Cushcraft HV4E Multiband Vertical Antenna, 1200W
SKU:
ZCC-HV4E
Availability:
In stock
$219.95
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Description
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Customer Reviews
Overall
2
Decent design - TERRIBLE QC
Review by
N7CXI
I was excited to see the HV4E listed, needing a small 40M vertical and not having seen a new design coming from Cushcraft in a while.
Our first assembly attempt went fine. There is either an error in the manual or in the parts shipped with regard to the lengths of the capacitance hat rods, but we kept on and assembled the antenna.
After assembly and mounting using the HV4E-TB tilt base, we attached a RigExpert to the antenna thinking we'd tune 40M. Wrong! 40M acted like it wasn't there. After close examination of the coil and capacitance hat system, we found:
(1) The wires going to the lugs from the coils had not been stripped. (the enamel was still intact)
(2) The lugs had not been crimped
(3) Someone attempted to solder the uncrimped lugs to the unstripped wire
At that point, I considered tossing it all back in the box, but since GigaParts didn't cause the problem I decided to tear it all down, strip the wires, crimp the lugs and solder the connections. After re-assembly and mounting, 40 and 20M tuned like a champ. 15 and 10 not so much, but I haven't had time to investigate why. (it could be my radials - few and long)
Summary:
I compared the antenna to two other 40M verticals in the area over several 40M contacts last night, and it worked quite well. I like the overall design and the cost reduction from the AV640. I also like the reduced weight and bulk. What I do NOT like is having to re-manufacture the antenna because MFJ couldn't be bothered to even strip the silly coil wire ends.
Design, probably a 4.
Execution, probably a 4.
Manufacturing quality, negative numbers.
Overall, I'll call it a 2.
I have photos of the coil assemblies if anyone wants them.
73 DE N7CXI
Our first assembly attempt went fine. There is either an error in the manual or in the parts shipped with regard to the lengths of the capacitance hat rods, but we kept on and assembled the antenna.
After assembly and mounting using the HV4E-TB tilt base, we attached a RigExpert to the antenna thinking we'd tune 40M. Wrong! 40M acted like it wasn't there. After close examination of the coil and capacitance hat system, we found:
(1) The wires going to the lugs from the coils had not been stripped. (the enamel was still intact)
(2) The lugs had not been crimped
(3) Someone attempted to solder the uncrimped lugs to the unstripped wire
At that point, I considered tossing it all back in the box, but since GigaParts didn't cause the problem I decided to tear it all down, strip the wires, crimp the lugs and solder the connections. After re-assembly and mounting, 40 and 20M tuned like a champ. 15 and 10 not so much, but I haven't had time to investigate why. (it could be my radials - few and long)
Summary:
I compared the antenna to two other 40M verticals in the area over several 40M contacts last night, and it worked quite well. I like the overall design and the cost reduction from the AV640. I also like the reduced weight and bulk. What I do NOT like is having to re-manufacture the antenna because MFJ couldn't be bothered to even strip the silly coil wire ends.
Design, probably a 4.
Execution, probably a 4.
Manufacturing quality, negative numbers.
Overall, I'll call it a 2.
I have photos of the coil assemblies if anyone wants them.
73 DE N7CXI
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