| WB2DVU |
Rating:      |
2002-08-08 | |
| Results speak loudly... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
At 2130Z today, using an MQ-3 at 30 feet and 100 watts, I worked 8Q7ZZ on 14025 MHz beaming over Europe and through a Euro pileup. 20 meters did not seem fully open from W2 to the Maldives (he was peaking S3, though I gave them the usual "59").
I've also worked them on 15M CW and SSB.
This antenna works. Period.
Also, please read my previous post.
73, Redd WB2DVU |
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| K9YCA |
Rating:      |
2002-06-20 | |
| WOW! WORKS GREAT! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| MQ-2 Been up two weeks now. If I hear them I can work them! Antenna is at 60 feet with closest object 40 feet away. SWR is excellent on all bands. Greatly improved signals over the vertical setting in the backyard! No assembly problems noted. Would like to see clamps on the element ends improved. Instructions were very easy to follow. Ordered antenna on a Friday and had it on Tuesday via UPS. Price including customs fee just as Tom said it would be. Go for it! Don't let the size fool you, it does the job and then some! |
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| VE3OZ |
Rating:      |
2002-06-07 | |
| Big Results - Small Package |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I have been very pleased with the results I have achived with my MQ-2. As a low power operator (50w and under) the results over my old R5 have been dramatic. While the performance on 12m has been marginal (I think the antenna got knocked on it's way up the ladder to the roof), I have been able to load it up and make contacts witht he internal tuner of my TS-570. |
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| VE2ZIV |
Rating:      |
2002-05-13 | |
| That's it. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Well,it's all written abouth this antenna.Own it
for over 6 years,only survivor after THE ICE STORM
3 winters ago.Last year upgraded MQ1-2 element to
3 element.This is the antenna now!Tom is making
great job and is a great craftsman.
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| W0EWM |
Rating:      |
2002-04-23 | |
| Antenna Works Great!! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I recently installed the MQ-1. I had been using a combination of 80 meter long loops and tilted half rhombics. The loops (rectangles) modeled at 4.25 dbD (20M) on the main lobe with EZNEC. The MQ-1 outperforms all of the other antennas. Due to restrictions, it would be very difficult for me to put up a tower, but I was able to mount the MQ-1 on a 10 ft. mast, with a rotor, on top of my garage roof. The MQ-1 is slightly more then 30 feet high. Because the garage is attached to the house, I was worried about interaction between the aluminum siding on the side of the house and the antenna – due to the limited distance – 20’ – from the antenna. No problems. The maximum signal is right on the beam headings I expect from the call-book. The MQ-1 is constructed extremely well. I tuned it on a 5’ mast, which was on a 3’ tripod, sitting on the ground. The tuning was easy and straight forward. The SWR was very good and I was able to shift the optimum band to where I wanted it on 20 – 15 and 10 meters. All in all, the antenna performance, construction, size, weight and “low profile” are great! Four of my first five contacts were Perth Australia (20M), Malwi, Africa (15M) – both nearly 15000KM, and contacts on 10M and 20M with the Mellish Reef expedition! |
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| M5BXB |
Rating:      |
2002-04-14 | |
| Works on 4m! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have been using the MQ-2 for some time now with great results on HF compared to my R5 vertical and 85ft longwire/SGC-230 smartuner.
Today, there has been a contest on 4m, so I thought I would experiment a little to see if I could work the band with the MQ-2. To my surprise, the antenna tuned up nicely using an MFJ-989C ATU which is only rated upto 30Mhz! I copied S51DI at 57 and worked several UK stations with reasonable signal strength. This is under normal propogation, so I expect the antenna will do the business during Sporadic E. Obviously, the MQ-2 will not be as good as a dedicated 4m antenna, but it does work, and is worth trying.
73
Steve M5BXB, OK8XB |
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| KF9OW |
Rating:      |
2002-04-07 | |
| First rate reduced size directional antenna! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
The MQ-2 from T.G.M. Communications of Stratford, Ontario, Canada (www3.sympatico.ca/tgmc/index.html) is a reduced size hybrid beam-quad design that operates on 6, 10, 12, 15, 17, and 20 meters. It has gain on every band ranging from 6.5 dB on 6 meters to 4.4 dB on 20 meters. Other reduced size antennas operate as dipoles on some bands. The boom is 5' 5" and the elements are 12' 1" in length. It turns in 7' 1" , weighs 17 pounds and has a wind loading of 1.6 sq. feet. It is rated at 1200 watts P.E.P. and is fed with a single coaxial cable, all according to the manufacturer.
I am quite pleased with the antenna. My only comparison is a G5RV (102 ft. fed with ladder line and using a matcher) and there is no comparison. The Mini-Quad makes getting across the ponds a very doable adventure on most days. All Ham communication is band dependent and this is not a super high gain device to get you through when no others can. But it does cross the Atlantic, the Pacific, gets into South America as well as across the North Poll from the Chicagoland area. I use a tuner to match impedance because of narrow bandwidth associated with a reduced size antenna. I am still using an MFJ Versa Tuner but have my eye on the AT-11 Desktop Autotuner from LDG Electronics found at http://www.ldgelectronics.com/. They also offer the RT-11 Remote Mounting Autotuner that could go right at the base of my tripod on the roof. This would get the matcher at the right end of the coax!
My installation is at about 10 meters above the ground. Based on input from previous reviewers I used a 5 foot TV tripod mounted on the roof, 9913 F low loss feed line, a thrust bearing (Phillips PHI-105 for about $20). My rotator is a 1960's Alliance Automatic Tenna-Rotor model U-100 that I got by placing a wanted advertisement at http://www.k1dwu.net/hamtrader/. You have to be able to tolerate a noisy operation from solenoids in the controller. I used the recommended baleen but bought it in the States.
Assembly was a bit tedious but OK. I found that I had to orient myself to the components referring to the drawings many times. The small tuning spokes are the toughest part. You will need to have a plan for handling the antenna once the spokes are on it. A tripod on the ground to tune it and the roof or tower installation ready to go for the tuned antenna are essential parts of a plan.
Tuning was a bit challenging. Of course the bands are interactive so when you get all bands tuned and go back to check, it does not look as good as when you started. An MFJ Antenna Analyzer or similar instrument is a necessary tool for the job. I managed to borrow one for this project.
For a small footprint antenna, it does quite well. As other reviewers have said before me, I should have done it sooner!
DJ
KF9OW
Email: kf9ow@arrl.net
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| MI5WJB |
Rating:      |
2002-03-15 | |
| Great beam for small gardens |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| My choice of antenna is limited by the relatively small size of my garden, so after reviewing the literature and comments on e-ham, I purchased an MQ-1 beam and Gap Titan vertical just over a year ago. Both antennas needed some initial tuning and this was performed on the MQ-1 by altering the length of the spokes on the ends of the elements and on the Gap by changing the length of the tuning rods. This was greatly helped by the use of an MFJ-259B antenna ansalyser. The MQ-1 is mounted on top of a guyed 25ft telescopic aluminium pole and is fitted with a Comet 1:1 balun and lightweight TV type rotator at the top of the pole. I only work SSB, and my experiences since then would lead me to recommend the MQ-1 over the vertical every time for 10, 15 and 20m DX use. On receive, the noise level is at least 2 S units better than the Gap and using the beam I can talk to stations in Japan and Australia which are almost hidden in the background on the vertical. On the negative side, I have found that the swr's on the MQ-1 change when it rains (a regular occurence in Ireland), due to water on the surface of the loading coils. This can be overcome, however, by the use of a tuner, or more recently in my case, by the use of a tube amplifier which is less sensitive to swr changes. I normally run 300w SSB for DX working and this helps to overcome any inefficiencies due to the limited space antennas. I now mainly use the vertical for closer European contacts or for working on 40 or 80m. I would therefore highly recommend the MQ-1 for use where space is a limiting factor to installing large beams or long wires. |
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| KA1AU |
Rating:      |
2002-01-14 | |
| great antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| After a short professional converstation with TGM, I received my 5 band 2 element antenna after 2 days. I could tell by the packing that this was done by a man with great attention to detail. It only took me 2 hours to assemble, every part is pre-assembled as much as possible, the process was easy. The design is so complete that even the tiny holes where the tuning spokes go contain small amounts of what appears to be conducting gell. The hardest part was screwing in all the radials, not difficult, just lots of them. I live in a location where antenna concealing is very important. I was more than willing to accept less than great performance due to size limitations. I was only able to mount the antenna on a flat part of the roof, on 2 sides are peaks only a few feet away blocking clear view. Because of this I was again willing to accept poor SWR, and limited use in these directions due to my poor conditions. Well I was wrong. When I put it up, I did not have a balun available so I decided to try it anyways without it, again expecting not too much. I turned on the tranciever and began to hear the world on 15M. OK, lets try to load it. It tuned up to 150 watts on the low voice part of 15M with less than 1.5 / 1 SWR, i was amazed. In minutes i was working Russia, Europe, and others with 5-9 signal reports even shooting thru the blocking roof parts of my house. Worked just as good on 10M making several US and international contacts with good reports. It has very low noise on the receive also. On 20M, the SWR was a bit higher on voice but im sure if I tune it a bit and add the balun that will work perfect as its installed out of the box with no tuning on my part. Even the wife thinks it doesent look bad on the house as its small and very nicely built. The antenna has done more than I expected and I love it, thanks TGM. |
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| M0AFJ |
Rating:      |
2001-12-19 | |
| MQ-2 Works FB |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Just 3 hours work and on the air!, assemble on kitchen table, tuning just as the book, 4 continents worked on 10 in 30 minutes, 3 S units up on my wire dipoles. Excellent value for money (apart from rip off UK importer!), Used Palomar BA-8 Balun, great service from them 7 days door to door.
Overall a great well made product for the smaller lot. |
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