[TowerTalk] Mosley Antenna Update

[John L. Hammers]

Some of you are reading this for the first time,
to others it is "old hat". Basically my story is
simple, Feb 1999 I paid over $5,000.00 For A 
Mosley Pro-96-S antenna, The shipments were sporadic
and all the parts did not arrive until September of
99 at which time it was assembled (according to the
very shabby instruction manual) it was was raised to
70 feet and didn't resonate in any of the amateur bands.
SWR in the amateur bands were above 3:1 and higher in
most of the bands. Mosley was no help in trying to resolve
this problem and actually accused me of incorrectly
assembling the antenna. Any idiot can match color code to
color code and install screws into the pre-drilled holes.
Only problems were that not all the elements were color
coded correctly ( most of the red elements were orange
colored while the remainder were red ) the other elements
were color coded ok so with the left over pieces and a
tape measure the remaining orange pieces were found to be 
actually part of the red element. The manual is so poorly
done that i had installed the 18" traps in the wrong location.
there was no mention in the instruction manual where the 18"
traps were to go, but did state that the shorter traps were to
be installed. because of the omission in the manual the 18" traps
were put in the wrong place. upon closer inspection of the itsy
tiny drawings in the manual i was able to discover that the small
traps went near the boom and the 18" traps went toward the tips.
after counting the number of turns in all the traps and verifying
that they were in the correct position and pointing the correct
direction, still no working antenna, still no assistance from
Mosley. Mosley did add to the confusion when they sent me the engineers
drawing of the antenna showing measurements for the Pro-96-S.
That drawing showed a big difference between what I had in my back
yard versus what was drawn in their manual and what the engineer drawings
stated. Some of the elements were short by as much as 12" overall, some
were too long by as much as 12" overall. Finally in Feb. 2000 Mosley 
agreed to accept the antenna back for "warrantee repair" which they 
have had in their posession for over 9 months now. 
To this date Mosley has refused to refund the original purchase price 
for the defective product, refused to replace the Pro-96-S with a different
model that has shown to work correctly ( without a request for refund
for the difference in price), Refused to accept my settlement offer of
a partial refund of the purchase price and refused to return the antenna
which they say has been tested and found to be working perfectly unless I
sign an order stating that i will no longer say anything about this antenna.
In other
words, as I understand it, they are blackmailing me by saying, either I
shut up or I don't get the antenna back. Do i regret my purchase of this 
antenna from Mosley, YES, but based on previous dealings with Mosley and
using and knowing about their other products I felt I was making an
informed buying decision. I had been very satisfied with the products
i used with the Mosley name. This product and this time around though,
there was no support, a very shabby manual, and accusations from the
manufacturer that anything and everything that was wrong was my fault
exclusively. Mosley flatly stated that there was nothing wrong with the
antenna and in fact their web page states that this particular antenna
was assembled and tested prior to shipping. there are a couple of flaws
in that statement for the sporadic shipping of parts could not have
allowed Mosley to assemble and test the parts at their location.
The absence of screw marks in the pre drilled holes indicated that the
elements had never been screwed together. I have spent an addition sum 
of money by trying to resolve this issue through the use of an attorney
in Missouri. While he has been most helpful, Mosley refuse to co-operate
and refuses to refund or return the product. i cannot afford to spend
more money on this dead horse and cannot sue for attorney fees so the
legal part is over.
one note of interest at this point is that Mosley did agree on 2 separate
occasions to refund the purchase price, once in november 99 when i first
had the problems. At that time I still had trust in the Mosley Name and
refused the refund offer because I wanted "multiple mono-banders" on one
boom. The other instance of a refund offer was when Mosley requested that
all material I had posted be removed from the internet and I agree to sign
a "gag-order". i requested that all information be removed from various
web pages and it was removed. Mosley immediately retracted their offer
of a refund once i had complied with the 1st of their two conditions.
I will be glad to answer any questions you may have.
I will be glad to entertain any ideas you may have on how to resolve
this situation with only one exception, I will not give up my right
to free speech.
Do i wish to cause harm to Mosley, No, Not really, my sole intention
is to inform others of MY Situation with Mosley's "Top of the Line"
antenna.
Thanks in advance for your comments and if you know of others who may
be considering the purchase of any commercially available antenna
system, please advise them to do their homework so they won't end up
in my situation. Tower Talk is a great source for information,eham.net
is another, and of course most of the reflectors have something to say
as well.
thank you for listening and if you want to forward this to others
please feel free to do so.
73's & 88's to all
happy holidays
wa7aw
John H.
ps you can visit my web page for additional info
http://users.bentonrea.com/~wa7aw/tower/page14.html



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