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Reviews For: Harvest YG1443 140~150/400~470MHz Square Loop

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Omnidirectional: verticals, mobile, etc

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Review Summary For : Harvest YG1443 140~150/400~470MHz Square Loop
Reviews: 2MSRP: $49.49
Description:
Half Wave dipole bent into a square loop, super light weight, high gain, mounted horizontally. Frequency: 140 - 150/ 400 - 470 MHz Max power: 800 watts Gain: 4 dB(VHF) / 5 dB(UHF) Connector: SO-239 (UHF), size: 11 x 11 inch (28 x 28 cm)
Product is in production
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# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0025
W8IJN Rating: 2022-08-12
Simple antenna works great (but you'll need a NanoVNA) Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The GRA-YG1443 dual band horizontal antenna is a very simple antenna that, once aligned and properly installed, seems to work pretty damn well for what it is and how much it cost. However, it's important to remember that setting up an antenna requires the right alignment tools and a fair amount of antenna knowledge

Alignment is the one thing that will throw people off quick enough. If you're going to get this antenna, get a NanoVNA to go with it. And brush up on your antenna theory. Using a VNA allows you to see where the antenna is resonant out of the box and also gives you some idea of how to adjust the 2m gamma match. (The 70cm gamma appears to be set pretty much square on out of the box.) I was able to get 2m SWR down to 1.2 @ ~50? Z. SWR/Z at 70cm was about 1.5/~52?.

Once you get the physical dimensions of the 2m element balanced and the gamma slider adjusted to the band space you want, this antenna will serve very nicely for general 2m and 70cm SSB contacts. I have mine set up in the attic -- of all improper places -- and have had FT8 QSOs from Ohio to the Caribbean, Pennsylvania and western Canada running 10W on an IC-705. Once I figure out how to hoist is a bit higher in the air and into some free space, I'm sure it will perform better.

In all this is a very simple, easy to set up, perfectly functional antenna. It might even make a decent 2m/70cm SSB antenna for POTA or SOTA operations, given its small size and easy assembly. In fact, I might just get another one to try that out.
N4ECW Rating: 2020-12-18
Great Value & Performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I actually bought two of these and built my own 75 ohm phasing harness to stack two of these loops. They are an excellent value and perform much better than expected.

Pros:
- dual band uses one feed line
- stackable with gain similar to a short boom yagi but omni directional
- price (about $50 per loop retail)
- durable
- capable of handling 800 watts
- very low SWR / 1.2 on both bands stacked

Cons:
- terrible instructions generally
- takes time to tune as the ultimate SWR is a combination of the 144 MHz and 70 cm loop