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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
00284.8
WA6QGH Rating: 2014-03-01
Great 5 Band Beam Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had Mosley TA-53 up for about 1 year. I have used the beam on all 5 bands and been very satisfied with its performance. The beam is very broad banded and gives good low SWR coverage. I have SWR plotted in excel if anyone is interested for all 5 bands. I use it mostly on SSB but I have used on digital mode on Olivia with the beam. I have used it on 10 meter FM with tuner as SWR is slightly over 2.1. I have easily worked North & South America, Europe , Africa, Asia and Pacific on all 5 bands. Previously I had Mosley TA-33 and KLM KT-34A but now I wanted all 5 bands on one beam. I am impressed with construction of the beam. I have the Mosley TA-53 on top of Wilson 40 foot tubular tower. Last year I upgraded the rotor from Hy Gain CD-45-II to Ham IV for the Mosley TA-53.
SA5BUM Rating: 2013-05-11
Very solid build antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Like lots of people write here about the antenna it's an really well build antenna easy to assemble and use. Perfect SWR on all band except on 10m Cw part little to high there but the tuner take care of that. So if you want rock solid antenna that performs good on all 5 bands then this is then antenna to buy.
K5KV Rating: 2012-12-10
A GREAT BEAM Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I USED THIS ANTENNA BETWEEN BATON ROUGE AND NEW ORLEANS SINCE 2001. IN 2005 IT SURVIVED KATRINA DANCING AROUND AND THE TOWER WAS BENT WITH GUSTAV. I TOOK IT DOWN FOR THE PENDING MOVE EARLIER THIS YEAR. WITH ZL9HR I MOUNTED IT 10 FT ABOVE GROUND AT THE NEW TEXAS QTH TIED TO A FENCE. WORKED ZL9HR ON 5 BANDS AT 10FT! ONLY 6 COUNTRIES LEFT. I AM NOW THINKING ABOUT PUTTING UP A S-33 FOR 3 EL ON 40M/20M/17M FIRST AND THE TA53M ON A SECOND TOWER. HARD TO BEAT WITH SOLID CONSTRUCTION.IT SURVIVES LA HURRICANES AND TEXAS WINDS.
KE7TRP Rating: 2012-03-20
Great antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I decided to put up the TA53M as it is small, covers 5 bands and takes full legal AM. Something that alot of other trap beams will not do. I enjoy working vintage AM gear on the HF bands which seems to be more and more popular.

My 53M is up 55ft on a crank up tower. All bands have a great SWR curve to them. 10 meters gets a little high at 28.600 and below around 2 to 1. I can go all the way up to 29.500 under 2 to 1. I wish this was shifted to the left 100KC but cant complain to much.

Follow the instructions and do not do anything different. Make the matching hook up 2.5 inches like they say for each lead. Use 213 coax like they say. I used a Palomar engineers slip on RF choke below the beam to keep rf off the coax. These are $17 and work great. No need to coil up a huge amount of coax.

I have done many FB tests and can confirm 10 to 15 DB FB ratio to stations. Side to front is 25 DB on my installation. This is higher on 20 meters with over 15 FB and 35 front to side. I have worked DX like crazy since its been up. Even worked rotuma on 100 watts. Most calls, is first time. What more do you want from a robust 5 band beam on an 18 ft boom???

I was never worried about the low FB ratio. I am in the south west and there is not many stations behind me while working across the cont US and into Europe. Dont worry about this at all. When I hear a week station and swing the 53M around and the S meter goes up from 1 to 9+ you will be pleased!
SP7BTB Rating: 2012-01-21
Still perfect... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It is my second review - the first one was in 2003 after one year of use. Still in Africa, still under harsh sun and heavy rains and thunderstorms will not mention about dust which is everywhere - no single sign of deteriorating performance!!! Small FB ratio-it is an advantage in my case - I know what is going on on the band around me and then turn my antenna in proper direction....
Definitely will take my TA53M with me to Poland once leaving 9L.
Zbig

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Earlier 5-star review posted by SP7BTB on 2003-06-25

Almost one year in African environment -rain, dust & very high temperature - still working very well.. you can hear me as 9L1BTB.....
The only concern was this one screw connection of pipes when others use clamps but it works......
K1WTX Rating: 2010-10-31
Works great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the Mosley TA-53 from a ham friend as a pile of tubing and a box of parts. Assembly, thanks to a copy of the manual, was fairly easy. I have it sitting atop a 45' tower and despite all the bum raps about "lossy" traps, the antenna allows me to work stations well that I can barely hear on wire antennas. I agree that the f/b ratio is low but Mosley specifically mentions gain vs. f/b ratio in their product info. I know that my antenna survived the devastating Maine ice storm of '98 and from the way it is built, I figure it will last through many more winters. In addition, I had to order some missing parts from Mosley and I found that they were friendly and fast. It's nice to deal with a company that still supports any and all antennas they have ever sold.

Jerry-K1WTX

W9XX Rating: 2007-06-17
Good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this antenna in 1994.For a small antenna on a city lot it does a good job.I just added the 40m add on last year so not much to say on that yet.The antenna has no front to back.The SWR is good other than the low end on 10m where it goes up to 1.8 below 28020.Thing is built to last.Its up at 50 feet and with stood about 60 mph winds.But I bought it because it was simple to put together and is well built.The reason I gave it a 4 is the service was not good when I ordered parts or the 40m add on kit.Delays and commitments that were not kept.
WB2HJV Rating: 2007-05-23
Really Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My TA-53 has been up for two years. It's a solid performer on all bands. There are even a few sweet spots on 6 meters and it performs quite well on that band as well. The SWR is very good but I find it skewed a tad towards the SSB end of each band. On 10 meters the power folds back on my TS-870S between 28000 and 28300, but the tuner takes care of it. Otherwise I leave the tuner off. I've been working all the great stuff with ease including the recent N8S and BS7H DXpeditions. It sits at 40 feet on a Rohn 45G tower. I never worry with 80mph gusts of wind, just roll over and go back to sleep! Buy one, you'll like it.
DK7LX Rating: 2006-12-01
TA-53-M Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have the TA-53 up on a 48ft tower since just about four weeks now. So far I am more than pleased with it and all the predictions turned out true. Easy assembling and made out of finest material. I didn“t have to re-drill a single hole or anything like that at all, something that I have really experienced with other well-known products in the past. All fitted just perfect. This antenna is really built like a tank and for ages. SWR is low throughout the entire band. Just amazing!
N9PYS Rating: 2006-07-31
gain on 17m Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I put up the TA53M 2 weeks ago, and have been running it through the ringer on all the bands. I am very impressed with the gain it provides, especially on 17m. Flat swr on all the bands at 40 feet. The F/B ratio is not any concern of mine, I am only interested in the gain, which is what its all about. This is my 2nd Mosley, had a TA33 up for years and was 20 years old when I got it. Hope the 53 last as long. Can't go wrong with a Mosley.