|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
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
|
| Reviews Summary for W5GI Mystery Antenna |
|
Reviews: 28
|
Average rating: 4.4/5
|
MSRP: $100
|
|
Description: Design by John W5gi. This antenna is a collinear array and resembles a G5rv with lots of gain on 20m. Kit form is available from " The Wireman " and is very easy to build. Works on the low bands with a tuner and out performs a G5rv on 40, 80, and 160m. It has 6 lobes broadside, and gain is amazing. I also built a 17m version of this antenna, and compared to my hygain vertical, is as good or in some cases better. If you live in a restricted area and have a way to put up a wire antenna that is 100 ft in total length, and has 6db gain on 20m, this is the antenna for you. Please visit www.w5gi.com and look for the link to the " Mystery Antenna "
|
|
More info: http://www.w5gi.com
|
|
You can
write your own review of the W5GI Mystery Antenna.
|
WU8O
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 27, 2008 08:20
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Low noise? Understatement!
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
This is a must try antenna. I put one up last week and can't get over how low my noise is. A friend 6 miles south of me has a G5RV at 50ft. One night we tuned to 14.225 together. He had an S3-S4 noise level and heard no stations. I had less than 1/2 S-unit noise and could fully understand 2 stations talking to each other!
ONE BIG TIP. Add 1/4 wave length of 75 ohm coax to bottom of ladder line for matching on 20M. You will get nearly 1:1 swr on 20m and all other bands will tune much easier. I used RJ-11. Be sure to allow for velocity factor. You will probably need to trim the ladder line also to get the low swr into center of 20m band.
I also realized any coax can be used instead of RG-8X as long as it has a solid center conductor for strength. I used 1/4 inch flexable hardline.
|
|
WB0UZW
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 20, 2008 18:15
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Very Good Antenna
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
I replaced a G5RV with John's Mystery Antenna. I bought the kit. Took a couple hours to assemble and put up. First thing I noticed is how the noise level dropped a couple db and signals were stronger. Next was how easy it is to tune. I have loaded it on 160 with a Palstar AT-Auto but it's touchy on 160 with this little amount of wire. So it's not for 160 and doesn't claim to be. 80 through 6 are great!
It works great. The G5RV will stay on the shelf. I'm going to build a super loop and compare the two. Should be fun.
Enjoy.
|
|
WA2AC
|
Rating: 2/5
|
Jun 19, 2008 20:50
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
MYSTERY
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
The only mystery in this antenna is how you get people to believe that it is any better than a g5rv.I love the gain figures given they dont tell you when there is gain in a wire non rotatable antenna there are nulls which make it extremely directional as you increase in frequency.Over hyped to those who dont know better . Put up a center fed zep and do as well or better
|
|
OM5AWT
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 14, 2008 08:57
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Not bad at all..
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I was looking for the way to move the block of flats! (Smiles) because I did not like the layout and the overall building orientation. Obviously, no success there, so my dipole for 20 with number 8-like radiation diagram was not looking the direction I preferred. This antenna came as the answer, just because it acts like so called long dipole at 20m. The difference is not only because the 4 of 6 lobes are finally sending the signal towards desired directions, but also because the 3 dB gain caused by collinear effect, which is expected from long dipole antenna anyway. Is the loop better? Should we talk about lower bands, yes it is. It sure depends what is the orientation and polarization of the loop. Horizontal loop for 80, at 18 meters will sure beat this antenna on 80 in no time. But is it not what we expect from configuration as a such?
Described loop is getting very close to even four square, so it will beat the dipole short or long. Obviously we can't get high enough to achieve collinear effect on 80m band (even though we had a long dipole made for the band). Are we going to compare vertically oriented and vertically polarized loop made for 40m, which will act like super loop on 20m? Yes, such a loop will beat this antenna again, mainly because of very low radiation angle, the dipole type antenna can only dream about. But again, such a loop will beat most of simple yagis also. So what is the conclusion here? Coax sections will bring a bit of double bazooka effect, thus will make it quieter for receive on all bands. Collinear effect will secure the gain normally guaranteed by so called long dipole antenna. This antenna will beat any variation of G5RV, any resonant cut dipole for 20m, and any Windom type antenna. Also, if you can't move the block of flats and layout of the roof, you can move the radiation pattern of the antenna, without moving the antenna itself. Try for your self, I did. Maybe a simple modeling software could help to understand the benefit.
|
|
K9IUQ
|
Rating: 3/5
|
May 14, 2008 07:30
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Typical Over-Hyped Antenna
|
Time owned: months
|
I was looking for a backup antenna after losing my 130 center (open feedline)fed doublet to an ice storm. The Mystery antenna looked interesting and after reading the reviews here I was expecting a great antenna - WRONG. The Mystery antenna is not great. I have compared it to my 75 mtr loop and the loop always is 2-3 s units better. It definetly is not as good as the 130 ft doublet was. With coax prices high there is NO reason to build an antenna like this. It is not magical and will not beat any comparable size wire antenna.
Since this antenna requires a tuner you may as well just put up a wire fed with open wire feedline and enjoy better performance..
|
|
G4WIE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Apr 20, 2008 02:17
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Proof of the Pudding!
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Hello. I am living at my father in laws house in Edinburgh Scotland . Very restricted garden size for antennas. Theres even a phone pole in the garden at the back of our qth so antennas cannot be very high in installation. Tried all sorts. Made up the "Mystery Antenna" today it really does perform better than my trusty f/G5RV. It is installed the same as the 5RV bent around the garden! It has much lower SWR and stations can now here me! I only ever run 50 watts ssb. Soooo the proof of the pudding as they say!
|
|
KI4NQM
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Mar 16, 2008 09:34
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
A Great Antenna
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
This is the first antenna the I have built,and suprise the darn thing works GREAT.I have it set up as a inverted Vee up 50 foot.
Jon I just want to thank you for your antenna design W5gi Mystery. I have built it and it works GREAT.
Again thanks God Bless You.
|
|
W7CXA
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 15, 2008 06:45
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Replaced a loop with the W5GI antenna
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Just installed the Mystery antenna, in place of an 80 meter loop. The antenna, without a tuner, was 1.3 to 1 on 20 meters. I compared signal strengths with my tri band beam, and they were comparable, which surprised me! I then used the antenna tuner and tried it on 75. It worked great! I worked Hawaii on 75 and got a 5/9 report running 100 watts. It also works well on 40. I have also tuned it on 30, 17, 15, 12, 10 with good results.
I did make a change in the construction. I used RG8 for the coax pieces instead of RG8X. I also used #12 stranded insulated wire. I used 31.5 feet of 450 ohm ladder line, fed with RG8 coax. Works great! I feel the signals are stronger with this antenna than with the loop I had up.
This is an easy antenna to construct, and is excellent for home or field day installation.
Andy W7CXA
|
|
KC4TM
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Dec 28, 2007 08:38
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Works great
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Antenna performs great. Easily constructed and tuned. John was very helpful by email verifying measurements and answering all questions.
Constructed and hung in just over one hour. The antenna's SWR was right in the zone according to the websites listed values. Put in 75 ohm match transformer and brought it down to 1.1 across the 20 meter band. Tunes easily with a tuner on all other bands.
Initial results on first test was a 5/9 report into French Guyana, France from SW FL. He picked me out of a pileup on first call.
Other "local" DX into Cuba, Aruba, Brazil and Costa Rica netted reports of 10+ over nine.
Several stateside contacts gave me 5/8's and 5/9's over a one week period. I know that some ops are pretty free with their 5/9 reports, so I asked several of them for honest reports and they all stuck to their initial reports.
More time is needed for an indepth report, but I would recommend this antenna.
|
|
W8BBM
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 2, 2007 11:48
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Very nice performer
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
I printed the instructions from the W5GI website, ordered whatever I didn't have on hand and built the antenna in short order. I found it to work EXACTLY as advertised and the SWR on each of the bands was very usable! I put the antenna up and had great QSOs (including 40m phone DX) on the only bands that were open that day which were 20, 40 and 80. For what it cost to make, you can't go wrong with ease of assembly and ultimately the good performance. To the newbees and veterans alike, I say build it and be on the air effectively on a whole bunch of bands in a nice way.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
