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Show all reviews of the Cushcraft MA5V 5 band vertical
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of the Cushcraft MA5V 5 band vertical.
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KG7RS
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 10, 2004 03:08
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A very pleasant surprise
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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In this day and age, it's always a nice surprise to purchase a product that exceeds your expectations. We recently moved to a neighborhood of new houses with CCR's disallowing visible antennas. Previously, our older home was complete with plenty of space and a literal playground for antenna experimentation. Since most of my operation is done in the field using QRP, I didn't concern myself with the ability to install an antenna at the new home. Finally, the desire to be QRV from the new home got the best of me. My desire was a multi-band antenna for 20-10m that did not require a tuner, without an extensive radial system, low profile to avoid complaints and of a design that I would reasonably expect to perform acceptably, all compromises considered. A vertical design seemed the best. Some research led me to believe the MA5V to be the best choice for my application.
Assembly time was about 2 hours, which included a pre-inventory and familiarization period. Assembly instructions were reasonably good. I was able to assemble the antenna fairly quickly, without do-overs or head-scratching. All parts were present. Quality was acceptable. As other posts have identified, there were lots of burrs on aluminum and fiberglass drillings. I don't personally find this a problem with a mass-produced antenna, which is essentially supplied as a kit. It does not seem unreasonable to me to perform a few additional operations such as minor deburring to produce a hand finished product of good workmanship. All parts fit together perfectly. The design is simple and lends itself well to easy parts replacement with commonly available materials should the antenna become damaged or through age.
The MA5V is very lightweight and easy to handle. It lends itself well to mounting in a variety of ways, a feature that is of primary concern to those living in situations that make errecting an effective antenna difficult. I chose to ground mount mine on a 6' section of TV antenna mast driven 3' into the ground, about 10' from the house.
The greatest surprise was experienced during testing and tune-up. SWR was essentially flat at 1.3:1 across the entire 17 and 12m bands, the vast majority of 15m and much of 10m. I was astonished at the bandwidth this antenna provides! On 20m, the SWR was lowest in the CW sub-band. All these reading were made with no tuning whatsoever, simply using the dimensions called for in the manual. I briefly took the antenna down, adjusted the 20m stub inward 3/4", reinstalled the antenna and noted the desired SWR shift to the middle of the 20m phone segment. Overall bandwidth on 20m was 2.2:1 on 14.000 and 2.7:1 at 14.350. SWR of less than 1.5:1 was experienced on most of the 20m phone band.
A quick on-air test was made on 20m phone with an Elecraft K2 transceiver operating at 12w PEP. A quick CQ was returned by a fellow in GA. Since then, I have worked several states all with excellent reports. On-air performance with this short, lightweight antenna continues to amaze me day after day.
Overall, the MA5V has well exceeded my expectations. The bandwidth offered by such a short lightweight vertical is astounding. There is a minor compromise in bandwidth on 20m, but this is far better than may be reasonably expected of such an electrically short radiator. The built in coaxial choke is a nice touch and does a good job of keeping the feedline from radiating. Fit and finish are acceptable. Documentation is good. I have not had an opportunity to deal with Cushcraft's support, but didn't require any for this product.
The few shortcomings I can foresee:
There is very little weatherproofing employed in this design. Resonators are covered with a coating that I suspect will not last long exposed to the high-UV environment of the AZ desert. Coaxial pigtail is fully exposed and should be sealed somehow by the owner. Cushcraft seems to market this antenna as an intermittent use antenna in deed-restricted conditions rather than one intended to be installed permanently. This would seem to be appropriate in high stress environments such as coastal areas. The only enigma...why does Cushcraft supply a PL-259 (male) connector on this product? It requires a barrel adapter to mate with your station coax.
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Product is in production.
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