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Reviews For: Super Antennas MP-1 Portable Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : Super Antennas MP-1 Portable Antenna
Reviews: 155MSRP: 150.
Description:
Covers 40 thru 6 Meters. Will cover 80 Meters with accesory coil MP-80. Capable of QRP thru 150 Watts. Coil Size 10.5x 1.25 inches.
Product is in production
More Info: http://newsuperantenna.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001554.4
KM4VX Rating: 2008-04-07
Hears nothibg and No one hears you. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this last Fall at HRO and used it on a few trips to Virginia. I tried using it inside and outside the hotel with a QRP rig. I never heard a single station and no one ever heard my signal. My conclusion is that this antenna is a waste of money and basically a piece of junk. I am familiar with using compromise antennas, and have no problem with diminished performance; I do, however, object to an antenna that does nothing. I have used everything from Yagi to long wire antenna but have never found one that performed as poorly as the MP-1. On the positive side it is very portable; can be easily trashed.
KA9TRX Rating: 2008-04-07
Excellent Vacation Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Operating from a condo in Florida last week with Knwood 480 and MP-1. I worked DX on 40, 20, and 17. Tuned easily on all bands. Used my wifes fingernail polish to mark bands. Good state side contacts as well. I did not operate an extended period of time but this portable antenna is exactly what I needed. No complaints..Perfect..
PS: go to the local golf store and purchase an insulated beverage tube...awesome case for the antenna...
KB1ODO Rating: 2008-03-18
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Needed an antenna to use at my portable station at our condo in Maine.Set it up on the enclosed back porch.For ease of fine tunning the swr I used a MFJ versa tunner,and was able to tune to 1:1 .There was a DX contest so I tried 20M.Made contacts with Germany,Austria,England,Serbia,Netherlands,Italy,Canary Island and across the US to Washington State.That night I tried 40 M and even with bad conditions I was able to work the East Coast.So far the antenna has done a great job,I would recomend it for indoor use.
N4RTD Rating: 2008-02-24
Wow Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased a Super Antennas MP-1 Portable Antenna based on reviews I had read. Although I do plan to use it portable it has become my main antenna at home as I live in a convenant governed community. I have used this antenna with both a Kenwood TS-480/SAT and a friends Kenwood TS-2000 radio and must say I cannot believe the importance from this screwdriver antenna. I use this antenna on many modes and all bands from 40-10 and have just purchased the 80 meter coil. For its size and ease of use my friends and myself cannot believe how this antenna performs. Needless to say I am very happy.
KI4MSJ Rating: 2007-12-28
Unsure Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna used. Upon arrival it was packed poorly and the plastic thumbscrew was broken off and part of it was still in the tuning coil. I called Vern and told him about this and not only did he help with a couple of different ways to get this piece out but, he is sending me two new thumbscrews at no charge. I am writing this review based on the services provided and not the actual performance of the MP-1 antenna as I have not used the antenna as of yet. I can comment on the quality manufacturing of the antenna and find it to be of good quality for the price. The machine work and fitting seems to be good and sturdy. As for the counterpoise, I think the ribbon wire that is used should be replaced with better quality coated wire and make them around 33'.
I will follow up on this review once I use the antenna.
W4IOS Rating: 2007-10-17
NO Support Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased this antenna to use while staying in motels along with my Kenwood TS-2000. Setting up was not a problem, pretty stright forward. The first thing I noticed was the tuning chart that was with the antenna was not even close, but using the MFJ antenna anlizer tuning on 2 meters was not a problem. I worked several counties and a lot on the West coast sitting in my motel room and the antenna was outside the window by my room. I was very happy with the antenna until i needed to change bands and that is when I found out that I could NOT get the SWR below 2:1 on anything higher than 20 meters. 40 and 20 meters was good but that was all. I figured it was something I done wrong so i sent an e-mail to the company. Four (4) days later I still didn't get an answer. So I sent it again, I did this for three more times and that was almost three (3) months ago and I still havn't heard from the maker. I have called several times during all this and no one answered the phone. The unit worked good on 40 and 20 meters BUT that is all. it is advertized to work on 40 meters thru 70cm bands. in my opinion that is bull. if you only want to work 40 and 20 meters then this is the portable antenna for you, otherwise its bull. I can NOT recommend this product to anyone due to the lack of support the maker offers!!
KC5BHJ Rating: 2007-08-07
Very Nice antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased one of the Super Antennas at Ham Com in Plano of this year along with the 80 meter coil. I was planning a trip fly fishing in Northern New Mexico (Ute Park). We have friends that have a cabin right on the Cimarron River.
The radio I took was a Yaesu Ft-897D with the auto tuner installed.
I assembled the antenna very quickly, attached my MFJ-259 antenna analyzer and with the starting settings shown on the instruction sheet was able to tune to the phone area of the 20 meter band. I was able to get a SWR of approx. 1.2:1 without the tuner! Using the ground radials provided. But the mount was grounded very well.
I preceded (at 100 watts) to make contacts in Oregon, Sothern Ca., Florida, Silsbee (sp?) Texas, and Corpus Christi Texas. Those are the contacts I remember, and somewhere in Illinois too. All contacts gave me excellent reports 5-9+ min. I made several contacts back to my regular group of friends on 3.922 at night. But I wasn't at the level of those guys or the level I'm usually at (I normally run a Alpha 374 /3 holer with a Yaesu Ft-1000MP)...but they could hear me at least!!
I was very impressed with the antenna, it was clamped to an old steel car hub and axle assembly in front of the cabin with the axel buried in the ground about 5 ft.. It was quick to put up and easy to set for a fantastic SWR!

I shall be recommending your antenna for anyone wanting a travel HF vertical.

Oh, but the way I caught a lot of really nice rainbow trout!!!!!!!
K3ZD Rating: 2007-06-08
Recomended Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought one of these after trying one of the so-called "apartment antennas" sold by B&W. I found that antenna worked better than expected but I wanted something that would stand up on its own on my apartment balcony and the Super Antenna with the tripod option looked like a good fit.

When it arrived, it was in such a small box I figured they must have left out half the stuff but it was all there. I was impressed with the good quality too.

As has already been noted, the supplied counterpoise wires are completely inadequate. Make your own full-length wires out of zip cord or whatever.

With the new counterpoise I have no problem getting a fairly low SWR. But I always use an auto-tuner. Why spend much of your operating time messing with SWR? One push of the buttom and you have a good match.

Operating results have been predictable - not as good as a full-length dipole but that should not be expected anyway. I can make consistant contacts, even in this low-sunspot cycle.

For about $100 I think its a good deal.
W1WOW Rating: 2007-03-05
A must for portable operation Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This little antenna works wonders. Its quality construction and performance is really top notch. I would recomment this antenna to any one want to pack up and go portable. Not a good choice for mobile operations, the antenna is better off with some protecting fron the elements.

Jason Hulet W1WOW
www.traversecityvacationer.com
N9JR Rating: 2007-01-29
MP1 - Close but no cigar Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned a MP-1 for 4 years. To say my results have been anything but disappointing would be to give it false praise. When I purchased my MP-1 I also purchased the tripod, 80m coil and the mobile kit.

I was wishing it would be the magic bullet that would fit in a Communications Outfitters Expedition pack with a FT-817 and Z-11 tuner.

Bzzzt. Thank you for playing. Four years ago on honeymoon in the Bahamas I set up the MP-1 and didn't make a contact. So next I threw a random wire into a coconut tree and was working the USSR, Europe, and of course NA.

Still, I have not given up on the MP-1 and continue to experiment to obtain some minimal performance. Let me describe some Pros, Cons, and some hints.

Pro: Mechanically it is excellent. Vern did an excellent job of machining. Erected it is a thing of beauty.

Pro: It breaks down into a very small package. The stock antenna, tripod and clamp mount fit into one side pocket of the Communications Outfitters pack.

Pro: It is a simple antenna, and there is very little to go wrong.

Pro: In the field it assembles/disassembles quickly. A nice feature when you are backpacking.

Con: Customer support sucks. With extra room in the pack I wrote to Vern to see if I could buy extra base sections. Nada. Based on that I will never buy another product from him.

Con: It is a compromise antenna, because of its very short size your ground loss kills efficency. The supplied "radials", if you can in all honesty call them radials are less than useless.

Con: The tripod is adequate for the stock antenna, but when using a longer whip or a longer base it is totally inadequate, But beautifully made.

Hint: When packing it pull the top off the sliding coil and put the whip inside first. Sure you won't be able to fully close the slider but you save net space.

Hint: Build your own radials. I experimented with 32 16' radials and *suprise* I could work stations. Still down from the reference HF-6V, but a marked improvement.

Hint: Don't use the tripod with the MFJ 12 foot whip. The whip can't handle the impact.

Overall, the MP-1 is an interesting product. But as is often said, "So close, yet so far.".

Joe N9JR