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Reviews For: TGM Communications Hybrid Quad

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

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Review Summary For : TGM Communications Hybrid Quad
Reviews: 46MSRP: 280.00
Description:
Mini HF Beam 4-band/6-band
Product is in production
More Info: http://www3.sympatico.ca/tgmc/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00464.7
W7UIV Rating: 2001-09-21
Update; The noise eater. Great! Time Owned: N.A.
This is an updated version of my first observations of the MQ-3, which is essentially the original two element version (MQ-1) with an added boom section and director element.

I ran into some difficulties with the MQ-3 that threw me off a bit. The pattern of directivity on mine was so askew that it didn't matter much which direction I pointed it. Some signals were actually stronger off the back of the beam! Europe, for example, was best when I had it pointed SE towards Australia. But the most curious thing about it is that the entire 20 meter band also peaked on SE, and worse then that, the band went dead when pointed north. I could not only hear it, but I could see it take place across the band on the 756 scope. At first I thought it might have something to do with one of the coils, but after more use and testing I find that not to have been the case at all.

According to my field strength meter the beam was operating correctly, excepting as it rotated there were multiple peaks and valleys off the sides and ends, but generally it peaked highest as it should off the front.

Tom McKay (at TMG) is a great guy to work with, and came up with some updated modifications to the director that he passed along in emails. Yet over all, none of these seemed to change anything for me. I'm thinking perhaps the third element causes the antenna to be overall more sensitive with respect to ground effects, and is being affected since my mast is only 32 feet. (For example; at the old QTH my former full sized tribander on a 55 foot crankup tower behaved just like this when cranked down to about 30 feet or less. Directivity became uncertain, so as a beam, it was essentially useless at that level.)

Removal of the director element kit has resulted in the expected operation of the antenna, and I'm delighted with it.

One of the additional gains with this antenna is over noise. All I have to do is switch to the vertical to remind myself. Double bazookas are well-noted for low noise pickup, and the MQ-1 is better then that one too. At the moment of this writing I'm seeing noise hovering at S 5 to 6 on the vertical, S 3 to 4 on the bazooka, and S 1 to 2 on the MQ-1.
Also, W8VQL on 14036 is S 7 on the vertical, S 7 on the bazooka, and S9+10 on the beam. The signal isn't "pinning the S meter" as they say, but obviously a significant enough improvement to tell this antenna is working the right way now.

I would highly recommend the MQ-1 (two element), but have reservations about the MQ-3 (three element)- unless I could get it further off the ground to verify for sure if ground effect was my problem with it. I can't think of anything else, since adding the director is a fairly simple job with little to go wrong.

Jim
AD6MJ Rating: 2001-05-29
I'm Pleased!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well, I had to think a bit on giving this antenna the "5". This was a tough decision,what do I compare it against? The antenna is very well made, good materials, was easy to assemble, small,and fit my needs perfectly.

Assembly: Instructions were clear, and assembly took about 3 hours.There was one glitch, the 10 meter adjustable spokes were mislabeled. In checking measurements with the manual, it bacame apparent that the spokes labeled driven were actually the ones for the reflector and vice versa. I had picked up from earlier reviews about the coax getting tangled in the spokes, so I did not hook up the coax until it was mounted on the mast. The antenna only has a four foot boom so this was not difficult. I assembled the driven element and reflector, minus the coils inside. Once up on the roof I attached the coils and completed assembly. I used a 36 foot telescoping mast, mounted on the roof to get the antenna as high as my limitations allowed. I was able to complete the task by myself. I used a TV rotor to turn the antenna and it is adequate for the job. Toughest part of the job was pushing the mast with antenna and rotator up!!! A second set of hands would have been nice.

Performance: Following the instructions provided, the antenna exhibited swr curves similar to those stated by the manufacturer. Low swr is great, but how would the antenna actually work?? Unfortunately, I don't have a full size tri-bander to compare it to. If I did, I wouldn't have needed the mini beam. My only reference is a Gap Titan DX. Admittedly this is an apples and oranges comparison, but the only one available. The TGM does great compared to the Gap. Signals that are barely readable, and don't even budge the S meter on the Gap are a solid S-5 or S-6 on the TGM. It would stand to reason, a full size tri-bander would outperform the TGM mounted at the same height. In my situation, I could only have gotten a full size beam about 20 feet above ground though. I was able to get the TGM at about 50 feet though. Which would be better? A full size beam at 20 feet or a mini at 50 feet? I chose the mini and the elevation. I would love to do a real comparison and find out which would have been better. Would I recommend this antenna to others? Absolutely!!! My first choice would be a big antenna up high, but if you need to compromise,(who doesn't to some extent) the TGM is a very good antenna.
K4IA Rating: 2001-02-11
Correct the URL Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Here's an update. I am still in awe of this antenna. There is now a 3 element version available and an upgrade package for the 2 element. I will order mine soon.

The URL here is out of date. The new website is at www3.sympatico.ca/tgmc

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by K4IA on 2000-06-09

A small lot in town and a tin roof on the house really limit my choice of antennas. After fooling around with verticals and missing a lot of DX pileups, I knew I had to get a directional antenna. The choices for small antennas are really limited. I won't knock the others here - I don't own one of them but I chose the TGM 6 band model because it has gain on every band (Cushcraft doesn't) - easy to tune (Butternut Butterfly isn't) - small (Hexbeam and C12SS are big).

I am very happy with my choice. It is small - not much bigger than a TV antenna and mounted easily on a Radio Shack TV rotor and mast attached to my chimmney 15 feet above the tin roof and maybe 40 feet above ground. It is directional - fairly good front to side ratio maybe 3 or 4 S units, front to back is about 2 S units. For gain, it hears about 2 S units better than my Gap Titan which in turn is 2 S units better than my G5RV. It is also much quieter then either the Gap or G5RV so I am able to make out weak signals that are missing on the other two antennas. This is a pretty unscientific measurement but describes how the thing works for me.

Tuning is pretty easy - you adjust one spoke on each wheel (4) on each band. Hint - do it on the ground. Bandwidth is pretty narrow on 20 but the antenna seems to work fine even when the SWR gets high (max about 3.5:1 at opposite ends of the band). My Icom 746 and Yeasu FT990 autotuners have no problem tuning it. Neither does my Ameritron AL572 amp. The antenna is rated 1200 pep but the recommendation is no more than 600 watts key down especially into the higher SWRs. So far, I have had no problems but caution is advised.

Overall I rate this antenna a 5, not because it is the best beam ever made - but because it does a very good job for the limitations imposed by my QTH. I now have a directional antenna on 20/17/15/12/10/6 meters. I have had exceptional luck on DX since I got the minibeam so it has met or exceeded all my expectations.

I wish I had gotten this antenna sooner.
KK5VN Rating: 2001-02-11
Great Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought an MQ-2 mini quad last year used on Ebay and did not know exactly what to expect from an antenna that is just plain tiny. I knew I needed a small antenna but was not sure about the performance.
Antenna came with a partial manual from the person I bought it from. Just one email to TGM in Canada and I got a phone call and a faxed copy of the manual ALL ON HIS DIME! Talk about support,I was impressed.
Construction was slow but pretty simple. The hardest thing to do was to move the antenna around and not tangle the tuning spikes in coax.
I get great reports with this antenna. Most DX I can just hear a whisper on my R-7 , is a good 7 s units with the MQ-2. It is not uncommon to get 20 or 15 over reports into most states and countries out to 5000 miles. Antenna is up at 24 ft.
As has been said before,"the proof is in the pudding". Next major phone contest,listen for me,
or catch me on 10 meters swapping some numbers and you be the judge.
I can't say enough about this mini-monster, and the company that builds them. Bravo TGM !!
KC2ETQ Rating: 2000-12-07
Nice, Small HF Beam Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
As with many urban hams, I just don't have the space to erect a monster-sized HF tri-bander. I had an inverted-V dipole hung from a tree and became very proficient with my MFJ tuner. The quest for a better, but reasonably-sized antenna brought me to the MQ-2 Hybrid Quad Antenna by TGM Communications. A tiny ad in QST Magazine caught my eye and the rest is history.

This is a small two element beam with a boom length of only 4.5', an element size of 12' and a turning radius of a mere 7.5'. The driven element is a directly fed dipole, and the reflector is a quad design with a center spread of about 4'. The end of each element is adorned with a coil assembly and galvanized spokes. As recommended, I used a 1:1 balun to assure the best radiation pattern. I used a Palomar Engineers BA-8 ferrite bead current balun and 70' of Cable Experts 9913FX cable.

It's on the roof, 45' above the ground along with a horizontal 2-meter beam, 8' below the MQ-2. There's no interaction. I use an Alliance HD-73 rotator to spin the array. A smaller TV-type unit could be used with the MQ-2 alone. It's quite "neighbor friendly" and a neighbor commented that it was "nice looking for a ham radio antenna".

I was impressed with the great service from TGM Communications, the quality of the components, performance and engineering of this antenna. For example, when I requested a copy of the manual, Tom McKay of TGM faxed it immediately. The antenna was shipped from Ontario almost as quickly, and arrived several days after the order. You can't beat the service from this small company!

The parts were wrapped in a recent Canadian daily newspaper, but my apprehension quickly faded. Components were well finished and mostly assembled. The screws and nylon lock nuts are stainless steel. The aluminum tubing has a nice satin finish and all tubes were deburred with no sharp edges. Loading coils are coated with a thick layer of clear silicone to keep out moisture. There are dabs of grease in the holes where the spokes are inserted.

Assembly was a pleasure! The only laborious part was inserting the dozens of spokes into the four coil assemblies. That took about an hour. Components fit together with precision and without hassle. There was no guesswork thanks to the detailed manual and pre-assembled pieces. In most cases it was loosen the screw, fit the parts together and retighten the screw-Easy! The whole assembly process took about 2.5 leisurely hours. When finished, it was like a work of art - a fine sports car - a Swiss watch of antennas. I was quite satisfied at this point. But would it radiate? Would it satisfy my desire to work some rare DX on a variety of bands?

The MQ-2 was easy to handle and install. However, the capacitance spokes are vulnerable and I did bend a few during handling and hoisting it to the roof. I adjusted the tuning spokes as specified and temporarily installed the antenna at 25' in my backyard. I used it there for several weeks. The VSWR curves were almost identical to the ones in the manual with a bit more bandwidth on 15-meters. As shipped, all bands are tuned to the low side and favors the CW, RTTY and PSK31 aficionados. Before installing it on the roof, I re-tuned each band slightly higher by shortening one spoke on each coil 1/2" to an inch depending on the band. At its final resting spot the VSWRs were almost as expected. 10, 12 and 20-meters needed to be re-adjusted slightly (perfectionists and obsessive personalities can indulge here). Although a bit tedious, tuning is as easy as loosening a screw and lengthening or shortening one spoke per band on each coil (20 spokes for all five bands). Bandwidth is sufficient and only on 20-meters do I need to use my tuner for VSWR of >2.5:1 at one end of the band. Interestingly, the VSWR sweet spot lowers slightly (about 20-75 kHz) due to wet weather. This is probably due to added inductance from the water on the surface of the elements. This is an observation rather than a criticism, and TGM responded by saying this is normal.

Performance is very good, but will not replace a full size log periodic or large multi-band yagi. It's a fine compromise with small size, adequate bandwidth and significant gain. On 20-meters it hears and transmits several S-units better than my inverted-V-tree dipole. Typically an S-7 compared to an S-3. The MQ-2 is not a sharp beam antenna and will not fully null-out an average signal to the side or the back. It is moderately directional and weaker signals can be effectively sought-out and maximized. It seems to be more directional on 6/10-meters than 20-meters, consistent with the gain and front to back specs. Propagation is also a factor since there are some signals that improve by many S units or are totally lost by rotating the antenna. The antenna has good gain on 6-meters. My exploration here has been very positive. I use my MFJ-969 tuner to bring the VSWR down from 2.7:1 on the SSB portion of the band. There is no spoke adjustment on 6-meters for tuning. I consider the 6-meter functionality as a bonus. However, due to its horizontal polarization do not expect to hit distant FM repeaters. Ironically, the VSWR is 2.3:1 on some FM portions of this band.

I enjoy this antenna and highly recommend it. It performs just as expected and the specs are very realistic. TGM Communications did an honest and respectable job designing and manufacturing this antenna. It should perform well for many years. For urban hams, those with limited space, or with no desire to put up a massive array, this is a very functional miniature multi-band HF antenna. Plenty of DX--Go for it!
73 DE AB2LB formerly KC2ETQ


AC5DK Rating: 1999-12-15
If you can't have or afford a Big Tribander, this Time Owned: unknown months.
About 20 years ago, I kept seeing this mini-beam a ham in town had. I decided I wanted one someday. But before I could, the OM in Pennsylvania that made them became a Silent Key. (Some of you may remeber the Mini-Beam.) Now that I'm older, married and have gotten back into radio heavy, I wanted to get a beam, but I lease my house, and it says no towers or attachments to the house. Well, I have an 8'x8' out building and decided I could tripod mount a small beam onto it. the search was on.

It really came down to two choices: The TGM MQ-2 or the Butterfly. Everyone I talked to said the Butterfly was a bear to tune up, plus it did not have 6 meter capability. I couldn't find anyone who owned a TGM, so I spent the dime (one about the size of a car) and called up the company in Canada. Turns out it's a one man operation and he doesn't advertise that much, cause he doesn't have to; he ships all over the world! After talking with him, I found he based his design on the old Mini-Beam from the past...

The theory is this: Most of the radiation comes from the center of a dipole. The TGM is basically a 6m QUAGI (Yagi driven element with a diamond Quad reflector) and it has coils and capacitive hats to tune for resonance on other bands. (NO TRAPS!) The radiation comes from the center. There is a 'buss' bar that extends out from the ends of the elements. There is a coil for each band (10, 12, 15, 17, 20) and then a capacitive hat connected to each coil. Tuning is simple you just lengthen or shorten ONE spike on each element leg per band. When I put mine up, I just built it to specs. I only had to tune 12 and 17 and that was very easy.

So what's the tradeoff? Bandwidth and Clearance. It's fairly narrow banded compared to a full size beam and it must be mounted up and away from trees, buildings and metal by 4-5 feet. But this is true of any antenna really, this one is just a bit more susceptible. With a dipole, the voltage is highest on the ends; getting it near an object that will couple to it, detunes it and imbalances the antenna. In my situation, I use a simple MFJ Mobile tuner with a Matchmaker (off air tuning device - pulsing noise bridge) and tuning is quick and easy. I only have to retune when I jump from CW to SSB.

Mounting? Rotator? Medium duty TV stuff will do. I used a Phillips rotor with Thrust Bearing (extra) I got from AES (about $100). It's not the most accurate in the world, but neither is the beamwidth of the antenna. For a mount I got a Rohn 5' tripod (don't waste your money on a cheap 3' job). I went up 5' to the rotor and 5' more to the beam, which puts it about 20-25 feet. If I had it up higher, it would do a whole lot better.

But the proof is in the pudding, right? Well, a month after putting it up, I got a Clean Sweep in my first Sweepstakes (SSB), and my country count is up to 98 and if not for the postman holding all those cards I'm waiting on (joke!) I'd be well over. I can now work stations that I can't hear with my vertical (and those are good DX antennas!)

Comparison? I have a friend across town. We often work DX together. He'll call a station with his full size beam up 40 feet and get a 5/8. I call with my MQ-2 at 25 and get a 5/5. BUT, let's be clear about one thing... I DO work'em! Maybe I'm not a big gun.. but I ain't a peanut whistle either...

Drawbacks? Besides the narrow bandwidth and placement, not much really. There is really no way to tune the 6m capability and the SWR is a bit high there (2.5:1 or so). But I've confirmed over 40 grid squares in the last year with 8 watts... so it can't be all that bad.

Bottom Line? If you can't put up a tower or you don't have a couple thousand to throw around (add up a tower, beam, big rotor, etc.) this could be your ticket. All in all, I spent $500-$600, beam, coax, mount rotor and all, and it's been worth every penny of it...

Any advice? Get the Van Gorden Hi-Q 1:1 Balun for it (NOT 4:1!) It's only $15 and works great. Also when you get the bill, don't panic, remember those are Canadian Dollars on the credit card bill!

Did I use my thousand words up? I'd hate for you to cut me off in mid-senten