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Reviews For: MFJ-1778 G5RV

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : MFJ-1778 G5RV
Reviews: 24MSRP: 39.95
Description:
80-10 Meter Full Length (102') G5RV Wire Antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-1778
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00244.4
KC9RNK Rating: 2014-04-28
Good Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought this when I first started out and it is still hanging,(2 Years). It survived the worst Chicago winter, complete with ice storms. Worked a lot of DX with a tuner of course. Will tune 10 - 80. I still use it every day. For $39.00, its great bang for the buck.
KT4EP Rating: 2012-06-27
After a year or more Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Rating Great only because of the antenna material durability. Initially, I had the center up about 35 or so feet, tried running it northwest by southeast and north by south. N/S was harder to do as few end supports, anyhow... I raised it to top of tower at 52 feet as inverted vee and it worked much better on 40 meters and up. About the same on 80 meters. BUT - I decided to cut the coax -- I ran 450 ohm windowed ladder line back to the shack splicing in extra 450 with last 15 feet of rg8x and 4:1 balun. Turned the G5RV into a 102 foot all band doublet and it works soooo much better. On 20 meters, I don't even need a tuner. Of course, this also has something to do with the length of the 450 ohm stuff. Some one else's situation and set up will differ. If you are looking for a well-made antenna, get this G5RV. But now as an all bander, it works much better. Good material and parts, for the price. Try making your own from store bought material - center section, the ladder line, the wire, the end insulators .. It might cost more. ,, and,, I can see this antenna being a good starter plus throwing it up in trees temporarily.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KT4EP on 2011-04-30

After being off the air for 15 years, I opted for this antenna based on price and my particular needs. It was easy to erect in an inverted vee with apex at 37 feet, I made my own balun as suggested from the antenna's manual, buried 15 feet of coax as suggested for grounding, and the only band I cannot easily tune is 10 meters. It even works well on 160 meters without extra radials and grounds although this is a site to site issue and it may not for you. It seems to be very well made although I was curious about the ladder line to coax connection construction but it seems sturdy enough. I liked it so much I bought a second one for the future. Comment: once out of the packaging you might not get it back in.
KJ6MEV Rating: 2011-11-07
good performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have been using a 200ft homemade loop at 30ft for about a year and have been pleased. I installed the g5rv at 30ft a few weeks ago. In my side by side comparison, the g5rv outperforms the loop on 12, 15, 20, 40, and 80. On 160 it's about a tie. But..... the loop totally kicks the g5rv's butt on 10 by far. Overall, I'm very pleased with the g5rv. It's not super noisy either. Don't omit winding the recommended coax choke for it. It helps. I also put a W2AU unun on the feedline near the rig. These make tuning for the lowest swr a lot less work with the tuner and a lower swr. I can get 1.5 to 1 on all
band except 160 which is 3 to 1 at best.
WA4SWJ Rating: 2011-06-12
Weak Crimps Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Just putting up the antenna today and, after a lot of work to get a rope over the house, as I was pulling it up, the wire crimp on one of the end insulators let go and the rope came over the house so I'll have to redo the entire effort. If you buy one of these antennas solder the wire at the end insulators to keep the wire crimp from letting go and leaving the antenna on the ground. In my view this is poor construction considering the tensile force on the antenna when up in the air. Hope it works as well as others say when I finally get it up in the air. 73
KD0HVR Rating: 2010-07-21
Great Antenna for the Price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a great antenna for the money! I put mine up recently about 35-40 feet up in a tree and the first time I used it I was talking to a guy in Italy.

KC2BYV Rating: 2008-02-04
Great for an all-band compromise Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I own both the full length and Jr. models. Given a relatively compromised installation, 35 feet up with the wire stretched out a foot off the roof and the ladder line a foot away from the side of the house hanging down vertically, the Jr. tunes up with flat SWR on 40, 30, 20, 18, 15, and 12. Works great - I can work everything I hear.

The full length G5RV is going to be cut up to make a few dipoles, as I overestimated the front-back length of my property and could fit it only as a horizontally-positioned V with the ladder-line far from vertical. As the only antenna I had at first, in this configuration it got me Western Europe SSB, but the Jr. properly installed has allowed me to work Africa and South America, further when running digital.

I got these antennas with a new general class ticket to give me a feel for the bands, and they did that very well.
VK7HDX Rating: 2007-10-17
I'm Happy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Strong design. It will tune up on 6m (but waiting for some 6m DX). 80/20/40m it seems to work extremely well for what it is. It was cheaper to buy it direct from Texas USA with the recent AUD Vs USD exchange rate. I was sick of rebuilding my homebrew G5RV due to strong winds so I decided to give a MFJ-1778 a try out. Time will tell but I think it will last a while. BTW my G5RV is about 30m (90ft) off the ground to give it the best clearence.

73...Karl
VK7HDX

Tasmania Island
N5VWN Rating: 2007-10-03
Just a wonderful bargin! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a remarkable all around antenna that does a whole lot really well. MFJ's version of it is made robustly and I'd recommend it to anyone. Pretty much if I can hear them, they can hear me, what more can you ask? I'd say it's a perfect first HF antenna with little to comprimise. It's been my antenna of choice on DX and in the field also. The price has recently gone up $5 but it's still worth it. I feel like the materials alone are about the same price. Of course it's an easy matter to build your own out of scraps. But for "no fuss" it's great. Really pleased with it's performance. . . with any old tuner of course, even a cheapie cheap mfj tuner works good with this. Try one and put your experiences on this site for us to read about!
N3GOO Rating: 2007-07-15
Fine Field Day Antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Bought one this year to replace a home built dipole that wore out. We put wire antennas up 50 feet between the 20M and the VHF tower. No problems at all on 80-10M. Primarily used on 80 and 40, with occasional shifts to 10 for SSTV demos. If you are careful when you pack it back up you can get it back in the original plastic bag for storage for next year! Recommended.
KE5BYF Rating: 2007-05-06
works!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Good antenna for the price. I have found that it is much quieter and has lower swr when used as a inverted vee. I wished MFJ would illiminate the 102' bare wire and go with insulated. It would be so much better when you have to use a tree for the apex.