Thanks for the video. My VG-4 was delivered today in France. The box had the same damage on BOTH ends. Thankfully, the postal service had taped up the damage, and doesn't look like anything missing. However, instead of a mounting plate, the polythene bag with small components in contained two heavy duty D shaped pole receptacles with locking screws. Maybe an upgrade. 73 F4WEY.
Update. I emailed Radioddity to advise of the poor packaging and the change of mounting hardware. Apparently,, the length of two components (5 & 7) have also been changed. I haven't assembled the antenna yet, but concerned that the measurements used by others from a video by KK6USY may now be wrong. Here's the reply I received today: Hello Debbie, Thanks for reaching out to Radioddity Support! I am Helen and I'm happy to assist you with this. Thank you for your detailed feedback! We are glad to know that your VG-4 antenna and accessories were delivered smoothly, but we are deeply sorry for the damage to the packaging during transportation. At the same time, we will take your opinions on improving packaging precautions seriously to ensure safer transportation in the future and reflect our attention to our products. Sorry the supplier modified the parts so the VG4 you received without the main support plate is correct and does not affect installation. Please check carefully according to the user manual to see if there are accessories missing. After Xiegu confirmed, the accessories of the VG4 antenna have been changed. The main support set plate and four U-shaped clamps have been removed and replaced with two U-shaped clamps (as shown below): The lengths of No. 5 and No. 7 of the antenna body have also been unified, both changed to 250 mm. We have corrected the product listing, are communicating with the supplier, and modify the installation method of the instructions. I suggest you try the installation again. We apologize for the inconvenience that this may cause. Hope for your kind understanding. Regards, Helen Lu Radioddity Support Team
Across the river from you in NJ. Just put up this antenna in the back yard. No issues with unboxing and assembly. Tuning is another story. Used the dimensions that another you tuber suggested. Still way too high for use on FT8 and CW. Forget trying to tune it horizontal on the ground. After several attempts to get it right we brought it to “acceptable “ on 20, 15 and 10. I Gave up on 40. We got tired of taking it down and putting it back up. Performance at 13 feet above the ground is very good. Equal to my 80 meter MyAntennas half wave end fed on the higher bands.
@@RadioNJ1948 Wow, That's a shame you're not having any luck with it. The dimensions I have were from another ham I mentioned in my video. Are the instructions any help, the ones that came from Xiegu?
Hello Ernie - here in EI land we pronounce it "zigu". Nice looking antenna and looks worth every penny of the price. I have the G90 and use it every day when mobile. The Xiegu company, in my opinion mage dam good stuff. 73 de Ger
@@EI6DP I generally agree. They have been a game changer in amateur radio. The G90 is a fantastic radio. The VG4 is a very good antenna. They just need a little better quality control sometimes and better instructions.
Thanks for the video. My VG-4 was delivered today in France. The box had the same damage on BOTH ends. Thankfully, the postal service had taped up the damage, and doesn't look like anything missing. However, instead of a mounting plate, the polythene bag with small components in contained two heavy duty D shaped pole receptacles with locking screws. Maybe an upgrade. 73 F4WEY.
Update. I emailed Radioddity to advise of the poor packaging and the change of mounting hardware. Apparently,, the length of two components (5 & 7) have also been changed. I haven't assembled the antenna yet, but concerned that the measurements used by others from a video by KK6USY may now be wrong. Here's the reply I received today:
Hello Debbie,
Thanks for reaching out to Radioddity Support! I am Helen and I'm happy to assist you with this.
Thank you for your detailed feedback! We are glad to know that your VG-4 antenna and accessories were delivered smoothly, but we are deeply sorry for the damage to the packaging during transportation. At the same time, we will take your opinions on improving packaging precautions seriously to ensure safer transportation in the future and reflect our attention to our products.
Sorry the supplier modified the parts so the VG4 you received without the main support plate is correct and does not affect installation. Please check carefully according to the user manual to see if there are accessories missing.
After Xiegu confirmed, the accessories of the VG4 antenna have been changed. The main support set plate and four U-shaped clamps have been removed and replaced with two U-shaped clamps (as shown below):
The lengths of No. 5 and No. 7 of the antenna body have also been unified, both changed to 250 mm. We have corrected the product listing, are communicating with the supplier, and modify the installation method of the instructions.
I suggest you try the installation again. We apologize for the inconvenience that this may cause. Hope for your kind understanding.
Regards,
Helen Lu
Radioddity Support Team
Across the river from you in NJ. Just put up this antenna in the back yard. No issues with unboxing and assembly. Tuning is another story. Used the dimensions that another you tuber suggested. Still way too high for use on FT8 and CW. Forget trying to tune it horizontal on the ground. After several attempts to get it right we brought it to “acceptable “ on 20, 15 and 10. I Gave up on 40. We got tired of taking it down and putting it back up. Performance at 13 feet above the ground is very good. Equal to my 80 meter MyAntennas half wave end fed on the higher bands.
@@RadioNJ1948 Wow, That's a shame you're not having any luck with it. The dimensions I have were from another ham I mentioned in my video. Are the instructions any help, the ones that came from Xiegu?
Hello Ernie - here in EI land we pronounce it "zigu". Nice looking antenna and looks worth every penny of the price.
I have the G90 and use it every day when mobile. The Xiegu company, in my opinion mage dam good stuff.
73 de Ger
@@EI6DP I generally agree. They have been a game changer in amateur radio. The G90 is a fantastic radio. The VG4 is a very good antenna. They just need a little better quality control sometimes and better instructions.