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Reviews For: M2 2 Meter HO LOOP

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

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Review Summary For : M2 2 Meter HO LOOP
Reviews: 19MSRP: 45.00
Description:
Broadband Horizontal Omnidirection Loop/Halo antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.m2inc.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00194.5
SA0CAN Rating: 2020-01-05
Great antenna if it is mounted high Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The loop construction is just perfect, it can live for many years wihout intervention. I use it mounted on a roof, at about 25m high from the ground. I used it with ft8 and MSK144 and got easily contacts in the range of 1000 km especially when tropo but also a few on meteorscatter using only 30-40W (I have an Icom IC-7000).
next step is to try a stack of 2. It is expensive but it is stealth and omnidirectional...worth the money in the end.
KC9GLD Rating: 2016-03-19
e-z tune / install Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just installed it mobile, assembled per instructions with a carpenters framing square and a steel machinist rule and a flat surface. I screwed a 3/4 " pvc plumbing cap to the aluminum block, mounted a 6' piece of pvc inside the bed rail of a full size pickup just behind the tool box, set the antenna on the pipe, hooked up an analyzer, 1.1 to 1 from 143.9 to 144.3 . Drove the truck 75 mph on the interstate and it only leaned about 4" at the top. Just out of curiosity I checked 146.5 and it had climbed to 2.1 to 1. Hope it works as well as easily as it tuned.
K4TB Rating: 2015-11-21
Pretty Good Antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I got one to use as part of my stealth "weather vane" antenna system which I installed about 6 months ago. My "weather vane" has a 70 cm HO Loop antenna mounted just under the vane, and 2-1/2 feet below that is the 2M HO Loop which serves as the support for the N-E-S-W letters for the weather vane. The 70 cm Loop was nearly a perfect 1:1 match when I installed it. I thought I had a good SWR for the 2M antenna but it barely was 2:1 at 144.200 MHz, and the SWR was higher further up the band. Nevertheless, in casual operation with the two antennas I've made contacts through 4 different ham radio satellites and I made some out-of-state terrestrial contacts from my home in Florida, including GA and SC. The antennas are only about 12 feet (2M antenna) and 14 feet (70 cm antenna)above ground. My rig is an Icom 910H with 100 w on 2M and 75 w on 70 cm.

After a recent heavy rain I noticed the SWR rose in the 2M HO Loop, but not the 70cm loop. Upon investigation I found that I needed to adjust the 2M antenna. After considerable adjustment of the sliding parts, I eventually found that I had to saw off about 1/4" from the far ends of the two dipole elements. In addition, for mechanical clearance between the mounting pole and the antenna, I had to saw off another 1/8" from the near ends of the elements, i.e. behind the tuning stub. After that I had about a 1.5:1 SWR at 144.200 MHz and under 2:1 for the rest of the band.

Overall I found the adjustment of the 2M HO Loop to be a bit tedious while, curiously, the pre-assembled 70 cm HO Loop seemed to be tuned perfectly right out of the bag. All-in-all I am pleased with the performance of the two antennas. I give the 2m HO Loop a "4" only because of the work required to tune it. With the two antennas I can successfully work satellites, terrestrial DX, and area repeaters. The antennas fit nicely into my stealth antenna system design.



N2CLB Rating: 2008-04-08
for rover Time Owned: more than 12 months.
i have used this as a /p and /r set up and for both it is a 5/5 not sure how it would work at a base please see the other reviews for that, i have used this with a 30FT mast on top of high peaks and made 200 mile + contacts with it and it works vary well for that.


73,
Camden
N2CLB
N0YK Rating: 2007-12-17
Seems to do the Job Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Using a set of these stacked for a 2 meter beacon @ 100 feet. Seem to do the job just fine, had some good signal reports with 20 watts input power. Tuning was pretty easy I thought, never had much trouble with the ho loops on tuning. I haven't had a chance to see what the SWR does when the antenna is wet, but did see 1/4 ice on the antenna with 20-30 mph north winds and the stacking kit did fine. Not a fan of the stacking kit, seems pretty cheesy for the cost, plus the phasing cable has no way of fitting right. Overall, it's a good antenna, little pricy.
W2DIP Rating: 2007-01-20
Wow Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Did not expect much from this antenna for its price but I simply put it on a mast in my attic and immediately was making contacts up to 104 miles away on SSB.

I do not understand why people had problems tuning it as I simply used the measurements they provided and roughly adjusted the antenna and it had 1.2:1 SWR from the start. I did not have to make any further adjustments after I put it together. Perfect on 144.200 and surprisingly perfect on the 70 ssb frequencies as well.

I used it today for the VHF/UHF contest and was amazed that I was being heard so far away. Contacts in the 35-90 mile range were common with good signal reports.

I use cheap but good antennas for all my rigs and I can recommend this antenna along with Par Electronics and Arrow Antennas as inexpensive but good performing antennas that will have some people not believing that your cheap antenna does as well as they do. I never feel at a loss.
KB3RMX Rating: 2006-10-20
GREAT LOOP, BUT HARD TO TUNE Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this Loop up on my roof for over a year and I have to say it performs Great. The only drawback was it was hard to tune to resonate at 144.200. I think I got it down to 1.8 on the analyzer. What I did was purchase 2- 1 inch aluminum bolts that I threaded in both of the open ends of the loop. I then proceeded to space them evenly apart and then took some readings on the analyzer. I got and swr reading of 2.3 with the bolts half way in. Needless to say I retuned the loop acording to the specs got the loop down to 1.3 at 144.200. I then proceeded to adjust the bolts that I attached and got the loop down to 1.1. I can work from 144.000 to 144.350 without the swr's fluctuating too much. I would have given this a 5 if I didn't have to modify this antenna. Well all in all the antenna works great without a tuner, but check you readings when it rains. I also have the 6 meter loop and I have not had any problems at all with that.
AD5TH Rating: 2005-02-05
Great performer - lousy mounting bracket Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This little antenna was easy to assemble and tune up (1.2:1 at 144.200)on my test mast by simply taping the coax to the mast at the top and basically letting the coax support this tiny lightweight antenna. I had to wait a day for the M2 "mast mounting bracket" to arrive. I eagerly installed it and retested. My swr was 3:1 and I retuned, retuned and then retuned somne more. I never got below 2:1. I then removed the M2 bracket and used 2 of the clamps to clamp the coax to the mast and that restored my 1.2:1. Except for the lousy mounting bracket that that upset the tuning I would give this loop a 5.

Photos on my website at www.ad5th.com
KF6KDA Rating: 2003-06-30
Great Bang For The Buck Time Owned: N.A.
One word: AWESOME !

I bought a single loop for the June 2003 VHF contest as I would be operating from home as oppose to our usual Limited-Multi Op.

I have one loop at about 19 feet w/ a MFJ 5/8 Ground Plane for 220MHZ on top if it w/ about one foot spacing.

Had some issues getting it tuned up (took about 20 mins).

Worked every station I heard during the contest w/ a very modest setup (one loop, 706MKIIG running 50w). Worked 14 grids from the valley floor in DM06.

Good job M2 !

KF6KDA
KC2IFH Rating: 2002-08-02
Great 2m SSB Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a stacked pair of these loops about 5 feet of the ground. They are great preformers. The first day i had them up I worked 2 states and 4 different grid squares. These are great antennas. I can't wait until I put them up to the final mounting place about 25 feet above ground. These are great 2m SSB antennas.

KC2IFH