[amsat-bb] Antenna suggestions

[Rick Walter]

Have a pair of eggbeaters from M2 to work the linear birds up for 5 years. No problems, excellent service. They survived the big east coast ice storm last winter. I'd buy from M2 again in a heartbeat. 

Rick - WB3CSY

Sent from Rick's iPhone 5
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds" - Albert Einstein



> On Sep 11, 2014, at 9:20 PM, Jim Sanford <wb4gcs at wb4gcs.org> wrote:
> 
> More like my experience with M-Squared.  Their antennas are the best mechanically engineered antennas I've ever seen.
> 
> Jim
> wb4gcs at amsat.org
> 
>> On 9/11/2014 8:25 AM, Stefan Wagener wrote:
>> Well,
>> 
>> I am sorry to hear about your experience with M2. On the other hand, we
>> have dealt with them over the last two years for satellite antennas and can
>> report the hardware is good, it fits and instructions when followed allow
>> even non-hams to built a quality system. Customer support was outstanding
>> and quick. I am planning on purchasing the next set of satellite antennas
>> from them in the next few weeks and will continue to share my positive
>> experience about them.
>> 
>> Stefan, VE4NSA
>> 
>> On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 10:52 PM, Lizeth Norman <normanlizeth at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> If you're buying anything from M2 expect poor customer service and a
>>> bad build. I have more to do tonight than list the screwups those
>>> people have done. They actually charged my credit card and THEN 2.5
>>> months later (after finishing another manufacturing cycle) shipped the
>>> product (upgrade kit for a KLM kt-34a)!!! Not to mention having to use
>>> a dremel on the "CNC" hardware. The UHF antennas use a cheap white
>>> plastic insulator that cracks, allowing water ingress. Remember the
>>> $200 circularity switch that you need to buy? Junk after 7 years.
>>> See here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/n3ykf/11312549334/
>>> Considering what these people charge, I'd expect teflon.
>>> 
>>> Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I purchased another antenna from
>>> this bunch of rejects (These bozos actually had the balls to cancel
>>> two credit card orders for parts!). It was cheaper than ordering one
>>> from Europe. I guess at $800, lasting 7 years, it's just over $100 a
>>> year to use this, then throw it away.
>>> 
>>> The antenna has 21 pair of elements. 14 pair (!!!!!!) were miscut. 13
>>> by 1/16 and one by an 1/8. (I took pictures because I care!!!) That's
>>> a real problem where the elements of the antenna are 1/16 th of an
>>> inch different (most). Took me almost two hours to verify what they'd
>>> done and decide that regardless of what screwups they'd made, it was
>>> going together.
>>> Seems to work. I've no way to test it other than swr and on air usage.
>>> 
>>> Take care to read the Gulf Alpha page. Last I looked, the satellite
>>> antennas were out of production and he was reserving parts/service for
>>> original owners, only.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 4:23 PM, Dave Webb KB1PVH <kb1pvh at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>> Keith,
>>>> 
>>>> I'm not sure if Gulf Alpha is still making the satellite antennas. He had
>>>> something on his website saying that he wasn't going to build them and
>>> even
>>>> if he was to build them, you will wait a minimum of 4 months regardless
>>> of
>>>> what timeframe he tells you.
>>>> 
>>>> Dave-KB1PVH
>>>> 
>>>> Sent from my Samsung S4
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>> _______________________________________________
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> 
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> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
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