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| Reviews Summary for WA2NAN True-Talk G5RV |
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Reviews: 142
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Average rating: 5.0/5
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MSRP: $55
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Description: An extremely well made G5RV type antenna. Kerry (WA2NAN) builds these antennas with excellent materials and very good attention to detail. The center insulator is a really nice piece of work and all the connections are soldered and have heat shrink tubing on them. I am not affiliated at all with WA2NAN but have one of his antennas and it is great.
Info: kerry@northnet.org
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N2XNB
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 31, 2010 05:28
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have 2 and they are great
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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well I have had my 2 g5rv s now for a few years and had not had any problem. I have the 51 foot as well as the double g5rv ( 200 + foot long). I have found both of these antenna are fantastic as I use the from 6 meter down to 160 meter. I use a murch tuner and have NO ISSUES tuning anything. My 51 foot one is only 25 feet in the air and my 200+ foot g5rv if roughly 40 feet in the air. I have them at opposite angles from each other and it works great. I'd highly recommend these antennas as a tree fell on the 51 footer and all I had to do was wire it back through the plastic insulator. No damage. Buy one and be happy! thanks for a great produst, n2xnb shaun
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KI6HPO
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 19, 2010 17:19
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High Or Low...One Great Wire Antenna!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought my 204' G5RV back in January of 2007, even before I had my Tech ticket. I was that sure that this was a great antenna.
Got my tech in February and my General in May. Up went the wire antenna. I am blessed with four plus acres of property; fortunately it is longer in just the right directions! I have a 60' eucalyptus NE and a 45' Peruvian Pepper to the SW. About one year later, we had a rather nasty wind storm [Santa Ana] which blew my antenna to the ground as well as part of my eucalyptus tree.
I had to wait until the euc next to it grew up in order to resume my hobby, so I took very good care of it. John and Bob's Soil Optimizer is great stuff!
Back then, the feed point of the antenna was up just 22 feet off the ground, yet it proved to be a very good NVIS antenna as well as a world-wide wire antenna. Made contacts all over Europe and South America. In the morning Sun, the wire looked like a 204' "smile"!
At the beginning of 2010, I just got itching to get back on the air, so I invested a Saturday while the XYL was away and got my antenna back up. This time, I was prepared to mount the feed point at the tip of a 42' fiberglass push-up mast.
Dug down 4' into the soil, spread out some marble stone chips at the bottom for drainage and poured in the cement. Mounted my 2 1/2" diameter, 8' long galvanized pipe in the center of the cement [down 4' deep] and leveled it all out nicely.
Made my guy rings from some UV resistant pipe caps from Home Depot and up went the mast. Got my Dacron rope tied to "thimbles" on the rings and to 4' iron stakes in the ground and I just kept on pushing up the masts!
Well, although propagation was much better in May of 2008, having the antenna up at 35+' is making my rig and my antenna sing to each another. It's a great combination. My best contact in less than 3 weeks has been South Korea. I did a little contesting this past weekend, and it worked very well on 160-10 meters.
I must tell you that as a beginner, this being accomplished by running bare-foot with a wire dipole and whatever propagation was on my side at the time(!), just has me sitting on top of the world!
It is a testament to the quality of the equipment that I have at my command.
Thanks Kerry and ICOM for making such great products!
And a very special thanks goes to my XYL for tolerating [and even sometimes encouraging me in] this wonderful and very fulfilling hobby.
Alan
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VK2LKW
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 15, 2010 03:38
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22' up on squid poles, working UK 10,000 miles away
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Put antenna on squid poles, just 22' high and not even in a straight line due to space restrictions...and worked stations in UK (10,000 miles away) and Chile (7,000 miles) on 20m band with my FT897D in first evening.
Solid construction. Quality materials!
And an amazing bloke, this Kerry. Replied to correspondence instantly (within minutes), twice.
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KE0Q
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 9, 2010 02:41
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High Quality Antenna!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Before returning to the Philippines I purchased a True-Talk G5RV Jr. I live in Davao City and do not have much space to put up an antenna. I configured the G5RV Jr. as an inverted V with the apex at about 8 meters and the ends about 2.5 meters off the ground. Considering the poor location I'm in, the antenna works well and I'm very impressed with the overall construction quality of the antenna and I've had no trouble loading it up on 40 thru 10 meters using an MFJ-901B Tuner. I used Kerry's recommendation add a RF choke and have had no RF in the shack. Tim - DU9/KE0Q
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KB3RPE
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 27, 2009 16:19
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Nice wire...
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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As advertised, great quality, very good performance (with tuner) ...Super Support from Kerry....
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KK7NF
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 21, 2009 17:44
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FB
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I just took down the G5RV Jr. (51') that I purchased from Kerry 4 years ago and replaced it with the full size 102'. I live at 6500 feet, so there is a lot of UV: Other than the clear outer shell (not the shielding itself) of the Jr. antenna cracking, it is in good condition considering the winters it has gone through. The connections, shrink tubing, center & end insulators, ladder line and coax are _still_ going strong.
I have the center of the full size at 32' and the ends at 20'. Using my 746 Pro, here are the tuning results: 80, yep; 40, yep; 30, yep; 20, obviously; 17, yep; 15, yep; 12, yep; 10, most of the band; 6, only the CW portion; 160, not even close. On 80/75 it tunes the whole band, which was obviously the Jr's weak spot. At twice the length of the previous antenna, it also pulls in AM broadcast during the day that I never heard before.
This is a very well built antenna, and exhibits a high level of quality. If you are considering purchasing one of Kerry's antennas, just pull the trigger.
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YI9TM
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 27, 2009 04:05
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Absolutely the BEST wire antenna I have used!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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The WA2NAN TRUE-TALK II (6-160m version) is hands down the best wire antenna I have ever used! Since arriving "in theater" I have used 2 other wire antennas. Both good antennas, however nothing holds a candle to the performance of this TRUE-TALK.
The first day I put it up I worked Australia. I had not even heard Australia with the other wires I had deployed. I was surprised that my IC-7000 and LDG AT-7000 could now tune ALL HF bands (and 6 meters) from top to bottom as advertised! Right out of the box! In a few places my SWR reaches 2.2:1 or so, but most readings are 1.5:1 or lower! Incredible!
Thanks Kerry for the quick shipping to my APO! Get one of these antennas NOW!
I will deliver a more detailed after I finish my deployment in December...
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KJ4DKT
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 24, 2009 07:25
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high swr fix
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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no matter how much i tried, the swr on some bands was always high. i just addes 20 feet of coax to the 75 supplied feet and VOILA the swr across the entire antenna fell drastically. i am REALLY a happy camper now!!!!!fred kj4dkt i run at 35ft high and inverted v at 120 degrees. try it if you have high swr.
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KD8EZU
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 5, 2009 12:52
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Yeah, the hype is real.. GREAT ANTENNA
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I took a chance ( based on the reviews here ) and plunked down my $80.00 (that's with shipping) for WA2NAN's G5RV. I had a little bit of a wait, as he was out of raw materials, but the antenna arrived within a reasonable time.
The quality of this antenna just oozes out and I have to say I was impressed. I will go out on a limb and say this is a antenna that will last for at least 10 years if mounted with common sense and care. No cheap connections and the materials used are top notch. I especially liked the fact that the coax was already secured to the ladderline feed wire and the amount of coax provided is generous. The coax connector was also silver plated which is a nice touch.
Mine is up 38 feet with the ladderline feed element at least 15 feet above ground. My antenna " arms" are a semi inverted "V" ( almost a flat top) with each one about 25 feel or more off the ground.
How does it work?
All my rigs run barefoot ( poor ham, no moola, dinero, jingles ) and vary between two TS-830S's , a TS-440S, and an FT-857D.
I noticed an improvement with reception almost immediately, and to be truthful, a little bit more background hiss. The increase in reception is worth it though. As for transmitting, I am VERY happy with my experience with this G5RV. I do not even get excited anymore with contacts into Europe and the West Coast. I had my very first JA contact the other day and I was 5/5 to him. Never spoke to a JA before with my other wire antenna's. All this despite the poor propagation we are experiencing at present
I can tune from 80-6 meters with my LDG- Z100 tuner or the built-in tuner of my TS-440S. Sure.., no G5RV will work all frequecies perfectly, but the beauty of Louis Varney's original design for an inexpensive multi-band antenna still works for thousands of hams
It's a mistake to believe that because wire antenna's can be made that to pay $50-$60 for one is a waste of time. WA2NAN's G5RV is a complete unit with nice components that are assembled with the objective of being a "whole system" where the quality of the sum of all parts equals a total quality finished unit.
Trust me, I'm a cheapskate and hate to part with money if I can make an item myself. I can say without reservation that I could not have made this antenna (where does he get his supplies?) as well as WA2NAN.
I'm enjoying my G5RV by WA2NAN and recommend it to others also .
It is the G5RV that others have to use as an example of how to build a G5RV.
73's
KD8EZU
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K5DHE
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 1, 2009 22:18
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g5rv true talk
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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service is great... very nice product.. recommend it to anyone with a limited budget, and space..its a real value
k5dhe
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