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| Reviews Summary for Hy-Gain Hy-Tower 18HT |
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You can
write your own review of the Hy-Gain Hy-Tower 18HT.
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K7WK
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 18, 2007 11:41
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80 Meter Performance
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Essentially, I used this antenna in somewhat of an experimental mode.
I used an 18HT on 80 meters only (no other bands installed). A custom base (Heavy Duty 'L' brackets) was constructed for 'tip-up' roof mounting. The roof was internally braced to support additional weight, and the tower was guyed to the roof. (i.e. it was not 'free standing' in this installation).
An artifical ground plane was created with four radials, and slightly slanted down. I didn't have enough room to run them out fully lengthwise, so I wrapped them around wherever I could.
Aside from a terrible local static from power lines, this was the best performing 80 meter antenna I have ever used from a small city lot.
The guys at the DX club chuckeled at me when I told them what I put up, but when I started breaking the long path pile-ups, the chuckeling subsided.
It is the antenna that helped me to break 100 DXCC countries on 80.
Future considerations are for a 4-square array. The 18HT is a prime candidate for the vertical elements.
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K5WR
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 22, 2007 14:33
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Great antenna on 40-80-160
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had an 18HT up since 1985, used primarily on 40-80-160. I didn't install the stubs for the higher bands but instead added 10' to the mast length and shorted the mast to the tower. This results in a vertical nearly 1/2 wavelength on 40m, 1/4 wavelength on 80m, and 1/8 wavelength on 160m. About 40 random length radials and an L-network with a motor-driven capacitor at the antenna base worked great for years. Presently the antenna is direct coax-fed, and a tuner is used in the shack. This allows matching the antenna across all of 10-160 (I use it on 40-80-160), and it works like gangbusters. (All-band tuning is accomplished by finding the proper length coax using a Smith Chart.) Over the years I've worked DX almost at will with this setup, especially on 40m, where the ground plane isn't as important for a 1/2 wavelength vertical. One note, the proper coax length for all-band matching is more than needed to reach the antenna in my case, so the extra coax is wound into an RF choke at the feedpoint of the antenna... this does a great job keeping RF feedback out of the shack. If you're interested in using a city-lot vertical on the low-bands, this arrangement is hard to beat.
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AB3CX
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 5, 2006 10:55
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Nice
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought a used Hytower from an SK estate. It is from the vintage before MFJ took over HyGain. The unit is at least 10 years old, but it is in very serviceable condition. It took me 2 hours to disassemble and load it, and another 3 hours to re erect it on my concrete foundation once that was installed. I am already a vertical fan, having used a Butternut HF-9V for 18 months. The main advantage of the HyTower is the bandwidth. The SWR is pretty flat on 40, and no tuner is needed, even for my Alpha 86 amp with PIN diodes. Same for 20 meters. The antenna tuner is needed for 80 CW end, but one setting carries me all the way from 3500 up to 3600, so once it's tuned, I'm done no matter where in the band I QSY. The shorter verticals cannot do that. It works well on 12 and 17 meters as a non advertised bonus. Set the 15 meter tuning stub to the shortest physical length and it resonates well. I also got the MK-160 side arm with the tower, and used it to great advantage in the ARRL 160 contest that same night the tower went up. I do not have a very effective set of radials yet, but the signal checks show the tower 2 S units below my log periodic on a 1200 mile QSO so I'd say that it's doing well for just 3 ground rods plus a few radials. very solid tower, should last forever. If you like verticals, this is the best one out there right now.
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K7UA
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 12, 2005 14:05
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Fine 80 & 160 m DX antenna
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I ran a Hytower in two different locations over several years. If you give it a decent ground to work against it will do wonders. I never had a 75/80m pileup that I could not break. All from a small city lot. I also used it on 160m with a home brew loading coil. Again, superb performance. It works ok on the higher bands, but obviously is not in the league of a beam. I had 1000 ft of radials in my small lot. 30 radials X 33 feet per radial. A truly great low frequency dx antenna. Just don't skimp on the ground system.
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WA7SCH
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Rating: 5/5
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May 13, 2005 09:34
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Nice Antenna but....
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I put up my Hy-Tower in March 2005. I really appreciated the solid construction ann now that it's up the antenna gets out well.
I only have about 16 radials in now and will add another 16 in a few weeks.
Construction:
Things went together pretty much as advertised and per the manual. It took me a couple of weekends to get the antenna up and working.
The only problems I encountered were some problem with tuning stub construction and hinge support brackets were missing.
Hy-Gain was quick about replacing the missing parts.
I appreciated their service on this product.
Getting Out:
Seems to get out extremely well on 80 and up. On almost all bands if I hear them I can work them.
Think I'm going to love this antenna for years.
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W7BNR
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 14, 2005 12:34
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Excellent vertical
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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A truly foolproof design results in the best vertical antenna for HF. It is considerable work to install but worth the effort. Even with a less than perfect set of radials the antenna performance is outstanding. If you are going to invest $$$ in your radio you might as well also go with the best antenna to match it.
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W7TJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 10, 2005 19:45
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Outstanding !
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The HY-Gain 18HT Vertical is a very Durable and Versatile
Antenna system that will Cover 160 thru 10M including the Warc bands with
excellent bandwidths, and take full legal
power levels without fried traps and arced coils along with general KW
Paranoia.
The Mechanics of the 18HT were covered very well in a previous review, one
person being able to assemble/raise/lower the antenna on it's hinged base.
Unless you live in a very high wind loading area, you do not have to worry
about "Customizations" by the WX.
The 18HT is completely self-supporting, so no need to clutter your QTH with
Phillystran, rope guys, or other rigging.
I have experimented with zero (0) to 120 radials, and found saturation
occurs around 30-40 radials over normal ground, anything past this level is
not really cost/time/performance effective. (Technical aspects aside, this
is what works)
Here is a band by band summary of what to expect in performance and how to
maximize/choose options/mods etc:
10 Meters: The 10M stub allows coverage of the entire 10
meter band, however adjustments will have to
be made per individual QTHs operating
conditions,soil/ground/radials etc.
12 Meters: Resonant across the entire Band
15 Meters: Same comments as 10M operation
17 Meters: 3 Choices here:
1. Add the 17 Meter Stub and cover the Band
2. Use Rig Antenna Tuner
3. Reasonable Resonance is achieved when
using the MK-160 add on kit for 160M
20 Meters: Resonant over the entire band
30 Meters: The Resonant frequency is not far from 10.1
Most Rig antenna tuners will accomodate
and do fine with the lower power limits OR
Modifications can be made per the article:
"Adapting the HY-Tower for use on 30M" QST
July 1986 page 45. ( Contact Hy-Gain & they
will send you a copy )
40 Meters: Covers the entire band
80 Meters: Performance on this band is the Best..
Complete coverage is realized by the coil
at the base of the antenna either your own,
or purchase Hy-Gain's LC160 coil. ( 3" diam
approx 12" long 3 turns per inch) Tapping it
at various points allows coverage especially
the CW portion of 80M (Bandwidth around each
Tap point is approx 100KC) Be sure to have
enough and the right coil taps (either from
Hy-Gain, or can buy from Surplus Sales)
Alligator Clips will NOT do !
160 Meters: This is where things become interesting...
The Hy-Tower basically operates as an 1/8
wave radiator on this band using the LC-
160 coil,Efficiency seems good, but bandwith
is very limited..basically 20KC per coil tap.
AND, since the currents/voltages are very
high running in this manner, power handling
is very limited ( 200W ) unless you made the
following Modifications:
The top 2 insulators must be replaced with
Teflon. Teflon Rod need to be purchased.
and machined to match in size,length,etc
of the original insulators and spaced in the
center of the top plate brackets such that
equal air space exists around the
circumference of the insulators &
and edges of the top brackets. Additionally,
the mounting brackts for the anchoring
U bolts for the top mast need to be
re-mounted on teflon 1/2" or so blocks
(recessing the mounting bolts) and
finally, a 2" piece of Teflon needs
to insulate the bottom of the LC-160
coil from the base of the HY-Tower.
Alot of work & plan on spending approx.
$ 125 or so. Even with still the narrow
Bandwiths, Performance is outstanding.
160 Meters: Option #2 is to purchase the MK-160
add on kit form Hy-Gain. Cost is
approx. $130.00 This will allow the
Hy-Tower to run as a 1/4 wave inverted
L. The connecting trap is attached
at the top of the tower and approx
105 feet of wire is run to a support.
Use of a #12 gauge insulated wire
will shorten the length 5% or so
due to the dialectric effects of
the insulation, plus the ease of working
with this wire over the hard drawn type
supplied. The MK-160 kit not only solves
the power handling limitations ( 1.5KW
with ease) but will allow bandwidths of
90-100KC in addition to a 1-2 db improve-
ment in recieve efficiency. The Trade-off
is some of the Vertical Component is
Sacrificed + ground losses etc.
Ideally, everyone would like big gain antennas on all
Bands, However if space is limited and you wish to cover
all 9 bands and not worry about power handling, this is
the Vertical to have - Simple, Effective,& Low Maintenance
The Antenna, Shipping, Installation, and whatever Mods or
Add on items you choose, plan on spending slightly on the
North side of $1,000. - But you will only spent it once...
I have used for 20+ years as many others have.
Randy W7TJ
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WB6Q
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 12, 2004 08:52
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Great Antenna for 40 and 80 meters
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Owned one in California for a number of years with 60 radials and if was wonderful on 40 and 80 meters. Did not try to use it on 160 meters. Don't know how the quality is since the reintroduction of this antenna. The fact that MFJ owns Hygain is somewhat of a concern to me. I am about to find out because I am going to purchase a new one in the next few weeks. There has been a price increase to $849 plus truck shipping!!! If the quality is as good as the old ones I will put out 60 radials and begin developing an 80 meter 4 square.
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W4JFR
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 18, 2004 18:48
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UPDATE
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Well, now seems a good time for an update to my previous review. Hurricane Ivan passed by our area last week and the hy-tower came through with flying colors. We had sustained winds of 45 MPH and gusts to 71 mph according to the NWS here. The only problem was the topmost length of mast worked the screw loose on the clamp and slipped about 18 inches into the mast section below. I simply folded the antenna over and fixed it. Now its fine.
I watched the antenna during the height of the storm. While pine and oak trees were taking a beating and moving violently in all directions, the hy-tower was rock solid.
The shortened stub solution identified by N9NY (see his review below) helped me to fix the problem on 15M and now it is less than 2:1 swr across the entire band.
The antenna has been up for two years now (this month) and I remain a very satisfied customer. This is a durable and excellent functioning antenna.
Jim, W4JFR
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N9NY
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 22, 2004 18:58
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Correcting SWR on 15
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have the Hy-tower for just over a year and have had diffculty getting the swr down below 3:1 on 15 meters. The swr was high across the entire band.
I used the MFJ analyzer which pointed to the 15 meter stub needing to be shortened. The fine tuning stub was shortened from 21 inches to 14 1/2 inches. The swr is 1.5:1 across the band. I also tuned the 10 meter stub to 8 inches which brought the swr down significantly in the cw portion. Longer isn't always better!
73
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