[TowerTalk] HyGain Discoverer 72 40M Beam

[Charles Otnott]

A friend purchased the Discoverer 72 and the
third element add on kit 2 years ago. All,
I repeat, all of the screw holes were half
a diameter off from the mating part. We had
to dry fit all of the parts and re-drill
the screw/mounting holes. To ensure a secure
mechanical and electrical bond, we used
stainless steel pop rivets to hold everything
together.

The trombone matching section on the driven
element worked loose after a couple of months
of operation causing high mismatch during
flexing in light breezes. More robust hardware
was installed on all trombone sections to
prevent this situation.

Calls and letters to MFJ were met with deafening
silence and/or promises to step up quality control.
Of course we have all heard these types of responses
from MFJ in the past.

Once all of these repairs/modifications were
accomplished, the beam has performed as expected.
It is a sad situation that the antenna needed so
much additional work/parts/expense to get it up and
running.

73 & Best DX

Charlie
WD5BJT

See September 2006 CQ Magazine for a published work.
www.qsl.net/wd5bjt