I have had several Hygain antennas over the years (none recently) but
something that I thought I would point out. The use of the worm clamps has
been a problem for me on a couple of antennas (not necessarily just Hygain).
On one occasion I was putting together a 155BA and I was working in the
evening when it was cooler. (I live in deep south Texas and it gets over
100 during the middle of the day). I was careful to NOT over tighten the
worm clamps. After putting the elements together I finished for the day and
went out the following evening and found 3 of the worm clamps laying on the
ground. Apparently the clamps were OK in the cool of the evening but during
the heat of the day they expanded and broke. I decided to drill a hole at
each location and put a set screw because there was no way of knowing how
much expansion there was going to be. It probably doesn't get hot enough at
many locations but it is something to think about. Those worm gears are
pretty easy to break.
This is one of the reasons that I switched to Force 12 antennas...they don't
use those worm clamps.
Bill W5VX
-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk <towertalk-bounces@contesting.com> On Behalf Of N1BUG
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2018 6:13 AM
To: towertalk <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] HyGain Antenna Quality control issues
I bought a TH-11DX in 2015. I had to resolder all the ring terminals on the
wires that connect the log elements to the dual tube feed before even
assembling it. There was so little solder on them I could have pulled some
of them apart. They wouldn't have lasted six months here.
I had to be very careful not to over-tighten the worm clamps or they
stripped. I don't know if that has always been the case but I've used many
worm clamps in my day and there are much better ones out there.
This winter I've had problems with hardware breaking on the boom truss. I
don't know if this was a QC issue or just the result of battering from 70
mph winds back in October. Ever since then the antenna won't stop slipping
on the mast and this probably placed unusual stresses on the truss. I think
I'm going to have to replace the boom to mast clamp this Spring.
Paul
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|