Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: T.G.M. Communications Six Band MQ-26 2 element "Hybrid Quad" bea

Category: Antennas: HF: Yagi, Quad, Rotary dipole, LPDA

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : T.G.M. Communications Six Band MQ-26 2 element "Hybrid Quad" bea
Reviews: 30MSRP: 369.95 US
Description:
6 Band Mini Beam hybrid "Quagi" Traps on the diamond quad reflector and traps also on dipole driven element.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www3.sympatico.ca/tgmc/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00304.5
2E0GMW Rating: 2006-11-01
SO FAR SO GOOD! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
NOT HAD THE MQ26 TO LONG BUT SO FAR SO GOOD, FIND IT VERY VERY GOOD FOR IT'S SIZE IT'S NO X7 BUT I HAVE HAD GREAT RESULTS FROM THIS ANTENNA WITH SOME GREAT DX CONTACTS I WOULD NOT HAVE EVEN HEARD ON MY OLD VERTICAL MA5V FROM CUSHCRAFT
I LIVE IN A BUILT UP AREA SO CAN'T UPSET THE CURTON TWITCHERS TOO MUCH AND THIS ANTENNA HAS NOT HAD ANY COMPLAINTS!
PERFORMANCE IS WHAT I EXPECTED EXELENT!
I BAUGHT THIS ANTENNA SECOND HAND ONLY 3 MONTH OLD FROM AN ESTATE SO WAS PART ASEMBLED FOR ME, SO I HAD NO TUNING TO DO JUST UP AND AWAY! I GIVE IT A 5!!
K6AB Rating: 2006-04-03
Does Everything I Hoped For Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A few years ago, my wife and I moved into a townhouse development that had a total prohibition on antennas. However, all was not lost. Our single-story unit has a 5 foot façade around the flat roof which hides the A/C unit and other stuff. I figured it could hide an antenna, too. Our unit also has an interior atrium open to the sky, which made access to the roof easier and more private.

I installed one of these remarkable 6-band MQ-26 Hybrid Quad beams on a short mast with a TV antenna rotor. The beam is 15-16 feet above the ground on one side of the house. The ground drops off quickly on the other side down a hill. It's not an ideal location, but the antenna is as high as it can go without being visible.

My HF rig is an Icom 756 and I've been very happy with the results. The antenna's F/B ratio is around 2 S units. I can't quantify the gain, but I'm able to work a lot of the stations I want.

The only issue I had with this antenna was that it was a little finicky to initially tune. The length adjustment of the spokes is very critical. Additionally, the 2:1 SWR bandwidth on some of the bands is rather narrow, so a decent tuner is necessary to work the entire band. The 756's built-in tuner handles it.

But those are small points. Admittedly, this antenna is not a six element Yagi at 90 feet, but I'm extremely happy that the MQ-26 allows me to stealthily pursue the joy of HF ham radio with a directional gain antenna in my antenna-prohibited community.
G6YTB Rating: 2006-02-28
20metres poor performance Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Bought this antenna owing to restrictions for antenna size after reading different reviews on this antenna on this website decided to purchase one assembled as per instructions the only thing i did different from the instructions was to check antenna in final operating position unable to set a resonable swr reading on meter of over 5 tried adjusting the tunable spokes makes no difference to swr on 20 mtrs i can hear more stations and stronger signal on my half size g5rv
17 to 10metres performs quite well with resonable swr 1:3:1
For the size of the antenna 20metres has to be a compromise
GW3XCR Rating: 2005-08-04
sold it by mistake!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Had MQ-26 antenna for 6months.Xyl not happy bunny,so forced to sell antenna/wife.Made big mistake,sold wrong one!!.Seriously though,grat antenna,resonant fx changes when wet(inUK), but really pulls in signals.Better by far than MA5 Mini Beam,
Just reduce price in UK,and would sell shed fulls,!
LB1UE Rating: 2005-08-02
Good Investment Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After reading alot of reviews here on eham, I decided to go for my first beam. Several conditions such as neighbours and space limited my choices, and I fell for the MQ-26. Ordered from a dealer in the UK, delivered after a couple of weeks to Norway.

Assembly was straightforward, I actually had to disassemble a couple of times because I scimmed the manual and mounted the reflector the wrong way.

I was so excited that I had to test the antenna right away. I didn't even bother to tighten everything, just soldered a direct feed RG-58 50 ohm coax, and placed the antenna on a steel rod, 9ft. above ground level. The elements were not adjusted horizontally and the coils was not in paralell (adjustable pins).

Using an Icom 756PRO with an inbuilt autotuner gave me amazing results. Ukraine almost blew my S-meter, 59+20 to 59+60 on 20m. and no noise at all. I even heard a conversation between Armenia and Uruguay, without problems, both stations were 52, I didn't bother to turn the antenna, and was beaming SE.

I ran a quick tuned test on 20m, and I achieved less than 1.5:1 in SWR from 14.150 to 14.350, since I didn't tune the coils I used the inbuilt tuner all the way. Operation on USB around 14.220 showed various SWR, but this is because of my soldering and weak assembly, I had to disassemble it and move it in my Toyota later on :o)

---

Plus:

- Easy Assembly
- Great construction (See Minus)
- LightWeight (I managed to raise it alone)
- Neighbour Friendly
- Good Looking
- Exciting

Minus: (Only Pecking)

- Poor Ink on the manual
- Coils could've been isolated better
- Buss could've been isolated better
- Buss / Element connection could've been done better, I missed some "caps" to tighten thoroughly without bending the angle.
- Balun should be an option
- Coax / Heliax / Feedline should be an option

I would gladly pay $50 more for the isolated coil / buss.

---

All in all, I'll give it a 5 by now, waiting for my mast and rotor and thourough testing after a proper assembly and tune.

---

73 de LB1UE
G0ISW Rating: 2005-05-21
Fantastic Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This aerial has revolutionised HF for me. Having previously only had Verticals and wire aerials I can say that this aerial gives me an extra 6db gain minimum and I have heard & worked Countries I would never have had a chance of getting before. It is visually unobtrusive and performs superbly, I have worked almost every Country in North & South America and the signal reports I get using only 50w are always very good.
MM3PTS Rating: 2005-05-11
Excellent Mini Beam Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I owned an MQ2 for about just over a year .As space was limited this was a major factor in buying this beam .Up in the Highlands we get some very strong winds and this ant took everything that was thrown at it .Very sturdy and works excellent on DX ,washearing stations on it where my G5 was hearing nothing .As was mentioned ,Tom Mackay is a 1st class guy when you need help .If I was ever to go for a beam it would be this ant time and time again .
2E0XTC Rating: 2005-03-03
Fantastic Little Antenna!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is for the TGM MQ1.. I would give it 10/5 if I could

First of all, I'd like to thank Tom McKay for his patience, and time, in answering my emails about his product. I have never come across more prompt, courteous and friendly service in ANY store/company.

I have to use a mini beam, as I live on a very small lot, anything bigger than a dipole ( I own a cushcraft D3 as well) looks well out of place. My neighbours have commented, favourably, of the appearance of the Antenna, with it's small foot print, wound down on its tower, it nestles behind two apexes.

It is incredibly light, well made, and simple to install.. It is ideal as well for portable operation, as it will fit on and old 3 series BMW's roof rack, in 2 pieces!! I have worked, in the last week, 20 over into Kuwait, and 5/9 into Namibia. I am also hearing stations in the Carribean, which is somewhere i struggled with before.

The Summary?
Sure, it isn't a full size monobander, but for small lots, and portable work, this antenna takes some beating. Service second to none, and quality build. Will review again after 6 months.Keep up the great work Tom!!

Kev M0TNX/2E0XTC
KI4ECW Rating: 2004-12-24
Best HF Mini Beam!!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've owned both the CushcraftMA5B and the MQ-26. It's the MQ-26 hands down!!! The MQ-26 covers more bands, has a wider bandwidth, has more gain - especially on the WARC bands, and is stronger and better designed and built.

I've worked stations that the locals on their G5RVs can't hear. You don't need an amp with the db gain on this one. I've worked most of North America, Europe, and even Antartica running only 100 watts.

The initial element tuning takes some time and is best performed with an antenna analyzer. The SWR is 1.5-2.0:1 across the tuned portion of the 10, 12, 15, 17, and 20 meter bands without using an electronic tuner; but, I can work both the CW and general class phone segments of all bands with a tuner.

The 6 meter function on this antenna isn't that great with a 3:0:1 SWR without a tuner. I doubt it's useable without a tuner on 6 meters.

I wouldn't swap mine for anything. Buy one -- you won't be disappointed!

G8VHB Rating: 2004-03-27
The first three months with the MQ-26 Mini-beam Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After a very long battle to gain the required "Planning Permission" for a small tower and antenna. My main consideration for purchasing the six band mini-beam was because the MQ-26 was one of only a few low profile options available to me in the mini-beam market that would be acceptable as a compromise with my neighbours.

The antenna arrived well packaged and with a few sheets of info on constructing the antenna and a list of parts. The power rating of the MQ-26 is 1.2 Kw but as the legal limit is 400w in England, this was not going to be a problem. The antenna weight is 16lbs (or 7kg in decimal currency) and can be turned with a small lightweight rotator. After eventually getting the antenna together, it took an hour or so in total to tune each band. Gain figures are quoted as 6m=6.5db 10m=6.0db 12m=5.8db 15m=5.5db 17m=5.0db and 20m=4.4db. Available bandwidth is always going to be limited on a mini-beam. On 6m the 2:1 points were 600 kHz. On 10m the 2:1 points were about 1 MHz. On 17m all the band fell inside the 2:1 points. On 15m there was 350 kHz between the 2:1 points. On 17m the 2:1 points covered the entire available band. On 20m the 2:1 points were only about 80 kHz apart. As I am not a keen CW operator I tuned for the SSB end of the band. I also use a 1:1 balun at the antenna feed point as this is recommended in the paperwork but is not included as part of the kit.

My impression of the antenna when compared with my half size G5RV is that there is always 2 to three S point’s improvement and often workable stations are not audible on the G5RV at all.

Negative points were (that I had) a problem I was unable to identify with the SWR varying on 20 and 17m when it was windy. After spending some time trying to trace the problem, I stripped down the antenna and rebuilt it again from scratch. The problem has not been back so I think that the problem might be down to me.

Because the traps are open (but protected by a layer of silicon glue the SWR varies a little in heavy rain or when snow builds up on the elements. The beam is however, always usable despite the WX problems but it pays to have a SWR bridge available.

Plus points are a well constructed, low profile, Mini-beam with a good performance that compares well on price and looks with other mini-beam products.

I am very pleased with the performance improvement over the dipole. I would be happy to recommend this item to anyone with similar covenants or size restrictions. I think that this antenna could be put on the roof of a building without raising to many questions from neighbours.

Would I make the same purchase again… Yes!

73 Mike G8VHB
G8VHB@Radio-Ham.Com