| WU7X |
Rating:  |
2021-04-17 | |
| Well built, works FB |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My Mosley TA63N is mounted at approximately 56 feet. It has done incredibly well for me on FT8, CW, and SSB. I do run it through a Palstar AT2K tuner for CW & FT8 ensuring a 1:1 SWR. I'm a DXer, so will be in the chair for hours transmitting up to 200 w on FT8 nabbing the new ones when they show up. The antenna just keeps plugging along, picking up and transmitting signals like a champ.
I live in the PNW so the low front to back ratio works to my advantage. The antenna is also a brute. We have experienced winds of over 65 mph, icing, and anything else mother nature can through our way and the antenna just shrugs it off.
If you are looking for monoband performance, this is not the antenna for you. If you want an antenna that performs very well on all bands between 6 & 20 M, and that a moderately sized tower and rotator can handle, you should give the TA63N a closer look. |
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| WB5TTY |
Rating: |
2020-06-30 | |
| Another Great Antenna From Mosley |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I built the antenna by the book and it went together easily. Tested correctly on a tripod and works as advertised at 60 Feet. I have owned two Classic 33 Tri Banders, a TA-53 and now the TA63-N. All great antennas that stayed up for years. I still have one of the Classic 33 Beams and it is still working. The TA 63-N has a short boom which has a lower front to back ratio. I like being able to hears off the back side. Mosley antennas are QUALITY BUILT. I have been a ham for about 50 years and a commercial radio operator for even longer. I have seen many different brands of antennas but Mosley is the best built in my opinion. There are a few, very few, other antennas that come up to Mosley quality. I hope you enjoy your Mosley antenna as much as I have mine over the years. |
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| AK9DX |
Rating: |
2020-05-27 | |
| Pretty Good Antenna, Well Built. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Review: Mosley TA-63N
The Mosley TA-63N is a six physical element beam with three active elements on 10, 12, 15, 17, 20 & 6 meters. The TA-63N improves on the TA-53M by adding elements for 6 Meters. With a 14 foot boom and the longest element approximately 29.5 feet this is a good mid-sized antenna. It came pre-drilled and color coded so I did not have to measure anything. However, I did check final assembled dimensions just to make sure everything was right.
Good gain on all bands, but F/B is almost non-existent. However, it does perform well and has survived an 80MPH wind storm on its first day after being installed. Some trees in my neighborhood were toppled in that storm. I watched as the antenna swayed in the wind with no real bending or twisting. It held up as expected, however I did reinforce it as I built it. (See notes below.) Initial contacts came back with strong signal reports. Good 59 plus signals into New Zealand and Europe when band conditions were pretty bad.
Overall, the antenna performs well and my VSWR was pretty close to 1:2 across all the bands. My antenna is installed on a Glen Martin 8 foot roof tower with a 10 foot mast. The rotor base is approximately 3 feet from top of tower. The tower is installed on my lower roof, next to the edge of my 2nd story roof. This puts the Mosley TA-63N roughly 7- 8 feet over apex of my 2nd story roof. I did not have any adverse interaction with coupling to the roof.
The antenna ships in two boxes and my approximate wait time from initial order was about 2½ months. The first thing I did was look at the manual. I have to say I was initially disappointed with the instructions and parts list description. It was pretty sparse with the descriptions and pictures/diagrams. However, as I eventually got to build the antenna, it got to be clearer. Read carefully!! Pre-label everything. Make sure trap color codes point toward boom. Also, make sure you lightly sand aluminum tubing where it mates and buy extra Penetrox A Anti-Oxidant for assembly.
Steps for easier assembly:
• Measure all tubing to figure out what the parts are and label/number them with permanent marker.
• Use color markers and recolor Traps. Color coding will come off after lightly sanding.
• Remove remaining burrs and use an air compressor to clean inside of tubing.
• Mosley uses one screw to secure sections of tubing. Reinforce by drilling 2 -3 more holes per section. Use # 8 screws ½ inch long. Spread out drilled holes according to length of tubing section. This will really make connection secure, and you will be glad you took the time to do this step. (Trust me…OK!)
• Use liquid electrical tape where coax connects to phasing rods.
• Also, small end caps (near center of boom) on Blue and Red elements might come loose, so I did away with them and used foam “Great Stuff” to seal element ends. The rest of the element end caps go on nice and tight.
• Enjoy…
In closing, I will say it is a nice antenna and works fine. I wish the instructions were clearer with better pictures. My old Cushcraft MA5B showed what every part looked like and had clear step by step instructions and diagrams. Dealing with Mosley was a pleasant experience and every time I called to check on delivery they were very polite.
Specification and Performance Data
Forward Gain:
* 6 Meter 6.9 dbd.
10 Meter 7.9 dbd.
12 Meter 6.9 dbd.
15 Meter 7.9 dbd.
17 Meter 6.7 dbd.
20 Meter 6.5 dbd.
Front-to-Back Ratio:
* 6 Meter 20 db.
10 Meter 16 db.
12 Meter 9 db.
15 Meter 13 db.
17 Meter 12 db.
20 Meter 10 db
Power Rating:
CW 1.5 KW
SSB 2.5 KW
Matching System: "Q" match
Recommended coax: (RG-8-U/RG-213) 50/52 ohm
SWR at resonant frequency: 1.0/1 to 1.65/1
Boom Length: 2" x 14 ft.
Turning Radius: 14 ft. 11 in.
Recommended Mast Size: 2 in.
Maximum Element Length: 29 ft. 5 in.
Assembled Weight (approx.): 60 lbs.
Wind Surface Area (in sq. ft.): 7.3 ft.2
Wind Load (EIA standard 80 MPH): 170 lbs.
Any questions feel free to email me.
Robert WD9IDV
Update/Correction
4 Elements on 10, 12, 15, 17 & 20, 3 on 6 Meters.
Also, on the Mosley website in some places they list as the TA-63M, but Mosley tells me it is the TA-63N.
It shipped labeled as TA-63N.
Robert WD9IDV |
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| K5SI |
Rating: |
2018-04-14 | |
| HURRICANE PROOF |
Time Owned: N.A. |
| I HAVE HAD THE MOSLEY ANTENNA ABOUT THREE YEARS, AND SO FAR AS GAIN, PATTERN AND SWR, I AGREE WITH THE REVIEW BY N4FZ BELOW. I LIVE ALONG THE MIDDLE TEXAS COAST ABOUT HALFWAY BETWEEN HOUSTON AND CORPUS CHRISTI. LAST SUMMER WE BEGAN TO HEAR REPORTS ABOUT A HURRICANE, HARVEY GENERALLY HEADED OUR WAY. MOST SUCH REPORTS ARE FALSE AND WHEN IT FINALLY APPEARED THAT WE MIGHT BE HIT, HARVEY WAS STILL AT A CATEGORY 1 SO I DISMISSED IT FROM MY THOUGHTS AND STOPPED FOLLOWING ITS PROGRESS. WHAT A MISTAKE! HARVEY HIT ROCKPORT TEXAS DIRECTLY AS A CATEGORY 4 STORM, AND CAME RIGHT ON UP TO VICTORIA ONLY 40 OR 50 MILES UP THE COAST. OUR ROOF WAS RUINED, TWO 25 FOOT ITALIAN CYPRESS TREES WERE UPROOTED, 300 FEET OF FENCE WAS KNOCKED DOWN, A GARAGE DOOR BUCKLED, AND A WALL OF MY WORKSHOP WAS TORN OFF. WHAT SUFFERED NO DAMAGE AT ALL WAS MY; MOSLEY BEAM, CRANKED DOWN, BUT STILL AT 25 FEET UNPROTECTED FROM THE WINDS. I HAVE TAKEN IT DOWN FROM THE TOWER, AND THERE IS NOT A SCRATCH, BRUISE OR BUMP ANYWHERE, AND IT PERFORMS AS NEW. GREAT JOB MOSLEY! |
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| WJ3Z |
Rating: |
2016-06-16 | |
| Built like a tank! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I absolutely love this antenna! I have it mounted at 55' on a US Tower TX-455. It is built like a tank and kudos to Mosley on the packaging and shipping. Everything was laid out nicely and color marked nicely as well.
The one complaint I saw again and again as I was researching this antenna was the poor instructions. I can honestly say as an RF engineer that the instructions suck! The few pictures they include are so small and smudgy, you can barely see what they are trying to describe. Many steps dont have any pictures. I had to redo a few steps because the wording was confusing. Also the 40TKR add on kit made references to other Mosley antennas but they didnt even mention the TA63 at all which left me guessing. There was one step where I had to drill extra holes and I think for all of the $$ spent, every hole should already be pre-drilled....
I am very pleased with the performance so far. The SWRs are a bit higher than stated especially on 20 Mtrs and I cant find anywhere where things are wrong or causing it.
I would highly recommend this antenna to anyone thinking about it! |
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| N4FZ |
Rating: |
2012-11-26 | |
| Excellent perfomer. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have had the TA-63N up 3 months now, and I am amazed at it's performance. It is at 42' alone, on a Rohn 25g tower with 3 steel guy wires 9' below the beam. The small 14' boom is perfect for my small city lot. I especially like the performance on the WARC bands, but all around, a solid, well built performer. Good gain, on both Tx and Rx, over my HF-9V vertical.
SWR curves are pretty flat on the WARC bands, and are up to 1.7:1 on the lower ends of 15 and 20m. 10m SWR is good across 1mHz down to 28.080, where the SWR is 1.8:1, to 2.3:1 at 28.010mHz. On 6m, SWR is lowest 1.0:1, at 52 mHz, and is 1.7:1 at 50.025mHz.
When assembling the beam, place the "centers" of the reflector and director at the 1" marks on the boom. You can trim the 2" end caps to fit this small space. You can also use liquid electrical tape to seal the end caps.
Use RG-213 coax, which is the recommended coax type, and construct the 5 turn 6" I.D. RF choke out of RG-213 as well. Tape the 2.5" coax shield and center conductor very well, with silicone and Super 33 tape, (this is important). Use a barrel connector at one end of the RF choke, to connect the feed to the shack. Tape the barrel connections well, to seal out water, when you are installing the beam. Tape the RF choke under the boom.
When you tape the coax from the RF choke, to the mast, use a gentle bend in the coax from the RF Choke, and don't bend your coax into sharp 90 deg angles, which can cause problems later on.
Mosley sent two pieces of the wrong size(it was metric) element tubing, but Mosley sent me the correct standard pieces within two days.
I would recommend the TA-63N to any one looking for a small foot print HF/6m beam that will last for decades and that you can depend on to work loads of DX!
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|
| DG2SBL |
Rating: |
2012-03-19 | |
| ADDENDUM (in German) |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Ich baue den Beam momentan zusammen, habe jedoch bemerkt, dass die beigefügte englischsprachige Bauanleitung (V-2.0-2009) im Bereich „Assembly of Boom“ nicht mehr auf dem aktuellen Stand ist.
Der Boom besteht nicht mehr nur aus zwei, sondern mittlerweile aus drei Teilen und zwei inneren (statt einem) Spleisrohren, die jedoch durch entsprechende Markierungen (1) und (2) leicht ineinander geschoben werden können. Der so zusammengesetzte Boom kann dann mit 8 Langschrauben, 8 Zahnscheiben und 8 Muttern (alle diese Teile sind in der Materialliste nicht aufgeführt, sind jedoch in einem Extra-Beutel beigelegt) fest verschraubt werden. Auch hat die Bebilderung in der Anleitung zum TA-53N teilweise mehr zum Verständnis beigetragen, als dies bei der zum TA-63M der Fall ist.
Ich gebe derzeit eine 4 (Good), da die Teile der Antenne zwar qualitativ hochwertig sind, eine Anleitung aber auf dem aktuellen Stand sein sollte. |
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| W7TAE |
Rating: |
2012-01-08 | |
| Well built compact performer |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Excellent service and advice from Mosley- about six weeks for delivery.
For a short boom (14ft) this thing really reaches out from my 60 foot tower. Very broad banded for a short spaced multi band, and I do not use a tuner even with my solid state power amp.
With no moving parts, this antenna is very rugged, its been up over 3 years now and has been trouble free. (I tilt it over for inspection once per year and have had no issues)
My experience was limited de-burring, and easy assembly. The directions are accurate but need a very careful reading, and this is something that Mosely could improve to speed assembly.
With the higher bands opening up this antenna has been lots of fun.
Bottom line: Built like a brick outhouse-performs very well in a small turning radius. Whats not to like?
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| WU5E |
Rating: |
2011-06-25 | |
| 1st day with a TA-63N |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Hi All, the antenna went together very easy.Only one bur to clean up. The SWR curve is a good just as in the manual. I have the antenna on 40 foot Rohn 25G with a hazer. 1st contact this morning June 25th 2011 with JR6GUU on the Southern Cross DX net. |
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| NN4F |
Rating: |
2011-05-17 | |
| Outstanding! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I Purchased this Antenna about 3 years ago, but I've only had it installed for the past 3 months. So I thought it was time for a review.
I am extremly pleased with this antenna, build quality is outstanding, and performance is equally outstanding for the size of the antenna. I now get 59+ signal reports into EU/Asia/VL/ZL from SC, I can hear stations I couldn't hear on the Multiband Doublet, (I know sunspots are increasing, but even now on comparisons, can't hear them.)
If i run the PA, (Alpha78 @1kw) I can get 59+20/30 reports easily.
The only issue is supposedly a low f/b ratio, but I actually find this helps considerably, I still get great fwd gain, but I can still hear stations off the back and side of the beam, albeit a little lower, but still workable, pulling in EU's at s9 and over and still hear the west coast calling me at s4/5...
Overall, I think this is the best antenna in it's class, 6 bands I LOVE IT!!
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