[TowerTalk] Mosley - warning strong language

K7LXC@aol.com K7LXC@aol.com
Wed, 6 Dec 2000 11:20:38 EST


In a message dated 12/6/00 7:54:41 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
emoore@windemullerelectric.com writes:

> Thanks for all of the replies on and off the reflector.  There seems to be
>  about a 50-50 cut of people who love Mosley or hate Mosley.  I was hoping
>  to hear more about why some people hate Mosley products.  From what I have
>  seen they are built like tanks and may have older designs, but aren't old
>  designs proven?  I live in Michigan and the heavy duty design appeals to
>  me.

    Opinions are like bellybuttons - everyone's got one. Here's mine on 
Mosleys and their owners.

    Anecdotal information is sometimes, but not usually, helpful. You can 
talk to Mosley owners who say their antenna works 'great'. There are several 
reasons for this:

1.  They had a TA-33 years ago and they worked lots of stuff with it and they 
figure that a bigger Mosley will work better. When you're moving up from a 
vertical or dipole, anything works better but I think that some of the 
perception is psychological.

2.  They don't have a reference antenna so they really DON'T know how well or 
how poorly it works. 

3.  They paid a lot of money for it, therefore it must work great. 

    Our test of three Mosley antennas in our tribander comparison test showed 
poor and non-competitive performance in all 3 instances. All the other 
antennas we tested performed better.

    You keep referring to its robust construction. What difference does that 
make if it doesn't give you the performance you get from just about any other 
antenna?

    Old proven designs? Proven to do what? Proven to provide reliable 
mediocre performance? Until our on-the-air comparison test, there was no 
'real' information on antenna performance or manufacturer's claims. I think 
the Mosley company motto should be - "There's one born every minute".

    My anecdotal experience is that they have pretty good swr (one design 
parameter) but don't have much in the way of a pattern. You could almost save 
yourself the cost of a rotator for the difference rotating it makes. 

    After N0AX and I presented our first tribander talk at Dayton about 3 
years ago, a Mosley owner came up and said that he had *great* success with 
his antenna from his 9,000 foot hilltop location in Colorado. DUH!! A mobile 
Outbacker would be a great antenna from such a primo spot.
>  
>  What do you guys think about mounting a 40M beam 35' above the ground?
>  
    If that's all you can do - go for it. It'll be pretty high angle but 
you'll still have fun with it. One LXC Law states to "Go with what you've 
got".

Cheers,   Steve    K7LXC
Tower Tech
Champion Radio Products

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