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Reviews For: Cushcraft MA6B

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

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Review Summary For : Cushcraft MA6B
Reviews: 6MSRP: 699.95
Description:
MA-6B is a two-element Yagi on 20/17/15/12/10/6 Meters.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cushcraftamateur.com/Product.php?productid=MA-6B
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0063.2
K9ZPY Rating: 2024-07-17
OK for a compromise antenna but........ Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased and put up a used MA6B since I had good luck with an MA5B previously and I cant really deal with big antennas anymore. My days of 120 ft towers are over, ha, ha!

Depending on propagation it will perform as well or 3-4 s-units better than my end fed. However, my biggest problem has been the SWR. Yes, I put on the proper length endpoints on the 12/17mtr elements that was a problem when they first came out and the antenna is up about 27 ft. Bottom line, the starting element measurements in the manual are a good start so yeah!.

However, I've noticed the swr on the 10/15/20 mtr bands changes with temperature. The worst case in on 10 mtrs which is weird since we are only talking about aluminum before the 15/20 mtr trap. Connections are antenna greased, all parts look visually healthy but the SWR changes between hot sunny days and cooler evenings. Basically from about 1.4 to 2.6. (When the sun is out / warm, the SWR resonant points are 1.3-1.5 and less than 1.9 across all of the phone band edges so that is nice). The so called feedpoint balun seems ok (opened it up to check connections) but I can only guess a balun problem or a possibly a 15/20 mtr trap problem at the 10mtr element side since 15 & 20 don't deviate as much. I can watch the SWR rise as the evening coolness sets in. Just plain weird.

Of course no help at CC to help so any ideas out there??
M0NST Rating: 2020-06-20
Parts missing Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Got antenna diverexweek ago solid built but with haing to sourse some pipe ips and screws usually mfj qualiity on components ie you need improve production also back seperate ly each stage not test yet as i need more coax but aprt from that solidly built, i will only give it a 3 becuase of this . For a 700 quid antenna you shpuld not be having spend time going b and q to get parts you need 20 quid later assembled
Update 1
Parts all assembled swr still 10 to.1 on all bands thats 3 weekends slendvon an antenna still no joy , we lnow its not cable as its goingbinto dummy load ut works fone on radio swr instant fold back i suspect it the mfj connector wil skype monday hopefully they can help .
Cannot get it to tune
W4FSV Rating: 2019-02-17
Happy, So Far! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I live on a small bluff overlooking the Congaree river and National Park. Twenty five feet from my antenna farm, the land just drops about 150 feet. I have been having problems with large birds (mostly Buzzards) bending and breaking elements on VHF beams. I have given up on 2 meters, but really like 6 meters. I noticed that the MA6B has a two element 6 meter beam below the other HF elements.
I have a D-40 on the tower at 60 feet. So I decided to give this antenna a try because the elements are large diameter, relatively short and have capacity hats (spokes) that I hope will discourage the birds.

I received the antenna on a Thursday afternoon and inventoried the parts that evening. Yes, there were several small parts missing and the matching network was damaged (probably from shipping). Friday morning I phoned Cushcraft and gave them the list of parts. They were very nice and told me they had all the parts except the matching network, but would have it in a week or 10 days. I told them to ship when they had everything.

While waiting for the missing parts, I proceeded to put together what I could. On the 14th day I received an overnight package with all of the parts. I consider this reasonable, especially since I still had not finished building the antenna anyway.

I put the antenna together on a five foot mast in the field next to my other antennas. When finished I connected coax and tuned the 20 meter driver for the CW part of the band. I tested the SWR on all bands with a RigExpert AA-170. Only had to adjust the six meter driver. Ran 170 feet of good coax to the shack and measured the following SWR: 20 meters 1.1, 17 meters 1.3, 15 meters 1.1, 12 meters 1.6, 10 meters 1.2 and 6 meters 1.2. All measurements in CW part of bands. I only operate CW.

With the antenna pointed NE, on 20 meters I worked Bulgaria, and Chech Republic. Heard a KL7 with a S5 signal. Ran outside and turned beam NW. Worked KL7 599 his signal now S6. Switched to 15 meters and worked Maderia Island. Keep in mind antenna at 5 feet AGL. I can not wait to mount it on the tower at 65 feet! I hope the SWRs will remain where they are at altitude and really hope the birds will stay away. Will repost later with results on the tower.
73, Bill, W4FSV
GM4JPZ Rating: 2018-12-11
Mathematically challenged Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I cannot agree with the other reviewer who complains about how the antenna is packaged, although I sympathise with his experience. In my case, it arrived in excellent shape, all the necessary parts were there and they even added a couple of smaller aluminum tubes that were not required. However, The manual is not what it should be for an antenna costing this much (the £ price is the same as the $ price!). I would suggest downloading the MA5B manual for detailed instructions, as it is much clearer than the MA6B manual if you've never done this before and the illustrations are clearer. (In this age of smartphones with cameras, why do they insist on using inadequate line drawings when a clear photo would be much better?!)

Most measurements in the explanations are wrong, and need extensive adjustment when putting the antenna together on the boom. In addition, they tell you to orientate the SO239 connector towards the center of the antenna: Wrong! It should point downwards when the antenna is raised. The SO239 on the MA5B was oriented towards the center of the antenna, but this is a different matching network altogether.

The SWR figures on mine are below the bands on 17 and 12, so I will have to shorten the length of the corresponding elements, but otherwise the antenna seems to work well - even on these bands with an ATU, and it handles the 400W legal limit in the UK with ease.
N8ZI Rating: 2018-07-11
6 bands with a small footprint. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The MA-5B is a good antenna for it's size and with the additional 12/17M reflector and longer boom the MA-6B has, it should work great For those with limited space. Now if all the MA-5B owners worldwide will send a request to Cushcraft/MFJ they might offer an add on kit for the MA-5B. Even if it only contained the complete 12/17M reflector (element, traps and cap hats) it would give more bang for the buck.
To those who complain about MFJ customer support, I have never once had any issues with their products or support. Even when I ask random questions about their products, I always receive a answer in a timely manner.
Recently I ordered a few replacement parts and there was a error that resulted in me receiving 2 items when I only asked for and was charged for 1. I called them to see how it could be resolved and was told I could keep the extra part free of charge!
My experience has always been very satisfied with all aspects of MFJ.
N4MIT Rating: 2018-06-07
POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Cushcraft/MFJ/Hy-Gain has don it again. They must hire monkeys to put these kits in the box. Bent elements and missing parts. Cushcraft doesn't reply to my support ticket and it's always a waiting game with them for replacement parts. MA-6B is a two-element Yagi on 20/17/15/12/10/6 Meters. Very poor customer service. I have a $700 pile of crap and I'm not paying to send it back! Come on Cushcraft/MFJ/Hy-Gain and get with the customer service!