What People Are Saying...

Here are some unsolicited comments from our customers.  Our products are also reviewed on
Eham.net.


Just wanted to let you know that I used the S9v 43 footer this past week while I was on vacation
on Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy here in the province of New Brunswick, and it went
together like a charm and it worked great. I used a homebrew 9 to 1 UNUN along with a LDG z-
11 PRO auto tuner and a couple of 43ft radials. Worked great on 80m, 40m, 20m 15m and
10m - didn't have a chance to try the others, but I have no doubts that it will work equally as
well.  I plan on using the same antenna the 3rd weekend in August during International
Lighthouse and Lightship weekend at Swallowtail Lighthouse on Grand Manan Island, using
the call sign VE9SLH.  Keep up the good work on a great product that's easy to assemble and
easy to erect for a portable operation without too much fuss.....
Sterling, VE9SK   


I live in a house with a very small lot with barely enough room for an 82’ alpha-delta dxcc  
dipole between 2 trees.  I decided to look into the S9 vertical.  After my research and seeing
the performance of KD8LCD’s S9 43’ vertical, I could see where this antenna would solve some
of my problems.  So I ordered one for my location.  I received the s9  43' vertical a week ago
and set it up on the deck and set out some radials  with a 1 to 1 balun and was on the air in
about 45 minutes  with good results with 83' of rg8 coax. I could see some room for
improvement so I ordered the 4 to 1 unun  from  balun designs and installed it 3 days later with
the same length of coax.  Wow what an improvement!  While switching between  the alpha-
delta dxcc dipole up about 25’ and the 43' vertical I noticed better performance 90 percent of
the time on the vertical.  Understanding that there is no perfect antenna I would recommend
the s9 43' vertical to anyone who  wants  to  get on the air fast and economically with great all
around performance.
Don, N8KYX


I wanted to drop you a short note after using my S9v 31' vertical for Field Day ops.  Paired with
my SG-231 antenna tuner at the base, this thing is absolutely fantastic.  Ran a frequency
numerous times on 20m and 40m with just 100w, easy tuneup and actually surprisingly broad
after tuneup.  What a winner of a product!  Unless I eventually trade up to the new 43' version I
think this is my FD antenna for life!  Thanks for a great product.
Mike, KE0MF


Having just receiving my new S9 vertical a few days prior to Field Day, and after several phone
conversations with you to get things ready, I am happy to report everything went VERY well,
the S9 generated a lot comments.  Most of my operation was on 20 and 40 meters with
excellent results.  My station was very basic - an old Kenwood TS-130S, MFJ-993B Tuner,
MFJ-911H Switchable 1:1 or 4:1 Balun, which works really slick when changing bands.  Am I
happy with your antenna?  Hell yes!  I even worked W1AW!
Dennis, AE7DU


I would like to give you an update regarding the S9v 43' vertical and the BalunDesigns 4:1
UnUn.  So far, the antenna has performed especially well - it has done a very good job of
working DX here lately even with the very bad band conditions we have been experiencing.  
Please feel free to check out the last 3 weeks of my log book - it is available to anyone with
Internet access, either through my website: www.KD8LCD.Stonerbrater.com  (upper left menu
click on LOGBOOK) or through QRZ.com.  I have a link and a display of the last 15 contacts
made, if I’m on the air and what band and mode I am using. I would also like to point out the
antenna has withstood 65 MPH plus straight winds from some recent storms with no issues at
all!  I think the logbook results speak well.  In most cases, I only have to call less than 3 times
which is very good considering the big guns are also in there working these contacts.  A lot of
my contacts were with 1 or 2 calls in pileups!
Rick, KD8LCD


I just made my first successful trial of the S9v 31' antenna. From my QTH in Northern Arizona, I
made a few contacts last night (terrible conditions!) out on the east coast (MA, VA) with an
RST of 58.  I really like the easy set-up and take-down of the antenna. The wind can be bad at
my new QTH -- today we have a wind warning of 20-30 MPH winds with gusts of 40-50 MPH. It
is nice that I can easily take down the antenna on such blustery days!  My next mission
(besides chasing some DX) will be to take this antenna backpacking on some nearby
mountains and give it a try.   Thanks for the prompt service and excellent product.
Derek, KJ4BQS


Got the 43' antenna today and had it up on the mount in 30 minutes, it is so easy to put up and
so light. It exceeded my expectations in quality can't wait to finish the radials and coax run and
try this antenna out. Thanks guys I can tell you really care about your product.
Bill, N7OQ


Couldn't have been a better out-of-box experience. Everything was packaged perfectly and
everything included that was supposed to be there.  The 4:1 UNUN and radial plate had both
arrived a few days ahead of the antenna. I had already printed and read through the
instructions, so on the afternoon of the antenna arrival, I stretched it out, locked everything in
place, stood her up on a 1.5" pipe. Attached some ground radials and started making contacts
on 20 & 30M.  Looking forward to taking it to field day!  Thanks for a well done product!
Kevin, W4JKJ


I received my S9v (31') immediately as promised, also all included parts in excellent condition.
The next day I received my balun designs #4130. As I travel full time in my motorhome, I will be
using it as a portable - the system is grounded to my motorhome.  I have my station up and
operating, which is a Yaesu 857, tuned with an LDG Z100.  This antenna and system out
performs my greatest expectations.  Thank you for a good product, good value, and good
service rarely received these days.
Phil, KC7DRC


A few days ago I completed the installation of the S9 I purchased from you.  I extended it
electrically and physically by about 5 ft as I mounted it to using a 7 ft fiberglass extension tube
(handle) I purchased from a hardware store.  I mounted the tube into a section of galvanized
water pipe I placed in the attic and through the roof during construction of the home and
grounded it with 6 Gauge copper wire.  I’m feeding it through a Balun Designs 1:1 Balun from
an ICOM IC-735 into an ICOM AH-2 Remote Tuner.   I have six random length 14 Gauge
radials stapled to the roof (staples are sealed with roofing cement).  Most of the radials are
longer than the antenna but a couple are shorter.  The feedline is 40ft of RG-8X.  I have
attached a picture of the installation.   This antenna works great!  It works better than any
other vertical or dipole I have used.  It tunes up on all ham frequencies from 3.5 – 30 Mhz.  It is
almost invisible, especially from the front of the house where the background is a large
conifer.  I was impressed from the beginning with the quality of the components and how easy
it was to assemble and install.  Thanks for a wonderful, quality product at a great price!  You
deserve to be very proud of your business!
Jack, KG6LV


Just wanted to say how much I'm enjoying my S9v 31'.  The quality, performance, and value
make for an unbeatable combination.  Thanks for the outstanding product!
Paul, KF7FKG


Well in my first week of using my S9v on 40 Meter PSK31.  I have worked Venezuela, Belarus,
Italy and Spain. Then, added Utah, Washington, New York and Colorado for good measure. I
am quite pleased with the performance compared to a couple of other verticals.
Bill, WG5T


I tried out the S9v 40 meter vertical for the ARRL CW contest this weekend.  We had lousy
propagation between Korea and North America, but did manage to work several stations.  I am
quite impressed with the way everything worked out.  I do quite a lot of portable operation, and
the S9v is a great addition to the arsenal!
Harry, HL1/WX8C


Let me compliment you on a great antenna. The installation went very easy, had everything put
together and up in 30 minutes. What I really like besides my radio having ears again is how
easy it is to raise or lower the antenna. I live in a restricted outdoor antenna neighborhood so I
take the antenna down during the day and put it up in the evening, takes all of 5 minutes.
Thanks again for nice product.
John, W9QP


Your product is top notch...I’ve been able to make contacts all around the world with the S9v
including Russia =)  Great product!
Robert, AA7G


I cannot express enough how impressed I am with my new S9v.  I have worked 26 countries in
the 1st week of installation and a ton of U.S contacts.  The only thing I did different was to use
an old MN8 Matching Unit that I had from an Cushcraft Vertical. I t was an experiment that
worked out great!   This antenna loads for me (with my internal tuner in my Ic-746) on all
bands 160-6.  I have made contacts on all bands except 6 meters in the first week.  (The
antenna) is "stealthy".  You can hardly see it with a backdrop of trees.  So far I have laid down
sixteen 27' radials.  Today I am going to lay a few more until I run out of wire.  I have 2 other
antennas - a 40-6 meter Windom and a 20 meter Ham Stick Dipole at 30'.  I could take them
down and be very happy with just the S9v.
Danny, K9WEY


I received the S9v and installed it on the chain link fence that is around my back yard.  I
clamped a 1 1/2 " pipe to one of the fence posts and then slipped the antenna over the pipe.   I
use a FT450 or a FT817 with it.   It is fantastic on 40M and 15M.  Also, 30M and 20 are
good.   It assembled easily and it was light enough for me to lift into place.   It also seems to be
handling the winds here.  Thanks for a great product.
Jeff,  WB9UGC


Just wanted to let you know that I got the S9v erected over the weekend with 32 radials and
have consistently received excellent signal reports. Quite an upgrade from my home brew 20
meter dipole! I've had several hams ask about my setup and have highly recommended your
product. Thanks again for a wonderful and affordable product along with excellent support!  73,
Kevin, K4YYD


The S9V has been up since Oct. 1, 2009 and has performed extremely well on 40M - 28 DX
countries! The S9V is mounted off my elevated deck at about 15ft. with 8 tuned radials. I have
mounted a remote LDG Z11 Pro tuner at the base of the antenna for use on other bands.
Great results so far. Thanks John!
Dick, W9IV (ex - KB9UX)


Thanks for shipping so quickly, and for building such a great product.  The craftsmanship is
excellent.  It went together and was installed and up and running in very short order.  Can’t say
enough good things about it.  While I still have to run some radials, feeding it with the AT180
tuner and Icom 7000, produced very good reports from Lima into W0 and W4 land on 20M
phone, and lots of 40M CW contacts into Asia and Europe with good reports, despite so-so
band conditions.  Being up at 100 ft  on the roof  and a clear path helps. ( I have a ground
mounted vertical  with 40 radials at home; radials mean everything for vertical efficiency).
Pete, 0A4/W2DV  Lima, Peru


I want to tell you that I love your antenna. I bought the S9v 31' vertical for 40 meters because I
live in an area that's covered by a home owners association agreement that doesn't allow
antennas. Because of your antenna's light and stealthy size, I can put it up when I need it in
less than a minute and take it down again. I have attached a couple of photos of how the
antenna came out. Thanks for everything.
Anthony, AE6DO


I have an Icom AH4 at the base.  With four 60 foot radials and really poor soil this antenna is
the best vertical I have ever had on the air. It is stealthy and very easy to put up and take
down. It is perfect for neighborhoods with antenna restrictions. Install it near a tree and it
disappears!
Frank, W4GZV


The antenna is assembled and on the air.  It beats the doors off my Hustler.  I managed to get
20 radials in place due to the beautiful weather we had this weekend.  A few were short but
most were set at 33 feet.   Worked a New Jersey station just trying it out and got a 59 signal
report on 40M.  Every other band was also very loud with WVV coming in 20 over S9.   Great
product and great support.  Keep up the good work.  I will be back for more antennas...
John, KC8ZTJ


I'm back in Bogota, Colombia from SA017 operating as 5K5T.  The antenna worked great - the
bands not so good.  I placed your base at the oceans edge.  When the tide was up, the
antenna base was half covered in saltwater.  What a great ground plane!  I taped the 4:1
about the base to keep it out of the salt water. Set up was a snap, no screws used.   
Cody,  HK3/KC2LSD


I have had excellent reports with my S9v but I wanted to get the 20 m monobander.   I put out
40 radials and get 5/9 ++ signals.  It is a great antenna.  
Bert, N2FPJ


Just want to say how pleased I have been with the performance of the S9v since installing it
last month.  I am using a manual MFJ tuner with the 4:1 unun from Balun Designs and with just
16 radials am getting excellent SWR on all bands except 17m (1:5:1) and getting great signal
reports running 100 watts on a Kenwood rig.  Thank you,  
David, KC4GE


My LDG auto-tuner tunes the antenna on 10, 12, 15, 17, 20, 30 and 40 meters, and on 40, it
will easily tune the SSB portion of band as well as the CW segment. And as a bonus, it will also
tune up on 6 meters!  Eight bands is pretty doggoned good! ;-)  Also, I live in Florida which has
notoriously poor ground for RF. Sand just doesn't seem to do well with electrical or RF
grounds. Anyway, my 36 radials (in sand) seem to be doing a pretty decent job, as far as I can
tell.  Thanks for your help and for offering such an excellent product at such an affordable
price.  
Emory, N4LP


I finally got my S9v Junior up Saturday afternoon.  The antenna is ground-mounted as per the
instructions, with 16 radials spread out along the ground.  Results were excellent!  In about 8
hours of operation during this weekend’s CQ WW DX contest, I managed nearly 6000 points,
28 countries, including my first ever contacts to Europe, Africa, and Asia.  All with 100W
output.  Count me as another very happy customer, and expect an order for the full-size S9v at
some time in the future!  
Jeremy, N0YAX


Thank you so much for this great antenna. I bought the S9v from you in July of this year
(2009).  I also bought the radial plate and portable stand.  I just got around to setting it up
after painstakingly making all of my ground radials.  I made and installed 25 to start out with. I
am amazed with the performance with 25.  My first contact on October 11, 2009 was WX3A in
Hamlin Pennsylvania.  The next two were WH6R WITH A 5x8 report from Honolulu HI, and
VE6AO Calgary, Canada with a 5X9 report all on 20 meters.  Thanks again, I think I am going
to put some more radials out.  Talk to you soon...  
Greg,  AF6PI


I thought you would like to know how well your S9 Antenna is working at my QTH.  I recently
lost my “antenna tree” and needed to get something up to replace it.  I did some testing with a
MFJ 12 foot telescoping whip mounted on an Alpha Delta Outpost portable antenna tripod
mount.  The antenna was fed by a battery powered LDG Z-11 Pro auto tuner at the base of
the whip.  I was surprised how well this worked compared to the 90 foot long wire loop that I
lost when the tree was removed.  I knew bigger is usually better and so I purchased the S9v
and a radial plate.   I really like the light weight of the S9 since I wanted to mount it on the tree
stump putting it about the same location as my old wire loop antenna.  I haven’t put out all the
radials but the LDG Z-11 Pro tunes up easily with just two twenty meter radials and one forty
meter radial laying on the ground along with an eight foot ground rod for some lightning
protection.  So far, I’ve tried it out on the Forty, Thirty, Twenty and Seventeen Meter Bands
with good signal reports from all my contacts.  It’s able to pick up the local Six Meter Beacon
almost as well as my 12 foot test vertical antenna.  73,  
John, NB2I


I had some time this evening to check out the ant.    It will tune up great on 40 and 30 meters
with the radios internal auto tuner and will tune all the other bands just fine with the Palstar
external tuner.   So it does exactly as you advertise it will.  In fact I setting here listening to a
569 CW from a fellow in GA.  I never did that with my doublet antenna.     
Marlowe


I decided to "attach" the antenna to our motorhome sitting in the driveway. I have a mount for a
High Sierra motorized antenna on the rear bumper into which I slipped the S9v and I also
temporarily connected up the Balun Designs balun. This was an easy installation as the coax
into the coach was right there and it only took me a few minutes to set up, as I was very
anxious to try the antenna.  I used my desktop tuner from the house, a Daiwa CNW-518, and it
worked great, even gets me 2:1 on 75 meters.  Reception with the antenna has been very
promising. Last night on forty I heard a Hawaiian, a New Zealander and a So Cal station in a
three way and all were very readable. I am looking forward to finding some openings on 20 but
I'm sure the antenna will do a great job there as well.   Regards,  
Wil, W7DL


I traveled to Pittsburgh, PA from Tampa, FL during FD weekend and took my
rig along.  Also took one of the S9v's.  It fit into a fishing pole case that was sent as checked
baggage on US Airways both ways.  No TSA issues or damage.  Went up in 5 minutes using
my Sister in Law's Patio Table as a mount... The antenna fit perfectly in the hole meant for the
umbrella!    Took about 15 minutes to lay out and cut the radials and wire nut the balun to
them and to the vertical element.  PRESTO!  All ready for FD!  Made around 300 QSOs on all
bands CW and SSB in 6 hours of casual operation.  Great performance on all bands, including
10 meters with the TS570D's internal tuner with absolutely no swr issues, and no RF into the
mic or the rig.  Even the WARC bands worked well.  I had a reasonably loud signal for what I
was using, Im told.  Took me exactly 20 minutes to set up and about the same to take
everything down and make a umbrella patio table from my mount again.  Thanks so much for
making such an effective and useful product.  Best 73  
Lu,  W4LT


Woopee! I got it together a few minutes ago and it works fine. I didn't put any radials on it yet,
but it tunes on 40 like a champ with my autotuner.  I'm sure it will be good on all the bands
when I put the radials on for Field Day. The S9v looks great in my back yard... just like it
should.... hard to see. :)   Thank you for your assistance and for a fine product.   73,
John, WX4O


The S9v Junior is a great little vertical, John. It is working better than I had expected.
73,  
Bill,  W7JLM


Well, I've had your S9v for about two weeks now and want to let you know that it is working
fantastic for me.  I set it up with twenty-four 27' long radials, a 4:1 unun from Balun Designs
and I'm tuning it with a MFJ-993.  I'm only running 5 watts through it with an FT-817, but had
fantasitc results during the SSB DX contest:

34 DX contacts.
23 unique countries.  (way more than the 10 I set for my goal)

This was my first DX SSB contest so I had my sights set low, you can imagine the silly dance I
did around the shack when I made contact with VP8KF!  6500 miles to the Falkland Islands
with 5 watts.  WOW.  I'd say the antenna works as advertised.  That works out to 81 miles per
dollar... hihi.  The real bonus here is that it doesn't show up on my neighbors radar during the
week, I lay it down on the ground.  Anyway, thanks again I'm having a blast and your antenna
was just what I was looking for.  73,  
John, K5JVC


In all honesty, it’s working 1000% better than I expected….thanks again John for a great
product.
Ed, N2DEP


I have one of your S9s and it has been a great performer.  Thanks,   
Tim, KL2GN


I really like the antenna...that puppy weighs ...nothing !!!   
K0XY