.
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YO3VU
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 7, 2006 20:27
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Good design
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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It is a great antenna which will give you much more satisfactions than a vertical. The attenuation front to side is great. Buy a balun 1:1 instead of coax coils. I have it on a rotator Create RC5-3 together with a D3W at 90 degrees offset. The best combination. In 10 months 175 DXCC worked with no more than 200W.
73's from Mike in Bucharest
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KC5R
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 9, 2006 17:19
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Good performer
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Bought from R&L. Antenna does the trick. Surprising directivity. Easy to assemble. However, had to adjust to get SWR right in center of bands from where manual said (I put it up 80'!). Also, the 15 mtr adjustment is too tough since the section length is too tight due to the spacing of the traps and the mechanical support needed. Maybe I should cut the section down in the future. Finally the manual must have been written by a co-op student - the balun has two different # of turns listed in the picture and the text are different). I used 10 turns. On 10 and 20 got all band SWR less than 1.7:1, On 40, I got the advertised 200 MHz out of it below 2:1 (it's only about 2.5:1 at top of band). I mounted it 5' above a yagi at a 90 degree offset with no interaction issues.
No buyers remorse, but Cushcraft should really have revised this manual (after all, this is not a new product).
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