Vertical Antenna

[prcguy]

What bands were tested? The Transworld is a 20-10m antenna and its not that diffacult to get reasonable performance in a 13ft vertical on those bands. Do you have some meaningful info on lower bands which is where miracle antennas fail miserably?
prcguy

Usually before buying an antenna a regular customer will not only look at the radiation factor but at a bunch of other factors beside the radiation performance such as budget, longevity, versatility, size, easy to use, etc... If only maximum radiation was the issue everyone would get a 5 elements beam elevated at 75' above ground!

It's the same thing when people are looking to purchase a car. If maximum performance was the only factor every single one in the forum would drive a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport: 267 mph, 0-60 in 2.4 secs! But it's not the case. A lot of several other factors have to be considered.

So people can bash and crap on a products as much as they want but a regular user or customer will usually want to see a review such as the following before buying an antenna:

By KF5HBU

Portable Base Antenna Shoot-Out
6 months ago I set out to determine what the best HF Portable Base antenna could offer:

I setup the following antennas:
1) Buddipole Portable Dipole/Vertical
2) Chameleon V3 Antenna 2-160M QRP-250W
3) TransWorld Antennas TW2010 Traveler HF Portable Vertical Antenna

I used a rating scale of 1 through 10, with 1 being Poor and 10 being Excellent. I have also made notes as to why each was rated in the following categories.

The categories that I rated the antennas in are:
A) Longevity: How the antenna lasts before breaking beyond any reasonable repair
B) QRP Performance: As anything can transmit a signal at 100 watts, I decided QRP would be a good thing to use in the tests
C) Ease of Use: How easy is it to setup, take down, tune (if it needed tuning at all)
D) Versatility: How many bands does is work on and portability (size/weight when broken down)

For those who like to read the last page of a book, the winner of the 6 month long antenna shoot-out is the Chameleon V3 Antenna 2-160M QRP-250W.

For those who want to know more, read on!

1) Buddipole Portable Dipole/Vertical
A) Longevity: 2 - Within a week the whip on the buddipole had broken.
B) QRP Performance: 6 - QRP performance was average as might be expected from a shortened antenna.
C) Ease of Use: 7 - Changing the clip on the coild of the antenna each time I changed bands is the major drawback when using the Buddipole. The SWR was also effected by anything that got within 10 feet of the antenna. Was just as easy to setup as any of the other antennas.
D) Versatility: 6.5 - Breaks down into a small package. Covered the bands it was designed to cover, but not nearly as many as the winner of the shootout.

2) Chameleon V3 Antenna 2-160M QRP-250W
A) Longevity: 10 - Heavy duty stainless steel whip, 2 high impact base sections, brass used throughout, it's still up outside after 6 months.
B) QRP Performance: 8.5 - A much longer antenna than one initially is lead to beleive. Although just 13 foot tall, the V3 also utilizes foud 25 foot wires as part of the radiating elements. Results in the best portable QRP experience imaginable.
C) Ease of Use: 7 - The antenna is built in such a way that it forces you to put it together in only one way, the right way.
D) Versatility: 10 - Breaks down into a small package. Covers all of the bands that nearly every operator could ever use.

3) TransWorld Antennas TW2010 Traveler HF Portable Vertical Antenna
A) Longevity: 7 - It was two months before I had the first unrepairable issue, the black knob that is used to tighten one of the moving parts broke. After six months of use the "Permanent Mounting Assembly" is pretty loose.
B) QRP Performance: 8 - Good QRP performance.
C) Ease of Use: 7 - The antenna is easy to setup and forces you into pretty much one setup routine.
D) Versatility: 5 - Gets high marks for breaking down into a small package, but just operating on just 10 & 20 meters doesn't fit the modern day rig.

Source: Chameleon V3 Antenna 2-160M QRP-250W Product Reviews

People and trolls have to stop that bashing non-sense that seem to plagues every single Ham Radio Forums knows by the public.

 

[W2NJS]

To the OP, I suggest that you do your own research, perhaps starting by checking ads in the ham magazines. Personally I'd stick with using ham sticks and changing them when I change bands; not the most convenient way to run things but definitely a way that'll work very well. In a NYC apartment years ago I used a Webster Bandspanner antenna on 75M and it did pretty well at a height of about forty feet.

 

[LtDoc]

Chameleon500,
While your test/results are probably accurate enough for you, you have to admit that they are still subjective and not objective in nature. Any 'test' done in such a manner by anyone would be subjective. That doesn't mean they aren't true, they are still just an opinion, no repeatable 'numbers'.
- 'Doc

 

[gcgrotz]

What about one of the S9 fiberglass antennas? If you can do it, put in as many radials as you can. I had a 43 ft tubing vertical and 75 radials from 12 ft to 30 ft and a few as long as 60 in a very small city back yard. It worked very well, especially on 40, and pretty good on 80 with a loading coil at the base. I didn't need a tuner on 80 but did everywhere else. I miss that antenna, it's nested over in a corner of the basement since I moved.

 

[VernM]

I've only been at this ham radio hobby since about 1950, so I guess I don't know much about all these new gee-whizzy acronym-loaded what-evers. I learned by living in apartments and not in apartments that; 1. Anything beats nothing. 2. Anything outdoors generally beats anything indoors. 3. Wire beats fancy short loaded assemblies and, most important, 4. You can use the ground on the AC line plug by cobbling up a piece of Number 10 or some braid attached to a banna plug. Check with the VOM that the ground is really grounded. Then go about getting as much wire into a good tuner that you can. Or a 108 inch CB whip into a good mount on the porch rail, grounding the rail.

Then go hamming and quit worrying about who has some other kind of antenna. I've worked the Ukraine and kept regular schedules on 20 meters from a third floor apartment in a DC suburb using the above described ground, an MFJ tuner and Number 12 braided copper strung around the perimeter of the apartment's one room floor.

 

[VernM]

I've only been at this ham radio hobby since about 1950, so I guess I don't know much about all these new gee-whizzy acronym-loaded what-evers. I learned by living in apartments and not in apartments that; 1. Anything beats nothing. 2. Anything outdoors generally beats anything indoors. 3. Wire beats fancy short loaded assemblies and, most important, 4. You can use the ground on the AC line plug by cobbling up a piece of Number 10 or some braid attached to a banana plug. Check with the VOM that the ground is really grounded. Then go about getting as much wire into a good tuner that you can. Or a 108 inch CB whip into a good mount on the porch rail, grounding the rail.

Then go hamming and quit worrying about who has some other kind of antenna. I've worked the Ukraine and kept regular schedules on 20 meters from a third floor apartment in a DC suburb using the above described ground, an MFJ tuner and Number 12 braided copper strung around the perimeter of the apartment's one room floor.