SurvivalTech Nord I think you are right. It will be on the ATV this weekend at the retreat for use on the mountain. I was going to install my new solar power charge controller but that project will have to wait :-)
Very good product review and thank you for the time to show it to us. This is exactly what I would like to setup in the near future. You are sure planning a lot of projects a lot of future projects for me! :-)
By rotating the CHA F-LOOP antenna on itself, while receiving, you'll be able to pinpoint the best orientation with the strongest signal. The antenna is directional.
these types of loops work great and this model is easily and rapidly deployed. it's designed from a milspec perspective and the condor bag is nice touch
I have seen this product before and was interested, but was unsure. I purchased the product (w/ the aluminum loop) the day I first watched your video. I was sold :). There was a 3 week delivery time. I should be getting mine in about 2 weeks. I did forget to use the discount code, but I did send them an email a few days later letting them know I purchased it because of your video. Looking forward to seeing / hearing more about the this antennae and the other ones you mentioned. Thanks for all of your hard work and great vids! You one of the best, probably the best comms channel on RU-vid!
+Commsprepper I just received the antenna today. I almost fell over when I saw the size of the box. I had to check the return address to see where it came from because I was only expecting the antenna and the box was huge. hehehehehe. I plan on unboxing everything tomorrow and setting everything up. As I mentioned, I forgot to use the discount code, but sent them an email letting them know I purchased their product because I watched your channel. I was pleasantly surprised to hear back from a gentleman named Carl and he said the discount code was for a free 80M antenna and he shipped it to me. I should get it some time next week. I was very grateful. I am looking forward to spending my Saturday playing around with it. Thanks for all you do on your channel! Keep up the great work!
+MonGo WonGo I'm glad you were able to use the discount code after all. I just got home from a trip where I was using the antenna all weekend. You will not be disappointed. Hank
+Commsprepper That is wonderful news! You have just reinforced my initial thoughts on this product. First off, I was not expecting such a big box for the antenna, especially after seeing how compact the unit was when placed in the Condor pouch, minus the aluminum loop. To everyone out there thinking about making this purchase, the antenna is packed EXTREMELY well. When I opened the box, there was enough bubble wrap to protect the heck out of the antenna. The Condor pack is about 12"x8"x4". It takes some positioning, but everything thing fits nicely, minus the aluminum loop. The Condor pack will work well to keep all of the components in one spot. That being said, I am looking for a new case because I am not a fan of the 3/4 zipper. I like to be able to unzip a pouch completely and have 2 sides completely laid out. I will be the first to admit, this is a ticky tac criticism and a personal preference. That having been said, the reality is the Condor pouch does a wonderful job! Okay, enough about the packaging and the compactness of the case. What may not come across in the video is the QUALITY of the components. I am new to amateur radio, but I was BLOWN away by the "hardiness", for the lack of a better word, of the components. The unit is not cheap, but rest assured, you will be getting ROCK solid componentry. Each component is made of HIGH QUALITY material. I was really impressed. You get 5 components, minus the instructions and of course the aluminum loop. All rock solid! I planned on spending the whole day working with the unit, but life got in the way and I had to hit the pause button. I did NOT get an opportunity to actually test the unit today, but I hope that I will be able to do that this week. That having been said, I am EXTREMELY excited based on what I have seen on RU-vid, your tests, and your latest video, which I plan to watch next. As always, keep up the great work!
Planning a home-brew antenna similar to the one you showed. My dad is cleaning out the garage and told me he found a box full of various air gap variable capacitors, I also learned today that there is about 90 feet of hard line that I may have access to. These would be good in a place where the HOA demands no antennas. Turn it into a dream-catcher and ask the HOA why they are trying to trample on your beliefs. I bet they would slink away and never return.
Commsprepper I tried both my loop and my G5RV (shorty) and the g5rv out did the loop quite a bit. they both have there ups and downs. the loop is easy up and easily ready to transmit on. but the g5rv with a manual tuner was able to get more bands and get out much further. so im keeping both antennas. plus a few home brew mono band wires. thanks for the great review. hope to see everybody on sunday nights on 7.242
The two sections of the hardline feeder, holding the Faraday Coupling Loop, aren't LMR-400 but two sections of aerospace 7075 aluminum alloys anodized. They hold the coupling loop in place while holding the LMR-400 to move around thus keeping a constant SWR even if the antenna is moved/rotated.
Keep your fingers away from the loop. The current and voltage is very high on the loop. Use the static level to get close to tune. Once you are close, go into CW and transmit, fine tune until SWR is 0. You might get different SWR when you step away. Be careful. Great Video.
My field deployable antenna is an 80m doublet fed with ladder line and a little emtech tuner so I know the fun of stringing up a dipole at the drop of a hat . I picked up a MP1RP vertical from the HFpack folks this week to try as a low footprint option. I look forward to putting it together tomorrow .
Gotta say, you have nice gear. That loop antenna is expensive and the scs modem over 1k? Do you use a solar charger for your external battery w/charge controller? The dc connector from the ext battery, is it the Yaesu accessory or another brand? Do you know other modems for those of us on a budget? You have a great channel and I follow you informally. Thanks for this real world digital comm rig.
It should be pointed out that very high voltages develop across the tuning capacitor inside the loop's tuning box. Most construction articles design for 5 kilovolts at the capacitor with just 25W of power. Just to play it safe, just keep away from the antenna when power is applied. Sometimes silly things happen. For additional details, just Google "mag loop antenna" and read about their power limitations, the impact of the loop material, and capacitor details.
Great video, CP! I'm working on a different antenna myself (I'll leave the competitor's name out). I've just got to wait until it's not OMG hot here in DFW to be outside. I was in the garage for 20 minutes a few minutes ago and was sweating like Hillary Clinton in front of a grand jury!
Richard Slusher It has been pretty hot here too in Virginia. I hope it's not too hot this weekend because I plan to take this antenna and the bugout bag radio for an ATV ride on the mountain.
Scubasky I have never worked with a loop before and I was blown away with how well it worked. I think the days of relying on my dipole antenna with the bugout bag are over!
***** Thanks, it's an amazing antenna. I was searching for small/portable/tactical antennas for HF radio to use with the bugout bag and found Chameleon antennas. They have full line of antennas - all which look really cool. I wish I had one of these when I was over in the sandbox (there were not many trees for dipoles). There will be more videos on this antenna this weekend.
Silver Silk Scroll down towards of the bottom of the link below. They are offering a 80m upgrade. chameleonantenna.com/PORTABLE%20ANTENNA/CHA%20F-LOOP/Chameleon%20F-LOOP.html You can contact them thought the contact page to provide the discount code.
Silver Silk The CHA F-LOOP is $365 and the CHA F-LOOP Plus (with the 36" high efficient aluminum loop) $475. Both are FREE shipping WORLDWIDE + FREE 80M Conversion Kit with the COMMSPREPPER discount code!!
Curious who would you be communicating post end of the world. I seriously doubt people will be trying to set stations like this. Is there some kind of disaster protocol put in place ahead of a apocalypse?
Definition of tactical 1: of or relating to combat tactics: such as a(1): of or occurring at the battlefront a tactical defense a tactical first strike (2): using or being weapons or forces employed at the battlefront tactical missiles bof an air force : of, relating to, or designed for air attack in close support of friendly ground forces ~ What is tactical about this antenna?
I love it. It works great. I did get a different carry bag so I could have more room. I was able to re-purpose the bag that came with it for handhelds.
Hank Its on my wishlist! Check out hardenedpowersystems. They make a 12V battery easy connect for the top of your go-bag battery. Makes connection real easy with Anderson PP (BatPac).
