Well, what began as an encouraging undertaking on Day 1 changed course on Day 2 when I noticed that I was short some flat washers. Not a big deal. Just another reminder of MFJ's poor quality control. However, things quickly went downhill from there.
1. The wire supplied is cheap and, upon closer inspection, frays
easily at the hold-down points.
2. The 6 meter portion is clearly a last minute add-on and hokey as all get-out.
3. I could've lived with those shortcomings and would have, but the tuning phase was the nail in the coffin. Instructions say to tune the antenna at a height of at least 6'. I tuned at 12', raising and lowering the antenna on a painter's pole for each adjustment. Meticulously removing only small lengths of wire each time, the very best I could come up with was this:
20 meters: 2.6 @ 14.150 1.4 @ 14.250 3.4 @ 14.350
17 meters: 1.1 across the band!
15 meters: 3.1 @ 21.250 2.6 @ 21.325 3.4 @ 21.450
12 meters: 2.5 across the band
10 meters: 2.3 @ 28.300 1.5 @ 28.400 2.7 @ 28.500
6 meters: 4.3 @ 50.125
Adjusting a single band affects the others making this a Rubik's Cube of tuning.
Hence the reference in my previous post to a picture of a hacksaw. And the cobweb's not-so-peaceful demise.
But, all is not as dire as it seems. For anyone looking for a GREAT 17 meter antenna, I highly recommend the cobweb!
