poptop

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $198.00 from stark

Summary:
If you've ever owned properly made antenna like a Channel Master or a Winegard you will not like this thing. If you're plum ga-ga about picking up your first radio station over 150 miles from your house then you'll love it and give it a good review.
Hey man, it's too light. When it first came out they included a piece of rope to support it and keep it from folding in half! Now they save 15 cents and don't give you the rope anymore!!
Mine is on a 68' tower and on the same mast as an HD6065 Winegard, the APS13 is 9' higher. My station is 250 miles from 2 major radio markets and I'm not seeing enough difference between these antennas to even mention. Storms have damaged it 3 times while the Winegard keeps on truckin'.

Strengths:
The box it came it in very nice.

Weaknesses:
flops around in the wind and folds like a wet comic book if iced.

Similar Products Used:
Stereo Probe 8
Winegard HD6065
Kramer U-2
Home Brews

Price Paid:  $199.00 from stark

Summary:
I live 210 miles from Indi and Cincinnati. My APS13 sat on a 58 foot tower 9 feet above an HD6065 Winegard. An A-B comparison between the two showed very little difference between them when picking up stations in these cities. There were stations that came in better on the APS and some that did better on the HD, my log book shows the're very close in performance. Notice I said "sat" on a 58 foot tower? That's because it's not "sitting" there anymore. Ice knocked it down a month ago. Every antenna on my place made it through the storm except this piece of crap. Electronically speaking they took a good antenna design and built it as cheap as they could. Once upon a time the maker of the 13 (or was it a 14 at the time?) included a length of rope to support it because they knew it was not strong enough. Now they're saving 15 cents and not even putting that in the box anymore.

Strengths:
For the price you pay? None

Weaknesses:
too light to be taken seriously. cheap contruction

Similar Products Used:
Stereo Probe, HD6065, home brews.

gsd6600

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $200.00 from starks

Summary:
The APS-13 is a very good antenna design, maybe the best out there. Don’t get too excited yet because while the performance might be good, the quality is a bit substandard. I was shocked to see that my $200 APS-13 was nothing more than an overgrown $25.00 Radio Shack FM-6. APS could have taken the high road and gone to a decent antenna cutter but instead they chose RS/Antennacraft who is known for manufacturing things to a price rather than to a standard. This 200” monster is made with the same ¾” square boom as it’s 70” Rat Shack cousin. The result is an antenna that droops slightly under it’s own weight. You get the identical cheap, blue plastic hubs used on other RS antennas and the same thin elements that are very bendable. Unlike the Winegard 6065, who uses a housing to protect your downlead connections, the APS-13 has exposed wingnuts and a cheezy matching transformer. FM DXers are drawn to this model, DXers tend to own towers with large masts yet this thing will only accept smaller pipe.
Antennacraft TV antennas in the same size class and weight as the APS-13 tend to sell for about $80 to $100 and that’s probably what this thing is worth if it were a mass produced product. Being a limited production item I can see paying a premium but $200 plus shipping? DANG!!!! Let’s get this thing down to $129.95 where it belongs!
Enough of that. I’ll say this about the boys at APS. They DO have a good performer and I’m sorta glad I got caught up in the hype and bought one. It’s a DX antenna that’s easily in the top 3 FM antennas on the planet when it comes to forward gain and side/rear rejection. So, if you DX and just gotta get one…get one. Just go into this deal knowing that it MIGHT come down in heavy wind or ice where a stouter antenna would survive. If you’re looking for an all around high performance antenna that performs almost as good, and will last forever, get a Winegard 6065. It’s less than half the price and built like a tank.

Strengths:
Great forward gain. Good F/B ratio.

Weaknesses:
Poorly made. Overpriced.

Similar Products Used:
Just about everything out there.

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Starks

Summary:
The APS-13 is a very good antenna design, maybe the best out there. Don’t get too excited yet because while the performance might be good, the quality is a bit substandard. I was shocked to see that my $200 APS-13 was nothing more than an overgrown $25.00 Radio Shack FM-6. APS could have taken the high road and gone to a decent antenna cutter but instead they chose RS/Antennacraft who is known for manufacturing things to a price rather than to a standard. This 200” monster is made with the same ¾” square boom as it’s 70” Rat Shack cousin. The result is an antenna that droops slightly under it’s own weight. You get the identical cheap, blue plastic hubs used on other RS antennas and the same thin elements that are very bendable. Unlike the Winegard 6065, who uses a housing to protect your downlead connections, the APS-13 has exposed wingnuts and a cheezy matching transformer. FM DXers are drawn to this model, DXers tend to own towers with large masts yet this thing will only accept smaller pipe.
Antennacraft TV antennas in the same size class and weight as the APS-13 tend to sell for about $80 to $100 and that’s probably what this thing is worth if it were a mass produced product. Being a limited production item I can see paying a premium but $200 plus shipping? DANG!!!! Let’s get this thing down to $129.95 where it belongs!
Enough of that. I’ll say this about the boys at APS. They DO have a good performer and I’m sorta glad I got caught up in the hype and bought one. It’s a DX antenna that’s easily in the top 3 FM antennas on the planet when it comes to forward gain and side/rear rejection. So, if you DX and just gotta get one…get one. Just go into this deal knowing that it MIGHT come down in heavy wind or ice where a stouter antenna would survive. If you’re looking for an all around high performance antenna that performs almost as good, and will last forever, get a Winegard 6065. It’s less than half the price and built like a tank.

Strengths:
Strong performer. Good F/B ratio, nice gain.

Weaknesses:
Poorly built. Overpriced.

Similar Products Used:
Almost every FM antenna known to man.

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Stark electronics

Summary:
The APS-13 is everything that others have said in recent posts. It is large, it does have tremendous gain, and the guy who designed it has created one hell of a DX monster. I have a warmed over KT-7500 tuner and can constantly pull signals from as far away as 200+ miles. The antenna is very directional and works well for DXing as well as clearing up that weak little 100 watt college station you like from over 70 miles away. However, I can not get the results I would expect from an antenna with such a high f/b ratio. That is one of the only things I was a little disappointed with. The antenna is large, but not impossible to work with and mount. The antenna is also quite light in weight and did not come built as solid as I would have expected. This may have also been a reason why the first antenna arrived badly bent on both main beams. The second one also came with some light damage that I was able to mostly correct. The elements were also thinner than I would have liked, but the way they are secured to the main beam, both active and directors, are done very well. Again, this is the best antenna on the market for raw gain and ability to pull a signal where others can not. I would buy one again if needed. But, I would also consider stacking two Winegard FM antennas, for less cost, if I didn't have the room for the longer APS-13. Shipping was $22 from Stark electronics.

Strengths:
Exceptional forward gain and forward narrow beamwidth. Can pull weak signals that others probably won't and takes a questionable signal and makes it cleaner. All this without smoke and mirrors, just hard core engineering and size.

Weaknesses:
I would consider the overall construction a slight weakness, but have not put the antenna through a Pocono winter yet. Hope it survives ice and wind better than it does UPS. Also, can't get quite the f/b performance I would expect from an antenna with a rating such as that of the APS-13. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the performance of the two stacked 6 element antennas I was previously using.

Similar Products Used:
This APS-13 replaced a stacked (8 ft vertically) set of Radio Shack 6 element antennas. The APS-13 brings a little better gain and much better front directionality than the stacked array gave, but les