|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Cushcraft MA5B Mini Beam.
|
VE3PTC
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Sep 18, 2011 19:01
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
2nd review
|
Time owned: months
|
been a little over 3 years now since i put up the ma5b. the swr plots are exactly the same for all bands, and the antenna continues to impress me. not the best location, its mounted on heavy duty roof tripod at 28',but it works vy fb.
as for the "windmilling", when i assembled the antenna, i inserted 3/4" rod into the elements, and drilled thru, so that when i was tightening the clamps, the fibreglass would not break or collapse. better to tighten down onto a solid rod. in over 3 years of use, elements are still in same plane, and i see no reason to change the antenna, as it works well. for limited space, its hard to beat! vy 73 de bob.
|
|
GM6HGF
|
Rating: 3/5
|
Sep 15, 2011 04:19
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Element clamp issues
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Reflector element tends to windmill / turnstile in wind.
The issue is still a problem. I don't think it is acceptable to be buying new equipment and having to 'make good' a known issue on a new piece of equipment, when it has been around for sometime and the same issues reported my many operators previously. Is it not time to remedy the problem in production?
Performance wise, small footprint and good performance, which allows access between 20-10m.
|
|
AC4ZI
|
Rating: 1/5
|
Sep 6, 2011 09:23
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Assembly problems
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Very disappointing; you spend $500 for $50 worth of aluminum tubing and hardware, and what do you get? Unfortunately, the quality control of this product is non-existent. While assembling this antenna I discovered that the U bolts that mount the boom to the mast did not fit over the boom and measured them to be about 30 thousands undersize. I also noticed that the element clamps did not sit perpendicular to the boom and were of by some 10 to 15 degrees. I called Cushcraft technical support and they agreed to send me new parts, but the new U bolts they sent me were even smaller than the ones I had, and out of the 6 element clamps I had, 3 were useable. Fortunately for me, I have a machine shop and am a machinist by trade and was able to rework the parts.
Another major problem, not addressed by Cushcraft is the turnstileing of the boom around the mast and elements around the boom. I was able to remedy this problem with the appropriate use of some sheet metal screws and brackets, but that is a lot of extra work. All in all, what should have been an afternoon project took almost 2 weeks to complete. After completion, the antenna seemed to perform well, but unless you have access to a machine shop or have a buddy that is a machinist, I would not recommend this antenna.
|
|
N3JON
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 21, 2011 11:16
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
More how to repair a great antenna
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
In addition to my review of how to repair the trap shorting out problem a new problem came up.
I started getting momentary hi SWR reading all bands then yesterday they all went high very high.
It turns out that the matching network box opened up.
The SO-239 female chassis connector takes the cable shield side into the box via a bolt solder lug washer and nut on the inside of the box. Corrosion of the solder lug caused the shield side to open up.
This could have been fixed with cleaning the solder lug which I did but I also soldered to the SS Steel bolt as well.
Easy fix.
It might be worth some preventive maintenance on this if you have the antenna down.
|
|
OZ1GCT
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jul 30, 2011 03:07
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
BIG antenna in a small package
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I have worked with this antenna for some years now - and I think it's the best choice I ever done. My garden is very tiny, but I have plenty of space for this antenna. It's mounted on a 30' lightweigt, guided antenna mast, with a Yaesu G-450C rotator.
And I can work all the stations I can hear, and untill now I have worked 179 countries/ enteties.
I has used from 800 watt to qrp with this antenna.If somebody have problems with their antenna check it out, because the design is GREAT and it works GREAT.
|
|
W2YM
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jul 28, 2011 19:42
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
GREAT BEAM
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I've had this beam for a little over 3 year's and it works great. Never had any trouble with this beam what so ever. I put it together, put it up and works GREAT. If someone is having trouble with this beam you better check things out because it works like it should... :0) Mark W2YM
|
|
W9FFC
|
Rating: 2/5
|
Jul 28, 2011 16:51
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Buy a real beam.
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I have had this beam on a 4' tripod on the roof of a 2 story house for over 3 years now and as far as I'm concerned this is nothing more than a rotatable dummy load. I've been over this antenna several times and could find nothing wrong and is built according to spec's.I run an amp at 400 watts and find the increase in signal strength from bare foot 100 watts negligible. I do almost as well with a dipole cut for the band. I didn't expect miracles from a trapped mini beam but I expected more than I got.
|
|
W1EMQ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jul 17, 2011 13:58
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Built like an Erector kit, works well.
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
Bought this as a gift to myself to use with a 40-year-old Hustler 4-BTV vertical. Fairly easy to assemble, but lots of clamps, tubes, traps, and wiring. Despite previous comments, found antenna parts to be rugged and all pieces were properly drilled and assembled easily. Most time consuming was installing the capacitive spikes on each element. Operationally, antenna is up about 22-feet on a old Rohn push-up sectional mast and 4-foot pipe atop an old Hy-Gain AR-22 rotator. Started using the mini-beam during 2011 Field Day but propagation conditions in my area seemed to die on 26 June and bands remain extremely noisy and signals generally weak, with a few exceptions. However, in spite of these conditions, my recent DX has been to Jordon, Morocco, Georgia, Europe, Asiatic and European Russia, Carib, SAmerica, Greenland, Canary Islands, Corsica, Greece, Cyprus, and others. So hope for better results when conditions improve in the fall. Compared with 4-BTV, signals are stronger with the mini and I hear signals on the latter I cannot on the former. Compared with a former Mini-Products HQ-1 (now TGM MQ-1) mini-beam, the MA-5B seems to have better directivity and capture. The test of the antenna will be when we get the strong NW winds and ice and snow this winter. Caution: be sure to really tighten element tube clamps and element-to-boom clamps. I found elements i 'thought'I'd tighten enough drooped when installed on the rotor mast and after a little rotation vibration. All clamps needed another 2-3 small turns to make them fast. Also, I was missing one 7" end tube in my kit. A call to Cushcraft on a late Friday afternoon brought the missing part to my door by UPS overnight air express by 12 noon on Saturday. Great customer service, at least for this ham.
|
|
K8TS
|
Rating: 4/5
|
May 29, 2011 16:50
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
But......
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
Works very well, no problem with DX @ 40'. 17m really tops them all. Only concerns were; 1. Windmilling--had placed on tower by professional antenna men, but still have the problem of one element windmilling (loose clamp?) and working with a slingshot is a pain. 2. Orientation. Witch is director (reflector?). Lenghts are very close on each element and took some time to figure out. OE maybe hi hi
|
|
MI0SDR
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 16, 2011 15:16
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
great mini beam
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
hi all
have had my ma5b up from april 2010,working very well on all bands great on 17mts for a dipole worked
loads of dx, no issues with build of antenna for me
a 5 great antenna
derek mi0sdr
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
