|
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
|
You can
write your own review of the Comet H422.
|
K4RYR
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Feb 7, 2010 11:53
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Well Worth the $$$$ Great Support!!
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I wrote a review of this antenna some months ago and still consider it a real winner!!! Price wise it is a good value purchase at around $300.00 I recently had the balun sent with the antenna fail, opening up the unit it appeared that the enamel had failed on a couple of windings and it shorted a couple of turns out. I e-mailed Mitch at NCG asking for cost and del. for a replacement and guess what...Mitch e-mailed me back and sent me a new balun at "No Charge"!!! These guys are really great and stand behind the product 110%. Other manufacturers could learn from these guys about customer service!!! Buy one!! You will love this antenna!!!
|
|
M6GOM
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Feb 1, 2010 11:20
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Good for limited space
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Bear in mind the only antennas I have to compare it to are my own homebrew wire jobbies.
Had mine a week now. No problems with the build quality and instructions are reasonably clear enough for anyone with half a brain. It is mounted on a 5m aluminium pole in the V configuration in the back garden. Borrowed a MFJ antenna analyser to set it up but to be honest, it wasn't really needed as it gave good SWR (minimum 1.1:1 up to just about usable 3:1) on all of the bands for the whole of the band except 40m. 40m is quite narrow but the internal tuner in my Kenwood TS-480SAT manages to tune the antenna fine. ATU isn't really needed on 15m and above. Interestingly, the analyser also showed a low SWR over most of the 6m band - certainly low enough to be used. However there's a lack of 6m activity in my area so I've not been able to try it.
I'm only UK Foundation Licence so limited to 10W. Despite that, I've managed QSOs up to 1600 miles on 20m and 40m this week with Moscow being the furthest. Antenna is broadside East-West (pointing N/S) and despite that, I've had QSOs with Portugal and Italy suggesting that it is quite omnidirectional. Maybe that is more to do with only being 5m up.
Does it work? Well its certainly no worse than the monoband homebrew wire dipoles I put up and 1500 miles on 10W, whilst being mounted quite low with next to knack all propogation seems like reasonable performance to me.
|
|
N0YXE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 14, 2010 13:39
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Third Review
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
So far, so good. I was getting some RFI, mostly on 20 Meters. It did not appear to be coming from the power line. I was also getting mostly stations from the South. So today I moved the direction of the antenna so that the ends now point East and West. It appears that the antenna radiates towards the direction of the ends. At least so far. The RFI appears to be cured. Their is a distant cell tower in the previous end direction. Did this cause the RFI? Can't be sure. THe antenna still appears to be working well.
|
|
NU4J
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Sep 20, 2009 14:58
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
SWR Measurements
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Just got the antenna up, element lengths adjusted and thought I would share my SWR measurements with you while fresh on my mind and before I scrap the paper.
My H422 came with the CBL-2500 balun and there was a change notification sheet included to explain that. Evidently earlier models came with a CBL-2000 balun and I have no idea when that change happened.
The instructions aren't great but this is what happens when Japanese translate Japanese into English.
You can set the lengths of the two elements for CW operation, SSB operation or FM (28 MHZ) operation. The lengths of both legs are not exactly the same length for the 40m band. That had me scratching my head. The left element is 11.8110 (300mm) inches longer that the right leg. Every measurement in the instruction sheets are in centimeters or millimeters so be forewarned.
Not expecting to have good SWR where I wanted to operate, I wasn't disappointed. Although I set up the SSB portion of the band for 40 and 20m it was resonate in the low portion of the CW band right at the band edge.
For the SSB portions of each band the instructions say to "Assemble To See One Hole Only" between the 15 and 20m traps. I needed to raise the frequency on 20m so I set to see NO holes between the 15 and 20m traps... effectivly shorting the distance between the two and raising the frequency.
Using an old Autek antenna analyst and the H422 eight feet off the ground these are the measurements I obtained. I'm sure I could tweak the measurements a bit better but I'm 70 years old and lazy. BTW, the SWR didn't change from eight feet off the ground and 25 feet off the ground. Another pleasant surprize. Here we go:
SWR Frequency
3.0 7.115
2.5 7.138
2.0 7.155
1.5 7.195
2.0 7.231
2.5 7.253
3.0 7.274
2.0 14.060
1.5 14.110
2.0 14.240
2.5 14.270
3.0 14.300
1.5 21.000
1.0 21.100
1.5 21.240
2.0 21.330
2.5 21.420
1.5 28.000
1.1 28.680
1.5 29.240
After reading other reviews, I'm aware of mechanical problems with rivets. I didn't find any loose so I didn't drill them out and replace them. Remember, I'm 70 and lazy!
This antenna should work good! I put it up in the rain.
|
|
YV4DHS
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jul 11, 2009 20:46
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great antenna
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
|
I am happy with my new COMET H422 ,the same is great for field day and outdoors activities . All bands 10/15/20/40 mts works without problems . I use this antenna with LDG AT 7000 wonderfull.
|
|
W3AM
|
Rating: 3/5
|
Jun 5, 2009 09:33
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Works fine, beware poor fasteners.
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
For a compact multiband HF antenna the 422 performs as well as you'd expect for a simple dipole. No complaints there. The 40M capability is a real boon, especially since the broadcasters have moved. Although the bandwidth is very narrow on 40M and it takes time to adjust the elements to get it where you want it, (somewhat narrow on 20M also), I'm using an LDG AT-200Pro autotuner with it and it's a great combo. Can make it work 40M-10M no problem.
The problem with the antenna is the traps are all connected to the elements using aluminum pop rivets, some of which may be loose out of the box. You may not have problems with yours right away, but I'd expect most of these antennas to develop loose connection issues as they age, especially if installed in windy locations that flex the elements a lot.
My unit had intermittent connections in the 20M traps on day one, causing transient mismatch problems and annoying receiver noise.
The fix isn't hard, but requires the rivets to be drilled out so you can open the traps and then drill out the rivets inside so you can replace them with machine hardware. After I did that, no more problems and the antenna is very solid and works well.
From Miami, set up as a 'V' at only ~10M AGL, I've worked around Europe and out to the west coast with 100W. Can't ask for more.
For someone who's looking to just buy something and not have to fool with it, beware the rivets. But if you don't mind a little work it's all very fixable.
I'd also echo the earlier review about being careful with the plastic element insulators, they will crack under tightening if you don't make certain they are totally flat against the surface of the mast plate before you tighten. But it's not fatal. You should probably also open the balun and check to make sure the connections are tight. Mine wan't bad, and all the solder connections were ok, unlike a couple others I've read about here.
If you don't have trees or supports for a good wire antenna and are limited in space, a dipole like this is a good compromise and is very easy to install.
If it weren't for the rivet problem I'd give the antenna a 5. Now to see how it holds up thru hurricane season this summer!
|
|
G0NCE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 25, 2009 06:25
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
still in the air after 3 years
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Ok, the H422- has been up for nearly 3 years now, have just repaired the 20m traps. Rewound with copper instead of aluminium, and used fiberglass instead of plastic as the coil former.
The rivets came loose and have replaced them as well. The 20m traps seem to be the weak link, otherwise its gone back up and should last just as long if not longer.
Don't think that making the coils of copper has improved things, but must have reduced some losses albeit a small fraction.I regulary speak with a friend in Spain on 40 and 20m who has the same antenna and I can say his signal is better than most using a g5rv or dipole. he is getting the same results as me, and still pleased with his purchase.
G0NCE
|
|
DELTAP
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Mar 11, 2009 18:08
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Back for the final
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
I have been really impressed with this antenna. I was looking for something that was not too conspicuous for the neighborhood but performed well enough, and something that my homebrew tilt-over mast would hold up. I don’t have a tower. The antenna is mounted 40 ft up in V configuration and free and clear in the open. I keep it oriented broadside to the line northwest – southeast (AL) and almost never rotate it as I find it only slightly directional. I run an Elk 2m-440 LP between it at about 3 ft above as well. 20 meter swr bandwidth is tight but I have been able to tune and get out on the edges without much trouble. 40m, 15m, 10m all perform well. My plotted SWR is posted below. It actually performed very well in the recent Int. DX contest. I find the construction of the antenna to be exceptional. It’s simple; it’s all aluminum tubing so it doesn’t weigh much and it’s strong. The wind area is also very low. In fact, my antenna has been brutally pounded in day long wind gust several times now, and has held up well. Birds land on the tips and it holds up well. I have been totally satisfied with this antenna. Overall, for the cost, size, and performance of this antenna, it was just what I was looking for.
|
|
GM1FLQ
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Mar 11, 2009 05:47
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Good for what it is
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
If you adopt the attitude that nobody does anything right these days you will not be far off the mark and you will not be disappointed.
With this in mind I sleeved the inner sections with interference fit aluminium tubing. It has been up around 9m high in some horrendous winter winds with no problems. I also added self amalgamating tape to the original seals for good measure. No problems with SWR or intermittent connections and performance is about same as a dedicated dipole at a similar hight.
Build quality is better than a lot of other ham equipment I can think on but that wouldn't be hard.
|
|
MI3LVZ
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Mar 10, 2009 13:27
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
So far, so good
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
Iv had the H422 for about a 2 months now and at first i had mixed thoughts on the antenna.
The build quality left something to be desired. Firstly, be careful when tightening the clamps that fix the elements to the main mounting bracket as one of the plastic U shaped supports broke with very little effort! Secondly, after erecting the antenna i checked the SWR. Off the scale on all bands (END STOPPING)!!!!
Brought the antenna down and had a look inside the balun. Two of the solder joints hadn't even been touched with an iron and the earth hadn't been attached!! Plus, as with the previous review, the core of the balun had to be reglued!!
Thirdly, the cost! In September 2008 these antennas were £180 approx, i paid £248!!(Jan 2009) (Bloody credit crunch!). I have mine mounted at 7 meters, in the V configuration. SWR is fine on all bands barr 40, cant get it below 1.8! And height and location does make a big difference with resonance. Once you get over any little problems the antenna works quite well. 40 is very good and 20, well 20s always gona be 20! Its at least 2 to 3 S points up on my hustler 6BTV. So over all im pleased but would have been happier if still £180 as i dont think its worth much more.
Martin.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
