Review ECO tribander 10m – 15m – 20m

The Italian manufacturer of ECO antennas offers under product number 279 tribander on 10m – 15m – 20m without the possibility of extension to other bands. Trapped tribander is produced by several companies, while probably the most famous tribander is Cushcraft A3S. How is ECO different?

ECO tribander

ECO tribander is a two-element trap antenna with curved elements (like moxon beam). The manufacturer chose an emitter-reflector combination, while designing the antenna to have an impedance of 50 ohms at the feed point. The dimensions are thus smaller than the classic one yagi , the longest element has a span of 550 cm and a boom of 350 cm. The weight is less than 15 kg.

Due to the limited space options on the roof, I was so interested in the ECO tribander that I bought one at the beginning of the year.

Features declared by the manufacturer

In the cardboard box you will find all the components of the antenna and a detailed procedure for assembling the antenna. The Italian antenna companies did not 'disappoint' and so I added a few washers and nuts to their material. Otherwise, the box was filled with many pages of Italian newspapers, hi.

The machining of parts is precise and good. Zmontovanie antény je jednoduché, odporúčam však najprv zmontovať prvky aj s trapmi. Na trapoch je totiž na spodnej strane dierka, ktorou má odtekať voda. Ak namontujete prvky na boom bez trapov, môže sa vám stať, že ich po osadení trapov budete musieť obracať, aby diera bola na spodnej strane.

The ends of the elements face each other and there is an insulating line between them. Don't be surprised that the elements are slightly bent (like a bow) after their installation. The 1:1 balun is fixed above the boom. After connecting the coaxial cable, treat the joints against water ingress.

The antenna has no adjustment elements. Výrobca uvádza veľmi dobré priebehy PSV na všetkých pásmach, čo je dosť odvážne, lebo inak sa bude antenna chovať pár metrov nad zemou a povedzme na stožiari vo výške 40m. V malom rozmedzí je možné zmeniť rozstup prvkov a tak skorigovať nastavenie antény.

The mast mount could be more massive. Konzola sa totiž pri silnejšom doťahovaní matičiek začína deformovať.

In my case, the antenna is about 14m above the ground on a sloping roof made of eternite. A few tens of centimeters from the antenna is a high lightning rod and about three meters away is the end of a 5-band dipole. The antenna has excellent PSV in the 20m and 15m bands, najnižšie je v SSB segmente. Aj v telegrafných segmentoch je veľmi dobré. In the 10m band, PSV is higher. Najnižšia hodnota je 1,3 a to na 28,2 MHz. Na 28,5 MHz je 1,7 a na 28,6 MHz 1,9. Zrejme sa na tomto pásme prejavuje blízkosť okolitých predmetov.

How does the antenna behave in sharp operation?

He especially checked the antenna IARU HF Championship a príležitostná DX prevádzka . Desiatka je poväčšine zavretá, takže tri desiatky bežných DXCC from Europe, Asia and Africa is not an authoritative result. I tentatively tried invoking s QRP also 100W. On 5W it required more patience and some stations could not even be called. Conditions are conditions, no antenna can deceive them...

Pásmo 15m býva otvorené častejšie. Podarilo sa zalogovať napríklad 5U na prvé zavolanie, CN, CT3, LU, OH0, PY, T7, ZD8 a ďalšie. Tu som QRP neskúšal, používal som 100 až 300W.

„Dvadsiatka“ je asi najlepšie otvorená v týchto mesiacoch a tak sa venujem najmä tomuto pásmu. A je to poznať. V logu je množstvo staníc z Ázie (4S, 9K, 9M2, A4, A7, AP, BV, BY, HL, HS, JA, S2, VR2, VU, XU, YA,…), Afriky (5X, 6W, 7X, 9Q, ET, J2, S7, ZD7, …). Z Pacifiku zatiaľ len blízke 9M6. Asi najcennejšie je VP8/F, kde bol poriadny pile-up . The power used is mostly 300W.

Despite only two elements that suggest that the radiation pattern is wide, it pays to point the antenna precisely. Comparison with 5-band dipole Diamond W-8010 is clearly in favor of the turn signal. The difference expressed in S-meter is +5 to +30dB. Dipól samozrejme stráca veľa, keďže ho nie je možné natáčať ako smerovku.

A radio amateur's decision to lean towards one or another antenna is also a matter of feeling. Medzi plusy antény môžete zarátať aj možnosť použiť malý Rotátor , AR-300XL, a odolnosť vo vetre. Týždeň po namontovaní sa Tatrami prehnala víchrica, ktorá strhla niekoľko striech a vyváľala zopár stromov. Anténe však vôbec neublížila, aj keď sa do nej vietor opieral poriadne.

'Virtue out of necessity' - I could not implement the intended one due to space limitations spider beam , let alone a classic trapped tribander. However, the ECO 279 runs well. If you are looking for a compact antenna for three bands, consider whether it is not a suitable choice for you as well.