Out of all antennas I installed and used at my (antenna-restricted) OTH the one I liked instantly was MFJ "hamstick" dipole(s): the size, the ease of installation, the way it could be rotated manually -- fiberglass mast I use allows it -- and how the signal/noise changes with the rotation. There were problems with the hamstick dipoles though: they turned out not very good radiators, the one for 20m is better than for 40m, but generally all poor and lossy. The little modeling I've done confirmed it. Also, hamstick dipoles I have are low power (125W max).
So...I went on the quest for finding a rotatable dipole which
(1) would fit in my small patio,
(2) could be installed on the fiberglass mast I have and
(3) could handle at least five hundred watts of (recently installed in the shack) Elecraft KPA500.
I came back last week with MFJ-1775 multiband (10-15-20-40m) rotatable dipole, assembled it, tuned and tested during the 2018 ARRL DX SSB Contest this weekend. Here are my impressions:
Assembly and tuning
The assembly took a few hours of my evening quality time during work days. I basically followed the manual with one addition: I covered all the coils with electric tape to protect them from changing parameters in extreme Miami weather (resonance drifting in rain had been reported by many for this antenna).
The tuning was easy with antenna analyzer (I have RigExpert AA-54) but I wasn't too concerned about it as I am using antenna tuner anyway. Here is the SWR plots for 7 and for 14Mhz:
SWR plot for MFJ-1775 antenna, 40m band
SWR plot for MFJ-1775 antenna, 20m band
Installation
When I installed the antenna on MaxGain fiberglass pole (MK-6 Series 38FT Heavy Duty) it wasn't holding very well at the full extension. Without the gay ropes it had been swaying dangerously in the wind, gayed, it did hold, but didn't look too good. But, when used at 30ft/9m, it behaved very well in moderate wind.
MFJ-1775 antenna in operating position at 30ft / 9m
This installation is not permanent, I do push the antenna up when I have time, usually on weekends. It takes me 30 min to assemble and install the antenna, less to disassemble. To store the antenna, I remove the two short elements with coils and capacity hats; this way it fits easily in my small patio.
On the Air
I tested MFJ-1775 during ARRL DX-SSB contest and it worked very good. I had not been on the air all the time, just a few hours and I was not calling CQ but rather hopping frequencies and making contacts. I had been pointing antenna to the stations of interest manually and it helped to reduce noise and bring up signals; the shorter the band, the more pronounced was the effect. I was using my Electraft KPA500 amplifier and constantly sending the maximum power of 500-600 Watts to into the antenna with no issues. I was using AT-AUTO tuner all the time on all bands. I made total of 101 contacts on 40, 20, 15, and 10m all over the world and my DX count increased by quite a few countries. Here is the map of the contacts I made:
Contacts made during 03-03-2018 and 03-04-2018 (most related to ARRL DX-SSB contest 2018)
My AT-Auto tuner had no problem matching the antenna to the load at 17m so I made a few contacts on that band, just to test the signal and it worked great.
The bottom line:
I am very happy with the antenna and definitely recommend it to the hams who, like myself, live in antenna restricted neighborhoods.
HI There,
I have been scouring the net over the last week trying to decide what multiband antenna to get that will be capable of handling 800 watt max RF power, HOA friendly/restriction, and this antenna model MFJ-1775 looks like it will fit my needs.
I have been considering the Buddipole but I the input power limit is only 250 watts and currently back ordered to September 15, 2018. Thank you for posting this review and I am on way of renewing Ham license, was formerly KH4AB.
my 1775 receives signals well but for some reason my signal is never heard? I use a antenna tuner that almost shows flat reflected on all bands but still not heard? 1775 is up on a tower 11 meters. anyone can tell me what is wrong??
mfj 1775 dipole problem. receives well but my signal is never heard? use an antenna tuner that tunes almost flat reflected on all bands. Up on a tower 11 meters. anyone can that can help will greatly be appreciated. don w5db
on assembly I have 8 ea. 12in. spokes left over where do they go/?
THANKS W4MSP
the extra spokes are for 40 meter band. use longer or shorter depending if you want the top or bottom of the band as it is very narrow on 40. tuner helps, i installed the short rods on 40 and use my tuner to cover the band. also as stated i covered my coils with electric tape to stop rain from changing my freq. tuner made that a moot point. in Minnesota we get some bad weather. i've had a problem with sleet getting into the antenna and making it useless for 2 days before the sun came back out an melted the ice. if i keep it up after winter i will cover the coils even more. the antenna is approximately 5ft above roof peak 30ft total. tuned it at 4ft for center of all bands. once moved up 1ft tuning changed. will push up another 5ft in summer and re-tune and also add ferrite beads to coax at feed point to get rid of noise i hope. ive worked 10, 15, 17, 20, 40 and 75 meters (very narrow) with this antenna with help of tuner. does it work yes.