MFJ-1898 Portable Collapsible HF+6-Meter Antenna

[@temporarilyoffline]

I actually really like this style of antenna - I have the Gabil model and the Gabil tripod. I know its a compromise, but I need to put it in a small bag with my 705 to be "agile" -- and it works. Yep, you need some way to know if you're in tune... in a pinch you can struggle with the radio's SWR meter and listening for noise.

[@W9HJBill]

The Gabil antenna is great (and only $128) ... the Gabil tripod is hands down the best QRP tripod out there.

[@temporarilyoffline]

@@W9HJBill agreed!

[@HamRadioWithKE0MAD]

I've got the Gabil version of this antenna in a bag with my IC705, 6-33' radials, Gabil tripod, 6ah bioenno battery and 50' of ABR 316 coax. I also love the fact that it has the scale on the side and have found that it's very consistent with the same radials.

[@fredgrannan2275]

I recently purchased the Gabil version of the same antenna. Ran it on field day and was very impressed!

[@HOAHamRadio]

Its a great little antenna Mike; I have a different brand but the same thing. Amazing how well it works for the size. Thanks for sharing.

[@ffighter1491]

I got the silver bullet and it's a snap to put up with 1/4 amount of radials. Came with everything I needed. Little more expensive but we'll worth it.

[@jdoolan21209]

Perfect timing, I was just looking at this for use on my car for POTA activations.

[@SCTaylorTX]

Good call on the fan. It’s been damned hot here lately. And now I have another antenna to check out…

[@walteredwards544]

For my Comet Toy box, I use a magmount. You can also use a Wolf River Coils mini tripod as well. I like the form factor and the fact that it's a sliding coil instead of plug in coil. (Thinking about using this to replace the coil on my Buddy Stick Pro (I now use the Wolf River Coils mini instead). I've been looking for a coul of this size for a while (The Super Antenna coil is nice but too expensive and you still have to buy another coil to reach 80 meters). I could make this work.

[@W3DRE]

Kazoo power!! I had to watch/listen to your video again. I need more kazoo in my life!

[@alalan3735]

Awesome little antenna! I have the Gabil clone that I got for around $130. Works great on vehicle mag mounts too!! ;)

[@HamRadioWithKE0MAD]

I have the one made by Gabil Radio and it's pretty awesome with a good bit of counterpoise.

[@bobsimoneau]

How much counterpose? I bought their Tripod and the gabil gra-7350tc. I could not get reasonable SWR.

[@HamRadioWithKE0MAD]

@@bobsimoneau I mainly use 6-33' radials and have no problem obtaining a 1.0:1 to a 1.2:1 on everything from 40-10 meters.

[@truckinguy92]

31 contacts in 19 minutes, that’s awesome! I never seem to be able to rack them up like that. With a super compromised antenna to boot.

[@hamradiotube]

Just use my callsign lol!

[@thormusique]

Great video, thanks! And I completely agree that it would be worth the cost if some kind of preper mount were included. Barring that, it seems too pricey. But it sure does seem to work just fine. Cheers and 73 !

[@hectormarchand9462]

I believe that this is a rebranded Gabil antenna made in Taiwan. 7350-TC

[@hamradiotube]

Very well could be. I think I’ve seen that brand before.

[@randyab9go188]

I owned one and it definitely is a grabil

[@joeblow8593]

Gabil is only $129 on Amazon

[@don_n5skt]

Definitely a Gabil clone and they must be have to add some profit on top of it. And from Mike's description, there is not as much in the box of as when you buy the Gabil.

[@UABFWSS]

the gabils i had got, came with 80m coils also. Forgot about that. The mfj versions didn’t. (Returned them all).

[@dougdaniels]

Interesting, nice review. Agree that it's spendy, as are most MFJ products. The one positive I can see is with the markings on the lower twist section, you can make a cheat sheet for each band and set it up faster than the WRC.

[@hamradiotube]

It’s actually not too finicky either so that should work fairly well I suspect.

[@randyab9go188]

Laser Engraved GRA-7350TC 3/8-24 3/8" x24 CB HF 3.5MHz 7-30MHz/50MHz Broadband Telescopic Portable Ham Amateur Mobile Radio Antenna

[@CheekyMiner]

I've only seen it as kit that included the radials , spike etc..Wonder how it compares to the Super Antenna MP1DXG2 Plus.

[@W8MJL]

Hey Mike wife and I got ours at Dayton this year and we agree that the price point is too high for what you get, I mean can we get a mount for pity sake, we've been using our WRC tripod. At least it works better than the 1899t. 73 de W8MJL

[@slwahl]

I'd like to see how this antenna works with the KB9VBR magic carpet (screen door radials).

[@alalan3735]

Works great with the Faraday blanket! ;)

[@williamjohnson8587]

Hey mike. Can you please explain the radial lengths for tuning.

[@o00scorpion00o]

I love MFJ products, the MFJ-1820T Works great for me, so does the MFJ-9232 loop tuner and the big MFJ-935C 150 watt loop tuner, with 100w this antenna is amazing and so compact, no radials but you do need to swap loops for different bands, you can make some multi band loops but the MFJ manual is really good and a full size 20m loop is amazing. I have the Super antenna MP1 and like it a lot so probably wouldn't get the MFJ-1898 , with the 80m Coil I even made a 1000 mile contact. Now if someone would make a automatic remote screwdriver for portable ops that would be nice, not sure the tarheel can be used for portable ? I suppose it's not a big deal to manually tune when out portable when you're close to the antenna.

[@markmoran7748]

Great video thanks. What radio were you using and what antenna analyzer as well. Thanks

[@sparty837]

Try a window screen ground, fast and easy. I use it at K-4422 with a 17" whip. You are lucky we have had some rain in Houston or you would need a jackhammer to get that spike in the ground.

[@hamradiotube]

Ain't no rain in Huntsville.

[@airheadzradioadventures]

Good review Mike!

[@chuckmartin6049]

I wonder how this would work on a mag mount to put on my van in the driveway outside my garage to work stations from the garage? I live in an HOA 😢

[@vetham100]

With the reputation of the mfj-1899t, i would be a bit leary about this antenna. The price is crazy and to have it shipped to Canada, not going to happen. Thanks for another enjoyable video.

[@dwayne5530]

For the price it should include some radials Good video as always. These type of videos really has me wanting to buy a HF rig, probably will pick a 7300 this fall but in the mean time your DIY 10m dipole video has me building and testing with a NanoVNA

[@williampeacock9473]

The Yaesu FT891 is a be value for the money. 73 AE4OY WILLIE PEACOCK EM-81uf Blackshear, Ga

[@ae4xo]

I love it when half the stations are from discord

[@paulbyrne3328]

Next time you use this antenna can you use the ground plain screen instead of all those radials and report back to us.Thanks Paul K5CIP

[@jonathanno5264]

Any chance you could get a 2nd and review them in a dipole configuration? Curious about their use as a small size independent 40m dipole for NVIS.

[@richard-fy2mu]

offers a possible HOA solution. I used a Wolf Coil 17ft whip in small garden with three 15 ft .rads made more than a few surprising contacts. No 40 meters sadly. 20, 17, 15 doable. TNX 73's KG5WKO

[@hankfox4170]

At that price/value point, it strikes me as a "me too" antenna. Nothing to diffentiate it. That said, I agree that if they drop the price even a small bit, people would almost impulse buy this. Kind of like, "I can carry this as an all band backup in case I need it". Heck, at a $110 price point, I'd supply my own tripod.

[@amnchode]

I'd have to agree, way to expensive for what you're getting. You can get a 5.6m telescopic whip (and adapter) for

[@jdoolan21209]

What is the base you’re using to connect the banana plugs to the antenna?

[@hamradiotube]

www.rezantenna.com/product-page/universal-puck

[@walteredwards544]

Were you only running a 100 Watts,? I wonder could you go QRP with this and check the results? My Comet works pretty good at 20 watts and above but at 10 watts, it's hit or miss

[@demorestautosport]

Great review Mike! It's in my radar, but I agree, it's a little high priced. Cheers! - KE8QPI

[@franciscolopez3229]

Great portable antenna for what it's worth. How many watts were you throwing out?

[@jcullipher01]

The fan must not be on, it’s not blowing your hair. 😂 N5JLC

[@hamradiotube]

I had it tied down pretty good lol!

[@kj7iaz]

Interesting. I was suprised by the price... how would you compare it to just a 17' stainless steal whip. Aside from 40m and maybe ??? 60m?

[@terencedubay]

How long was your radials?

[@N2YTA]

The basic WRC TIA kit is the same price but includes a tripod and three radials. The MFJ-1898 is going to be a tough sell.

[@TubeRadiosRule]

How well would it work for mobile?

[@barryzoll9772]

Hey Mike. Great video. How much power were you running?

[@hamradiotube]

100 watts

[@barryzoll9772]

One more question. Does the antenna come with counterpoise details? Thanks and 73.

[@Philip-KA4KOE]

Did you measure return loss with your RigExpert stick? Absolutely love my 230.

[@Kinetic79]

Return loss is just a different way to express the SWR. He showed both the reactance and other parts of the resistance in the video-which is fantastic detail to see. Typically very close to 50ohms and no substantial reactance. Loss because of mismatch was negligible. There will still be loss in the feedline and the coil. The coil isn’t optimized for low loss, but it’s portable and it’s easy!

[@bwraith]

Hey man thanks for posting this! Do you have a link to where you got that antenna mount? I've been looking for something like that. Love that it has radial plug in spots

[@hamradiotube]

I made it out of several different things. The rod is an old leg from a Wolf River Coils mega tripod that I sharpened with my grinder. The mount is a mirror mount from MFJ, and the radial puck is from REZ Antennas www.rezantenna.com/product-page/universal-puck

[@bwraith]

@@hamradiotube thank you for that! New project time!!! 73 K5CDW

[@patrickcoleman823]

Nice shirt brother ;)

[@ChuckBigbie]

What equipment did you use for the swr and graph?

[@Philip-KA4KOE]

He's using a RigExpert stick.

[@jojopri22]

Is it possible to set it up Mobile and use it only stationary? 73! Jojo KM6EHD

[@thephantomharanguer]

where's the 60m test 😢

[@tangle70]

Would it work for a mobile attenna?

[@hamradiotube]

Maybe?? I don't know. I don't really think that's what it's designed for.

[@KG6NLW]

Definitely needs a tripod or some radials for that price!

[@momullinax612]

looks like a copy of ... Gabil GRA-7350TC HF 3.5MHz 7-30MHz/50MHz Broadband Telescopic Portable Antenna TO has been using it and did a review (kinda)

[@k2cjbradio]

It does seem pricey. It probably has its niche though. Hope you are doing well! 73 de Chris K2CJB

[@denelson83]

Tried KB9VBR's idea of a metal mesh window screen as a counterpoise yet? 73 VE7NDE

[@hamradiotube]

Nope. I doubt I will. Looks too cumbersome.

[@KeepEvery1Guessing]

You know, there was Ham Radio before hams had antenna analyzers.

[@hamradiotube]

Yep. And there were horse drawn buggies before cars too.

[@FryFlier]

Are you doing a review for the MFJ 1898 Portable Collapsible HF+6 Meter or the fan Di-pole off of your right shoulder......... ...... 😜

[@hamradiotube]

Oh boy that one took me a minute lol

[@va2dv1]

Another copy of a copy of a copy…I already feel the pain…