The Diamond BB7V

I was attracted to this slim antenna the moment I saw it - just a 22 foot vertical "whip", covering (with a tuner) all of 80 through 10 meters! A dream come true?

Trying to research it via the web, I found comments from both: 1) owners, and 2) those who had never seen one. Owners tended towards cautious praise, with some having ultimately rejected it on grounds that it was too inefficient. The armchair group was firmly united in their condemnation, expressing raw contempt for the "rip-off" that such a "dummy load" represented, and often with an emotional intensity that simply leapt off the screen.

My prior experiences had convinced me that radiation efficiency is only part of what makes a desirable antenna, and I very much liked the idea of an instant QSY. I decided to buy one and see for myself.

As a side issue, I made a tactical error at this point - sending my credit card information to a well known vendor, without taking the trouble to ascertain if they had the antenna in stock. They didn't - and by the time I realized this, it was too late to cancel. I waited weeks for Diamond to drop ship the item to me.

Once the box arrived, I was impressed by the usual Diamond quality and attention to mechanical detail - but the thought just popped out "that's all there is?". It's such a tiny, five pound item!

Mounting it was a breeze - taking down the old antenna was 90% of the effort. I put the base at 14 feet, so it tops out at 36. There are no guy wires (and you could only get away with that with something so lightweight).

I worried about signal strength for the first few days, but then a trans - Atlantic station came back to my CQ. Three weeks later a contact over a 6,000 mile path relaxed me even further.

DX stations don't reply first time every time, but with some patience distant contacts are easily made. The little whip can - on occasion - reach right around the globe. I have gotten into VK land with both psk31 and FT8. Just don't expect to do this on 80 meters.

What CAN'T be done is making local contacts - I rarely even hear stations from my own state. That's fine with me, as I'm much more of a closet DX hound than a ragchewer.

The unassuming little BB7V may be something of a special purpose item, aimed at those hams who need a compact, unobtrusive antenna that offers extreme ease of installation - but by allowing me to follow activity spreading across 15 to 40 meters as conditions change, it has met MY rather casual needs very well indeed. The BB7V has been my only antenna for well over a decade now, and with zero maintenance.

I do believe that my experiences with it have been positive because:

1) Florida is flat country, surrounded by saltwater.

2) I mounted the antenna low, which keeps the take-off angle low.

3) Digital modes - PSK 31, RTTY, JT65, FT8 - allow simple antennas to shine.