| K7TAR |
Rating:  |
2023-02-22 | |
| MonoGAP 17m antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I wanted to get on the 17m band, but couldn’t find a suitable add-on to my Hustler BTV6, so I ordered MonoGap 17m with the idea to mount it on the roof of my deck… Sooo - I got it, assembled it and - for testing only - stuck it in the ground with the “counterpoises” laid on the ground… well, that didn’t work well - can’t really explain it - the SWR kept jumping, the frequency was way higher than the 17m band, not a good experience. My guess is that BTV6 was “confusing” it being 25ft away…
What also doesn’t help is the proprietary coax cable you can’t use any good connectors on…. the soldering can get tricky - I did it several times :)
So I went with my original idea and put it UP 10 feet.. and all hell broke loose - SWR was stable, but waaay off the band (19+ MHz) - it took me a good week “playing” with counterpoises’ lengths and adjusting the “rods”, which do very little if anything. Rich was very helpful, but even he threw his hands in the air :)
I somehow ended up making the counterpoises longer than supplied - about 13 feet - but that allowed me to get the best SWR for 17m, and also eliminated multiple resonances that drove my house electronics crazy with HF… final result — this is really a DX antenna, I got 93 DXCC countries confirmed so far in only 3 months! Also, allowed me to get India, Vietnam and Indonesia that I couldn’t get on any other band with my BTV6 in 4 years. It was worth the hassle - it’s compact, light for the winds, and really works well.
Too bad I can’t show a picture )
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Update 02/2023: still works like a charm, stood up to snow, sleet and high winds, up to 106 DXCC entries now…tunes to under 1.05 SWR with PalStar tuner. |
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| KC2EQA |
Rating: |
2021-09-06 | |
| 20 meter Mono Gap |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
A couple of weeks ago I received my 20 meter GAP Mono antenna. As a dedicated QRP/CW operator, I have been using wire antennas for years. After having success with a portable 20 meter antenna this summer, I made the decision to call GAP and order the mono antenna. I cannot speak highly enough of product quality, ease of construction, and excellent customer support from Rich.
It took little over an hour to build after which my grandson and I set it up per instruction from GAP. I went into the shack and attached a RigExpert antenna analyzer and to my delight recorded a 1.24! With such results, I immediately tested the antenna with my trusty FT-817. Shelby, Montana is logged as my first QRP contact with the 20 meter mono. Not bad from northern NY state!
I look forward to using the GAP antenna once I am back in the shack after portable summer operations. This is a great product and the two times I called Rich, he was extremely generous with his time and offered great suggestions. With this kind of customer service and QRP results, I will have to give the Titan some serious consideration for the future.
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| KC1EWT |
Rating: |
2020-11-01 | |
| Great antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I've wanted to try this 20m antenna for a while and I noticed my local HRO had one in stock so I went and purchased it. Putting it together is straight forward however I would read the entire manual then put it together. I had it set up in a 5 gallon bucket in my back yard with the counterpoises layed out on the ground and I was amazed with the signals I was receiving! So far I've made some good contacts with good reports, I worked Slovenia Italy Ireland Mexico Germany and st. Lucia. I had a question about mounting it in a higher location so I called Gap and spoke with Richard, excellent customer service and very helpful. This antenna has been great, if your thinking about trying it out, go for it! I can also get it to tune on 17 15 12 and 10 with my internal tuner on my 7300 |
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| KD3KO |
Rating:  |
2019-09-28 | |
| Extreme Dissappointment |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| When the antenna arrived,I was very surprised at the somewhat poor assembly instructions.Several times the assembly predrilled holes did not match up and the screws had to be forced at an angle. The top section cap was smaller than the pipe size and lay loosely.The half wave coax was as small as RG-58 and protective coating was thin and weak.Center conductor was 4 thin threads of wire and the center wrap was extremely hard plastic that made it almost impossible to install the connector. (The center insulation pulled easily inside the outer coating.)Pre intalled tuning stub had to be moved to build antenna and resulted in 1.7-2.5 SWR. Not the legal limit verticle that I expected. |
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| N3RTD |
Rating: |
2019-02-09 | |
| Great antenna easy build |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Firstly I have the 40 meter version, be sure to have help raising in the air because the length is over 38 feet. I raised mine alone but I would not advise it, I am a fairly big man and use to body build and I had difficulty due to having to almost raise the antenna to chest level to insert it into my ground tube which was one from a previous antenna which mounted differently, I just placed this ones tube over the one in the ground so that placed my mounting tube 3-4 feet high. Well on to my thoughts on performance. It works really well. It is resident on the entire 40 meter band, though it is at 74-80 ohms throughout. So that tells me it is fed with 75 ohm feedline. So I had a VSWR at the top end of 1:5:1- 2:2.:1 and at the bottom 1:2:1. So I in my shack added a fasing loop of feedline to bring the VSWR and impedence down to 50 and now it is flat the entire band. Other than my perfectionism, this thing is a pleasure to use and is a dx hunters friend. The takeoff angle along with all the metal you have in the air it works well. As receiving goes in my location it is the quietest antenna I have and still has better signal reception than most of my others; of course that is depending on propagation at that moment. Because sometimes one of my many others are better. Verticals are always quieter here than my horizontal antennas.
It also works well on 30,20,18,15,12 meters. The VSWR is 2:1 -3:1 on those bands and easy to tune with internal tuner. I suggest Gi ing the thing because it is like a wet noodle in the wind. I used paracord around the center insulator in three directions it is as firm now as a tower.
Follow the instructions to the letter, re-read when necesary and it will be easy to build. Also get a friend to help raise it especially for the 40 meter version. It is well worth the money also, even though I had to wait a long time to get mine due to some snaffues at the factory not having boxes to ship and other issues, it was worth the wait. I almost canceled the order due to the wait issue, but I am glad I waited it was worth the wait. Hopefully they got their act back together now and you wont have the same issue I did. 73 |
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| N9VV |
Rating: |
2018-07-25 | |
| Amazing performer all bands |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I have to give a total THUMBS UP to GAP Antennas. I bought the Monoband Vertical Dipole just as a test. I have it on top of our roof held to the chimney with antenna rope :-) The performance is *TOTALLY AMAZING*. Please see my QRZ webpage Logbook for the FT8 DX that I have enjoyed in just a few months. *THANK YOU GAP* for creating an affordable and HIGH PERFORMANCE Vertical Dipole.
73 de Ken N9VV |
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| K7NA |
Rating: |
2018-06-16 | |
| Jury Still Out |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| A move to a new QTH and the need to get on the air with at least a quick and dirty antenna prompted me to call HRO to see if they had the MonoGap 20 in stock. As luck would have it, they had one available so I grabbed it. It arrived the next day. I inventoried the antenna parts, carefully read the instructions and began work assembling the antenna. I found the instructions to be complete, concise and accurate. But, you MUST read and understand each word and phrase in order to assemble this antenna correctly. People who don’t like to follow directions, make assumptions or who “wing it” will not be rewarded. The instructions must be followed to the letter! My antenna went together with no issues whatsoever. I dug a hole for the base insulator pipe out in my backyard at least 30-40 feet from my house, erected the vertical, secured the three counterpoise wires with stainless lawn pins, and connected the end of the feedline through a Radio Works in-line common mode choke to an Ameritron remote antenna switch. From there, 100 feet of RG213 brings the signal to my shack and a LDG AT1000ProII tuner. I found I did not need the tuner so it stays in “bypass” mode when using the Gap antenna on 20 meters. The antenna resonates in the phone band but has a low SWR across the entire band. I have run numerous receive comparisons between the Gap and an 80 meter end fed half wave antenna and have found the vertical is down by 2-3 S units most of the time. Of course, one would not expect a small 16 foot, ground mounted vertical to compare to a 130 foot wire up high above ground, but the Gap just doesn’t seem to “hear” very well. The noise floor is low but signals are decidedly weaker on the Gap. I’ve had good results from verticals at other locations in the US but here on Whidbey Island in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve experienced poor performance, even from a 40 meter ground mounted quarterwave with 90 radials relative to horizontal wire antennas placed 60-70 feet in the air. The Gap has been no exception. The jury is still out on this one! |
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| K7CU |
Rating: |
2018-06-11 | |
| monoGAP 30 |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I installed the monoGAP 30 on June 2nd. Assembly went well; I recommend reading the complete instructions before beginning. Since installing the antenna I've worked CU, LY, VK, YV and other good DX. Signals are always 3-6 S-units stronger on the GAP compared to my 30-meter sloping dipole. I had one question during assembly, so I called GAP. They immediately answered the phone, answered my question and gave a suggestion Total time: 10 minutes. I highly recommend this antenna and wish I had room for a monoGAP 40! |
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| WB0FDJ |
Rating: |
2018-06-08 | |
| Still good! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This is a one year follow up. Forty meters works as well one this antenna as the Challenger. I've made a lot of QRP contacts in the lower 48 without difficulty. I've also checked in to MIDCARS net numerous times running my FT-817. I'd say it's a good all around 40 meter stick. My analyzer says that the antenna resonates a bit above the 20 meter band so I use a tuner to touch up that band (2:1 SWR at 14000). I've also made quite a few QRP contacts here, going down to 500 mW for a JT8 contact. If you run lower power this is a dual band antenna. Don't use 30 much but a few months ago had a QSO with a JA on 30 (with tuner) running 20 W out of an Argonaut V. Lastly: I honestly think this would survive our weather without guys: even on the windiest days it barely moves against the guys. The old Challenger really rocked and rolled in 20 MPH. Overall it was a good choice for my QTH. Earlier review follows:
I bought my first Gap in 1993 and have had excellent results from them. My second Gap (Challenger) purchased 6 years ago just went down when a tornado hit our town a couple of weeks ago and a guy rope failed. I decided to replace it with a 40 meter monoGap. I've reverted to my novice days and spend a lot of time on 40. And the 40 meter monoGap is basically a Challenger without all the extra "stuff" hanging off of it.
Assembly of the monoGap is, IMHO, much easier than the Challenger. You basically join the sections, place two tubes that hang parallel to the main antenna and solder the coax connector. Gap even includes the counterpoise wires all soldered to a common lug for easy placement. What I really noticed is that this antenna is lighter in weight and was much easier to stand and drop into the ground mount (which I already had in place) than the old Challenger. The absence of extraneous tuning tubes seems to greatly decrease the wind resistance and weight. If you know anything about these antennas you basically know that, once put together, they just "work". No need for tuning.
The SWR across the entire 40 meter band is 1.3 to 1. I'd say it is functioning as well as the previous antenna did on 40. For fun I checked some SWR's on other bands (which, yes, I know, doesn't directly relate to efficiency). 30M 3:1 20M less than 2:1. 15M less than 2.5:1. 10M about 3:1. The autotuner in my Jupiter easily matched these, we'll see how it radiates on those bands down the road.
My decision to buy this was based on the particulars of my real estate: very small lot, power lines on three sides. No way to put down a radial field that, say, a trap vertical would require. I have a back up antenna for 30-10 which has proven effective. I wanted something "decent" for 40. I made a lot of QRP 40 meter contacts on the Challenger, going down to the 500 milliwatt level and it looks like this antenna will do that too. My personal experience with customer service has been very good. |
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| K4DVV |
Rating: |
2018-03-25 | |
| 40M mono gap & hurricane Irma |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I purchased the gap mono band 40 about 3 to 4 years ago. Last summer I took it down for maintenance and decided to add the guy wire kit to help with the Florida winds. September 10, 2017 hurricane Irma came very close to my QTH, not more than 60 days after putting the guy wires on the antenna. During the storm I lost five trees behind the house. One tree took out 3 of the 4 wires. The lone guy wire and the strength of construction saved the antenna. The antenna missed a direct hit by about 18 inches. |
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