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Reviews For: JK Antennas Mid-Tri-40

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

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Review Summary For : JK Antennas Mid-Tri-40
Reviews: 8MSRP: 2,695
Description:
A Mid level, cost effective but high quality Tribander
antenna with the addition of three quarter size elements
for 40M. 2 elements on 40M, 3 on 20M, 4 on 15M, and 5 on
10M.
Product is in production
More Info: http://jkantennas.com/jkmidtri.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0085
N1GFV Rating: 2023-04-16
A very effective line of antennas for 40-6m Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Jon, AA1K, recently installed my tower system, which consists of seven Rohn 55G sections, a JK WARC beam, a JK Mid-Tri-40 beam, a JK 67 beam, and monoband dipoles for 160, 80, and 60 meters. (Please see the separate eHam.net review on tower installer Jon, AA1K.)

I purchased the JK antennas on Jon's recommendation, based on his years of experience as an antenna and tower installer. The staff at JK Antennas was very responsive to my questions and provided well-considered answers in the early stages of planning for the tower. These antennas are crafted with the utmost precision, one at a time, and they work brilliantly. They "hear" exceptionally well and, if I can hear a DX station, I can usually work it, be it on CW, digital modes, or SSB. This is true even in the case of pileups and when using lower power. These antennas are yielding extraordinary results, including contacts with the opposite side of the globe, and I appreciate the company's excellent customer service.

If you have any questions or wish to see photographs of the tower installation, feel free to send an email to my address listed on QRZ.com.
N4RZ Rating: 2023-03-15
Excellent Antenna for 40M, 20M, 15M and 10M Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This antenna is challenging to assemble, but is well worth the effort invested! It is very rugged and has withstood 80mph winds at my location. In the past, I used mostly KLM antennas such as the 40M3L and the KT34XA. This antenna performs as well as the 40M3L with one less element on 40M and a bit better that the KT34XA on 20M and 10M. On 15M the Mid-TRI-40 is in a whole different class than all of the antennas I have used on that band in the past. The SWR is better than JK specs on all bands. The material used in this antenna is first-rate. The assembly manual was adequate but sometimes required reading multiple times to understand what you were doing and to find the proper parts for the subassembly. The only negative I can think of for this antenna is that boom to mast bracket is not at the balance point. This is probably to keep it away from the 20-10M feed system. Ken was great to deal with and answered all of my assembly questions very promptly.
K2SG Rating: 2022-09-25
High Quality, High performing and well made Antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have owned and used Telrex, Hygain,Mosley and Force 12 antenna's over the years. The JK Mid-Tri-40 is the best all around antenna I have ever owned. It performs like a monobander on each of the 10-40m bands and I found the swr to be as advertised which is very good on all bands including 40m. It is extremely well built with the best hardware available. It is not the easiest antenna to put together and takes some time and patience but well worth the effort. The performance continues to surprise me and I am looking forward to this falls contest season. Every owner of a JK antenna will tell you that the customer service provided by Ken is outstanding. He is dedicated to having happy customers and provides whatever assistance is necessary to achieve that goal. I have never met Ken and have no interest in JK antenna's other than a happy customer.
NO9E Rating: 2020-07-07
Helps running in contests Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have one installed on a 100' tower. It was a dog to assemble, with zillions of different tubes, screws and attachments. Took a week to finish. It is slightly unbalanced so a bit hard to set up. Ken enthusiastically helped many times with questions. In the end, all parts complete and well marked.

SWR is flat on 20 and 15m. Slightly higher at 28.0 but flat 28.1 to 28.8. On 40m, 1.0:1 SWR on 7.02, 2:1 at 7.1, 3:1 at 7.2 and 4:1 at 7.3.

The biggest change is on 40m. Pileups in contests and when just calling CQ. Far east easily heard and worked, CW and SSB. High SWR does not seem to matter, with excellent performance even close to 7.3. My Expert amp is pretuned so QSY within 40 is instantaneous.

Also pileups in contests when running on 20m to a point where I am deliberately using less popular frequencies. Not enough propagation to test the antenna well on 15 and 10m. But it hears well and works everyone that can be heard.

In the end, this antenna made my station competitive on 40-10, with all expectations met. Now whenever DX comes up, I expect to be heard first or second.
K2ADA Rating: 2020-01-16
Contest Competitor! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've used HyGain, Cushcraft, and Steppir. When I decided it was time to get serious about contesting, I started looking at the top scoring stations and their equipment. I don't have the room or money for multiple towers that would support mono band stacks, but I wanted to compete. After several months of research, I called JK and Ken gave me some advice. I ordered a Mid-Tri-40 and installed it atop a 70ft Rohn 25g tower. The build quality is impressive. It took some time to put together, but all of the hardware fits together well and is of high quality.

The performance is OUTSTANDING. Great contest scores and "Loudest signal on the band" reports. All of my future HF antennas will come from JK.
N6WIN Rating: 2018-10-18
Stack em and run Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I wanted a new multi monobander interlaced on a single boom for stacking on a crank up with 40m on the same boom. The intent was to be able to work across the bands HP both on CW and SSB while SO2R and in phase with a lower antenna. The Mid-Tri with 40m fit this bill!

The antenna was reasonable to build with a great mechanical design. Electrically it worked as I expected keeping my Acom 2000A and Alpha 78 happy. The manual is well made and easy to follow.

I'm honestly confident in running both CW and SSB. DXing is a pleasure too. SWR curves, F/B, and gain is great, as is not having to wait on a motor to tune for each band change.

I am very happy with this antenna's mechanical and electrical qualities.

Ken's customer service is very good, especially considering how busy he has become.
K2RD Rating: 2015-10-29
New Standard Setter Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
As an avid contester and DXer I was looking for an antenna that could both be a competitive performer and stand up to the heavy winds we experience in the Sierra-Nevada foothills outside Reno, NV. After considerable research and evaluation I settled on the JK Mid-Tri-40. Ken, W3JK, delivers a very solid mechanical product and one that has proven in a couple of contests and countless DX pileups to be a real winner.

As has been previously noted the antenna goes together well and has a very detailed and clear manual.

I have been amazed at how close my measurements of antenna SWR and performance follow Ken's model-based predictions. Ken is a master at antenna modeling and construction as well as providing outstanding customer service.

JK will be my "go-to" antenna vendor going forward and has my highest recommendation.

K3PA Rating: 2015-07-26
Fantastic upgrade! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a new antenna from JK, available in versions both with and without 40 Meters. This review is for the version with 40M.

Assembly was easy and flawless, with a very good manual, and mechanical construction was the finest I have ever seen. This will be a rugged antenna. Ken at JK responded quickly to questions and was very keen to support in any way he could. He even provided installation tips!

Attention to design and the precision of the electrical model was clear. I built to the dimensions given and the antenna was right on tune at installation, no tweaking was required! (Of course, your mileage may vary). Performance has been excellent. Gain and F/B are a very noticeable improvement from my previous Yagi. Bandwidth on 40 is fantastic, with good performance at both CW and phone parts of the band.

This company, and this model is an up-and-comer, folks. Innovative, and made in the US with quality we have not seen in some years. Even nicer than "that German brand". Don't consider a trap tribander when you can get something like this.