Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Hy-Gain 14AVQ

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Hy-Gain 14AVQ
Reviews: 32MSRP: 189.95
Description:
10/15/20/40 Meters
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hy-gain.com/Product.php?productid=AV-14AVQ
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00323.7
KE5OKQ Rating: 2008-10-07
Good Value Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my delayed one year update for the antenna. As stated in in earlier posts, the antenna takes 20 minutes to assemble, is easy to tune and reliable. It has held up well in realtively high winds. I later added a DX Enginering tilt mount which surely saved it from destruction during hurricane Ike.

Mine is ground mounted with a dozen simple radials under the soil and has performed well chasing DX. It isn't a giant beam, but a vertical so you have to have reasonable expectations. Snagging Australia and Russia from Texas were not a problem.

Now the cons: During heavy sustained rain the traps get water in them and SWR can go haywire for a couple of days. This is compounded by spiders clogging the trap drain holes with webs. I finally sealed the top of the traps and cleaned the drain holes and the problem went away. As a preventative measure I clean the traps every 6 months, an easy task using the tilt mount.

My friend has a Butternut vertical that was a lot harder to tune, more then twice the price and performed no better. Save the money if you are limited to a vertical, get the AV 14 and buy your wife a present with the savings.
WC1X Rating: 2008-05-05
Poor workmanship Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Poor workmanship. One of the alluminum tubes was not swaged properly so I had to insert a shim to make a proper fit. Right out of the box the 10 meter trap was mechanically defective so I had to order a replacement from the manufacturer. I also purchased a 2 element yagi from the same manufacturer and had similiar/more extensive quality control issues.
N7OQ Rating: 2008-03-23
Best vertical out there Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this antenna now for 30 years, and it has served me well. It has been across the country and went to Germany with me, call there was DA1VW. It has been ground and roof mounted and works great both ways but I find roof to be the best. I have talked around the world with it and when I was back from Germany and Living in California I had a Sked every weekend with a friend still stationed in Germany and we had many 59 QSO's.

After a very bad storm we had this winter I could not get a good SWR, so I took it down cleaned the connections and found a intermittent 10 trap so took it apart and tightened the coil connections and put it all back together and everything works great.

I also found I could use it on 80 meters too by adding a Hustler 80 meter resonator above the top hat and after a little retuning it iwll now work 80,40,20,15, and 10 meters. Great vertical!

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by N7OQ on 2007-05-20

I have had this antenna sense 1978 and it has traveled with me all over the world. (Retired AF) and to this day it had served me well. I have roof and ground mounted it the roof works best but ground mounting works very well too.

I did a mod to it recently, I had a Hustler mobile antenna I was not using anymore so I took the 75 meter coil element and put it on top of the 14AVQ above the top hat and to my surprise after a few minutes of re-adjusting I now have have a antenna that works from 10 to 80 meters.
K6LLO Rating: 2008-01-06
Good Antenna, marginal contruction Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have had MFJ purchased 14AVQ for three years due to great luck with same antenna in the 60's as a kid. I now live in dry high wind area. Two of the traps have failed twice - one with broken strap, and one with damaged insulator. All traps are loose and appear to be able to admit water. When working, I work DX from Redlands CA to Finland, Spain, and across the US. It is roof mounted with carefully tuned radials, and handled full legal power. Much better construction would make it a great antenna- more solid traps, wind proof, and water proof. It has failed again- and I loathe getting up on my sloping roof in the winds. If I do take it down, I am going to permanently seal everything and toss it if it fails again.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by K6LLO on 2006-06-09

Have had for two years using roof mount and sloped radials. Loads up perfectly on all bands and DX is the norm. Tried without the radials for curiosity and as expected, it was worthless. Workmanship is decent, without inverted trap as reported by many others. Missing a few screws- typical of MFJ- part of their business culture.
Mount it right, use radials, and you probably will not be disappointed.
VE4AMN Rating: 2007-06-25
Oldie and goodie Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you read these reviews, the older versions always seem to get the higher rating. Either old timers are losing their memory, or the quality of construction has changed.

I had good luck with this antenna between 1982 and 1990, with just 6 radials and mounted on my grarage roof. The only weakness was the 10 meter trap where the connecting tab broke; I fixed that using some braid from coax.

I purchased an R8 for the flexibility (no radials); the advantage of 14 AVQ was having 40 meters, but then it did not cover 17 and 12. It would seem that recent production has slipped in quality. The moral is - pick one up at a hamfest that is 15 - 20 years old and you have a decent antenna. If you buy new, be prepared to do some remedial construction.
WA4QHD Rating: 2007-06-25
Poor Quality Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

Back in Amature radio after 25 years absence. I never had a store bought antenna, so I purchased the 14AVQ new at AES Cleveland.
Got it home & put together in about 20 minutes
But when I lifted it up it was like a wet noodle
Every trap was lose and it was embarssing to leave it up. Since AES has no returns on antennas I decided to fix it. I noticed that the 20 meter trap was up-side-down, and EVERY trap was lose inside the cover. Tightened all the screws and reassembled and it was straight. Finally got 1.5-1 SWR with difficulty. I would not recommend a NEW 14AVQ antenna due to shotty construction.
FORMER_W5TD_JOHN Rating: 2007-05-21
Worked for me! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This was the first antenna I had when I first got a home station set up in 1981 (as KA0IFG). Bought it used at a hamfest, and just ground mounted it with no radials. Not the best setup, and it was up against the house also, but I worked a ton of DX with it. Something was wrong with the 15 meter trap, but it would load ok on 15m with a tuner. Didn't do alot of 40 meter DXing in those days, but worked around the world on 20, 15, and 10. Did work EU and the pacific a few times on 40 also.

This was a fun antenna. It won't outperform a beam, but if you have limited space give it a try.

IW0GVG Rating: 2006-10-08
Good! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ground mounted this antenna without radials.
Only 250 cm of ground rod.
SWR measurement:
40 mt. 1.2
20 mt 1.1
15 mt 1.4
10 mt 1.1
My struments are MFJ and Revex.
I am still planning on adding radials in the near future.
Best the reception with interesting signals from the correspondents.
I have a Icom IC706 MKII with only 100 watts.
The calibration was a long.
The distances of the elements of the antenna advised from Hy Gain are indicative.
I agitated increasing the distance between the base and the first trap of 10 mt.
I used fat marine to protect the filettature.
The result is very satisfactory.
Good antenna.
Very interesting price


NG9D Rating: 2006-04-19
durable and reliable. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After owning a Hy-Gain 14AVQ for 21 years I sold it during an overseas work assignment in South Africa in 1993. I had two at the time, and used the pair with a phasing arrangement on 40m which worked really well. I sold the older one, which was pretty bent-up but still loaded up on all bands 40 -10m. After being moved around the world it has survived Mother Nature on both roof and ground mounts – requiring some periodic mechanical repairs as might be expected.

I brought the other one back to the states, recently cleaned and repaired the 10m trap connection (an aluminum clip had failed so installed a jumper to restore the electrical connection) and installed it on my wood fence. I am currently using only one tuned counterpoise wire per band, without any ground connection (yes I know, I know!). The counterpoise wires are in close proximity to, but not touching the ground, and have been trimmed for essentially 1.1:1 on my favorite frequencies.

This antenna works surprisingly well for its compact size and lack of an earth ground. For example, from my Chicago area QTH this week on 20m using a Ten Tec T1320 running 3 watts I got fair signal reports from from FL, AL, CA, Vancouver, Mexico City; and W5ESE in TX – who was also was using a T1320. The Hy-Gain 14AVQ facilitates fairly reliable contacts on 40m with a 4 watt T1340 and on 15m I used it to work SU9HP 400 km south of Cairo, Egypt (but admit I used 80 watts on that QSO). So after using them for 34 years, I have no complaints with the 14AVQ. These antennas are durable and reliable.

NG9D
K6DXC Rating: 2005-07-10
Inverted Trap ? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just received a new 14AVQ from AES and found the 20 meter trap as previously described. Am I to understand that this trap on the new 14AVQ's is constructed with the large hole on the side of the metal housing inverted with the tapered cap and larger pointed tubing on this end correct ?. Also found the plastic cap on the ten meter trap cracked right out of the box. Any help would be appreciated and perhaps I will upgrade my opinion about what I see thus far.