> > ...based on a conversation with an insider at MFJ. Hy-Gain was about
> > to go belly up when MFJ came in an bought up rights, existing stock,
> > plus one employee/consultant. Hardly an accretive merger/acquisition.
> >
> > Aren't there enough hams out there buying antennas?
> >
> That may not have been the problem. There are a lot of companies
> that got sunk by poor management, but we'll never know.
> Personally, I've always found Hy-gain to have quality products and
> excellent customer service (as opposed to some other antenna
> companies written about recently).
> And for the future, maybe the sunspots will help all of them...
> 73 Barry
>
Perhaps when they were bought out by Telex they were put on the
back burner, or became a step child.
I dealt with Hygain for years, buying a Hytower and a yagi in 1962,
and many antennas since then. The only problem I had with any of
the products was with the HDR-300 rotor. One of the gears on the
early models was not robust enough. After many owners experienced
the same problem, a beefier gear was produced that solved the
problem of windmilling slop. Although my rotor was over 10 years
old, they completely overhauled it for free, including the new gear mod.
I have never dealt with a finer bunch of folks in all of the amateur radio
industry. You could call up to the rotor division and actually talk to the
lady that was going to do the repair. The employees in Lincoln were
top notch and extremely personable.
I looked at all the yagis on the market several years ago, and I was
most impressed with the TH-11. The points to look for in a good
design are the hardware, no driven element traps, and very little droop
in the elements. I could not be more pleased with my choice, and I
still think it is the best 5 band yagi on the market.
I am afraid it is the end of an era for Hygain. I bought Hytowers from
them for 37 years....what a long production run for a great vertical!
(((73)))
Phil, K5PC
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