Dual Beam Pro - 9 Band HF Rotatable Antenna

[@Drpepper99uk]

I have recently purchased one of these antennas and compared to the end fed I was using it seriously kicks arse in both the noise level department and also with it's performance over the wire. Ive got it mounted around 22ft up in the air on a mast(soon to be around 32ft) and I'm amazed at what signals I can both hear and work. 👍🏻

[@MrWhiskybmr]

I have been using one of these (an early version) for about 15 years now and never had a problem with it. Build quality very good and quite a bit quieter than other antennas I have used.

[@KarlWitsman]

Very nice demo. I laughed at seeing the Dalek running across the screen!

[@johnratcliffe6438]

Low noise floor with the dipole. Very nice.

[@DavidCase-ov5uo]

Around 1976, I got home from work to hear aurora on 10 metres! Had a A contact with a local on ssb. We both had 2 ele quads and beamed North. We were 5 miles apart! G4BTI.

[@timspanner7684]

I have also recently purchased and installed a Dual Beam Pro. Tony at Pro Antennas is very helpful and I have it mounted at a good height, well clear of the roof of our house on a Yaesu G450 rotator. I am very pleased with it so far, performance seems very good on 20m and excellent from 17m through to 10m with a low noise floor in an urban area. 40m, whilst usable, is harder work but this is to be expected given the size of the antenna and high SWR on this band and I have still had some good contacts, but an external ATU is of course needed. Overall, if you’re looking to get on HF and have very limited space this antenna is highly recommended.

[@leebirdsall2174]

I built my own a few years ago, cost me about £50 in total. I used a 1::1 balun in center and it worked very well. I mounted mine vertically with a line isolater at the base to stop feedline radiation.

[@kymhaniford]

£260 wanted for this one... Nice profit margin I think.

[@justmejonboy]

You bought all aluminium, parts for a balun and a clamp for £50 ? If I give you £60 (£10 profit for you) can you get them for me ?

[@leebirdsall2174]

​@@justmejonboyyes I did. If you can supply the time machine I will happily go back 10+ years to buy the parts and build one for you

[@justmejonboy]

@@leebirdsall2174 fair point :-)

[@xlr8also]

Wrong balun. DBP uses a 4:1 voltage balun.

[@mikewillis1592]

So basically, it is a shortened dipole fed with a 4:1 transformer. It would be interesting to see a longer version, or one with a remote ATU in the middle. Good low noise result, probably less efficient but you can fix that with an amplifier.

[@ehayes5217]

Wow, yes, a BIG difference in the noise floor between the two! 73 de WA4ELW in TN 🇺🇸 dit dit 😃

[@Image_72]

Is there an estimate of maximum wind velocity resistance?

[@rjy8960]

The noise floor is very impressive.

[@K4AX]

When he switches antennas the noise floor drops but also every signal on the entire band.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Signal strength isn’t always important, but the SNR makes it possible to hear them, as shown in the video. It’s not a Yagi, but for 20m and up it out performs my EFHW for sure. Cheers

[@K4AX]

@@TechMindsOfficial well you know the answer, RX on one and TX on the other 😊

[@rjy8960]

@@TechMindsOfficial Seconded. I see the same thing on my Wellbrook. s/n is king.

[@BrianG61UK]

@@K4AX But the signals mostly dropped far less than the noise floor did.

[@TheElectronicDilettante]

Nice build and video. A bit of opinion… you might want to add some kind of thread lock liquid, lock washers, or even a coil spring on the the fasteners especially those affixing the elements. With the constant movement and thermal cycling, those fasteners will come loose and an element could skewer someone. Be safe.

[@edballardwd8jvv601]

That is an interesting antenna. Thanks for posting the video !

[@ehayes5217]

very, VERY interesting & thanks for posting!👍😃🇺🇸

[@winstonchurchill6506]

that's a nice and simple build

[@pd9rd]

Very interesting video and antenna! Would have love to see some SWR measurements, especially on 20 meters. Thanks! 73

[@TechMindsOfficial]

There is a raw SWR plot on their website, but with a tuner 1:1 can be achieved. Cheers :-)

[@70looney]

mine 5.0 on 20m 5.2 on 40 meters all other bands 3 and the lowest 2 with out tuner

[@chuckrann9784]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

You are welcome!

[@JonathanAdami]

Cool antenna, I'm having to downsize house so it'll stay just a dream haha but I was just wondering: 9:19 above the ".03" you have a sign like wifi, what's that? I have this radio forever I've never seen that sign lol

[@xxmrrickxx]

I enjoy your videos and also notice that your recoded audio always sounds great (fitting for the content). What mic do you use?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I use the Rode Pro Caster with a DBX286s Mic Pre Amp, with a little EQ reduction and filtering within Premiere Pro. :-) Cheers

[@frankENZC]

The magic of directional antennas! Great video thanks and 73 de WA3RSL

[@TechMindsOfficial]

You'e welcome :-) Thanks for watching.

[@OllieVK]

I hope you're getting advertising kickbacks dude, he's put a disclaimer on his page lol

[@klas-erikwimanoz1dtf967]

I do not like the phrase in the Specification: "This antenna requires an ATU to minimise the reflected power". You will still have reflected power (and corresponding losses) on the feedline but with the ATU just keep the transmitter happy. The only way an ATU can minimise reflected power is when placed at the feedpoint.

[@k2icc]

If they ship to USA, I may get one. The similar MFJ has 0db gain.

[@70looney]

much better then the cobweb which the swr goes very high with rain in the uk we get a lot

[@stargazer7644]

2:13 You need to be using an Azmithul Equidistant map (a great circle map) there, not a Mercator map. North America is not due west from the UK, Panama is. Due east is India and Perth Australia. North America is northwest of the UK. Europe is southeast. So to get North America and Europe your antenna needs to be angled about 30/210 degrees

[@johnc3403]

correct

[@bob_mosavo]

Thanks, Matt 👍

[@TechMindsOfficial]

My pleasure!

[@Triple888jim]

so is it a dipole with a figure 8 pattern

[@gliderrider]

That’s a pretty neat antenna! I like how it drops the noise floor without dropping the radio signal. I book marked the website. Anyways, another great video as usual. Thanks! De n5vwn

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Thank you! ;-)

[@dave10524]

Basically then it is a not a beam, it is only a single element , a rotatable dipole and the capacitance hats on the end make up for the lack of element length

[@BusDriverRFI]

It is not a beam. It's apparently a dipole. Whatever they're charging, it's too much. Not thought out well.

[@dave10524]

@@BusDriverRFI Dual beam implies to me it has 2 elements , the gain is not over a dipole but DBI the mysterious isotropic source that gives highly inflated readings

[@paulsengupta971]

@@dave10524 A standard dipole should be about 2.15dBi broadside as I understand it.

[@dave10524]

@@paulsengupta971 I have always felt that a dipole should be the starting point/unity for any gain figures. If this is a shortened dipole how can it have more gain than a dipole ??

[@bazzaar1869]

@@dave10524 2.15dBi is gain of a dipole in free space, over ground, good ground, you get gain from the ground image created. You can get up to 6dB gain from this at 20-30 degrees elevation, so a standard halfwave dipole could measure as much as 8.15 dBi in a real world installation.

[@MINI-4X4-RADIO]

I wonder if you halved the Dimensions, I guess it would be 20M and up, losing 40/30M, would be compact.

[@BillyNoMates1974]

During the arora I had a tunr on the HF bands too. everything was wiped out. I didnt try 10 meter band though

[@PhilON4VP]

Hi Mat, I stumbled on this video because I'm looking for a solution to put on a 10 meter mast. Watching your video the Dual Band Pro performs quiet well and compared to your end fed wire the signals are evenly strong but with the noise drop so far all stations become much more clearer to receive ! Did you test this antenna on 30 and 40 meters as I would like to know if this antenna is any good compared to a longer wire antenna at almost the same height. And when turning the antenna away from a station how much drop of signal you noticed ? So you tuned the antenna with the Chameleon tuner, that ofcourse is a good way to go because you can place the tuner close to the matching unit. Great video. Also price is ok. I'm gonna look further into this model. They also have the I-PRO Home but thats a vertical dipole. It's almost the same design but in a vertical position. I know these antennas since I once had the I-Pro traveller and this smaller version was performing well. The big advantage to me is not have to concern about radials. Cheers ON4VP Phil.

[@Team-fabulous]

I use a Commet H422 trapped rotary dipole. Its a good antenna but after a winter of storms the traps can take a battering so i was always wondering about the Dual Beam but as a heavy 40 meter user i would be wondering about its performance on 40. Very interesting video..

[@davecarty6503]

I had one some years back and although it did tune on 40m performance was marginal at best. For 20m and up it did perform quite well. I bought mine without the balun and fed it with 450ohm back to my own 4:1 balun at the shack and a manual tuner, basically it performed like a short rotatable doublet more suited to the higher bands.

[@Scif64]

That noise floor comparison is really nice and it seems to work very well. I will finally be able to use my radio's in anger in September when I move to my place in Italy with the mrs and looking at options for antenna and new home base. 73 de G0LQP

[@notsrynot]

Hey this product claims it does DMR. Any future videos planned to test this puppy out? REDOT RD106P 120W

[@renaat9829]

A current 4:1 balun would be better in my opinion, it would be better to feed the antenna with 300 or 450 Ohm twinlead straight into a symmetrical tuner. I find the antenna quite high priced ± 350€. For 350€ you buy a lot of aluminum tubes and brackets and make yourself maybe 2 or 3 antennas

[@vu2kocomprakash328]

very nice demo .simple antenna good efficiency thanks De VU2KOC from India

[@TechMindsOfficial]

You are welcome!

[@borayurt66]

I understand it is a non-resonant antenna in all the bands it supports, but how non resonant? I couldn't find any info on the actual SWR figures. Most modern radios with an internal tuner cannot cope with anything over 1:2.5 (1:3 best case), so this information is very relevant for potential buyers.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

It's on their website: www.proantennas.co.uk/technical

[@borayurt66]

@@TechMindsOfficial OK, now found it. Seems, for people only equipped with an internal tuner, this antenna is only usable between 10-17 meters. At 40m, with a SWR of 1:21, I don't think it is usable at all with any kind of tuner.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I tested with a CHA URT1 about 5 meters from the feed point and that tuned it on all bands fine. I also tested with an ATU-100M Pro in the shack separately, and if I remember that had trouble on 40m. So a decent tuner is defo required for 40m. I would only ever use 40 on the DBP if I had nothing else to use, otherwise a wire antenna for 40m is way better. Cheers

[@marcoplacidi9975]

I bought the same antenna I tell you the truth compare with a cobweb I saw the sun finally . Great report from 20 mt to 6 mt and I manage to great dx in ssb . I’m using the same rotator not problems at all . 73 de 2e0bjl

[@Davidm-M0TPT]

what sort of SWR did you see on 20, I have a acom 2000a and unsure if it would tune it ?

[@marcoplacidi9975]

Well I’m using 7300 internal tuner I’m tuning without problem

[@stephengrey8512]

How did compare to the cobweb ??thanks Steve

[@marcoplacidi9975]

@@stephengrey8512 hi mate , well I had the cobweb for 4 years always struggling to do great dx in ssb but now yes !!! another thing the cobweb are great in 20,17,15 mt but not in 15,10 and 6 mt and quite hard to tune as well . Anyway with this antenna I can see a great reports in all the bands in ssb and digital .

[@stephengrey8512]

Ok thanks am going to definitely buy now many thanks stephen

[@fredsongracianopy4tn]

JONEM, QULA A MEDIDA DESSA ANTENA, O BUMM É 5MTS E O RADIAIS SAO 2,5 MTS??? COM BALUM 4:1 :??

[@Pascal-F11DRE]

Merci pour votre vidéo / présentation Antenne testée au QRA. Mais ma déception est grande Cette antenne nécessitant un ATU cela fait que l'on accord l'antenne + le coaxial + le balun + le dipôle capacitif ! Donc des pertes, le câble coaxial qui fait parti intégrante de l'antenne et rayonne [ il suffit de promener un Deep Mètre le long du feeder pour s'en rendre compte]. Une attaque du dipôle avec une ligne bi filaire serait plus appropriée en 450 Ohm par exemple, permettant de supprimer le transformateur d'impédance. Son avantage est qu'elle est un bon compromis lorsque la place manque et la recherche de discrétion. Le rapport qualité prix est très élevé, de plus avec le Brexit des frais de douanes s'applique désormais (+77 Euros pour moi payé a DHL ! ). Personnellement j'invite les OM et surtout les SWL a construire eux mêmes leur propre Dual Beam Pro Merci encore, Best regards Sir, 73's

[@TechMindsOfficial]

That's why I used a remote tuner a few meters away from the feed point of the antenna, meaning less loss, less coax radiating etc. Cheers (PS, I dont speak or read french, but google translate did) :-)

[@L1RW]

I am amazed you get HF in the house. I find , even with an external antenna, it is very noisy and I cannot hear much! Outside with a telescopic whip or long wire, works fine though.

[@johnnorth9355]

Is it a horizontally polarised antenna ? (di-pole type). If only I could persuade the wife and neighbours as noise floor is the bane of my HF life. 73 M7BLC.

[@johnratcliffe6438]

Consider the Ciro Mini Loop. Stands 2m high. Should sort your noise out.

[@BusDriverRFI]

You need to look at the source of your noise before you can solve your noise issues.

[@johnratcliffe6438]

@@BusDriverRFI But you may not be able to do anything about it. Such as uncooporative neighbours.

[@BusDriverRFI]

@@johnratcliffe6438 that is true, however you won't fix the issue without knowing what it is. You can minimize the noise by different methods depending on what the noise issue is. If you know what it is, at least you will have a piece of mind as to what you are up against and work towards making things better knowing what you know. I have had a lot of trouble with power line noises in the past. 10 over S9. Then you have to deal with the power company. It helps to find the insulator issues. It could be LEDs or wall wart power supplies. It could be an April Air humidifier. If you have an uncooperative causing noise, try moving the antenna away from there. Without knowing, you can't really begin to solve it.

[@Htfhjooffhgghwwwwdf]

Curious as to what the transformer is or is it just a 1:1 choke? Tnx for another interesting video. de VK3AWA

[@OllieVK]

4:1 voltage balun. It's on his site under the technical docs.

[@MauricevdfHermsen]

NICE ANTENNA !! TKS for the review!! 73 de PD4TZ

[@dreupen]

What is the going price? The website is not helpful. One should not have to request a full quote in considering the antenna.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

The price is clearly on the product page: www.proantennas.co.uk/product-page/dual-band-pro-antenna

[@elberttanner6189]

One orients an antenna based on Great Circle azimuth calculations, not Mercator Map depictions.

[@johnblanchard8601]

One also orients the antenna for the the strongest signal be it long haul or direct....

[@BrianG61UK]

A circular azimuthal map with you at the centre is easiest of all. The map he used certainly didn't look like an azimuthal equal-area projection, but maybe it was more or less azimuthal.

[@ZzedZed]

noise ? try grounding your end-fed via a resistor. [hint] ohms law and a calculator.

[@feeatlastfeeatlast5283]

What's with the crazy costume?

[@Nick_G7IZR]

Don't test another antenna will you? I don't want HF to be as bad ever again! 😁

[@DeLaCruzer11]

I think the conductivity of the braided wire connection will degrade over time due to being outside in the elements.Will that be a concern in the near future?

[@Siskiyous6]

ATU losses are almost imaginary. RF energy cares nothing about an antennas characteristic impedance. Multi banding is a great way to get on the air. X

[@jptrade8575]

Get a hex beam and forget the tuner.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Massively different footprint compared to the Dual Beam Pro, however I do have a Hex Beam in a box waiting to get put together for a review ;-) Can't wait for some better weather .

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

Didn't see any SWR curves. You sound like using 2 tuners getting some signal where there is never a proper resonance. Typical for a G5RV graduate where bandwidth is not really defined. Cheap in materials and good in crowded areas where dx is just what is over a mile.

[@OllieVK]

info on his website if you cared to look it up.

[@jaspatters1]

Dipole, not a beam. Sad, just sad...

[@Htfhjooffhgghwwwwdf]

Yes I agree it should be named more appropriately inline with what it is. It could be a trap for those less technically inclined thinking they are buying a beam.