New CB Radio Beam Antenna, 5 Element Long John replaces old MACO Comet 

Imagine what MFJ would be if it was run by a guy who actually cared about quality.

Ive always really like Maco antennas..... They are made so damn well.. I have an old NOS Wilson Lazer 400 and the quality they used back then was phenomenal....

Doing what YOU want is all that matters.Your money, your station. Thank you for doing something to keep the hobby going and trying new things, 21

NEVER MIND WHAT THE PEANUT GALLERY SAYS YOUR ON THE RADIO AND ITS YOUR STATION AND YOUR MONEY ROCK ON .THANKS FOR SHARING 73s

Don't worry about any specifics on you equipment etc. The neighbors and haters will know everything and anything about what YOU"RE" using "YOUR" money too boot. I tried many different antennae arrays (beams) and I nailed the choice to a set of Jo Gunns - stacked 6 Stars. They are at 100' tall. After combing through numerous arrays, the Joe Gunn had all the hiccups ironed out. The more I talked on them and burned them in with 2 tube 500Z, she got strolling really good but when I introduced her to the 6 pack of 3-500z's waiting in the whelms it lit up frequency big time. 99% of the time I talk with only a single 2879 Toshiba. 100 watt modulator actually ran off power supply. When I venture off into the HAM world arena, the equipment and hardware all change for the best compared to what the 11 meters only has to offer us. CB is still fun up to a certain point. Too many "low life's" hang around 11 meters all looking for handouts from "BIG BROTHER."

Sorry that antenna let you down, i know that feeling, thanks for posting and sharing the installation..

I was surprised that Sirio is making their beams cheaply also. Bought a 4 element recently from them and it's the same cheaply made thin metal. I'm definitely going back to Maco the next time.

I Have Hy- Gain Duo-Beam 6, its old been in the air for me since 1992, survived Ice Storm 94,,in West Tennessee. Yours is basically the same design without the cheap parts you shown.

I have the Maco Comet but I don’t have it in the air yet. I chose the Comet because I do everything by myself and the boom is only 11 feet long so it will be a lot more manageable than a bigger antenna at least I think it will be... Thanks for the video...

I've got a older m103c I've had for a while and parts are easy to get and it gets out.

I used the same tv and cb antenna set up as you have, I was running an Astro-beam and a 4 element UHF/VHF with FM trap,Using a stand off like you and I didn't see any interference between the two. And with the astro beam at 115 feet and the TV at 90 feet I was pulling in TV stations as far as Evansville,IN. And I was just 30 miles NE of Memphis. I now have the Stack 3 Hi-Gain at 137 foot but haven't put my TV antenna up yet, Ive moved to about 95 miles east of Memphis. Now i've bought my retirement home in North Central Arkansas at Heber Springs. And stack it all back up again,, but maybe not all the tower again ? We'll see how it goes, I'm not as strong as I was in my 20's, now @ 59 I take it slower..

Just get a Maco and be done with it! Great customer service and quality antennas

Looks very similar to a 5-element Mosely I had as a 14 YO CB dude in 1974. It too was marketed as " Long John". Boom-to-element clamps and all. I remember it being pretty robust mechanically, though. Heavy-guage aluminum. Even the gamma-match arrangement was the same. I ran it mainly vertical, but did set it up for horizontal for a while. The element dimensions were very critical (even if changing from flat-side to vertical) and was down to 1/8 inch granularity. It was a great antenna. Sorry the HyGain is a disappointment.

use vise grips either needle nose or regular round or straight jaw on those nuts to hold them or back them up. put the vise grips straight in on two flats. you can loosen hard to reach nuts this way by putting a screwdriver crossways through the vise grips for turning leverage.

Yep Hygain went cheap on their parts now. Many complaints about how junky they have gotten. Maco has hygain beat now no doubt about it.

Where are the vertical elements?

I would love to have that comet if it had the verticals too lol

love my comet, talk all over with it. and spank them ducks on Saturday night races here in Georgia. good vid 73s from the back woods

Also Do you (ROPE) your elements ? I know these HI-Gain's will break with time and wind ?

No doubt the best are Lightning Antennas

Guess I wont be buying one of these.

Just for the fun of it.....how's the antenna so far....? Would love to see the build plans for your antenna.....if possible. Thanks in advance .

At 4:58, you could have just used an OPEN END WRENCH to hold the bolt ( using the open end at about 45* angle just to hold it) while you tighten the nut on the opposite side, no need to bend anything. Just for future reference. Take it ez

MFJ-"Mighty Fine Junk"

I recently purchased a 8 band hex-beam under the MFJ brand from MFJ and generally the construction is cheap. The fiberglass spreader arms are nice, the wire guides are fairly cheap and break easily and the center hub or "hex" piece is made from two thin cjeap pieces of aluminum that you sandwich the fiberglass spreaders between with a nut and bolt in each of the six arm positions. unfortunately the hex pieces are a bitt too weak. They should either be twice as thick as they are or should have been made of some stronger metal like galvanized steel.

Just curious why you would run a horizontally polarized antenna on a band that is dominantly vertically polarized I can't even imagine the db loss vertical to horizontal

When lowering your tower, how do you get it to lay back enough, to lay over.

hello do you still have the fiberglass poles and wire from the comet if so would you sell them thanks

Looks like a Maco 103c sitting up there. Lol

Did you lower and raise that by yourself?

I would have returned it instead of assembling it.

Master,, we're not worthy 😉

Use lock nuts and stainless

Hy-Gain HF Beam Antennas LJ-105CA..... is this the same Antenna > Thanks.....You said it at the end.. lol Thanks

You can't get to the bolt head to hold it still? Channel locks...

The original Long John was 24 feet long, I had one in 77.

What kind of tower is that

Hey good job,dont pay any attention to Ten,he s a troll.

How high is it?

Hy-Gain HF Beam Antennas LJ-105CA 5 out of 5 stars ( 2 ) Part Number: HGN-LJ-105CA Hy-Gain HF Beam Antennas LJ-105CA Hy-Gain LJ-105CA - Hy-Gain HF Beam Antennas $489.95 Hy-Gain HF Beam Antennas Antenna, Beam, Long John HF Monobander, 10M, Yagi, 5 Elements, 1,500 W, 24 ft. Boom Length

No you don't need a new one add an extra rejection wire see what happens mine is greet any beam with a rejection on the back can be modified as long as the wire does not make contact to the aluminum parts use straus, shrienk rap ,tape

I put up my Maco 5 in 2015 and its a much better design. My 5 is 28' long... Maco uses a boom truss on the 5 and up...

Maco made the best in the day man.

I have heard a lot of complaints about hy gain products lately. I was thinking about getting a set of these but now I’m not so sure. Damn Chinese made metal ruins classic American made products. Older macos are hard to beat. Better materials. Let us know how this works out.

MFJ has cheapened up everything and uses a low grade of aluminum. Not like the old 1970s Hy gain stuff... They came back out with the P 500 and its shit compared to my 1975 version. Its cheap! My CB neighbor bought one and its already bent. Very cheap.

hate to say it but a lot of antenna manufactures have gone cheap. i recently bought a sirio 3 element beam and although it works very well and handles power i was very unhappy with how the elements comes together. just sheet screws holding it together. i know eventually they will come loose. and the description claimed they came with water proofing sleeves. hahahahaha water proof my you know what. unfortunately there is a lot of junk out there now. but anyway enough rambling. How has this beam held up, still hammering down with it?

Is old beam for sale

We need support tram they only company makes cb antennas in america out of Oklahoma they also make ham radio antennas too.

You never posted a followup video saying how well or poorly the antenna performed? Was it that bad? LOL

Horizontally polarized CB ???

REBUILD the old one new alum elements old boom what could hurt

LOL BREAKER BREAKER 19, THIS HERE'S THE RUBBER DUCK.

Anyone use a Joe Gunn?

maybe you guys called tram tell them about beam cb radio beam antennas maybe you can send drawings to them.

TOM PIPPS FOAM- BATON ROUGE LOUISIANA USA HI HELLO &

Get a quad much better antenna

HY-Loss

Cushcraft is all Garbage as well. Mosley is a far better choice and high quality that will last longer than most of us will live.They have been in business for 70 years already.

MFJ/HyGain/Cushcraft shit is made in Mississippi which is why their quality sucks.

MFJ stands for My First Job so give them a break.They have had ZERO training & have no experience at any job.If you wanted a Quality antenna you would have purchased a Mosley & you would not be here crying about the lack of quality but praising the Awesome materials & workmanship used in their antennas.You get what you pay for so live with it & remember those hundreds that were burning a hole in your pocket every time you look up at that POS antenna. Also there is No Such Thing as SWR's.The antenna has an SWR.That is why they sell SWR Meters & NOT SWR's Meters.Thanks for the good laugh on that comment though. hehe haha LOL

$300 is a GODAWFUL amount of money to spend on a radio band full of mostly NOISE and stupid bigmouths. CB radio gear has always been cheaply manufactured. Maybe except for back in the days of the Johnson Messengers and radios like that. It would be better to just get your amateur radio license and get BETTER gear.

What Jew??? prejudice or racist? Does that have a place in your world? You might as well as use the N word for black men and the C word for women, right? Might as well dive right in.

Where are the vertical elements?