Cushcraft 13 B2

[Scott Burgess]

Greetings, I have an opportunity to acquire a Cushcraft 13 B2 (two phased 13 element beams)

My thoughts were to use it for SSB, CW, and FT8 for regional nets, chasing grids, and contesting

I have space in the yard but no tower

Any thoughts or opinions?  Anything to watch out for?

I’m limited to 100w with a 9700 for

now, what are reasonable expectations

for performance from DN13?

What is a fair price for one I. Good

Condition?

Thx and 73. W7IMC Scott DN13ql

[Jerry Siegmund]

I used a pair at 20 and 30' for a while..  They were pretty decent antenna's.  Sunday AM SSB Net.. I was able to work stations 300mi away or so with @200W.  Did some Meteor Scatter,, worked a few EME as well at Moon Rise.  Went to M2 2M12's after.. much better yagi's.  I would say a good used 13B2 is probably worth $200 - $300 ?  SWR and your Feedline Loss will be the best things to keep as good as you can.. Go For It.. see how it works out.. you can always expand / Watts / upgrade later on if you like !  My experience with Low Band 2M being in DN39.. I just found the 'Cost per QSO' was a bit high for most peoples likng I imagine..  but it's the 'Thrill of the Chase'.. and 'Expect the Un-Expected' that makes it worth while !   When you have a W5 in New Mexico answer your CQ on SSB.. 'All Money Invested Thoughts seem to just..  Dissappear' !  73  GL

Jerry  VE6CPP

DN390r     .  

---

From: "Scott Burgess" <bigwin...@gmail.com>
To: "Pacific NW VHF Society" <pnw...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2025 10:22:57 AM
Subject: [PNWVHFS] Cushcraft 13 B2

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[K7YO]

30 years ago I used a 13B2 with tri-gonal reflector (+0.75db).  It worked well.  Later I upgraded to a 17B2 which worked better, but a more narrow pattern and much longer with a 31 foot boom.  Both of these antennas have a skinny half wave coax balun jammed into a small plastic box that can get moisture inside and cause problems.  Now I''m using an M^2 2M18XXX which is even longer at 36.5 ft, but has a better coax balun on it.  Thanks to K7YDL who sold it to me for $70 before he moved to Arizona. It now lists for $973(!)   I worked and confirmed three stations on SSB in the Boise, Idaho region, 365 miles away,  after the last Sunday morning net on 144.240 Mhz at 0800am PDT.  A 4th station heard me as well.  W6GY sent me a recording that sounded like I was next door to him.  I'm using a TE Systems 1452G amp, 350+ watts.  This antenna is too long for me to rotate, so it's currently fixed at 155° true,  skimming Mt Hood.  I may be able to rotate 90° north to hit Mt Rainier with it.   I might be able to stack the 17B2 on top as well, but the stacking height is a concern.  K7YO

[Ed Cole]

I had a pair of !3B2's before building my 2m-eme array in 1998.

I had it on top of a 40-foot Rohn-25 tower with rotator and fed with
75-foot of LMR-400 coax. Running 150w on SSN/FM worked stations 70-100
miles away. I gave them to a local ham friend who used them quite well.

Certainly there many other choices these days but new one's cost a lot.

I use a IC9700 currently for operating on 2m & 432 out to 70-miles using
a Diamond X510 (8.3 dBi) vertical on top of a 30-foot mast. It's my
main radio for non-eme operation.

A single 13B2 would work equal (or better) than my Diamond vertical and
if under $100 in good condition would be fair purchase I would think.

I have four M2 XP20 x-yagis mounted on an H-Frame for 2m-eme (cost in
today's dollars - about double what I paid in 1998).

I have two 8-element Antennas-Amplifiers yagis (15-dBi) that I will be
using for normal operation once they are mounted at 42-feet above a
34-foot tower.

73, Ed - KL7UW
70-miles south of Anchorage, AK

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From: *"Scott Burgess" <bigwin...@gmail.com>
> *To: *"Pacific NW VHF Society" <pnw...@googlegroups.com>
> *Sent: *Monday, August 18, 2025 10:22:57 AM
> *Subject: *[PNWVHFS] Cushcraft 13 B2

>
> Greetings, I have an opportunity to acquire a Cushcraft 13 B2 (two
> phased 13 element beams)
>
> My thoughts were to use it for SSB, CW, and FT8 for regional nets,
> chasing grids, and contesting
>
> I have space in the yard but no tower
>
> Any thoughts or opinions?  Anything to watch out for?
>
> I’m limited to 100w with a 9700 for
> now, what are reasonable expectations
> for performance from DN13?
>
> What is a fair price for one I. Good
> Condition?
>
> Thx and 73. W7IMC Scott DN13ql
>
> --
> ~The Voice of the Pacific NorthWest VHF Society~
> You are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNWVHFS" group.
> To post to this group, send email to PNW...@googlegroups.com
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>
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