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write your own review of the GAP Voyager IV.
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K7NSW
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 24, 2011 08:35
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GREAT ANTENNA!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Been ham since 1961. Idaho QTH. First GAP was a Challenger in early 1980s. Then switched to Voyager IV about 12 years ago when I moved onto an acre. Both are great antennas. I get superior signal reports all around the country. No complaints about Challenger - none. With Voyager I am continually surprised at the amonut of DX I hear and work. When 160 meters is busy I hear and work a lot of stations. Have used other brands of verticals. Don't bother - GAP is much better. The instruction manual? Hey - use your head for more than a place to carry your hat. I fussed with them and the antennas went together just fine. Raising a GAP? Don't listen to the cry babies that try to do it alone or with one other person. GAP tells you to get some help SO DO IT LIKE GAP SAYS. These are great antennas that require some effort to install. I use a seperate guyed pole to raise and lower Voyager. Simple and easy - even enjoyable! Then I take my helpers out for pizza. Get a GAP and get into hf ham radio!
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KE7TRP
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Rating: 4/5
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Oct 14, 2010 15:49
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Good DX
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I lost my tower and all wire antennas in a recent storm. I had the Gap voyager. We thought we would "throw" it up in a day and get back on the air. Wrong. It took an entire day to build this thing. Mainly due to the manual. Just a few photos on the Gap web page would have saved HOURS of work. In 5 hours two of us had the thing half way built. We finished it later that night. Take your time and stop if you have doubt about a step.
The following day we mapped out the location and pounded the base mount into the ground using wood and a sledge. Then we pounded my Guy anchors in at 25 ft from the base. I cut 8 sections of 50 ft rope. The rope I used is rope I always use from Home depot. Its sold in 200 ft bundles. Its been up for 8 years with out failure on other projects.
The third day we pulled this thing up. I can see how many have snapped the fiberglass section. We used two guys to hold the ropes out tight and one to walk it up. Do not even attempt this without 4 to 6 people. Once Guyed off, We checked the SWR. It was horrible. After an hour of screwing around we realized that the ground radials go to the Antenna and not the base. Not one indication of this in the manual. Once this was fixed, The SWR was as expected on each band.
My comparison antenna is an extended Zep with 600 ohm line at 35 ft. I use a KW balanced tuner with the zep.
1. The gap beats the wire past 1000 miles. Under 1000 miles the Wire wins hands down.
2. If you never had the wire, You would probably be happy with the gap, I could talk and hear everyone with the vert. Just the wire was better close in.
3. I like switching bands without tuning an antenna tuner. This is a real plus if you are into Band hoping like I am.
In short, It works as described. Its a decent DX antenna. I find that 20 meters works great for me. I worked all kinds of DX with it. 40 meters is fantastic and 80 is great. I have not used 160 on it yet. THere has been no DX.
Chris at Gap answered phone on first ring, Was nice and helpfull everytime I called.
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K9ES
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 7, 2009 07:41
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Great antenna for what you have
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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At the National Weather Service Skywarn Recognition Day event from NWS Melbourne (WX4MLB), the Voyager was 2nd antenna for primary HF station (IC756Pro-2 / AL572). The primary antenna was 20M 3 element monobander at 35 feet. As the operation opened (0000Z 5 Dec 09), our primary station went to 75 meters with GAP Voyager, as 20 had closed down. The VSWR was FLAT from 3600 to 3900 and only went near 1.6 at 3.5 and the other end (4.0). Because we were under severe weather all weekend with rain and tornado conditions, the noise floor (rain static) was almost S-9. But every CQ created a massive pile-up, with the stations getting through commenting we were the loudest signals on the band. That was throughout our 80M experience. Around 11:30 PM local, we went to 160 Meters to participate in the ARRL 160 Contest. In about 75 minutes, we worked everything we heard, and even a few DX locations (ZF, 6Y, VP5), but worked everone on the band ! VSWR was under 1.6 to 1 from 1825 to 1875 KHz.
Did not use it on 40M or 20M, but it worked, and by using common sense, it is not hard to raise (even in a down-pour). Thanks Rich and the gang at GAP.
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KI9A
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 15, 2009 09:36
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18 month summary
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had this beast up for 18 months now, and have made many, many contest QSO's, and ragchew QSO's on it. I have installed a 80 meter, open wire fed dipole @ 50' as an alternative antenna. Here is what I have found:
- The manual suggests you guy it at 2 points. I have it guyed at those 2 points, PLUS a set at about 8' up. This does wonders to stabilze this antenna.
-Performance.
20- Not used much, the tribander smokes it always. Toss up between the dipole & GAP, dipole has edge on RX.
40- Anything within 800-1000 miles, the dipole is even, or better. DX, the GAP wins out. I don't sit in pileups too long with this antenna. Yes, I understand it isn't a yagi @ 140', but, it has provided me with 141 DX countries in 18 months on 40.
80- Big difference between the dipole & GAP here. Stations inside of 1000 miles, the dipole is at times 20 DB better. West coast ( I'm in IL ), the GAP beats the dipole by an S unit or so. DX, well, I work EVERYTHING I hear. It has provided me with small pileups of Europeans calling me during a couple of DX contests. 96 DXCC in 18 months so far. Perfect balance of antennas on this band, with the dipole & GAP.
160- Well, it works, and will get you on the air here. I made over 400 QSO's in 5 hours during the ARRL 160 contest in December. I have worked 2 JA's from the midwest with it, and several Europeans. Is it close to a 125' vertical? Nope. But, it works almost as well as my inverted L @ 45', with 36 radials under it. What more can you ask for a 45' tall antenna on 160??
Guys, it has faults. It's tough to assemble, but, anyone with mechanical abilities can do it. It is wierd to raise. But, I fabricated a 6' tall support, that once it was verticle, I secured it there, while getting the guys in place at my leisure. Not rushing around while one poor guy is trying to hold it straight. Use 4 guys on it, at 3 levels. It will survive almost anything. We had storms last summer, that produced winds in the 70 mph range, and storms that produced sustained winds of 40-50 mph ( remainders one of the hurricanes that came up from the gulf), and it came out perfect. Can't say the same about the trees in my yard.
The problem I see is this. If it isn't EASY to install, guys will whine about it. Most anything that is EASY, isn't worth having. So, they then give reviews based on their whining of assembly, or tuning. 90% of the time, it is their own fault, not the antennas. Then, you have the guys who seem to think this will take the place of a 2 ele 40 meter yagi @ 140'.
Yeah..this thing works just fine.
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K4ZIW
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 3, 2008 11:44
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Best answer for 80 Meters
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Executive Summary: Reasonable assembly with need to go slowly and carefully. A challenge to walk up, but OK with one strong person lifting, one watching for trouble and one guiding capacity hat around an oak tree branch using a selected guy rope. Super telephone support from Richard and Chris, at GAP, during assembly and erection. My objective: 80 Meter CW for WAS and DXCC. Initial result: 40 states worked in 2008 Sweepstakes contest - 24 hours after completing final coax connector assembly. Worked all I could hear. I'm a very happy camper. More Detail: Selected Gap Voyager after researching all alternatives. Not needing a field of radials was a driving factor. My site is a 100 by 170 city lot with super-dense Live Oak tree coverage. I am a boatanchor guy, so far using a complete set of classic Yaesu FT-901 units barefoot at 100 watts. One band at a time to spread out the joy. So far, WAS and DXCC on 40 Meter CW using Alpha-Delta DX-EE dipole at 25 feet. Now, the challenge is 80 Meters, first with the Yaesu set, then with a great set of restored Gold Dust twins (Howard Mills, W3HM). Assembly of Voyager was fun and satisfying. Used saw horses for support. Biggest challenge was getting stand-off insulators lined up (cosmetic). Triple checked all screw connections for tightness. Erection was entertaining. This antenna is very flexible going up. With bottom section at about 50 degrees elevation, the capacity hat was still within reach from the ground. Because of site constraints, I chose to use seven sets of guy ropes anchored to house, convenient strong tree trunks and screw-in mobile home anchors. Estimated lengths ahead of time. If I ever do this again, I will follow Instruction advice to pre-string all guys to their anchor points. Even with them marked, stringing them quickly while two persons held antenna vertical was like a circus act. Windless day. I am a person who avoids PL-259 soldering like the plague. Richard provided step-by-step advice. Also found numerous Internet articles, the best, in my opinion, from Harris Corporation. Now burying feed and counterpoise lines in PVC to protect them from the herd of Moles who live rent-free in my yard (yet another reason for avoiding radials). During assembly, I added cable ties diagonally around tuner rods at their stand-off insulators to curtail noisy vibration when the wind blows. Not too tight, because these rods need to move during erection. Just enough to avoid the slapping-halyard-on-the-flagpole syndrome.
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W3QY
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 13, 2008 19:56
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it works!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had the Voyager IV up for several years now and first, let me say that its location in my yard is less than optimal. It's about 30' away from my home and stuck in the middle of a grove of tall trees,one of which had a branch break loose a few weeks ago and struck the capacity hat.It broke the wire ring and also snapped one of the mounts..it continues to dangle in the breeze..but still tunes up fine.
I had no great expectations for 160m and bought it primarily as an 80 and 40 meter antenna.My very first contact was with A61AJ through a massive pileup on 40m CW so I was pleased.40 has worked very well and even 80 meters has been a surprise..I've worked all over the world and most dxpeditions.While in many cases I wasn't always the first one through,I did make the contact and that's all that counts.
My biggest surprise came on 160.Several reviews said that this antenna was nothing more than a 45' dummy load, but in the last several weeks I worked Ducie,Clipperton and Mauritania on 160..I think my biggest shock was when I worked 3Y0X on Peter I island..I thought it was a fluke until I worked it a second time 30 minutes later.Is it a great 160m antenna? well, no..but it has allowed me access to a band that I hadn't worked before and now I have 63 countries worked on topband.The
bandwidth is pretty much as described in their ads.Construction was fairly simple but a better manual would have been nice.I found the folks down at Gap (Rich) very helpful with questions.
When I put this up,it was arched over my shoulder like a silver McDonald's arch..and when it sprang it took off..my helper kept it from going over..the video my wife shot looks like the "Keystone Cops Install an Antenna."
Bottom line, it works for me..it's not a 5 but I think a 4.5 is closer to my experience.
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KB3NSW
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 13, 2008 16:33
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6-7 hours I had it completely assembled : less time to raise.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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6-7 hours of accempling and my voyager was ready to raise. This is not bad for working by myself and being a ham for less than 2 years. It took much less to raise.Everything is included in this kit which makes it easy for someone with little knowledge of tools, radio tech and the such.I use it mostly for 80 meters and 40M and I have had fantaxtic results on both. I have a beam and wires for 20, and 40. I am looking forward to using it next winter for the 160 M. I had to write about it's easy assemble because everything looks terrifiying at my level with no one in the family in radio. ( Thank goodness for the great Elmers out there) My Elmer , KB3HOB has a Voyager and highly suggested it . As usual he was right.....just follow the directions. This is a great antennae and easy as well as fast to get up and operating.
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AE9DX
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Rating: 4/5
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Mar 7, 2008 10:19
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Decent Lowband Antenna
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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This is a follow-up to my previous review which was written soon after I purchased the antenna. Now that it has been through a Northern Wisconsin winter with straight line winds in excess of 60 mph, I can pretty much re-iterate what I said earlier. The performance on the lower bands 40-80 meters is very good, with 160 meters being good. I don't use it on 20 since I have beams for that. The band width on 160 is in excess of the 90 khz advertised and seems to put out a good signal. I consistantly run 1300 watts into the antenna with no problems. The antenna is quiet and receives very well. Even during conditions at the bottom of the solar cycle this antenna has worked well for me. Obviously it's not a directional beam, but does what I want it to. As previously stated, I have a coax run of over 350 ft to this antenna and have had no problems with that at all. If you need an antenna for the low bands, this one may be what you are looking for.
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KI9A
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 8, 2007 16:23
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Great customer service!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Well, here is my story. My Dad had his Voyager up at his place for a bit, now I have it, and I had a chance to operate a few contests, CQWW, SS, and ARRL 160 with it, so, I can speak on performance.
Last week, while raising the antenna per direction, the inner coupling between the bottom & mid mast failed. I emailed the guys at Gap on Friday, and had a response on Sunday evening.
I talked to Rich @ GAP Monday, and told him what happened, and we talked a bit about the antenna. In short, they are sending me a replacement coupling, exact OPPOSITE of what I have read here, and on towertalk reflectors about poor customer service, and getting new parts....sure wish more companies operated this way!!
Performance...
20M - A bit tall. Worked on par with a windom @ 40'. Not a yagi, but, you WILL mkae QSO's. Worked everyone I heard, both during a domestic & DX contest.
40M - Better than the windom out past 500 miles or so. Even, or slighter worse close in, which is expected for a vertical. For DX, I worked everything I heard, normally within a call or two. Heard stuff not even audible on the windom.
80M - Pretty much the same as 40. Windom was better within 500 miles. GAP smoked it for DX work, not even close. Europeans barely heard on the windom, that didn't hear me, answered in 1 or 2 calls with the GAP. Again, hears better than the windom for DX. Not too bad for a 45' antenna on 80.
160M - Worked 47 states in 8 hours, + some Carrib DX. About 400 QSO's in that time period. If you think this is going to replace a 125' vertical, you need to wake up. But, it gets you on, and makes QSO's. This is something many forget, and then bad rap the antenna. Again, GREAT for an antenna that is 1/3 size on 160.
Owners manual: Well. A bit confusing. Actually really confusing. Would be a great help if they included a better drawing, complete with dimensions of where to install the tuning rod supports.
Mechanical: Can't really find fault. I'm not a structural engineer, but, I have 25 years field experince as a construction Electrician, and can make a good guess of what is mechanical, and not. I might dump the self tapping screws that hold the mast to the couplings, and replace with a through bolt. But, not sure how that would affect the integrity of the coupling/mast.
All in all, a good antenna for limited spaces.
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N0JWJ
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Rating: 3/5
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Jul 6, 2007 08:35
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Marginal
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Having had a Gap Challenger for about 10 years I decided to purchase the Voyager to have access to 160mtrs. Everything went together well but I was not impressed with the construction. I agree with the other posts that the mast should be stronger. Once it was guyed however it did very well in the colorado winds 60mph+. As I owned 10 acres of flat land with no obstructions I could do comparisons with the two antennas. Both antennas were set 100yards apart and 100 yards from the house. I found that both antennas were nearly identical on both receive and transmit on 20 mtrs with the voyager having a slight edge on this band. I do not agree with some of the reports others have made as the voyager being lousy on 20mtrs. It may not be as good when compared to some other antennas on 20 but as compared to the challenger I have no complaints here. The same can be said for 40 mtrs which I consider the best band for both antennas.
80mtrs was better with increased bandwidth on the Voyager and 160 was very poor on receive although the swr was 2:1.On transmit only contacts within 1000 miles were made and they were marginal at best. After having the antenna up for one year a spring storm finally took the antenna. The guys never broke. What broke was the bottom of the mast. It twisted and snapped off. I still have the challenger up and it still works fine.
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