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Need mobile antenna to go with new vehicle and radio

Tallman

Tallman

KW4YJ Honorary Member Silent Key
May 1, 2013
5,121
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Louisville, KY
Getting a different pickup truck and I just purchased a new Icom IC - 7100. I don't know who makes the antenna I saw at a ham show but it is the one I think I want. It had a very large loading coil and it was adjustable from the inside of the cab. It had an electrically driven motor moved a slider up and down the coil for tuning for different bands.
Information will be appreciated!
 

 
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The Tarheel antennas work well with Icom radios. Get the taller Tarheel antenna and not the Tarheel 2. It's too short IMO. The regular Tarheel antenna and a good controller as the one that comes with it is just a simple switch which can be a pita to tune if you're mobile and can't look at the vswr meter. Get one that will work in conjunction with the antenna and radio and use a good tuner that can be programmed for preset freqs. Tnis way you know the vswr is good. From the one I used with my friend, it was kind of hard to tune with the supplied switch while mobile as the antenna would go beyond the point where you let off the switch causing bad readings instead of where you wanted it set at. Read up on them and which external tuner works well with them and go with that. They are nice antennas but need the external controls for proper tuning IMO.
 
And what is funny is he bought the Tarheel 2 and a tri mag mount and it didn't do very well. Too inefficient mounted this way. It worked but it was marginal at best. I believe this was due to the use of a mag mount and not a good hard mount. I could be wrong but IMO that was the other issue besides the switch being way too slow to react to when you let go. The antenna moves quite a bit after release of button. Enough to throw the tune off.
 
The Tarheel's are good antenna's but as mentioned the short version is a bit to short for anything above 20meters. You can however improve the performance but replacing the whip with something longer. I did this with my High Sierra sidekick, the original whip was 36", it worked but not well, replaced it with a 72" one and the performance improvement was very noticeable. It also became much easier to tune the antenna, the null was a lot broader which made it easier to find the "Sweet" spot.

I used an Icom 706MKIIg with and auto-tuner, press the tune button on the radio and the antenna found tune in a couple of seconds. It worked well. Another advantage of a "screwdriver" is weather does not effect tune.
 
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Great advice on this one my friends. Now how can I make all of this look good on my Escalade? I feel that my new IC-7100 will look real nice tucked away inside.

The Escalade is not in the cards anymore. It was a nice SUV, but it is far to complicated and computerized for my taste. A conversation with a local Amateur Operator tried to install a radio in his Escalade and the problems he had I don't want.
 
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Before you decide on the Tarheel, take a look at the Hi-Q antennas. They're both fine antennas, but there are some differences in design that might be important to you.
 
It will depend of your needs and budget to be honest. Screwdriver antennas work well but they're dedicated to be mobile and they can be VERY expansive. They require A LOT of installation time, effort and patience. A good one will cost you about $600 USD to $800 USD shipping included. If you're going to use it everyday and all the time because you commute a lot and/or because it's a requirement where you live then go for it. But is you live in a high density urban area like Southern California, New York or Phoenix then you might want something more stealth as driving around with a larger screwdriver antenna on your vehicle can be annoying and sometime just look silly.

Now if you're like me and prefer to have something that is more versatile, stealth, multipurpose and something that can be used just about anywhere beside on a vehicle exclusively then you'll look at something that is lighter and simpler to install. For me a vehicle antenna is made to talk locally or regionally. I don't really care talking with someone on Sweden while I'm driving on the 405 to go to work. But I do care about whatever is going on a long the way when a go to Santa Barbara from SoCal. For more info about ground wave read the following:

http://www.nparc.on.ca/gwen/GWEN_propagation.html

This is why I'll use an antenna that will do the following:

1 - Can easily be installed on any vehicle
2 - Can be easily removed and stored in the vehicle
3 - Can also be used portable or base station if needed (great money saving here)
4 - Something that is low profile and stealth as I don't want to look like a "Ninja Mall" when I'm driving around.

Because I drive a small car I'll use the following: CHA HYBRID-MINI + CHA V2L. The HYBRID-MINI comes with a 60' long wire that can be used while stationary or base station for longer and more stable communication. The entire antenna can be stored in your trunk, under your seat or in a backpack.

Carl
 
Dennis,

we'll pack and ship Monday. The good thing about that setup is that you aren't stuck at using only the whip. You can switch the whip and use the HYBRID-MINI with the provided 60' wire for better performance when you're stationary of if you want to use the unit for base station.

Carl
 
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Tallman said:
I'll run it in every possible configuration for a full review.
Click to expand...

If you can find someone with a Little Tarheel II, borrow that, stick a 6ft whip on it and do a comparison to the Chameleon especially on 20m and 40m.

Antennas have three main characteristics - size, bandwidth, efficiency. Compromise two and you'll be poor performing in the third so you can either be:

Wide bandwidth and efficient but you'll have a large antenna.
Small and efficient but have a very narrow bandwidth as it needs a high Q
Small and wide bandwidth but you'll have a very low efficiency

Guess which one the Chameleon that works over 80-10m with a 6ft whip falls into? Its why the Chameleon antenna rep said "For me a vehicle antenna is made to talk locally or regionally. I don't really care talking with someone on Sweden while I'm driving on the 405 to go to work" because they know that their antenna is effectively a dummy load with a whip on with low single or barely double digit percentages of efficiency so local is about as far as it'll get whereas with my Little Tarheel and the same length whip as the Chameleon I expect to be able to reach the US from the UK on 20m mobile unless there's a geomagnetic storm with high K index which kills HF stone dead.
 
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