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Reviews For: EAntenna 40MDY2

Category: Antennas: HF: Yagi, Quad, Rotary dipole, LPDA

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Review Summary For : EAntenna 40MDY2
Reviews: 3MSRP:
Description:
40m 2 elements yagi with shortened elements
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0033
SM6TKG Rating: 2020-06-10
Solid short boom two element Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is a short boom 2 element yagi with shortening coils
It is a standard type design and peroformance is probably same as other 2 element short boom yagis for 40m.
Mine is mounted at 22m, 2m above my Eantenna 59+
Production is now moved to Wimo in Germany

+ Robust build and quality materials
+ Thick wire coils for low loss
+ Easy to adjust element length to set center frequency
+ Stainless steel screws
+ Easy to build and install
+ Reasonable price
- Some parts, boom and mounting plates, had incorrect drilling and needed replacement from supplier.

SWR measured with analyzer at bottom of tower
7.000 1:1.47
7.033 1:1.08
7.100 1:1.38
7.150 1:1.69
7.200 1:2.21

ON9CC Rating: 2018-03-19
Not covering full band and sucks mechanically. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this one back in 2014. At unpacking I already noticed that the ends of the coils dissappeared in cheap thin heat shrinking tube ... but didn't pay any further attention.

So I put the antenna together but had problems tuning the antenna. First the bandwidth was very narrow (also commented by other reviewer here) and second I couldn't get it tuned in the band (only below). Shortening as described didn't do the trick. Since the elements were short already I didn't want to be cutting more than needed so I contacted the producer. He sent new coils which I needed to swap with the existing.

Then, when I removed the heat shrinking tube, my jaw fell to the floor. I couldn't believe what I saw. The trap construction is very very poor. The coils are build of (since it is some time ago I think) 4 mm (or 5) solid round aluminium bar. Then the ends are flattened (like when compressing an aluminum tube in a vise) so that it widens and one can drill a hole. But left and right from the hole then only ~1 mm Aluminum is left. 2 of the 4 coils showed cracks already hence this would have given issues down the road. So even when I slightly tightened the screws that holds the new coils to the element, the new material cracked. One doesn't need a degree in mechanical engineering to tell that this is a very very poor mechanical construction!!

Even with the new coils, the bandwidth was poor (other reviewer also noticed that) and for sure NOT covering the full 40m band as advertised.

I decided not to spent any more time on that antenna as the traps for sure wouldn't hold for long and if there is one thing I hate it's maintenance work ... at big antennas high in towers.

I almost forgot this bad experience, wasn't it for an e-mail that I recently got from another HAM who also bought this antenna and was asking me how to tune the thing as he was having the same issue as I had. I'm still wondering where he got the information from that I had such an antenna as it is not mentioned on my home/QRZ.com page where he said he got the info from .. but anyway ...
Point is that the producer obviously hasn't improved the design ... I think if you build and sell this type and size of antennas for a living, you should do your homework or else leave it to the pro's ... like Optibeam.
UA9CDC Rating: 2015-03-28
Very good quality Time Owned: N.A.
We purchased this antenna for our shack in Madeira. It has arrived in time and stuff at the EAntennas was very responsive and quick. The quality of manufacturing is simply excellent. The design is very well thought out. Mechanically and electrically the antenna is awesome. All the holes in the elements and boom drilled so that you cannot assemble it in a wrong way. When set up, antenna wins 10 db over Ultra Beam vertical in Europe when making A/B comparisons on the air. The only criticism is lack of proper manual in English, but then pictures and drawings have enough information for anyone who wants to understand how to do it. Another small disappointment was that 1.0 - 2.0 SWR bandwidth is only around 120 kHz. But that might have been expected with elements length of around 12 meters. All in all this antenna sure deserves solid 5.

73 Igor UA9CDC