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Reviews For: Super Antennas YP-3 Yagi

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : Super Antennas YP-3 Yagi
Reviews: 27MSRP: 495.00
Description:
Portable 6-band 20m - 6m portable 3 element Yagi antenna by W6MMA.
Product is in production
More Info: http://newsuperantenna.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00274.4
K3GO Rating: 2022-11-24
Great portable beam in a bag- 30-6meters Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned two of these beams. I sold my first one a couple years ago and regretted it. A friend I met, while talking about 1911A1s, had this kit as well but got some 30-40 meter coils from Vern (when he was still with us SK 2015) and I can cover 40-30 rotatable dipole and 20-6 as three element beam. The front to side is around 20 or more DB and the Front to Back is maybe 10-12 (its been a while since I had it up last year). I pre-mark the tips and settings for the band changes and can have the antenna up in roughly 15-20 minutes.
The settings are important but i also use antenna analyzer to tweak up the settings. You do have to measure per the instructions and I have even tuned the driven element some. The Banana jack arrangement is a bit clumsy so I use a tie wrap and hold it permanently to the boom block. With BNC connector I run 100-500 wats through the antenna. Overall its a great little beam, check it out installed in my QRZ page on carbon fiber pole at 28-30 feet. Significant improvement over an end feed long wire or dipole. I have a 12 volt rotator which makes pointing and peaking the antenna a pleasant experience. The antenna is sensitive and would not be for a permanent installation but more for weekends, week or two and then you would be done. I personally obtained a batch of heat shrink that i used to encloses the 12 wound coils to keep the rain and stuff out of them. It works well here in FL and the antenna works fine. I line the bag its in as its small and a easy transport.however you really néed to have 3 guide cables at 120 degree to hold the mast sturdy,,,,,,,in short make sure the mast holding the antenna is rock solid well guyed . It works swell I high recommend it. De K3GO having fun
N2DE Rating: 2015-07-22
Great Portable Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this from Vern's family at the much reduced price, and it was shipped quickly. All pieces fit well into the custom made bag, and it even comes with the tape measure that you need for the final adjustment.

The antenna is well made and, although it doesn't have the weather protection for a permanent installation, it should survive in moderate winds. It is not a rapid deployment antenna, and you should take your time and an antenna analyzer to put everything together and optimize it for your preferred frequency. Once you have done this a couple of times, however, it is straight forward.

Having an antenna with considerable gain and f/b ratio for all bands from 20m on up in such a small and portable package is a great solution for any small DX expedition or for field day. My on-the-air tests so far have been very promising, and I can't wait to put it to the ultimate test in the South African desert later this year ...
WK0G Rating: 2015-07-13
Great product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased the antenna from hfportableantennas.com. This is the new site Vern had setup to avoid any conflict with the people at Super Antennas and New Super Antennas. Vern W6MMA is now SK (early June 2015) and the family is now running the company and is concentrating on the YP-3. Good people, great product, beautifully made. Mine works as advertised. I am using mine with the Portable Rotation rotator (expensive but so well mad I can't see how he makes them for that price).
KD0YSW Rating: 2015-04-06
Great Little Yagi Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this antenna from Vern W6MMA who designed the original and is now supporting this antenna on his own. The antenna is outstanding on doing what it is supposed to do which is a portable option with gain. It is a compact Yagi with inductance coils to electrically compensate for the short lengths of the elements but they function very well. I am able to routinely make DX contacts with this antenna into Europe from the Midwest even with low powered European stations that are running barefoot on non-gain wire antennas. It is very impressive. If you can hear them, you can usually work them. There are a few that seem to get away but I attribute that to the sensitivity of my Elecraft transceiver rather than the antenna. The antenna construction is first rate and Vern is a very careful antenna fabricator.

It is relatively straight forward to set up and there are a few sites on line that give you some advice. I definitely recommend guying this antenna as it is rather large for the tripod that comes with the superpod that I also purchased. I would say that Vern was outstanding with replacement parts for some bent aluminum after a fall. If you are looking for something portable with gain, you can't go wrong with this antenna.
K9HZ Rating: 2014-04-20
This thing is a jem... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned my YP3 since Dayton a year ago. I do a lot of island hoping in the Caribbean with many calls (J68HZ, PJ4HZ, 8P6HK, ZF2HZ, VP5HZ etc. many of you have probably worked me)... my first experience with the antenna was on J6 where I set the antenna up and worked over 6000 contacts working casually a few hours per day over a two week period (fetching WAS and DXCC). I always got great signal reports. I then used it on PJ4 with great success. The tuning dimensions that come with the antenna are a bit sketchy, but with a little modeling I produced my own chart with excellent parameters (many without that crazy hairpin...which is not needed on most bands. If you want a copy, please email me). I bought a second YP3 recently to leave on J6 for my frequent trips back. I usually run 500-600 watts into it without any problems. Just keep the threads lubricated on the screw-in parts. I spent a lot of time looking into portable antennas for DXpeditions that I could carry onto a plane with my radio and this one fits the bill perfectly.
KD6WKY Rating: 2013-10-13
Good Antenna for County Expeditions, Customer Service Lacking Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased this antenna used on eBay several months ago. After receiving the antenna I attempted to purchase the PT-3 mast and tripod kit from the Super Antenna company. After several attempts and being put on a list or lists, I decided to purchase a mast and tripod elsewhere that fit this antenna.

Once I had everything I needed, I took the time to understand the antenna and how it is set up on the different bands. This is very important and must be studied prior to taking the antenna out for a drive. I spent about three hours assembling the antenna, making mistakes, correcting the mistakes, and testing the SWR on the different bands. I figured it out.

I used the YP-3 antenna this year during the California QSO Party with excellent success. My first 300 contact on 15m were using the YP-3. I had a few dozen EU contacts from my California County Expedition site which was a prune orchard in Northern California.

On Sunday morning I reconfigured the antenna for 20m for the rest of the day and had equally good success.

For my satisfaction I have now taken the time with my label maker to label the elements with notes on settings for 20m and 15m; the bands I use during CQP with this antenna. I can now set up the antenna and change bands in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Although the antenna is terrific, I am reviewing this system as a "Good" due to the poor customer service from Super Antenna.

Good antenna, bad customer service. No sense of urgency to return calls or follow up.

Really, with such a great antenna for sale, it would be easy to return calls and emails.
KI4VZS Rating: 2012-09-11
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Very well made and is a top performer while out in the field.

Many are asking SuperAntenna for a 12 volt rotator but this is still up in the air.

This is the only 12 volt I can find http://www.directdepot.net/product_info.php?products_id=18187
KA1QFE Rating: 2012-06-06
Bought one at Dayton 2012 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought a YP-3 at Dayton this year. I was looking for a HF antenna that I could use when I traveled. I looked at verticals and some wire typs also. I found the Super Antennas booth and look over what he had. I bought the antenna on their recommendation. I continued my trip to Oklahoma City where I was going to be for three weeks.

I set up the antenna on a portable tripod and was on 17 meters. I was talking back to Massachusetts, my home QTH with no problem.I am using a Yaseu FT 857 and a small mobile tuner just to check SWR. I didn't need it to tune the antenna.
Only problem I had was the tape measure that came with the antenna broke. I replaced it with a much better quality one and added a small adjustable wrench to tighten the U bolts that holds the antenn to the mast.
If you buy one of these antennas get a better tape measure to assemble it with and a 1/2 inch nut driver to tighten the U bolts with. They will fit nicely in the bag that came with the antenna.
N3AWS Rating: 2011-09-28
Vern's BACK!!!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is my 2nd review of my YP-3 yagi. I have used it on 6, 10, 15, and 20--mostly SSB. The SWR is very good. The antenna (on a Superantenna mast) works very well on 6 & 10 where it is a full size 3 element yagi and well on 15 and 20. I suspect if I could get it a little higher, it would work even better!

Be sure and use the contact info the previous poster left for the NEW WEBSITE to contact Vern. I needed a replacement part and just received it promptly from Vern.

While the yagi can be set up by a single person (I never had a helper), I would advise having a helper at least the first time. Also, if there is any wind, I don't set up the full yagi on the lower bands, but rather set it up as a dipole. Right now I'm using an "Armstrong" rotor, but hope to change that once there is more of a track record on Vern's 12 volt rotator.

73,

Jim N3AWS
N8EWX Rating: 2011-07-14
newsuperantennas.com Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I really Like this Antenna Works Very well Not a problem changing bands Excellent Quality for a Beam that is Light Weight I Had a Lighting Strike on Field Day 2011 Emailed Vern, a Very Quick
response . He sent me the Replacement Driven element Block
FREE OF CHARGE. VERY HAPPY WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE. The New Web site is www.newsuperantennas.com Check it Out. /N8EWX