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Reviews For: MFJ-1838 Cobweb Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : MFJ-1838 Cobweb Antenna
Reviews: 4MSRP: 489.95
Description:
Eight-band (40-6 Meters) full half-wave and 1500 Watt Cobweb design antenna.
Product is in production
More Info: https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-1838
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
1143
AI5AG Rating: 2024-12-23
Noisy-Low Front-to-back ratio-Not Directional Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had high hopes for this antenna. It was a challenge to set up and tune. The limits of the antenna were quickly realized when noise floor couldn't be improved by changing directions. It was clear that the gaps opposite from the feedpoint had to be maintained for desired SWR. An antenna tuner was required to keep reflected signal down. My farthest contact was 1100 miles away and it was a strain. I tried it with an ALS-811 and saw no improvement. I put up an end-fed long-wire and clearly saw improvement and took down the Cobweb.
KA8PKW Rating: 2023-06-23
Great antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was hesitant to take a chance on this antenna based on reviews I’d seen. Finally watched a YouTube video that compared it to the vertical I was considering and was immediately sold.
I inventoried everything when it arrived and it was all there, every last nut bolt and lock washer. Assembly and tuning took the better part of a day. The only issue I had was with the 20m wire, it was too short to tune low enough so I just added a bit of wire to the pigtails and problem solved.
I mounted it about 20’ off the ground. Immediately I heard stations in Puerto Rico on 20 meters and all the bands were very busy, I couldn’t believe it. On 40 meters I had a station 10db over S9 and then switched to my 1/2 wave inverted V dipole. The signal was barely above the noise level. I had similar experiences on all the bands. I havent used it enough in transmitting to make a determination yet but so far I couldn’t be more pleased.
AD8Y Rating: 2022-05-10
Works but determine your situation carefully Time Owned: more than 12 months.
We installed it as a beginner's operating point antenna at a university club station, atop a 100' building on a 6' mast. The antenna is fussy in tuning and did not do well with the wind at that height. We did make some contacts with it but eventually dismantled it.

Recommend: Use Loctite and nylon insert nuts on all the screws, as appropriate. Consider replacing the supplied hardware with stainless steel, and the supplied wire with insulated (will be easier to handle, no electrical difference). Examine the cable connection to the balun closely and determine if you need to resolder, reinforce, weatherproof, etc.

It's not a bad antenna but realize that it is a ganged folded dipole and will therefore be narrow bandwidth and difficult to tune. You will need an antenna analyzer. There are no magic antennas; physics has the final say!
VP9NI Rating: 2021-11-10
1500W capable, nice design, not so great BOM quality control. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Opened the box to find that the 36 hose clamps were missing from the kit. Contacted the reseller and MFJ were right on top of getting new ones shipped out. Problem is that I live abroad and have to pay duty on the missing clamps even though I already paid for them initially.

Assembly is easy, the antenna has gone together fairly well despite a week worth of on and off rain in Bermuda. Have a short mast and stand for initial assembly, a taller mast for initial tuning, and be ready to make some adjustments when you get it to final height. 20M element was way too short - rather than once again contacting the reseller, I just added some similar copper wire to the 20M elements.

Expect 30 and 40M to be pretty tight bandwidth wise. Less than 1.2:1 on all bands.

Have 2 people to help with putting it up. Despite being 23lbs it's a beast to handle solo.

Great instruction manual (albeit vague in a couple of places) but tons information online to get it set up right.

Similar performance to a dipole with a bit more omni characteristics.

I can see myself pulling it down in a year to replace the bare copper elements with something a bit more robust. 2 days in the rain and the copper is already oxidizing. Additionally some of the hardware is already showing a bit of oxidation. Would recommend cop-a-slip or similar anti-oxidation measures for hard connections (balun).

Running at ~~ 20ft above ground and works well. I just really wish that I could order a product from MFJ and it be complete, just once. Last three orders from them were incomplete, missing parts or parts being incorrect.

Still great bang for buck, upgrade the hardware, consider replacing the bare copper elements at some point and check that your 20m element is long enough.