Towertalk
[Top] [All Lists]

[TowerTalk] R-7000 & What is going on at Cushcraft?

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] R-7000 & What is going on at Cushcraft?
From: WA4TUF@aol.com (WA4TUF@aol.com)
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 19:32:13 EDT
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

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>