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Reviews For: MFJ-1762 6m 3 element yagi

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Directional (Yagi, quad, etc.)

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Review Summary For : MFJ-1762 6m 3 element yagi
Reviews: 20MSRP: 79.95
Description:
6 Meter Yagi quadruples your effective radiated power over 1/2 wave dipole. 6 foot boom 2 pounds. Can use TV rotator and mast. Handles 300 Watts PEP SSB. Mounts vertically or horizontally. Current balun decouples feedline. Great front-to-back ratio.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-1762
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
14202.9
NC0Q Rating: 2022-12-04
Perfect portable 50MHz beam! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this antenna during the peak of the '22 Summer sporadic-E season because for the price, I could not obtain the materials to build something of my own design. I had already read the reviews here so I felt I knew what to expect. I have no intention of permanently installing this yagi; I tilt my mast over and put it up on an as-needed basis, and fully intend to use it for POTA-style ops. I find the MFJ-1762 to be extremely well-suited for my purposes. I actually believe the +6dBd gain figure to be accurate based only on my observed experience; currently my only 6 meter rig is the MFJ-9406 QRP SSB, which I formerly used with a wire dipole with good success. My observation is that with the Yagi, I can point it away from noise sources for greatly enhanced receive, and stations I call definitely hear me better than when I was using the dipole at the same height. SWR measurements are fine for the SSB end of the band.

Others have complained about the very flexible elements; they are 6061-T6 .035" wall .25" diameter tubing. They do bend very easily; they also straighten pretty darned easily. The boom is very rigid. All the de-burred holes were drilled in the correct locations. Nothing was missing from the hardware package. It is up to the builder to furnish a coax connection; in my case, I 3D printed a small bracket that slips over the boom and allows mounting of a coax connector which terminates a short piece of CD195 that loops through a ferrite bead 4x before splitting out into the hairpin match connections. I use ball-style tarp bungees to bundle the yagi into a neat, light package that assembles in about 5 minutes for installation and operation.

I would give this antenna five stars if the manufacturer did not represent it as being suitable for permanent installation subject to harsh weather. I am not willing to test those claims with mine. For my purposes, though, it's perfect!
W0AMX Rating: 2022-02-27
Okay, I guess. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was probably to harsh on my review of this antenna originally. I finally pulled it off the shelf and put it together with a few mods that fixed the issues I had originally. The match need work, but a few parts from other antennas and welding up a couple brackets fixed it right up.

For the money, if you're willing to put some effort into it, it works pretty good and it's very light weight making it a one man job. I'm not sure how durable it is, time will tell.
____________________________________________
Winter 2021/22.
Typical Minnesota winter, nothing brutal, cold stuck around for weeks on end, a few windy days, no big blizzards, but to much for this pile of junk antenna, the elements broke off one by one from poor quality aluminum, each had numerous stress cracks near the break point, about 4 inches from the boom, only thing that lasted was the boom and the homemade parts I had to use to get it to work.

In my original review I accused MFJ CQ department that QC meant "quit checking" I'm pretty sure now that is true. for $10 more you can get a cheap Siro 3 element yagi on Amazon and it's 100 times better than this bucket of Chinese noodles pretending to be aluminum.

Never again... I watched the recycle truck haul it away last week, best thing that ever happen to it.
K0RDS Rating: 2018-12-07
Thin metal Elements Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this antenna new six years ago to work with my Alinco DX-70T transceiver and with the antenna up thirty feet and running ten watts I have worked over 100 stations during six meter band openings. But then along came two fat Morning Doves that landed on two of the elements and broke them off. Metal is not built for heavy weight birds. Other then that I do think It is a fair antenna on a budget to use.
KB1GMX Rating: 2017-05-28
did what was desired... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Multiple field days use and other random setups
in the bag I can say all of what was said before holds true.

Not very strong and unsuited to a New England winter.

Tuned well enough to work for SSB. Useless for FM as the elements are too long.

For what I paid it (69$ Vectronics) does the job but I'd never put it on the roof as a permanent antenna. For potable use with field assembly its pretty hard to beat.

For my use and application its a 3. I gave it a before but the ease of bending an element is a negative. It could have also been made without a stub match saving a few components and making it simpler.

My recommendation is for potable/FD use its good.
For rooftop/tower applications get a Arrow 52-4S its very robust and has better gain and less fussing for your money.

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by KB1GMX on 2006-04-14

It's a three element beam and performs as one should save for it's very light only 3 pounds.
I use mine for portable ops and field day. It's
desireable features are light weight, easy disassembly so I can slide into a 4" diameter
tube for transport and storage.

I question if it would brave a winter with ice here in NE.

For portable ops, I have a 6' section of drainage PVC tube with caps and the antenna disassembles and nests nicely in it. Only need a screwdriver and 7/16" wrench in the tube for assembly.

Like others I attached a permanent pigtail and simple balun.

SWR for the low end of 6M is better than 1.7:1
for the bottom of 6m and pattern is as expected
for 3 elements. Tested against a CC A503 on my
15ft portable tower, I could see no signal differences TX or RX for either mounted on the
tower. Though the weight difference was easily
2:1! Any minor element misalignment made little
difference and it's bandwidth is reasonable (I only need the bottom 300khz). One note, if incorrectly assembled with the wrong elements
used for the driver it works but the SWR and
performance will be degraded greatly.

For 69$ I paid (vectronics is MFJ and cheaper)
it's lighter and simpler than any construction
I'd have dreamed up.

I give it a 4 as it's not perfect but it is a
serviceable product that is exactly as claimed
and shown.

Allison
Kb1GMX
W5NM Rating: 2017-05-27
Sort of Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Its interesting to read the comments on this
might fine piece of junk.
When I put mine together, I quickly realized that
if this thing was going to stay up in the air I was going to have to greatly reinforce all the joints and connections. I made several mechanical changes designed to strengthen everything and my coax pigtail was several feet long to go around and past my rotator. I also used ferrite chokes on the coax near the feedpoint. Surprisingly enough the antenna
resonated close to where it should (50.125) and
managed to stay up in the air for 3 years before I changed my antenna configuration.
I believe that my mechanical reinforcements made all the difference. The antenna worked fairly well after that.
WB9OTX Rating: 2017-05-26
MFJ Quality Control NIX Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered MFJ-1762 6 meter Yagi from DX Engineering and waited 30 days for it to arrive. Checked out the parts list and found the 2 "L" brackets were missing. I called DX Engineering and I was told this was very common with MFJ. I eMailed MFJ and there was no reply. After 30 more days I eMailed MFJ again, I received a reply saying they would get the missing parts out that day via FedX. More than a week went buy with no parts. I decided to assembled the antenna and made the missing parts myself. I put the antenna about 25 foot high then checked the SWR. I found that the elements were too short and it resonated at 51.5 Mhz. I removed the antenna and used machine screws screwed in each element to lengthen the elements till I got the SWR down to 1.5 on 50.1. I wanted this antenna to run MSK144 at 50.280 and after going thew this nightmare I now have a workable antenna. I can't remember dealing with a poorer company as MFJ, never again ..... WB9OTX
N4UFO Rating: 2011-07-23
Bought used, plays fine Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Well, I want to give it a five, but as stated by others, it can be a bit flimsy. However 'I' haven't had any problems with that, so far... I am lucky to have it up 30 feet with no trees nearby to pelt it with branches during a storm. Otherwise, the weight and size are an advantage as it has a low windload and mine actually "sings" in a moderate breeze... I used loctite as described in the manual and the elements will vibrate when the wind is just right... not sure if it's the wind passing over the holes in the end of the elements, or if it's vibrating the length, but it's kinda cool!

I wrapped up my own coax balun as suggested in the manual and have had no problems with performance. SWR is 1.1:1 from 50.0 to 50.180, less than 1.2:1 up to 50.300 MHz. Rig is happy with it and I get full power out. Running it with 50 watts, I worked over 50 countries this E season and 250+ grids. Mounted at 30 feet atop a channel master rotor with a lateral support bearing... with the antenna weighing 2.5 lbs, the rotor should last forever!

It works, it's still up there, and it was purchased used for less than half of new. (plus no shipping costs) Doesn't get much better than that.
WB5NMZ Rating: 2010-10-11
Follow up Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Surprise! After posting my initial review yesterday, UPS delivered a package with new elements (almost 2 weeks after MFJ agreed to ship them). Guess what? The new elements were still 3/4" short overall! Quality control = job none.
EX_AA5JG Rating: 2009-06-30
Great for a 3 LB antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had a Cushcraft 3 element up for a year and it did very well, but the Gamma match would get wet when it rained and that messed up the SWR for a few days each time. I also wanted something a little lighter so I could put a small tribander below it without having to change rotors. I have had a MFJ 1762 before (about 9 years ago) so bought one again and installed it.

One nice thing about this antenna is that the assembly is very simple. No measuring to do at all. Just put the elements into the holes in the boom, attach the screws, and you are done. I don't like having to use lugs to attach to coax to the hairpin match, but I did it anyways, using a short coax run as a choke and then used a double female SO239 to attach the main coax run.

Since putting it up I worked 277 6m QSOs and 117 6m rigs in the June VHF contest, breaking my old record. I have worked Wales, England, San Andreas Island, and Guyana in the past week, which were all new 6 meter countries, plus Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Grenada on 6m. Not bad for a $100 3 pound antenna. And the rain doesn't seem to affect the tuning much, at least not near as bad as on the Cushcraft. When I had my previous one I worked France, Hawaii, Alaska, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Barbados, and Montserrat on it, but had some help with F2 that time.

My only complaints are that it doesn't come with a direct SO239 connection for the coax, and my SWR is a little higher than it is rated at for the 6m SSB portion, as it seems to resonate around 52mhz. I can live with that. I would give this a 4.5 if that were an option.

Overall, you can't beat this antenna for the size and price. It isn't a serious weak signal DXing antenna for the big gun 6m op, but is a yagi for the rest of us.
W5JON Rating: 2008-02-11
6 Meter Travel Yagi Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
As previous reviews have said this is not a Yagi that you would want to install permanently, as it would probably be destroyed in the first mild wind. Hence the rating of "4". However as a 6 Meter Travel Yagi it is perfect.

When first received I put it together exactly per the instructions and the SWR was 1.2 @ 50.200 MHz. A couple of the holes needed to be de-burred, but otherwise, all went well, all the Elements lined up and it looked good, and on-the-air tests were exactly as expected for a 3 Element Yagi.

I then proceeded to make it into a "travel" Yagi. I cut the Boom at about 38", just past the Matching Stub, and made an inside the boom splice to reassemble it on-site. I then cut all the Elements at the same 36" and made 1" splices from 1/4" tubing, for there reassembly on-site. I added a 5' RG8X pigtale with three Ferrite Split Beads with snap sleeves.

Once it was all reassembled SWR was still 1.2 @ 50.200 MHz. But now it ALL fits in a 4" x 40" fishing rod carry case. Exactly what I needed for my travels around the Carribbean, with my IC-7000 and Alpha Delta HF Dipoles.

73,
John W5JON
V31FB, P40DX, G0AOH, V4/W5JON