I have an R-7000 and I am mighty unhappy with Cushcraft.
The antenna worked great - I was amazed at how well it worked even when the
SWR was high. I busted pile ups and had a blast mounting it 25 feet up --
about two feet above a tin roof. This puppy really gets out. I regularly
got better reports than guys running beams. I could never get it adjusted to
meet specs on all the lower bands so I just lived with the SWR. It would be
resonate too low on one band and too high on another -- both of which were
controlled by the same dimension. I am sure many on this list agree SWR
isn't the issue in getting out but it sure does become an issue when you run
power.
You see, Cushcraft advertises the antenna as capable of handling power (1500
pep) but what you don't know (until after you buy) is . . . included in the
box . . . buried in the fineprint . . . is the following statement "Any
application of power outside of the antenna's 2:1 VSWR bandwidth will result
in the warranty being completely voided." I emailed Cushcraft to ask what
"power" was too much but never got a response.
It pretty hard to avoid operating outside of the 2:1 sweetspot when your
lowest SWR is 1.5:1 to begin with. The nominal bandwidths advertised are
unrealistic and the skirts are very steep. Running over 5:1 is not uncommon
although the auto-tuner on my IC-746 handled it.
Well, that's bad enough but yours truly (figuring the rules don't apply to
me) got an amp and went ahead and operated with power (500w) outside the
envelope and sure enough I fried the 20/30 meter trap. OK, no warranty claim
-- but I would like to buy a new trap.
As for Cushcraft - My beef is - I have been trying for almost five weeks to
order a new trap and it was only in the past few days (after my friendly HRO
manager called twice and raised the dickens with someone's voicemail) that I
was able to even get a quote ($79) on buying a replacement. They ignored 3
emails, 4 faxes and phone calls for over a month. That is not good customer
service. I ordered the part but I have no idea how much longer it might take
for it to get here.
Get an R-7000 only if you plan on running 100w and never plan on having to
order any sort of replacement part. I understand they have had a lot of
trouble with pieces missing out of the boxes (I didn't have that problem) so
-- good luck. As for me, as soon as I get it working the thing is going on
eBay and it will be replaced by the dreaded (and much maligned) GAP Titan
which has no traps to burn up and is widebanded enough that it won't blow up
my rig either.
'nuff said
WA4TUF
Buck
Fredericksburg, Virginia USA
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