The Best Falcon Products 11 Meter Dipole Cb Radio Base Station Antenna

The Falcon 11 meter dipole antenna comes packed looking just as shown in the above picture. I read the instruction sheet that came with it, which explains the different configurations that this unique and well made antenna can be positioned into for different types of communication. It then goes right into how to trim or extend the length of the antenna to get the desired SWR. The instructions mentioned that it may be necessary to add a "choke" to the antenna to get the standing wave down, although they didn't mention where to obtain such a choke or what to ask for. (I feel this antenna may not be for beginners)! Well since this was going to be a temporary set-up in my office/radio room I just ordered a matcher and brought the standing wave down from 3.0 to 1.5. So keeping in mind this a lame way to test this antenna and why I am calling it a preliminary review. Having said that I was able to talk to someone locally around 5 miles distant. I was getting an S9 from him and he gave me an S5. (I think he was running with his boots on)! Well anyway a few days ago I talked to someone about 20 miles away. I didn't get a signal reading from him, but he was at S3 or 4 on my meter. Considering how I just have the antenna just draped over high objects in the same room as the radio I figured that wasn't doing too badly. Perhaps if I ever get around to setting the antenna up correctly I will revisit this review and give you an update. For now I would say that this antenna might work out for those who have to maintain a low profile or for someone that needs a good portable base antenna. I can't say anything really negative about the antenna due to the way I'm currently using it. I would suggest that someone unfamiliar with this type of antenna seek out the help of someone who is before making any modifications to it. Also make sure you have it positioned where you want it before making any changes to the antenna. Make sure you have a good SWR meter, as a high SWR will damage your radio!

I can receive a lot more stuff on the CB with out a lot of effort swrs are flat just what the doctor ordered

I live in a HOA and cannot have antennas on the roof, so decided for a dedicated 10M antenna that would fit in my attic. I must say I am pleasantly surprised how well this antenna performs. I shortened it by 8 inches on both sides to tune it for 28.4 MHz (10M Call Channel) and still was under 2:1 SWR for the start of the CB band. Out of the box, the antenna was tuned for 26Mhz perfectly, but was over 2:1 by 27 Mhz. So use on CB is not possible out of the box. I opted for the inverted V configuration.I will need to wait for the band to open up one of these days, but in the evening when I setup, I had traffic coming in on the CB band with no issue.To shorten this antenna, do not cut the wire. I just measured up 8" from the end and folded it over itself and wrapped it around the wire. I tied twine to the loop I created and fixed the inverted V this way.I am thinking about stripping the insulation and adding another wire to the loop and see if I can tune this for other ham bands. Should not be a issue to do this at all.This is a solid low cost and well built antenna for its intended purpose. Being able to do 10M and 11M in a single antenna is awesome. Great Product!

This antenna is badass. Right out the zip lock bag. I cut the 2 zip ties .Went out to my patio deck hung the red end on an old nail hung the other end on the hand rail of my deck. Pulled coax off the firestick I was using.Screwd it into this antenna. Went in side checked swr was 1.5 on 1, 1.7 on 40.Immediately started scanning through the channels heard a lot garbled mess on 38 Went upper side band turned them in and got out to Texas from Colorado. 👍👍👍

Installed as 90 degree inverted vee on top of 1-1/4" furniture grade PVC tubing with apex approximately 18 feet above ground, coax through PVC, tied off with 1/8" dacron cord to small pulleys with a one pound weight on each to maintain tension in case of stretch or wind loading. Photo shows location approximately 3' from end of house, 18" from gable end (apparent bend in PVC is from the camera). Not an ideal location but VSWR is 1:1.2 (ch1), 1:1.3 (ch20), and 1:1.4 (ch40) without trimming; may not bother attempting to get closer unless I have lots of spare time. Initial testing indicates that it's working just about twice as well on receive and transmit as the short ground plane vertical I was using previously. No complaints here, and "reasonably" stealthy for those interested in such.

This product is very well made, and the SWR read 1.1. I checked that with two different meters & got the same results. It works really well.

Took around a month to arrive so be patient once it arrived hung it in a tree and went to talking 1.3 swr across the band I made no adjustments.

This is a quality made dipole antenna. Getting the SWR to an acceptable level does require some experimentation though. The higher you can mount it outside or in your house makes tuning it much easier. Currently, I have mine in my garage. This was tricky because the steel garage door frame reflects a good deal of RF. However, I eventually found that an "L" configuration against the ceiling yielded an SWR of 2.0. Not great, but I can talk to the local CB nuts for about a 3-5 mile radius from my house. Also, the direction of the "L" does tend to point or focus transmission and reception in a 180 degree pattern in the direction that the "L" legs are pointing.