| K7VI |
Rating:      |
2002-06-16 | |
| Solid performer, sturdy |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
(I wonder why this review is under HF Directional Antennas! :-)
I needed an antenna that was quick to get on the air and covered 40-10 completely. I needed something that was robust enough mechanically to deal with the winds that we get off the hills. I needed 5 elements at 120' but since I haven't put up the tower yet, I bought the Titan. ;-)
Construction: OK, the manual's a little amateurish in appearance and it's important to read the instructions carefully (isn't it always?), but everything's there. Assembly went fine. It took about 4 hours to put everything together, but I _definitely_ didn't rush. I assembled the antenna indoors, so no searching for dropped hardware. Getting the coax out the side-firing hole in the base was a little challenging, and I had one or two burrs in the Aluminum that wanted attention, but other than that, assembly went quite smoothly.
Raising: I used a 6-foot, 1-1/2" water pipe as a support. Drove it in until it only about 2 feet were above ground. If you've not raised a vertical before, pick a time without wind and have some help in case things begin to tip. It's a good idea to have the U-bolts in place but very loose because they'll help the antenna grip the mount whilst you're tightening. I raised the antenna alone and it went just fine. I added the counterpoise system after the antenna was up. Just set it to the defaults noted in the manual.
Operation: It's a multiband vertical. If you're expecting a beam, don't. That said, I've been quite pleased with the antenna. There was NO TUNING AT ALL that needed to be done. There are NO RADIALS to place. So getting this guy on the air is simple, simple, simple. it's footprint on your lawn is minimal. And it looks nice, if you like antennas.
SWR is OK on all bands. 10m is low across the band. 12m and 17m are both about 2:1, which is OK. 20m is under 2:1 across the band, with resonance skewed very high (above 14.3). I have to tune the CW portion (a bit under 3:1 at 21.0, a bit over 1.5:1 at 21.45) of 15m, but it plays well on the phone portion. 30m is essentially flat. 40m is under 2:1 across the whole band with the CW portion particularly low (I like this very much). 80m is actually relatively broad, with 3.8-4.0 very usable, though CW operation is right out.
On the air, it's a vertical. It's a bit more susceptible to man-made interference and it's omni-directional. When the band's open, it plays just fine. When condx are marginal, it's tough getting through with 100w. I haven't heated up the amplifier with it, yet, so can't comment on power-handling capabilities, but the antenna's mechanically hefty, so I suspect there's zero problem to be had running QRO.
Vertical antennas don't hear as well as yagis, so you'll be a little disappointed at time watching the packet cluster. Without running power, you'll also be disappointed that you can't work everything that you hear. But this is the nature of omni-directional antennas. You hear everything and you send power everywhere. Well, that's not quite true. Take off angle matters a lot, and I've found this antenna to work very well with DX when band condx cooperate. I wasn't able to crack the TN and P5 pileups barefoot, but I've worked everything else that's come along over the past 6 months. I've had some trouble working the East Coast (from Washington state) during contests, but that may be more an issue of not being able to poke through a crowded band than any factor with the antenna. As I said, i don't have any of my beams up yet to compare with from this QTH.
All in all, I'm very happy with the Titan. Assembly was very good (_much_ better than the Challenger that I had years ago). Mechanical durability is very good (again, better than the Challenger). I really like the counterpoise system! SWR performance is adequate or somewhat better. On the air performance for DX is reasonable, indicating a favorable radiation pattern (particularly takeoff angle).
I recommend the GAP Titan as an excellent value with good product quality, a small footprint and decent performance.
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| VE7EPQ_MIKE |
Rating:      |
2001-10-17 | |
| Voyager DX great |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I have owned both a Titan DX and now a Voyager DX. Other than 20m, which does not seem to work here very well, the vertical exceeds my expectations. I wanted it for the 160-40 section only, and it works beyond what I had hoped for. On a standard city lot I have room for a 160-40 vert. and a small 20-10 quad. Although the Titan worked well, I like a directional antenna on the higher bands. For me the manual wasnt a problem, and the machining was outstanding. I would recommend the Voyager DX without hesitation |
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| KT4WW |
Rating:  |
2000-09-10 | |
| Waste of money |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I Purchased a GAP Challenger about 2 years ago and it was a problem right from the beginning. I began assembling the antenna and discovered that 2 of the sections were improperly machined which resulting in the 2 pieces 'galling' when I attempted to fit them together. One of the pieces only partially inserted into the other one and, to top it off, I could not pull them apart after I discoverd the problem. I contacted GAP and they were LESS than helpful. Aparently, they were already aware of this machining problem (or so they told me) and offered to send me a replacement section for the one that was improperly manufactured. This, I pointed out to them, would NOT solve my problem because the BAD piece was stuck in the GOOD piece - rendering them both useless. I suggested that they send me a new antenna and I would send them back the one I had but they refused. To me, this seemed like a reasonable request since they already knew about the faulty parts and should have replaced them BEFORE they were sold to customers. In any event, they finally did send the one faulty piece and I was able, with the help of some borrowed tools and several friends, to separate the galled pieces and complete building the antenna. At best, it was a mediocre performer - even for a vertical and... (this is the best part) it literally BROKE IN HALF at the base of the antenna only 4 months after I put it up!! During that time my QTH never experienced sustained winds in excess of 25 mph let alone the 50 mph winds that these guys at GAP claim (in writing) the antenna should withstand without guying. In short, their advertising is fraudulent, their manufacturing is shoddy and their tech support is lousy. I was so disgusted I never even attempted to replace the antenna. Forget GAP antennas!! Use a dipole - you'll be happier!! |
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| N8GCD |
Rating:      |
2000-07-16 | |
| Not all that shabby! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Been running a GAP TITAN for about a year now, and what started off as a ground mounted vertical, now is atop my garage, and signal reports tell me I did the right thing. I'll have to agree with the descriptions on the assembly manual, it is a tad bit shy on the assemble how-to department, but with a bit of caution and time READ - lots of time, like I read it 4 times front to back before I took it out in the drive way and put it together, total time, about 2 1/2 hrs. Then another 1/2 hr. to recheck my handy work. It sure is a quiet antenna, and one other thing, I did have a bout of RFI but solved that problem with a direct grounded line isolator at the feed point of the TITAN and another un-grounded one in the ham shack. All in all, I'm quite pleased with it's
quality construction and reports by my contacts on the air. |
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| K8DXX |
Rating:      |
2000-07-15 | |
| Voyager Bandwidth at K8DXX |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I have a ground mounted Voyager. It sits about 25 Ft. from both our 2 story home as well as a wooden fence and trees. For a counterpoise, I use 12 gauge stranded insulated wire sealed at both ends (important according to Chris at GAP). Under these conditions I get the following bandwidths: 160M-120 Khz, 80M-475 Khz (nearly all), 40M-300 Khz. and 20M - 350 Khz. I am probably GAP's best on-the-air salesman! By the way... what is this discussion about verticals doing on HF Directional antennas? |
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| KB8VWV |
Rating:     |
2000-06-29 | |
| Titan vs Voyageur |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I first purchased a Titan 3 years ago when moving to an apartment. I initially installed it in the yard and was pleased with its performance. Had a little trouble with vandalizm so the apartment owner allowed me to install it on the roof of the complex. As the factory says there was no difference in performance even though the unit was now 50' higher. I also battled some resonance problems with metal in the building and roof structures that would really pay for the MFJ analyzer I bought. Chris the tech rep at GAP was always there to help me through it. They also supplied me with a new end coil so that I could work 80M CW at no charge.
After 12 months in this location moved to a house with a large yard and placed the GAP on the roof of the house. I also strung a 144' WINDOM Diploe up. This gave me better performance on 80M & 40M without the bandwidth problems of the GAP on 80M. I used a LDG tuner on all antennas and the GAP was superior above 40M at the same height of 50' as the Windom. Now I wanted to work 160M but didn't have the space for that long a dipole so why not a Voyageur. So up that went and as far from the other two antennas as I could get. I also was able to switch all antennas at will. The Voyageur worked on 160M but the narrow bandwidth was frustrating even with the tuner, but it did get me on 160M. Signal Reports on 80M were about 1 S unit below the Windom and much better than the Titan. 40M & 20M were about the same as the dipole but quieter noise level.
All in all satisfied, in fact I find myself spending too much time in Chicago now and considering putting up a Titan on the warehouse roof. Talking to other GAP owners and Chris at GAP the lowest band for the antenna is going to have a very narrow bandwidth.
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| KF3CC |
Rating:    |
2000-04-29 | |
| Works, but ???? |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| After looking at other multi-band verticles I purchased my challanger DX-VIII about a year ago. I based my decision on space limitations and the fact it only requires 3 ground radials. The antenna parts did go together very easily, however I do agree, GAP is really cutting corners on their instructions booklets, very poor copy quality. After the antenna was assembled, I ran into high SWR problems. Everything was re-check to ensure no errors and still the swr remained high. I immediately e-mailed GAP with a detailed description of how the antenna was installed, type feed line, what I used to measure swr, distance from adjacent objects etc. I received a reply that only asked me questions, the same questions I had already explained. This went on for a couple of weeks before I finally realized they were not going or could not offer any help. So I had to settle for using a tuner on all HF bands below 15 mtr. With the tuner, the antenna does perform well, for a verticle, on the HF bands. Do not expect anything from the 6 and 2 mtr bands it is rated on. Recently during a 30 mph wind "gust" the antenna bent. I contacted GAP once again and asked them why they rated the antenna at higher wind speeds and advertise as no guying required, if in fact they bend so easily. High winds are not common at my location. After a week I received an e-mail. In their reply, they cut their wind speed in half, and stated I should have guyed the antenna. Oh, they were kind enough to make sure they included the replacement cost of the damaged section of antenna. It short the antenna will work, but expect a few problems, and DO NOT depend on GAP customer support. |
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| WA4RYW |
Rating:      |
2000-04-01 | |
| Excellent Vertical |
Time Owned: unknown months. |
| I have had my Triton on the air for a little over two weeks now, and am very impressed with the performance. It is by far the best performing vertical I have ever owned, and it is very comparable to the folded dipole I have at 35 feet. The two trade off on top performer depending on conditions. I think that maybe the instructions have been redone since the other reviews were written, as I found them to be straightforward and very easy to assemble. I had mine together in about an hour and a half, and every band was 1.9 (VSWR) or under. This antenna doesn't replace a yagi, even a poor one, but if you're using dipoles now or have limited space, it is an excellent choice. I have it mounted about 8 feet off the ground, and here in Colorado I think I will guy it off as it whips around extensively in a brisk wind. Also keep in mind that performance on 80 is a little under par due to its physical size. It does very well for what it is. |
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| N0IMG |
Rating:     |
2000-03-04 | |
| Good for SWL too. |
Time Owned: unknown months. |
| The Titan is a vertical, non-directional antenna. I agree with the previous reviewer, the assembly instructions leave much to be desired. After assembly "by-the-book", the antenna was not resonant on a couple bands and tuning instructions were poor. The antenna does out perform all other vertical antennas I've had. I would recommend it for those that tend to ignore assembly instructions anyway, ha. |
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| WA9JYG |
Rating:    |
2000-03-04 | |
| Titan Instruction Book |
Time Owned: unknown months. |
| I am just putting together a Titan antenna by Gap and instruction book looks like it was a home brew book! They need more drawing on antenna so one can see where the parts go on the antenna. For the cost of there products the instruction should be a lot BETTER! |
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