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Reviews For: Antenex Y1365 5 Element VHF Yagi

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

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Review Summary For : Antenex Y1365 5 Element VHF Yagi
Reviews: 4MSRP: ~$160.00
Description:
5 Element VHF Antenna (Horizontal or Vertically polarized)
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.antenex.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0042
KZ4ZZZ Rating: 2011-07-31
Works Great ! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
4.5 deceptive ad ! Had to think about this one... got it done and cut it for 147.00 and hit it right on ! I have it up at 25 ft. and I can get most repeaters out too
about 125 miles. One on one 75 miles to a non beam user. Note I had to convert measurments to fractions to figure out where to cut. 1.0 swr to
1.2 at the edge of the 2 meter band and I use it on 70 CM too ! Stays flat at 1.1 accross that band. I was dissapointed it wasn't end fed the
same way as the 800-900 units were shown. Sneaky ad to sell you ...showed the other unit in the add just like the one you see on
Ham.net review for the antenna..not the 2 meter shown !
AH6I Rating: 2010-05-03
Buy something else. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This review is for the Y1363, the three element version. The mechanical design of this antenna is impressive. The tune-up is a nightmare. The documentation is very poor with TINY graphs for element lengths which must be cut with a hacksaw. Gamma match setting is given for only one frequency -- the bottom of the range at 136 MHz.
Experimentally tuning the gamma, you can get a great SWR -- until you tignten the set screws on the gamma bar. I got to 1.2:1 then tightened the screws and it went to 2.9:1. Over and over again.
Then there was tech support. The answer I got was: No further documentation available. Gee that's a shame. Call the dealer. Have a nice day.
N8EKT Rating: 2005-03-12
NOT FOR HAMS! Time Owned: N.A.
A FRIEND OF MINE PURCHASED ONE OF THE Y1363 YAGI'S.
I DID THE BEST I COULD TO TRY AND DECYPHER THE INSTRUCTIONS SUPPLIED BY ANTENNEX, BUT THE INFO WAS VERY POOR!
DIMENSIONS ARE ONLY GIVEN FOR 136MHZ FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE ANTENNA THE GAMMA MATCH!
I PRECISELY TRIMMED THE ELEMENTS TO LENGTH BUT IT TOOK 2 HOURS OF PLAYING WITH THE GAMMA MATCH TO GET THE SWR SET!!
I NEVER DID LIKE A GAMMA MATCH FOR THIS REASON AND THIS ANTENNA WAS THE WORST I HAVE DEALT WITH IN 24 YEARS OF HAM RADIO!
UNTIL ANTENNEX SELLS AN ANTENNA PRECUT FOR HAM BANDS OR PROVIDES GAMMA MATCH DIMENSIONS FOR THE HAM BANDS WITH THE ANTENNA, THE HAMS SHOULD CONSIDER ANOTHER MANUFACTURER.
MAXRAD SELLS THE SAME TYPE OF ANTENNA FOR ONLY $59.95.
SO IF YOU FEEL YOU WANT A COMMERCIAL ANTENNA, BUY THE MAXRAD AND SAVE YOURSELF 50% OFF THE ANTENNEX!
W0BKR Rating: 2004-04-28
Solid as a rock Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently bought one of these antennas as advertized by AES. I have a Glen Martin tower, and due to its configuration, the standard 10 element Cushcraft cannot be mounted as teh guy wire mounts catch on the antenna elements when raised/lowered, which bends the middle elements to the antenna.

I bought the Antenex 5 element as it butt mounts to the mast and clears the tower.

About the antenna.

Each element is 3/8 solid aluminum, secured to the boom via threaded slots in the element with SS hardware. Great design!

The Gamma Match is a solid block with two set screws that you secure to adjust the sliding element and the gamma block to the element. Good design and very solid also. Would be nice if they supplied extra set screws. Yes, I dropped one and had to run to the hardware store to replace it!

Antenna mount is a cast aluminum block that U-Bolts to the mast and two SS hex bolts clamp into the antenna boom. Again, a solid design.

Paperwork: Here is the weak area.

Antenna, if not ordered cut for your frequency, requires pruning. The instructions as to element lengths is a graphical illustration. You have to determine the closest measurement from the chart, which by the way, is an eye chart! Extremely small print.

Antenna is designed to operate from 136 to 150 mhz. Therefore, pruning is a must if not pre-cut.

Gamma match. Only the dimension for 136 mhz is supplied. I dinked around with this thing for hours with an antenna analyzer trying to get close to teh resonant frequency. When you tighten the set screws to secure everything, the SWR changes drastically. Once again, loosen the hardware and back to dinking around. I finally got my SWR where it needed to be and left it alone.

All in all, the mechanical design is something worth looking at. The documentation is lax, as they don't provide bandwidth, radiation angles, etc. Would be nice for the paperwork to be actual paperwork and not a microscopic eye chart.

After the learning curve, I would buy one again.