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Reviews For: Hy-Gain TH5-MKII

Category: Antennas: HF: Yagi, Quad, Rotary dipole, LPDA

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Review Summary For : Hy-Gain TH5-MKII
Reviews: 6MSRP: 759.95
Description:
Triband yagi
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hy-gain.com/products.php?prodid=TH5-MKII
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0065
WA7KGX Rating: 2011-04-28
Good Value Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought a used Th5mk2 used for $200, complete with homebrew balun. It had been stored on the ground, and one of the traps was full of mud. Fortunately the traps are simply built, allowing one to remove the covers for inspection and cleaning if required. If buying one used, open up and inspect every trap. The one you don't open up will be full of mud and not very resonant. Replacement traps are reasonably priced if needed.

A Yagi's gain is a function of its length. At 19 feet, this antenna is at the upper limit of what can be easily handled without supersized ladders, etc. It's no Dream Beam but it is affordable, has a reasonable wind area, and no moving parts.

Up on the tower the TH5mk2 looks like a TV Yagi, just somewhat larger. It just looks good. This might help with neighbors who are used to TV aerials but not antenna farms. Observed SWR vs frequency and directionality agree with Hy-Gain's specs. Stations rise up out of the noise as I rotate the beam on all 3 bands.

The Th5mk2 does wonders with WSPR and can hit the East coast from Portland Oregon with 1 milliwatt. I have talked to Oz and sneaked past the odd pileup to Kuwait and France barefoot. That's not bad considering the auroral oval that bisects the path between Oregon and Europe.

While the TH5Mk2 does not cover 17 and 12 meters, it does cover about 90% of the current ham band frequencies between 14 and 30 mHz.

The SWR is slightly affected by the down lead if the down lead is not kept close to the mast and tower for some distance.

The previous owner painted the beam black so ice would melt more quickly.
VE2BBC Rating: 2010-10-22
Super...! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought mine used and this is my first yagi, the day after I raised it we had winds up to about 50 mph and nothing moved. One of my first QSO was a VK, with 100 watts, I said wow....it worth the labor. I'm very happy of the results, very low SWR on all bands.
IK4CIE Rating: 2007-08-25
excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Buyed USED in 1996.!!!... still in use in my tower, no one problem in over ten years, no needed to change any part, great signals from anywhere, strongly recommended.
Regards
Vittorio ik4cie
KA5ROW Rating: 2004-08-23
Well Built Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the TH5MK2 used at the Mena Hamfeast for $125.00 partly dissembled. It must have been laying out in the yard for a while the traps were full of grass. I used water and compressed air to clean the traps I completely dissembled the antenna used steel wool and cleaned all the oxidation off. I orderd end caps and a balum from Hy-Gain and the antenna works flawlessly and has for the last 5 years. The antenna is well built, it withstood a major ice storm that knocked out the power for 11 days. If it was not for the heavy construction it would be history.
N5WJ Rating: 2004-05-06
Great Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Been a ham for over 30 yrs and always used dipoles, loops and had one quad, put this antenna up and saw what I was missing.. what a super antenna.. super front to back and I am hearing and working the rare one's easily... bought the TH5 in Dallas about 5 yrs ago and just got it up about 1 month ago...Working great, it was a lot bigger than It looked unassembled...
KN0V Rating: 2001-11-13
excellent performer Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This antenna was first installed back in 1985.
During its 16 years on the tower, it performed
flawlessly for me and was virtually maintenance free. The F/B and F/S ratios were outstanding. Never had a problem breaking a pileup with it. Unfortunately, it had to go. It was replaced with a Tennadyne T-8 so I could finally have a directional antenna with WARC capabilities. If it wasn't for the WARC bands, it would still be on the tower.