On 11/24/2010 1:00 PM, Larry & Karen wrote:
Not like those made in Lincoln
I've always loved HyGain antenna's and products. Living in the Midwest,
not too far to their old assembly plant in Lincoln, Nebraska was nice. I
got to visit their facility on many occasions so when I decided to get
back into 6 meters, after a long absence, I immediately thought of
putting up a HyGain 6M antenna, so I called Burghardt's and they sent
me one right down.
The antenna LOOKED just like the ones made in Lincoln so I proceeded
with the assembly and installation. Many small parts and lots of
measurements and adjustments later, I had the beam mounted atop my 100ft
tower. The antenna performed as I expected a 4el beam to perform. SWR
was reasonable.....for awhile.
Here on the plains of Western Iowa, we get frequent high winds and many
storms. One day, I decided to get on 6 meters and make some contacts and
my SWR was way out of whack. I went out back to the tower and saw that
half of one of the elements was totally MISSING! I found it out in the
corn field a little ways from my tower.
Unfortunately, after dropping the antenna down and replacing the element
with one I had on-hand, we reinstalled it only to have a different
element break off a couple weeks later! All in all, I lost 4 half
elements in less than 6 months. We yanked it down, boxed it up and off
it went back to Burghardt's! What a wonderful company! Jim credited me
the full price towards a new 5 element M2 6M5X beam, which I installed
in the spring. What a difference! The M2 antenna has been up for 8 years
now and performs flawlessly!
Sorry MFJ. Your QC on your antennas just isn't what it was when HyGain
was in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Chuck KØTVD
> I have to agree with Ted on the quality of MFJ. I have had both the old and
> the new Hy Gain for example and my experience with the new has never been
> good. They have cheapened the HY Gain line to the point where it is
> basically junk. You might argue that it's priced fairly reasonably for
> entry level hams, but if they have to keep repairing equipment they will
> soon be turned off, maybe to ham radio altogether. For example, I can
> understand and element breaking off in high winds, but the last two feet of
> the element out at the end? Twice? Take a six foot section of the boom of
> any MFJ/HY Gain tribander and hold it in one hand and in the other hold the
> exact same piece of an actual HY Gain boom from the past and tell me which
> one you want to put in the air. No contest.
> 73, Larry K0IS
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