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Reviews For: Hy-Gain AV-620 Six-Band Vertical

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Hy-Gain AV-620 Six-Band Vertical
Reviews: 38MSRP: 599.95
Description:
Six-Band Vertical 20/17/15/12/10/6M, no traps, coils, radials, 1500W, 22.5 foot
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hy-gain.com/Product.php?productid=AV-620
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
14383.9
N4CQD Rating: 2003-10-10
Good Results Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Getting back into HF Radio after several years of inactivity, and didnt want to get too carried away with equipment at this point. Bought the HyGain AV-620 based upon reviews here on eHam.net Reviews. The antenna was a bit labor intensive to assemble, but its functioning just fine. SWR <1.7:1 on all bands, and receiving very good signal reports from all contacts. I originally wanted to place in on my tower (some reviewers indicated that the antenna functioned better the higher it was placed), but when I installed the antenna on the mast with the tower tilted horizontal, I was concerned that it would bend and be damaged once I started cranking the tower to a horizontal position, so I decided to place it on a steel mast with the base of the antenna up about 20 feet. Overall, I'm satisfied with this product.
KB6HRT Rating: 2003-06-26
Very Good Results Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have only had this antenna up 24 hours BUT getting great results, pulling in lots of long range DX so far. Had a Cushcraft R6000 till last year and it worked fairly well but decided to make a change so used a 22 foot vertical and a ICOM AH-4 tuner could work 6-80 meters with that setup but no long DX like I could with the R6000. I read a lot of reviews and wanted an antenna that I could put up and down by myself and decided on the AV-620 and if the first night is any indication of what is in store for me this antenna is a winner, only had to adjust 20 meters stub after it when up. It took me more than a day to design a roof mount and build the antenna, time well spent I do believed!
PA3HGT Rating: 2002-12-22
Real performer Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I used this antenna for almost a year with very good results.I installed this antenna 3 meters above the ground and made many qso's to JA,VK,YB,ZL and other interesting dx-countries in the world.I give the antenna a 4 because
the choice of material could better ,there was a hole missing (HI)when i build the antenna and the screwconnection for a stub was not good.
The manufacturer says that guying is not required for normal operation up to windspeeds of 80 MPH , believe me i installed this antenna low on the ground between houses and i had make a hurry to make guylines when i saw the antenna with windspeeds of 3-4 beaufort.
SWR/bandwidth was very good , except on 10 but the cause was a too low height of the antenna.
When you don't care about guylines and want a real "vertical" performer , then this is the antenna you're looking for.

73,Hans,PA3HGT
K6XR Rating: 2002-06-23
second review av-620 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a follow up to my first post at installation time. I compared the vertical to my w9inn 78 foot dipole at 40 foot. The results are the dipole beats the vertical on all bands except the 17 and 12 meter bands which the dipole does not cover. Signals that are not heard on the vertical are at least s-5 on the dipole at all times, night and day, morning or evenings. I wanted a vertical for low angle dx work, which in fact and surprisingly the dipole seems to do a lot better consistantly. The vertical does work, but not as good as the 5-band dipole at 40 feet. I would not buy this vertical again knowing what I know now. From my past experience with a vertical, I still feel that the gap challenger was the best vertical I ever used and was very good. Sorry I sold it.
KB0NAZ Rating: 2002-05-18
works the first time Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I got the av620 to replace a piece of junk GAP EAGLE. The av620 worked the way it is suppose to the first time I put it together and works better than the the Gap Titan I had a few years before and you can actually tune this antenna to suit your needs as to where you operate, allthough the antenna is pretty broadbanded as is.(can't tune a GAP) A very good vert. antenna I highly recomend.
PA5DD Rating: 2002-03-08
Don't overtighten.... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Generally happy about this antenna. Not so broad as promissed on 10 meters, but wil cover the lowest 500kHz, which is what I need. I assume my mounting position is the cause of this.

Following instructions I only had to tune 10m & 20m a bit, which took 5mins.

Don't overtighen the contra nuts on the band elements. They are aluminium and will break. Luckily I discovered this with the longest 6m element, and simply used it as the shorter element.

These antennas are too expensive here in Europe, but I like the design !

73 Uffe PA5DD
KH6AP Rating: 2001-09-06
Better than I expected! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is the first time that I have ever used a vertical. In the past I had lots of room for big antennas with plenty of gain. When I moved to Maui I found that the CCNR's at this location were very strict so I had no choice but to use a vertical antenna. I did not expect much. I was wrong, within the first three months I was able to work over 100 countries.

It is easy to put together and after I put it up the AV-620 required no re-adjustment! I have received no complaints from the neighbors about the antenna! In this location people are very picky.

If you would like an antenna that is low profile but works very well this is the one.

73's and Aloha....Chip...KH6AP
N0BG Rating: 2000-07-12
Still Happy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Still very happy with the AV-620 after one year of operation. No apparent degradation of performance after a year of sun, wind, snow, ice, and rain. If you're considering the 620, I'd recommend you look at the 640. Same basic design, but includes 30 and 40 meters. It was not available when I got the 620. I'm the author of the "anynomous" review below, but the system demoted me when I upgraded my call. I'll be happy to respond to e-mail requests for more info.