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Reviews For: M2 6M3 - 6M Yagi

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

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Review Summary For : M2 6M3 - 6M Yagi
Reviews: 9MSRP: 150
Description:
This is a computer optimized 3 element 6 meter yagi.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.m2inc.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0094.9
KB2FCV Rating: 2017-01-25
Happy with the performance Time Owned: more than 12 months.
When we bought our house 6 years ago, I replaced the unused TV antenna on the chimney with this and added an old refurbished TV rotator.

Assembly was pretty straightforward. I did have a problem T-match block.. the one sent was defective. M2 was quick to help diagnose the problem and sent out a new T-match block. Construction quality is good & hefty on this antenna. I inspect it once a year and it looks just as good as the day I put it up there.

As this antenna is only up 20-30 feet.. I've still been able to work into Europe, South America and the west coast with 100w on 6m openings. I recommend this to anyone who wants to get their feet wet on 6m.
AK9S Rating: 2016-05-20
Excellent! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Nothing quite matches the satisfaction of using a Yagi antenna with clean F/B and pronounced side rejection patterns. The construction of the 6M3 is first rate.

With the antenna mounted at 20-feet, I was pleasantly surprised with a relatively flat SWR curve (1:1 from 50.050 thru 50.225.)

I experienced an Es opening last week and was able to work stations 900 miles using my 200W transceiver on SSB. During the morning hours with no propagation on 6M, I will periodically hear meteor scatter pings from stations transmitting FSK441 to each other. I also routinely hear stations up to 200 miles away via ground wave.

Thanks M2 for a great performing, compact Yagi.
K2MK Rating: 2013-01-22
Quality construction. Good performance. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I installed my 6M3 at 22 feet on a Penninger tilt up mast and a TV rotator. I was very impressed with the quality of the components and the clarity of the instructions. Assembly was a breeze with no measuring, drilling, or cutting. SWR was as advertised. I was very pleased with its performance in the ARRL VHF contest. It heard very well and I worked everything I heard with 100 watts including long distance contacts during a brief Es opening.

Signals peak up nicely when the beam is pointed at the station and actual F/B and F/S measurements using my band scope support the published specifications.

I highly recommend this antenna for anyone looking for good performance, light weight, reasonable price, and quick delivery from various suppliers.
N7BAV Rating: 2012-03-31
Good First 6 meter Beam Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Started out with a halo and found it was limited to about a 2000 mile radius. I purchased the 3 element M2 in May 2009 and for the first time started consistently working east coast stations during openings. Worked all 50 states and a little DX using this antenna. This antenna was at 40 feet mounted 5 feet above my HF beam. I recently replaced it with an M2 6M5XHP to take things to the next level. I recommend the M2 6M3 as your first 6 meter beam. A minimum rotor mounted on top of your roof will yield a lot of contacts this summer.
KB7WOX Rating: 2011-05-15
Nice 3 element antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a review of the newer 6M-3SS Starter Series Yagi. Well written assembly instructions, easy to build from parts supplied. Can be moved on a light duty TV antenna type rotor, nor is it too intrusive in appearance. Adding the Gamma Insulator (with the Teflon tube) to the Gamma Rod takes a little skill & effort, but be careful so as not to damage either. A vinyl cap is provided for the gamma match end, but the boom ends and element ends are exposure to the wx. Zinc paste is supplied a along with a complete parts lists plus diagrams showing assembly details and overall antenna dimensions. A four frequency tuning chart gives elements & gamma sizes and matches back to a fill-in spot on the dimensions page. Four sets of holes on the boom allow for either horizontal or vertical mounting. Signal reports so far received using this antenna are excellent.
WB1AEX Rating: 2006-07-10
Very Well Built and Performs Great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
All parts were packaged well and all hardware was present upon opening the box. It took me about 45 minutes to assemble the beam. The boom to element hardware is very sturdy and easy to work with. Everything aligns very nicely when it is put together. The phasing harness is all pre-cut and the directions are very well written. I left all the element lengths and my driven element settings exactly as they came from the factory (shorting bars 8" away from the center on both sides) and resonance ended up exactly where it was promised to be on the spec sheet. Element length and shorting block adjustment instructions are supplied should you wish to move the beam up to another portion of the band. It plots as follows:

50.050 1.1 : 1
50.100 1.1 : 1
50.150 1.1 : 1
50.200 1.1 : 1
50.250 1.2 : 1
50.300 1.2 : 1
50.350 1.2 : 1
50.400 1.2 : 1
50.450 1.3 : 1
50.500 1.3 : 1
50.550 1.3 : 1
50.600 1.4 : 1
50.650 1.5 : 1

It rises more sharply from here to 51.0 mhz where it matches at 2:1 swr. The performance of the antenna is exactly what you would expect from a 3 element beam on 6 meters. It is a vast improvement over my rotatable dipole which was mounted at the same height, that I used last winter. I am not exactly a big gun running 100 watts with 3 elements, but ground wave stations that I could barely copy with the rotatable dipole are over S-5 on the S meter. When the band is open I can work what I can hear. Signals peak across roughly 10 degrees of rotation and then slowly drop off, so this is not a sharp beam that you will have to keep wiggling back and forth. Wet weather does not appear to bother this antenna at all. Just be sure to waterproof the phasing harness connectors (already pretty well taken care of by M2, but coax seal, black tape, and tie wraps make it even more impervious) and the coax connector and you are good to go. Mine is mounted at about 60 feet and I am very pleased with its performance. See it at:

http://members.cox.net/wb1aex/2Tower.jpg
http://members.cox.net/wb1aex/1Tower.jpg
VE3YF Rating: 2004-12-04
Nice Compact Beam Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have been using the beam at 60' with my FT-100 for quite some time. My results have been very good to excellent and have had a lot of fun with it. I am completely happy, all parts etc were complete and its parts were well machined. Instructions were straight forward and no problems during setup. SWR etc were as the manual stated and have had now problems through whatever weather we have had. I can easily reach other stations out 300-450 miles regularly and then fun really begins when the 6M band is open. This is a very nicely designed antenna that works very well.
W9DZ Rating: 2004-10-29
Nice antenna when space is a premium Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a tower that is already populated with three VHF/UHF Yagis as well as a Tribander. I wanted to add a directional antenna for 6M and also avoid a big increase in wind load. The 6M3 uses 3/8" diameter elements and has a wind load of just over 1 square foot.

After getting it together I set it up on a temporary mast 12 feet above ground. When I checked the SWR with my analyzer it was nearly 2:1 at its lowest point. I called M2 and talked to Mike Stahl who had me run some resistance checks on the T-match. I had an open circuit at one of the connectors where the balun is attached. I opened the access port on the T-match and still measured an open circuit so I removed all of the potting material. I don't know what I disturbed but I now had conductivity and the SWR dropped to nearly 1:1.

The reason I give the antenna a rating of 4 is that plated U-bolts are used to attach the mounting plate to the mast. They will rust eventually. All the other hardware is stainless. This isn't a cheap antenna and for the price I believe all the hardware should be stainless.
KK9H Rating: 2002-09-21
Nice improvement over halo Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have been using a 6M halo antenna mounted up about 30 feet above the ground with my Icom 756PRO2 for a while. My results have been excellent and I have had a lot of fun with it, but I wanted to put up something a little better. I have owned an M2 2M7 beam for a number of years and I have always been impressed on how well its parts were machined as well as how well it worked. Knowing how much space I had to fit a rotatable antenna, I decided to get a 3 element yagi. I bought another M2 antenna and I was glad to see that the machining quality was still excellent. The antenna went together easily, with one caution. Be sure to set the two sliding parts of the matching section at 8" away from the center as shown in the diagram before you install it. This is not really mentioned in the written instructions and can be overlooked. The antenna's SWR curve is as advertised and its performance has been a wonderful improvement over the halo. I can easily reach other stations out 200-250 miles regularly and the fun really begins when the 6M band is open. This is a very nicely designed antenna that works very well. I would definitely recommend it.