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Reviews For: M2 420-50-11

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

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Review Summary For : M2 420-50-11
Reviews: 6MSRP: 115
Description:
11 Element 70CM Beam
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.m2inc.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0063.8
W3GMS Rating: 2020-11-12
Great performance but a pain to assemble. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have put lots of antennas together over my 54 years of being in the hobby, but this antenna was the most frustrating antenna I have ever assembled. The element to boom attachment scheme makes it a very time consuming activity and also very difficult at the same time. The first tedious part is that you have make sure that the element sticks out at the boom the same amount. So with 11 elements, that 22 times going back and forth getting the elements exactly centered. Next comes taking stainless steel fasteners and pushing them on the element. Let me tell you, you have to push like their is no tomorrow while at the same time, making sure the element does not go off center. Doing 22 of those on a 11 element beam is difficult. The stainless push scheme has so much force, that its a very difficult task. A better scheme to mount the elements to the boom is necessary. I built two of these antennas for a linking system on my repeater.

I am not saying the antenna is not a good performer, but just a nightmare to assemble. No more M2 antennas for me!
N2DY Rating: 2011-07-13
Excellent Performer for Its Size Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This very modest-sized antenna works terrific on 432 SSB. Bandwidth is very wide and this makes an effective FM or satellite antenna as well. The pattern is clean and F/B is nice. I had no issues with the element keepers, having built many M2 antennas before. Given how cheap those keepers must be, I echo others suggestion that M2 include a few extra. Saving a few pennies on what appears to be a pet peeve of many M2 users seems a bit shortsighted. That being said, if you need an effective 70cm antenna in a small package, the 420-50-11 fits the bill.
N3PKC Rating: 2006-08-13
One hundred percent Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this antenna for satellite use after using a 10el diamond and was looking for something more rigid and permanent. It outperformed the diamond on receive and transmit while allowing me to work AO-51 with ease. While mounted fixed at about 30 degrees elevation I was able to hold AO-51 full quieting between roughly 2 and 50 degrees elevation. The addition of an IC-910 and 432 preamp allowed me to work SO-50 with nearly equal success. My uplink antenna is an M2 2m4 four element yagi which is also an end-mounted antenna. Except for the little KLM style insulators, this one can't be beat
KQ6EA Rating: 2004-11-26
Very nice, BUT.... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Installed one of these yesterday to replace a similar KLM I had up. Nice clean pattern, good gain, F/B, and quality construction.
Now for the "BUT"! I, too, feel that M2 should include a few extra keepers for those that haven't figured out how to back one off when they've pushed it on too far. And to use cheesy cad-plated u-bolts and clamps when the rest of the antenna has stainless hardware knocks off an extra point in my review.
Now for the tip on backing off a mis-installed keeper. Push the element back out an inch or so, and grab the keeper with needle-nose pliers. You can now twist the element while pulling back on it, and the keeper will screw its way back down a bit. Check your dimensions again, and install the other keeper, making sure both are snug against the plastic button. Works like a champ, and I've never had a keeper that's been re-positioned this way come loose.
VA2DV Rating: 2003-12-10
Built like a tank but support... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
My previous beam antennas where always Cushcraft
models.Boy,what a difference ! You really get a solid feel from this one ! Construction is very
great with a nice feeding system.The only complain
i have i that i have emailed M2 about the internal
wiring of the feed block (mine was damaged in shipping) and i still dont have a single reply.
Not a big deal but for the price of the antenna
i had expected a little support.
Overall a good performer for the size
W2TMA Rating: 2002-10-18
Usual M2 Quality .... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just installed this antenna tonite and have'nt had a lot of time to test it, but so far I am impressed with it. I have 4 other M2 antennas and am extremely happy with there quality construction and top-notch performance....
However, that said I cannot give this antenna the 5 that I would like to because of the following: Anyone familiar with M2 Construction knows the stainless steel keepers (which are SO difficult to get on!) that hold the elements in place on the boom... well I noticed that now they are no longer including any extra with your antenna! This goes for the little neoprene buttons as well! I had to cut three of the keepers off because I pushed them a little too far, and if I did'nt have extras left over from my last M2 antenna (when they did include a few extras) I would not have been able to complete the assembly without either a trip to the hardware store or waiting for M2 to send them out. This is unacceptable considering they could'nt cost M2 more then a tenth of a cent!
I hope this is just a one time problem and not some new cost-saving plan at M2, but this coupled with the fact that there should'nt be a need for the damn keepers anyway(there HAS to be a better Way M2!)keeps me from giving the antenna the highest grade.