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Reviews For: HyGain VB-214FM

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

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Review Summary For : HyGain VB-214FM
Reviews: 7MSRP: 89.95
Description:
14 elements 2m beam
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hy-gain.com/products.php?prodid=VB-214FM
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0074.4
KD5YVY Rating: 2013-07-31
Works Great Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I give this yagi a 5/5 due to the price, ease of putting together, and light weight. At just a little over 40' , hilly terrain, and approximately 400' +/- elevation I can talk 90-100 miles away with ease. I can't really see paying much more for smaller similar type yagi's of other brand names.
KA0ZIS Rating: 2012-06-20
A lot of boom sag :( Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased one of these for SSB work. Got it all put together and when I rotated it into the horizontal position, I noticed a lot of boom sag. I wrote MFJ about this and they suggested just tying up the ends with some cord. I wish they would offer a kit of some sort instead of a band-aid. Other than that, I'd recommend this antenna for anyone who wants an affordable 2 meter beam.
N9FME Rating: 2008-09-29
WOW!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I picked up one of these little jewels at a local hamfest for $10 last weekend.

After putting a whopping $1.88 in parts to refurb two of the elements, I put it up on a make-shift mount at about 10'...running only 5 watts I was hitting repeaters 45 miles away and working several guys on simplex about 100 miles away..!!!

Once I get it on top of my 45' tower it should be a blast!!!


I'm new to 2 meters but I can't wait to start playin'!!

Greg
N9FME
EX_AA5JG Rating: 2008-08-01
Seems OK Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I picked up one of these antennas a while ago to use on 2m SSB. Loads flat in that part of the band, but the SWR is a little higher in the FM part. It seems well made except that the elements attach to the boom in one of the weirdest ways I have ever seen-through some eyehooks that you tighten down.

Also, there is no SO239 or N connector on the antenna, you are supposed to attach the coax directly to the feedpoint. Luckily the previous owner made up a coax pigtail with an SO239 on it.

Overall the antenna seems to work fine. I have had some decent long distance QSOs on it (like from Oklahoma to Ohio on 2m Es) and it has held up well.

The strange element attachment and the lack of a SO239 connector keeps me from giving this a 5. I definitely got my money's worth out of it, though.
N3JBH Rating: 2006-02-24
I recommend this antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This antenna has to be on the ten best deals list. It is very sturdy. Mounting system is excellent. New style that is. Pattern is great. Sadly they use a small whimpy coax for balun. But hey it works FB up through 500 watts as is.

Would I recommend this antenna to a friend? Yours darned right I would. It is far better then and cushcraft antenna. Thanks god hy gain hasn't figured out there selling these way to cheap. I dare you to find a better yagi at twice the price. Go ahead I dare you.
W8WLC Rating: 2006-01-19
excellant value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My first meeting with this antenna was over 20 years ago, I had purchased 4 of them to H stack for weak signal work at that time it was impossible to tighten these antennas to the support without kinking the boom unless you inserted a wooden dowel in the boom. A few years ago I purchased one of these and see the mounting as improved greatly, As to performance that has not changed its still 2nd to none as far as I am concerned. These antennas are very light and easy to handle and assembly is really not hard at all. If you want to tune them its not bad either I used a band saw to cut the 1/8 in or so off of each element. You can spend a bundle on ad hype and top names or you can save big money and get a real performer its your choice. Oh by the way the stacked 4 I orginally purchased were replacing the old KLM LB16's that were snapped like pretzels during a 60 MPH windstorm.
WB5VNX Rating: 2002-08-26
Excellent & inexpensive Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Although it has been a while since I had these I thought I would share my memories of them. I had 2 of them stacked at 30’. Home made stacking boom was a ¾” piece of galvanized pipe. Stacking instructions are included in the manual.

The match I wasn’t real happy with since it didn’t allow for much adjustment without trimming. Poor system if you over cut. Cushcraft & M2 have much better systems.

The elements were held in by means of an eyebolt and seemed adequate enough. The biggest complaint I had that I remember about it was that the booms were not very well balanced. While not an issue with a single beam with multi-beams this is an issue as they will tend to twist on you from being off balance. I solved the problem at the time by removing an element from the light end and inserting a lead weight in the end of the boom, reinserting the element to hold it in. Worked but tended to shake a bit while transporting the beams. The mounting point wasn’t adjustable so there wasn’t the option of finding the balance point. This will be an issue for those of you wanting to stack this unit.

Performance was outstanding for the 8 years I had the system in operation. I also used it out of band on the marine band for my licensed marine band station in the early 80’s with excellent results. SWR was 2:1 but it beat the marine vertical.

With 10w drive into it I could regularly work 10w mobiles out to about 50 miles – the system was mounted at 30’.

Lots of fond memories of this antenna and would recommend to anyone wanting an expensive 2m beam.