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You can
write your own review of the Hy-Gain AV620 Six Band Vertical.
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K8OPV
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 16, 2009 19:41
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Works great for me
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I purchased this ant. new in 2000 and put it on an outbuilding where the bottom is 25' up using a small 3' roof tower. It was guyed with nylon line about a third of the way from the top and it has performed flawlessly since. There have been several 50-70 knot winds and lots of ice, but no damage. The SWR on all bands is close enough that I can use the autotuner in my rig.
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N9VR
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 23, 2009 17:30
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Works Well
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The assembly isn't bad, other than having to re-drill a half a dozen holes that were off center from the factory. SWR came out very good untill I raised it up to 45'. Then the 20 meter band was lost. Lowered it back down, added some length to the top and raised er' back up. Works well on all bands now. I have it sitting on top of a T6 Log and it performs as well as the log in most cases. This antenna sure bends in the wind though, so far so good but still wonder how long it will last.
Bill N9VR
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IW0GVG
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 21, 2009 03:28
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Good antenna
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I mounted the AV620 antenna at 5 feet above ground.
SWR measurement(SSB point):
20 mt 1.5
17 mt 1.6
15 mt 1.8
12 mt 1.3
10 mt 1.3
6 mt 1.2
My strument is Diamond SX-200
I have a Icom IC706 MKII with only 100 watts.
I used guys the center radiator.
The result is very satisfactory.
Good antenna.
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W8MIS
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Rating: 1/5
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Apr 6, 2009 12:17
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No Wet Snow/Ice
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Put this antenna up last fall. Seemed to be a little flimsy but looking are specs seemed it may work. Worked nicely on the bands, but in the wind sure looked like could bend. Only a slight curve when winds would subside. However this week we had some heavy snow and some freezing and it has a very bad bend that will not come back. I supect that the design is not would it should bet it will break soon. Beware in ice/snow conditons.
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DH4SC
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 25, 2009 15:29
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Good antenna but....
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Good antenna wich allows you to work a lot of DX stations. Good radiation angle. The AV-620 is made of very good materials and has a nice and strong design. The SWR on all bands is excellent and can be setup very easy. But you should spend a little more time to have a perfect setup especially when the antenna is roof mounted. The AV-620 should be guyed with light nylon ropes when mounted on a high or windy location.
The antenna is well done at all but some of the holes for the scews were drilled not as exactly as they should be. No problem to fix this little mistake but MFJ should improve their quality control!!!
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KD4GSL
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 10, 2009 16:21
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Great Antenna
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Purchased it used for $75 and this antenna replaced my A99 recently. All I can say it was a huge improvement both locally and DX wise. I almost didn't install the 620 as I have a Gap Titan that could have went up as well, the Gap isn't going up as the 620 is a keeper.
The construction of the antenna is fine, sways a bit but it is sturdy. If you are looking for multi-band vertical that needs to be elevated fairly high off the ground... I say this one fits the bill quite well. Very happy with it.
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VY2REG
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 22, 2008 16:33
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Good Antenna
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This antenna is a bit of a chore to put together, took me about 12 hours. The manual could use a little improvement. two of the stubs were not tapped properly. I mounted the antenna on a 6 ft pipe bolted to the side of my deck. Base of the antenna is about 8 ft above ground. I erected it myself, however I would recommend that you have someone help you. I live in a windy area so I decided to guy the antenna with 4 ropes. Glad I did that, we had 60+ mph winds last night. Yes the antenna is still standing. The antenna performs very well and seem to be as good as the G5RV it replaced. So far I have only used 20 & 17 Meters. I worked 11 different DX countries today. I would have given it a 4.5 if it was possible, because of the workmanship on two of the stubs.
VY2REG
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KK5DR
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 27, 2008 07:10
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Performs, if mounted high.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I got the AV620 as an interum antenna until I build a new beam, but after using it and finding that it performs very well, even for a vertical, I might keep it up permenantly.
I like the design of no traps, coils, capacitors, or other lossy tuning systems, the tunable stub system is easy to adjust and independent for each band, however, the hardware is somewhat complex to install. The manual was OK, if you pay little to no attention to the text, and use the drawings to construct it.
I mounted mine at 60 feet above the ground to the base of the vertical, the top of the antenna is at about 83 feet off the ground. It performs very, very well on all the bands I tested it on, near equal to the beam it replaced.
I did have a problem with 20 meter tuning, the tunable element was far too short to allow the center resonante point to be in the middle of the band, I had to add a 9 inch long tube to the top, and now it works fine. I think it might be due to the height above ground that I mounted it, de-tuning the vertical.
As I get older, climbing towers and handling big beams is getting very difficult, so this vertical might be the way I need to go to make it easier to maintain, since the vertical is light weight and easy to handle. The key to making a vertical perform is to mount it as high as possible, even if it has little to no gain, it will perform when it is at or above one wavelength (at 20M) above the ground.
The AV620 is DC grounded to the coax shield and the mast mounting bracket, via an RF choke inside the matching network box. It is possible that a nearby lightening strike can blow out this choke, so to check that the choke is good, place an ohmmeter across the coax input in the shack, it should read below 1 ohm, if it reads a very high resistance, the choke is open and should be replaced. This check should be done at least once a year, or more if your area has lots of thunderstorms. Be sure to completely disconnect the vertical whenever a storm is expected in the area.
If your the type of ham that dislikes traps, or coils on your antennas, the AV620 will make you smile, and even better, it actually works.
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K9GTJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 30, 2008 09:07
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More Than One Year Later - Great!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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It has been more than one year since I installed my antenna and I want to take a moment to review it again.
The antenna is still working flawlessly after a harsh Indiana winter and some very active spring/summer storms. The SWR was easy to tune during assembly and has remained tuned.
One concern I have seen mentioned is how flexible the antenna is and after several strong thunderstorms and winds over 50 MPH, the antenna sways but has never been damaged.
So how does it do? I use it mainly on 6, 10, and 20 meters and I have made contacts all over the US and Canada.
It doesn’t require anything more than the built-in tuner on my Icom 746Pro to keep the SWR perfect even in rain and snow conditions.
Other than the very poor assembly manual (with an excellent chart for SWR tuning), it has been a great antenna that requires no ground radials and can mount on the roof a home on a small lot.
http://www.ap1.net/antenna/ground.jpg & http://www.ap1.net/antenna/roof.jpg
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N7OE
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Rating: 4/5
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Mar 16, 2008 21:40
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Good antenna, terrible manual
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Wow, yet another 3/16 review! What are the odds?
Anyway, in short: I totally agree with the prior 3/16 review. In *long*:
Pros: Works as advertised, looks great too! I actually thought the parts were good-quality; certainly on par with Cushcrafts and other antennas I've assembled, if not *better* in some ways. The aluminum tubes all had beveled ends, the holes were all counter-sunk, etc. Few rough edges on some of the plastic parts, but nothing I really objected to.
Cons: Manual was AWFUL, and consequently assembly took a VERY long time. That's the main reason I'm giving it a 4/5 and not a 5/5. I think I spent at least seven hours building it!! The organization (or lack thereof) of the manual is particularly infuriating. Adding insult to injury are the many omissions and blatant errors, such as the positions of the stub insulators and the positions of the screw holes around the linear loading section, both of which required some disassembly/resassembly to get right. GRRR!!! Fortunately, it all pretty much goes together in only one way, so in hindsight I think it would have been hard to really screw it up. The process of figuring that out, however, is "an adventure".
BUT... I *am* genuinely pleased with the result. If Hy-Gain/MFJ could only be bothered to produce a better manual (i.e., one not written by somebody who clearly hates/hated their job), I would not hesitate to recommend this antenna to anyone in need of a good-performing, nice-looking, reasonably compact, trapless multi-bander. As it is, however, I can only recommend it to the handier folks with lots of tools and plenty of space to spread everything out and let the project take its course over several days or more.
73,
Aaron, N7OE
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