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Reviews For: MFJ 1622 Apartment Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : MFJ 1622 Apartment Antenna
Reviews: 30MSRP: 99.95
Description:
This Apartment Antenna lets you operate 40 through 10 Meters on HF and 6 and 2 Meters on VHF with a single antenna! Its universal mount/clamp lets you easily attach it to window frames, balconies, and railings. It also works great indoors mounted to a desk, table, or bookshelf. It's not a five element yagi, but you'll work your share of exciting DX! <br> <br>
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-1622
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15303.7
KG5ARD Rating: 2015-03-12
Works for me! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this antennae when I bought my Icom 718 for HF. I hooked it to my fence outside the window and began talking all over North America. After tweeking I was talking to South America. My darling wife doesn't like my dipole antennae that I take camping so this is going to be my camping antennae that I can hook to the picnic table. I am going to try it with QRP and see how it works. With the dipole I was talking coast to coast on 5 watts.
M1CXF Rating: 2013-10-12
a good compromise Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this antenna for a number of years and have used it in a variety of situations. I have stopped being surorised by how it performs. If you consider its size and design as a temporary solution it is an excellent compromise.
VA3MLV Rating: 2013-08-30
VA3MLV Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well this specific antenna was given to me from VE9DEN my friend Denni down in New Brunswick Canada where I'm at every summer for a few weeks visiting the YL side of the family, as always when I'm there I go over and visit Denni VE9DEN but this year he handed me a Power supply , FDK 2700 VHF transceiver and this MFJ 1622 antenna, hooked up everything and got on VHF ASAP , the antenna performs great on 2M and I also used it once I got back home to Ontario on HF where it also works great for what it is ( portable antenna )
So I give it a 5/5 !!!!!! 73
VA3JTN Rating: 2013-05-15
Does the trick Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I live on the 11th floor of a condo and this antenna was pretty much my only option. New to HF and I was hesitant to buy this based on a few negative reviews. Phew, good thing I didn't let that stop me. I've owned the antenna for a month or two, here's the QSOs I've made with just 100W. Speaks for itself, this antenna is no miracle but will get you on the air and pretty well too!


Belize
USA
Italy
Brazil
Cuba
Poland
France
Netherlands
Spain
Curaçao 
Madeira Island
Switzerland
Germany
Greece
Mexico
Argentina
Puerto Rico
Hungary 
Guyana
Austria
St Lucia
Portugal 
Canary Islands
Dominican Republic
Ukraine
Slovenia
Dominica 
Trinidad
Martinique
Jamaica
Angola
Saudi Arabia
Columbia
Croatia
Moldova
Russia 
Bolivia
KD0ILM Rating: 2013-02-28
Surprisingly good antenna - got me back on the air Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I live in Saigon Vietnam and had to move from a place with a decent antenna to a 25 story apartment building. I tried a long wire out the window at night and an indoor dipole with poor results. At a last resort I bought this MFJ-1622 apartment antennas. It is well made and very easy to set up. I do not have an antenna analyzer but the SWR meter on my tuner made cutting the single counterpoise wires easy. I cut different lengths and used connectors so that I can lengthen and shorten them depending upon the band. This added about 20 minutes to the entire job. I am on the 14th floor so the wires were each pretty close to 1/4 wave. The window mount is excellent and very versatile. Be sure to use the anchor rope that they include. I did lose it one day and the rope saved anyone below me.

I have been shocked at the performance of this antenna. It is not a beam or a "miracle" antenna but I get out with it and I am back on the air. On PSK31 I have made contact up to 8,000 miles away. 3,000 is routine into Japan, China and Asiatic Russia. My noise level here in the city is about S9 most of the time so cannot comment on SSB usage. With a compromise antenna like this you also learn a lot about propagation which is a plus.
If you need stealth operation this is a good one to look at and the price is right.
KQ9J Rating: 2012-09-30
Works amazingly well Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This strange looking little antenna really works well for portable operation! I have used it on vacation trips twice now, clamped to the balcony railing on the 5th floor of the hotel. Good signal reports and other ops are amazed when they hear what I am using. A friend borrowed it and took it when he had to operate portable for a month and he couldn't mount it outside but had good luck even with it inside. Follow the suggestions in the other reviews as to counterpoises, how to tune it and you will be happy like me.
WB4ES Rating: 2012-05-04
Works surprisingly well Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
While it's true that this antenna is a compromise, it's one that I have to live with as a condo dweller. That said, I've had nothing but good experiences with it so far. I haven't had many chances to use it since buying and setting it up, but in that time I've made 2 DX contacts in the 4500-5000 mile range (20m at 100W).

I did make a couple of changes to it, though. I'm using an 8 foot whip, as opposed to the included 5.5 footer, with the bottom segment retracted for 10m. I also followed K5RIX's example, using cut lengths of wire and quick-disconnect connectors for the counterpoise. The latter certainly saves a lot of time and headache compared to rolling and unrolling one long piece of wire, and I have no problem staying under 2.0 SWR over most of 10-40m.
KG4ULT Rating: 2011-01-19
Definitely a compromise antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Purchased back in November 2010 along with my new TS2000. Not a competition station but im not into competitions so i thought it would fit the bill.

Well it is an antenna and actually receives remarkably well considering its size.

I currently have it 4ft off the ground and counterpoise is looped around the pvc railing on the first floor porch. I use to lay the counterpoise straight out but nosey maintenance guy.. and well i dont want to draw any unnecessary attention.

I rate it a 2 because you need to constantly roll back the counterpoise or roll it out for the different bands. Although it will work if you leave it laid out for the lowest band of interest and adjust the tap.

Also, when the antenna gets wet - on rainy days - the antenna will not tune at all!!!

Other than that the mounting system for the rails is awesome!! The antenna is built nicely.


So if not for the 2 issues i mentioned it would be a 4.5 - 5.
KB1NJR Rating: 2009-12-16
Hits local repeaters Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna because, go figure, I live in a second floor apartment. I finally got it installed, but it took me a while to tune it for the 2M band.

Right now it's resonant at 144 MHz, and I'm using it for 145-146 MHz repeater work with a 1.7 SWR hooked up to my ADI AT-201 HT. It's hitting all of my local repeaters without a problem.

I have yet to try it on any other bands.
KB1QBZ Rating: 2009-02-19
Good For What It Is Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this as my first antenna to use until I could get a better antenna up. It's not a beam, it's not a dipole strung 70' up in a clearing, it's not a 42' foot vertical with an excellent ground radial system.

But it is a decent antenna if you want to get out on HF. Operating QRP (an Elecraft K1), I made a fair share of contacts on 40 (as far away as south Florida, but mostly in a 300-700 mile radius) and contacts on 20 (as far away as the Ukraine and the Caribbean, but mostly in a 400-900 mile radius).

The antenna is mounted out of my 2nd floor window. The window faces to the west, is about 20' up, and faces electrical lines running north/south about 10' away and a busy street (lots of ignition noise).

I now have a Cobra Ultralight up in the back yard and use that for HF. I still use the MFJ for 2 meters and it does a nice job hitting the local repeaters with minimum power.

The key to getting the antenna to work is to listen with a receiver as you slowly move the alligator clip over the coil. Listen for max volume -- that's the right coil tap for that frequency. Then play with the length of the counterpoise until you get the min SWR. I use an inexpensive $30 SWR meter from AES, and the SWR meter built into a lot of rigs is perfectly suitable.

Remember that the counterpoise should NOT run on the ground -- it should be elevated at least two feet above ground. I found that I got much better results with the counterpoise outside the house than inside the house.