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Reviews For: Maldol VK5R jr

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Maldol VK5R jr
Reviews: 3MSRP: 350
Description:
5 Band Vertical Ground Plane Antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0031
F4DZG Rating: 2009-03-12
A WASTE OF MONEY ! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
this antenna is pricey and doesn't work very good. it's poorly machined and the swr goes to the moon any time it's raining, i tried to put silicone everywhere without success. works fairly on the highest bands as well as 40 meters, not usable on 80 meters. if you see one for sale, keep your hard-earned cash and... go away !!!
G1EUH Rating: 2005-03-28
Not worth bothering Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought a Maldol VK5-jr about 9 months ago, second hand but brand new in the box, plastic bags containing nuts & bolts still un-opened etc. (Ebay!)

It looked ok in the box, went together fine, no parts missing, alhough the best I could get it to tune was 2:1 on 80, 1.1:1 on 40, 2:1 on 20, 2.5:1 on 15 and 1.1:1 on 10. I decided to use it with an ATU. (I suspected at the time that the 15M trap was faulty - but being second hand I was stuck with it).

Today I took it down to straighten it, after a very moderate winter. If you hold the vertical section of this aerial out horizontally it will bend under its own weight, it is not strong enough to support its own weight. To assemble it you have to keep it vertical as you take it up a ladder etc. On the first half-strong wind it will bend.

As I unscrewed the radials, to take the aerial down, one of the rings that three of the radials screw into fell in two halves. They are manufactured too thinly, leaving approximately only 2mm wall thickness at each side of the 12mm tappings for the radials.

I made a new radial mounting ring this afternoon (1.5 x the depth of the original) and re-assembled the aerial. I'm beginning to wonder why I bothered. The aerial will be bent over like a banana in no time and it's a poor match on all but two bands.

The next time I take this aerial down will be to put it in the scrap bin.

I found that this aerial, the Maldol VK5-jr, is an almost complete waste of time. If you want a compact HF vertical, go for the Diamond CP6, one of which I also own. The CP6 tunes straight out of the box, is reasonably well made, costs about the same and covers 6M. It does exactly what it says on the tin, unlike the Maldol VK5-jr.

I expected better than this from Maldol, I have used the same Maldol 2M/70cm dual band vertical on various cars for at least 15 years and it has been great.

John G1EUH
MM3GBK Rating: 2002-11-19
Poor Construction and performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased this antenna from a well know Radio Dealer on the recommendation of the Sales person. On arrival the antenna seemed to look ok, this all changed as I began Construction. The Instructions were very poor and difficult to fully understand. Several calls were made to the Manufacturers for assembly clarification. The Final base vertical section was also found not to fit correctly as the base section connection pole had been machined far too small. This was finally repaired and the antenna was erected.
Trying to tune the antenna was a nightmare as each section was so closely machined which made it very difficult to adjust as stated in the tuning instructions. After 6 hours I Finally managed to tune the antenna to centre frequency.
I tested this antenna against my half sized G5RV which was mounted at 40 feet. I discovered that the performance of the Maldol Vertical was very disapointing. The G5RV was around 4 S points up on the Vertical on 40m and a good 2 s points on 20m and 15m.
I cannot recommend this antenna at all, it is poorly constructed with terrible instructions and worst of all it does not perform any better than a $40 Dipole or G5RV.
Save your money and go for the Cheaper option.