MP-1 Quality?

[John-479]

I just returned from a trip to the beach.  We had a great time swimming,
laying in the sun, and drinking beer but my attempts at Ham Radio were not
very successful.  I had brought along my K2 and an MP-1 that I had purchased
earlier this summer from Elecraft.  As usual the K2 worked great but I can't
say the same for the MP-1.  This is my second one.  The first one was
replaced by Elecraft because I had stripped the threads on top of the coil
trying to get the whip screwed in.  Whoever built it had done a terrible
job.  It was covered with filings and oil and had many sharp edges where it
had been machined.  I was very surprised because, all in all, the quality of
the antenna looked very good except for the final machining and threading.
Anyhow, Elecraft replaced it.  When the replacement arrived, I took it out
of the box and very carefully assembled it.  It had the same problems as the
first one so I spent some time cleaning the threads using a bolt that I got
from the local ACE.  Once they were clean, I had no problem screwing
everything together.  I put it back in the box and set it aside until I our
vacation.

After enjoying the beach for a couple of days, I set up the station and got
ready to work some holiday QSO's but, alas, this didn't happen.  The new
antenna had a loose connection.  It turned out that the hole that the
horizontal screw that secures the bottom of the coil was stripped making an
intermittent connection. Now I don't know what to do.  Do I try to fix it
myself, send it back to Elecraft for another replacement, or send it to
MP-1?  I don't recall how long I have had it other than it was purchased
earlier this summer.

Has anyone else had similar problems with a new MP-1?

John   K7SVV

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[paul hendershott]

John,
Luckily, I had no problem with my MP-1like you describe. I used it primarily SSB about 2 years ago mostly on vacation, at Dayton, or when on picnic table breaks along the interstate. I found it very well machined except for one of the threads on a tripod leg. I did find the MP-1 a little finicky to manually tune, but definitely more than adequate and had a good number of contacts. ie, I would recommend the antenna.
 
However, recently I purchased a factory-built Buddipole system which I used during the tail end of Field Day and over the next two weeks. My experience with the buddipole was a better one. The antenna performed better from the living room of my frame bungalow and also on a tripod in my back yard. I did a side-by-side test in my house with both antennas optimized w/ my MFJ ant analyzer, and the buddipole was better on all accounts. Admittedly, this was a very limited and extremely unscientific test, but nonetheless  convinced me to use the buddipole when size was not a limiting factor. While the buddipole does break down to nice carrying case, the MP-1 has it beat hands down in transportability. If I'm traveling on business(seldom these days) and it all has to fit in my briefcase, the the MP-1 is probably coming along. I think both work well for their intended use, but if I'm going on vacation, have enough room for a tripod and a 6' diameter of real estate to place it on,  and
  can
 throw either into the trunk, the buddipole is most likely making the trip.  I would like to see Elecraft market the Buddipole as well under Elecraft colors. The more choices the merrier! just my $.02
73
Paul

John <[hidden email]> wrote:
I just returned from a trip to the beach. We had a great time swimming,
laying in the sun, and drinking beer but my attempts at Ham Radio were not
very successful. I had brought along my K2 and an MP-1 that I had purchased
earlier this summer from Elecraft. As usual the K2 worked great but I can't
say the same for the MP-1. This is my second one. The first one was
replaced by Elecraft because I had stripped the threads on top of the coil
trying to get the whip screwed in. Whoever built it had done a terrible
job. It was covered with filings and oil and had many sharp edges where it
had been machined. I was very surprised because, all in all, the quality of
the antenna looked very good except for the final machining and threading.
Anyhow, Elecraft replaced it. When the replacement arrived, I took it out
of the box and very carefully assembled it. It had the same problems as the
first one so I spent some time cleaning the threads using a bolt that I got
from the local ACE. Once they were clean, I had no problem screwing
everything together. I put it back in the box and set it aside until I our
vacation.

After enjoying the beach for a couple of days, I set up the station and got
ready to work some holiday QSO's but, alas, this didn't happen. The new
antenna had a loose connection. It turned out that the hole that the
horizontal screw that secures the bottom of the coil was stripped making an
intermittent connection. Now I don't know what to do. Do I try to fix it
myself, send it back to Elecraft for another replacement, or send it to
MP-1? I don't recall how long I have had it other than it was purchased
earlier this summer.

Has anyone else had similar problems with a new MP-1?

John K7SVV

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