[TowerTalk] HyGain Antenna Quality control issues

[David Gilbert]

MFJ's reputation for quality issues is well deserved.  I've been a ham 
for a very long time and made the mistake of buying from them several 
times in the past ... I don't think a single product was fault free.  
Their designs are not terrible given the price point they shoot for, but 
their manufacturing processes and process flows are straight out of the 
1950's.

One of the online weekly ham radio shows did a tour through their 
factory a few years ago and it was run literally like a garage shop.  I 
would imagine that the clip is still available online.  If you've ever 
had any involvement with modern factory floor quality control methods 
you'll see what I mean.

Dave   AB7E


On 3/30/2018 8:00 PM, N4IJ . wrote:
> I had read that after MFJ bought HyGain that quality had suffered. Is that
> the experience of any recent purchasers? I bought one from DXengineering
> the beginning of March.
>
> Hy Gain LJ-203
>
> Both inner thick wall boom sections were not swaged enough for the two
> outer sections to fit over the swage. MFJ acted quickly and sent
> replacements. The replacement tubing had one of the sections drilled wrong
> (90 degrees off where the Beta match connects to the boom. I drilled
> another hole and fixed it.
>
> One of the middle element sections had a couple of cracks in the swage the
> tip section slides into.
>
> All of the element sections had four (4) slots instead of the one I am used
> to seeing. That would not be so bad, but the tip sections were actually
> smaller than they should have been and the 4 slots are required to squeezed
> enough to retain the outer section.  The tip sections are not a proper fit.
> Since the hose clamp was the only mechanical support, I had to put yet
> another small hose clamp (two in each element side) in order to keep the
> tip section from flopping around.
>
> The larger sections were the same way, but I ended up putting a aluminum
> pop rivet in each swage prior to the slots to make it solid. Also used the
> provided hose clamps.
>
> The driven element is supposed to be drilled for the beta match/coax to
> connect. No holes anywhere so I measured and drilled myself.
>
> The vibration damping rope is supposed to be 6 ft long in each tip section.
> Only 24 ft of rope was supplied, so I skipped it on the director tips.
>
> The antenna is finally together and I think it will be ok - but a lot of
> issues.
> I saw comments from a LJ204 buyer complaining of the sections not being
> solidly telescoped too.
>
> Positive: customer support
> Negative: quality
> Doug, N4IJ
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