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Reviews For: Mosley TA 53

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

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Review Summary For : Mosley TA 53
Reviews: 28MSRP: 812.95 + shipping
Description:
5 band HF beam
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15284.8
N2EIO Rating: 2024-11-21
Perfect for its purpose Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Reviews for this antenna run the entire gamut. My experience: The antenna is very well made, assembly was straight forward, and it has been completely trouble-free. Performance is as described by Moseley, including the SWR curves. For those reporting different performance, I must assume there is something in the installation that is responsible.

I needed a compact antenna (due to trees), and I wanted respectable gain on all bands from 10m to 20m, including the WARC bands. As Moseley states, the trade-off is F/B, which is only 5 db on 12m, and 10 db to 16 db on the other bands. Frankly, most people want their directional antenna optimized for gain, which is what Moseley has done. What you end up with is a robust yagi with good gain on a short boom (turning radius less than 15 feet) and a small wind-load (6.7 sq. ft).

Bottom line: 7 years of reliable performance and no regrets.

Update: It's 2024 and this is still my go-to, trouble-free antenna for 29 years (including two hurricanes).
VA7UO Rating: 2019-04-02
Great antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I recently saved this antenna from a scrap pile, apparently it was donated to our local club however it had one broken driven element where it connects to the insulator blocks. It looks like it fell as the reflector was bent about 20° and the phasing sections were damaged.
I managed to find another piece of aluminum to replace the damaged 18" section and a heavy wall aluminum conduit section to add a stiffener. Ordered new saddles, insulator blocks and U bolts from Mosley which were quite helpful. The support bars were damaged but I managed to find two used ones from a TA-33jr which are the same except that I had to drill new holes for the 2" U bolts. Last weekend it was assembled and tested in the yard. Success! SWR dips were it should be at least at 6' off the ground.
Traps were disassembled and cleaned, works FB.
Thanks again Mosley and Melissa for your help.
K5DSQ Rating: 2018-11-02
Great Antenna for the size and price Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is one great antenna for it size (14' boom). Easy to put together, built to last and performs very well on all 5 bands. Not much on the F/B ratio but I knew that going in and not something I was really concerned about. The SWR is very close to factory specs and handles full legal limit easily. Its been through some pretty rough weather and keeps on ticking. I have always loved how well Mosley antennas are built. No problems here.
NO4J Rating: 2016-12-11
Just WOW! Great signal on all 5 Bands. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Everything I expected and more. I have the TA-53-M and the TA-40-KR. It has been up for about 2 months. I have it at 55 feet. They are correct when they say very little front to back ratio. If that is your thing, do not buy this antenna. However, the forward gain must be outstanding. I have had monobanders in the past at higher heights and they were no better than this antenna. 3 elements on 5 bands and a rotatable dipole on 40 mtrs. It is a heavy antenna because it is built to withstand a lot of abuse, natural and man made. You can look at my QRZ.com page (NO4J) and see a link to some pictures I took during the 'project'.
It went together very nicely and quite easily. I took my time making sure everything was right and it took about 5 hours to assemble. It can be done a lot quicker. In a conversation with Mosely, I asked how much the 40 add-on would help over my G5RV at 45 feet. He told me I would be in the top 5%. Right! Well, he told the truth. I enjoy 40 mtrs just as much as the higher bands.
A friend of mine has ordered one after seeing mine in action. He can be seen in the pics in the above link.
I recommend this antenna without reservation. Just remember, it weighs 55 pounds. 65 with the 40 mtr add-on.
I am very happy with my purchase and yes, I would do it again.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by NO4J on 2016-10-21

I have had my TA-53-M with TA-40-KR up at 55 feet for almost a week. Very impressed. I can work everything. Very little F/B but that's as advertised and fine with me. This antenna is really well built and a little heavy for a small beam. But that means it is a survivor. It scared me a little when I first tested it on sawhorses. I could not get a SWR dip at all on 40 meters. Mosley told me that was normal. They were correct. I tested it again half way up the tower (Hazer) and it was fine. The only concern is the bandwidth on 20. I think adding the 40 mtr kit might have narrowed 20 mtrs. Just a guess. I get about 200khz on 20 meters. All other bands are fine. Overall.....Outstanding. This will be my workhorse for many years to come. Good job, Mosely.
W2NRA Rating: 2016-10-31
Very durable and Great performance Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had my Mosley TA-53M up for 25 1/3 years. It has survive many storms, including a couple of hurricanes over the years. The only maintenance I've done is replaced the feed line 3 times. It has performed very well and help me get on the DXCC CW Honor Roll and the WAS Triple Play #56.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W2NRA on 2016-10-31

I've had my Mosley TA-53M up for 25 1/3 years. The only maintenance I've done is replaced the feed line 3 times. It has performed very well and help me get on the DXCC CW Honor Roll and the WAS Triple Play #56.
W4KVW Rating: 2016-10-16
Keeps on Busting Pileups! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well I have had my TA-53M up now for about 10 1/2 years at 55 ft.& it has never let me down.It does not matter what band I'm on it will bust the biggest pileups I have come across & I'm a DX Chaser.Even under the poor band conditions DX is not an issue for me.It's pretty obvious that Mosley builds quality antennas or they would never have survived well over 70 years in business.Most all of my local Ham Radio friends also run a Mosley HF yagi & none of them have any issues.Go & buy yourself a Mosley yagi & you will have a long lasting,DX busting, dependable,& tough antenna that just may outlast you & stop listening to those who say a yagi with traps will not perform against those without traps because it's obvious listening to the pileups that a Mosley yagi will walk the dog all over the DX world.Thanks again Mosley for building Top Quality antennas. {:>)

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W4KVW on 2006-08-04

I have had the Mosley TA-53-M up since Field Day 2006 with ZERO complaints. Assembly was easy & took about an hour with 2 of us working on it.It KICKS butt as I expected it would.No prop to speak of on 10 or 12 meters so far but I'm sure it will do as well as it does on 20,17,& 15 meters.The SWR's are GREAT just as advertised and like my previous tri-bander(15 year old TA-33JR)does NOT keeping me waiting in the pileups.The wait was a couple of weeks longer than expected but now I think well worth the wait.Folks talk BAD about the traps & losses with traps but maybe the losses are REALLY small & that's why it works so GREAT for just rag chewing & in the DX pileups.NO moving parts just "BIG" signals.Make your own choice for your investment but the folks at Mosley have been doing it right now for 67 PLUS years!Catch you in a pileup soon & compare our signal reports! The TA-53-M is a GREAT 5 band beam with ONLY a 14 ft boom so check one out yourself!ClaytonW4KVW
WA5WA Rating: 2016-03-20
Happy customer with Mosley Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased this antenna on Sept 2015 and easy to install, low SWR and light, and I got my first DXCC. I buy monoband 40 Meter SF-402-A on the way, so exicited!
Happy customer with Mosley.
G0OQQ Rating: 2015-11-28
Great antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well made antenna ,all pre-drilled holes so no tuning.
Tested for SWR at 8 feet on temp mast before putting on mast
17M and 12M were highest both showing 2-1..but when up at 30 feet 17M was 1-1.2. and 12M 1-1-3 so all ok.
Very impressed with low SWR over entire band so no tuner needed...very impressed.
DL7SFT Rating: 2015-05-26
very good performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I use the TA-53M with 40m Kit TA-40KR (SSB only). This is a real solid antenna. You can switch through the Bands and immediately are ready to transmit. No tuning needed.
In only 2 month i worked 129 DXCC all over the world without any problem or investing a lot of time.
The quality is also very well and assembly with the color codes very easy. SWR worked immediately.
IW2DUG Rating: 2015-04-08
Amazing Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just placed on new 6 mt tower at the top of the roof its started to perform as Mosley specify.
Really easy to assembly thanks to the color code present on each parts. Recomended Noalox anti-oxidant compound to ensure perfect connections and durability. Perfect costruction using heavy duty materials and project. Excellent SWR curve on all 5 covered bands. The antenna has been assembled and installed on the tower as Mosley recomended lets it. RF choke placed nearly the phasing line, turning coax cable 5 times on 15cm diameter. F/B ratio related to a 4,3mt boom lengh and strong front/side ratio. Real 3 element Yagi on each band evoide multi antenna and additional tower specially in small enviroment installation place. Alway a prompt answer from any Dx call.
Finally forget built-in antenna tuner of your RTX, no more needed. Whatelse........ try it and clean your roof from christmas tree !!!

Mosley forewer.
IW2DUG