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HI Q antenna
- Thread starter Happy_Hamer
- Start date
'H.H.',
I have no direct experience with 'Hi-Q' antennas so this is just a very generalized 'opinion'.
There are two areas that have to be considered, electrical characteristics and mechanical characteristics. Having the absolute 'best' electrical characteristics is great, but if the mechanical characteristics can't make the thing survive in the typical environment, then those electrical thingys aren't doing you much good when it breaks. Same for the other way around. It may be able to to survive the worst catastrophic accident in recorded history, but if it don't perform well electrically, who cares, right? So paying attention to both aspects of an antenna is good.
I don't have a mechanical opinion about the 'Hi-Q', never seen one. Electrically, it's comparable to the other screw driver antennas. No matter which screw driver antenna you're talking about, the amount of care and effort spent in the set up will determine how 'comparable' it is with others.
A very rough, generalized, 'ROT' is that the larger the diameter of the loading coil, and the longer the whole thing is, the more efficiency it will have, the better it will perform (to some absolutely ridiculous degree, and you already knew that anyway).
Your operating habits also come into play here. Do you, or do you think you'll jump around the band(s) much? Or, do you sort of hang out in just one or two places? If the first, then it's probably worth it. If the second, why bother? Don't know about you, but for $300 to $500, I can do a @#$$ of a lot of coil-tap changing
.
If you need a screw driver antenna, or if you just -want- one, have at it! Be sure to tell us how it works out!
- 'Doc
(Can you imagine the fun you could have if your name was 'Philips' and you made screw driver antennas??)
I have no direct experience with 'Hi-Q' antennas so this is just a very generalized 'opinion'.
There are two areas that have to be considered, electrical characteristics and mechanical characteristics. Having the absolute 'best' electrical characteristics is great, but if the mechanical characteristics can't make the thing survive in the typical environment, then those electrical thingys aren't doing you much good when it breaks. Same for the other way around. It may be able to to survive the worst catastrophic accident in recorded history, but if it don't perform well electrically, who cares, right? So paying attention to both aspects of an antenna is good.
I don't have a mechanical opinion about the 'Hi-Q', never seen one. Electrically, it's comparable to the other screw driver antennas. No matter which screw driver antenna you're talking about, the amount of care and effort spent in the set up will determine how 'comparable' it is with others.
A very rough, generalized, 'ROT' is that the larger the diameter of the loading coil, and the longer the whole thing is, the more efficiency it will have, the better it will perform (to some absolutely ridiculous degree, and you already knew that anyway).
Your operating habits also come into play here. Do you, or do you think you'll jump around the band(s) much? Or, do you sort of hang out in just one or two places? If the first, then it's probably worth it. If the second, why bother? Don't know about you, but for $300 to $500, I can do a @#$$ of a lot of coil-tap changing
.If you need a screw driver antenna, or if you just -want- one, have at it! Be sure to tell us how it works out!
- 'Doc
(Can you imagine the fun you could have if your name was 'Philips' and you made screw driver antennas??)
Excellent antennas HH. The efficiency of the shortened versions of any of these type antennas is nominal at best. Might be ok for 20m, but 40m,60m and 75/80m it goes way down real quick. This antenna at 30 inches isn't as stubby as some of the other even shorter screwdriver type antennas. Even some of the larger screwdriver antennas drop off on the lower bands. Once you get to 75/80 your'e around 5% even for some the large antennas. At least the HI-Q short antenna is cheaper than the High Sierra Sidekick and it is longer. IMHO it will be of better quality. I also like the fact that these antennas don't change their length to be tuned which is another plus. At any rate HF mobile setups are a compromise in any situation. If you get one, make sure you get a hold of at least one or two large ferrite cores that you can wrap many turns of the control line in because these shortened antennas are known to have excessive levels of comon mode currents that will affect attempts at tuning especially if you want to use an "automatic controller". I was using an extra core in addition to the one that came with my HS1800Pro and was having some issues with my auto controller. I called Gerry W6TER of the BetterRF controller and wanted to get one of his controllers only to discover that it is designed to only work with the IC7000.:headbang After some discussion he determined I was having some CMC on the control line and he sent me a very large split core and instructed me to get at least 13 turns of control line wrapped in the core. Once this was installed. I made an adjustment in my Turbo-Tuner and the antenna works much better than before.
I would have bought one of the large HI-Q's if it had been in my price range. As it was I was able to get a used antenna at a good price. I'm sure you'll really like the HI-Q. Let me know how it works out for ya!
73 & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I would have bought one of the large HI-Q's if it had been in my price range. As it was I was able to get a used antenna at a good price. I'm sure you'll really like the HI-Q. Let me know how it works out for ya!
73 & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hamer, i run a 5/160 marine on my suburban, it was a PIA to get the shunt coil matched up(5 tries) the biggest thing is the bonding with this antenna. It is very time consuming, and tedious. or you could do what a lot of others do and use a MFJ-910 matcher. I tried that route for 4 days and when it rained on the 2nd day I decided that it was back to the coil.
I couldn't take the static from the rain and remebering to switch cap values as i switched bands. Since getting it installed in august i haven't regretted it for a minute. I check into the BC 3.973 on the way to work every morning. And get very good signal reports from all around the country. When i first installed it, my irst QSO with it was to dick I'm at work don't have his call in front of me) over outside of liverpool england on 40mtrs. My neighbor was there and he thought that was the coolest thing. I haven't had any issues with it tuning. For 160 i use a cap hat with a 1 ft. extention and a 106" fiberglass whip. for my normal day to day around town driving i just use a 54" whip(old 6mtr. 1/4 wave) anywhere on 80/75 it tunes down to 1.1-1.3 swr. on 20 therre is a little ruff spot (1.5-1.7)that requires a little tweaking, but thats because of the shunt coil(for 160). On 10mtrs. it's flat. I especially like the fact that it doesn't change height and there are no seals to change out every 6 months or so. All the guys up here running tar heels or High Sierras carry extra seals. Salt sand on the roads, wisconsin. if you need details send me a pm 73
I couldn't take the static from the rain and remebering to switch cap values as i switched bands. Since getting it installed in august i haven't regretted it for a minute. I check into the BC 3.973 on the way to work every morning. And get very good signal reports from all around the country. When i first installed it, my irst QSO with it was to dick I'm at work don't have his call in front of me) over outside of liverpool england on 40mtrs. My neighbor was there and he thought that was the coolest thing. I haven't had any issues with it tuning. For 160 i use a cap hat with a 1 ft. extention and a 106" fiberglass whip. for my normal day to day around town driving i just use a 54" whip(old 6mtr. 1/4 wave) anywhere on 80/75 it tunes down to 1.1-1.3 swr. on 20 therre is a little ruff spot (1.5-1.7)that requires a little tweaking, but thats because of the shunt coil(for 160). On 10mtrs. it's flat. I especially like the fact that it doesn't change height and there are no seals to change out every 6 months or so. All the guys up here running tar heels or High Sierras carry extra seals. Salt sand on the roads, wisconsin. if you need details send me a pm 73
That is the part that has me concerned, the shunt coil. If you had a hard time then I will not be able to do it :headbang
I run the HiQ 4/80...the one that is a few years old and is a slightly longer than the one they make now. The other screwdrivers I've also used are the full sized Tarheel and a Little Tarheel II. The Tarheel antennas are very well made, too.
I really like the Hi-Q, though. The 4/80 is a heavy antenna. The mechanical problems of mounting an antenna like that should not be discounted. IMO, that's a lot more difficult to solve properly than the RF aspects. If the reason that you want the 2.5/80 is because dealing with the mechanical aspects of the larger antennas is not worth it to you, then you need to understand that you are making a performance trade-off. There's nothing wrong with that; you just need to make the decision that suits your needs.
If the 2.5/80 is the right size for your needs, I would definately put a cap hat above the coil. HiQ offers several different styles, but I would the largest one you can tolerate (or your wife can tolerate!). I definately wouldn't mess around with one of those single lobe cap hats, but would do a four lobe one. He has a new egg-beater style cap hat which looks like would work great. It looks pretty funny, though. Put the cap hat a foot above the coil using one of the extensions he sells. If you're putting the antenna on the rear of your jeep, you might need more extension to clear the roof. Just measure everything out before ordering and you'll figure it out. The cap hat will help immensily with the reduced diameter coil of that 2.5/80.
You also probably will want one of his whip quick disconnects. I use one of those and it's really handy.
Regarding the installation/matching for 40/80m: I used the coil that came with the Tarheel Screwdriver. It's a longer, skinnier coil than the one that HiQ sells. There is a down side to that, but it fit the bill for me. That coil is pre-cut to work on 80m without having to mess with it much. All I had to do was stretch it out just a little, and I was able to get a superb match on both 40/80. I have the coil that came with the HiQ, but I didn't bother with it since I already had the Tarheel coil installed from the previous antenna. I tried the MFJ mobile capacitance matcher for a little while, but it was a PIA so I sold it.
If you're going to be doing any off-roading with that Jeep, you may want to find out if he makes a ruggedized version of that antenna like he does with the bigger ones. At the time I bought mine, there was no ruggedized version. Mine has had numerous repairs over the years (both by me and them) because bolts rattled loose and stripped over time due to off-roading. Remember though, I have the much bigger heavier version, which is more prone to suffering under this type of abuse.
I will say this about HiQ's customer service. It's excellent. I think I've sent the antenna back three times over the years for repairs. Each time, they've fixed it and sent it back, with no questions asked. The last time, they even upgraded the screwdriver motor and reed switch (for an external turns counter) for free. I have never paid a dime for the repairs. Each time, I've included a note indicated what was wrong, and that I was more than willing to pay for the cost of the repairs (the reason it failed is because of my extreme abuse in the jeep!) or purchase a new antenna if it was beyond repair. Each time it has come back fixed at no cost to me. I don't know how you can ask anymore from a company.
If you purchase one of these antennas, I think you will really enjoy it and I can't recommend it enough. I'll try to get some recent photos of my install posted also.
I really like the Hi-Q, though. The 4/80 is a heavy antenna. The mechanical problems of mounting an antenna like that should not be discounted. IMO, that's a lot more difficult to solve properly than the RF aspects. If the reason that you want the 2.5/80 is because dealing with the mechanical aspects of the larger antennas is not worth it to you, then you need to understand that you are making a performance trade-off. There's nothing wrong with that; you just need to make the decision that suits your needs.
If the 2.5/80 is the right size for your needs, I would definately put a cap hat above the coil. HiQ offers several different styles, but I would the largest one you can tolerate (or your wife can tolerate!). I definately wouldn't mess around with one of those single lobe cap hats, but would do a four lobe one. He has a new egg-beater style cap hat which looks like would work great. It looks pretty funny, though. Put the cap hat a foot above the coil using one of the extensions he sells. If you're putting the antenna on the rear of your jeep, you might need more extension to clear the roof. Just measure everything out before ordering and you'll figure it out. The cap hat will help immensily with the reduced diameter coil of that 2.5/80.
You also probably will want one of his whip quick disconnects. I use one of those and it's really handy.
Regarding the installation/matching for 40/80m: I used the coil that came with the Tarheel Screwdriver. It's a longer, skinnier coil than the one that HiQ sells. There is a down side to that, but it fit the bill for me. That coil is pre-cut to work on 80m without having to mess with it much. All I had to do was stretch it out just a little, and I was able to get a superb match on both 40/80. I have the coil that came with the HiQ, but I didn't bother with it since I already had the Tarheel coil installed from the previous antenna. I tried the MFJ mobile capacitance matcher for a little while, but it was a PIA so I sold it.
If you're going to be doing any off-roading with that Jeep, you may want to find out if he makes a ruggedized version of that antenna like he does with the bigger ones. At the time I bought mine, there was no ruggedized version. Mine has had numerous repairs over the years (both by me and them) because bolts rattled loose and stripped over time due to off-roading. Remember though, I have the much bigger heavier version, which is more prone to suffering under this type of abuse.
I will say this about HiQ's customer service. It's excellent. I think I've sent the antenna back three times over the years for repairs. Each time, they've fixed it and sent it back, with no questions asked. The last time, they even upgraded the screwdriver motor and reed switch (for an external turns counter) for free. I have never paid a dime for the repairs. Each time, I've included a note indicated what was wrong, and that I was more than willing to pay for the cost of the repairs (the reason it failed is because of my extreme abuse in the jeep!) or purchase a new antenna if it was beyond repair. Each time it has come back fixed at no cost to me. I don't know how you can ask anymore from a company.
If you purchase one of these antennas, I think you will really enjoy it and I can't recommend it enough. I'll try to get some recent photos of my install posted also.
I have a few of my coils here still. one was great on 75/80 you are more than welcome to them. if you have a MFJ-259,269 or can get your hands on one it will definately speed up the tuning process. Oh don't forget Bonding, bonding, did i mention Bonding?
I have access to a MFJ 269, so that is all, just get on a frequency, 3.875 and stretch or compress coil until low swr?
Hamer, no it works 10 - 80 it just wouldn't tune on 160. My problem was getting a coil that would tune 10- 160 with out having to tune it manually, now i just change bands and push the tune button and let the Better RF tune controller do the work. It's sweeeeeet! When on 160 i have to change whips or add the 1ft. extention and cap hat to current whip.
I added some quick snap shots today of my mobile.
I added some quick snap shots today of my mobile.
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He should have stopped right there. Oh well, but you all know Doc...
I have direct experience with Hi-Q and know Charlie personally. He builds a great antenna. However, I'm going this route instead...
Scorpion Antennas ~> Welcome!
I know Ron personally too. Charlie tested Ron's coils and has asked Ron to buy his amateur division...
Scorpion Antennas ~> Welcome!
Ron also gives credit to the original designer of the screwdriver antenna. It shows Ron's integrity!
http://www.scorpionantennas.com/don_johnson.html
If you are serious about an HF screwdriver antenna, talk to Ron!
M.C.,
And just from what little I've seen of any of them, I have to agree that Ron Douglas makes a very nice antenna. I also think that he presents/represents himself and his products very well on his site. He's also more informative about what is actually pertinent with most HF mobile antennas, and where to find answers if you happen to have any. In other words, gives good references. I honestly think that says more for his antennas than most of the other screwdriver makers do, no matter what they say about their stuff. (Believe it or not, old "Beer Gut" and I agree on a lot of things about mobile HF'ing. No, Mr. Douglas isn't "Beer Gut". Think about it.)
So... Which part don't you agree with in my earlier post?
- 'Doc
And just from what little I've seen of any of them, I have to agree that Ron Douglas makes a very nice antenna. I also think that he presents/represents himself and his products very well on his site. He's also more informative about what is actually pertinent with most HF mobile antennas, and where to find answers if you happen to have any. In other words, gives good references. I honestly think that says more for his antennas than most of the other screwdriver makers do, no matter what they say about their stuff. (Believe it or not, old "Beer Gut" and I agree on a lot of things about mobile HF'ing. No, Mr. Douglas isn't "Beer Gut". Think about it.
)So... Which part don't you agree with in my earlier post?
- 'Doc
M C , The scorpions do indeed look like a quality ant. compared to some others. But my primary reason for Hi-Q is the fact that it doesn't move externally thus eliminating dirt and road crud getting in do to failed seals.
That's a big plus, particularly if you live somewhere with a nasty winter and a lot of salt and grime on the roads as a result.
Having done the auto tuner and whip on my Jeep, I wish I had gone with a screwdriver or bug catcher instead. They do a world better on 40m and below.
This guy's work for mounts is just amazing....had I only known about him before I drilled and installed the typical Hustler SS ball mount. If you do go the hustler route, there is a ferrule inside the ball that is too long by about 1/16" and won't allow the center clamp to cinch the ball firmly in place. Disassemble the ball and grind down the ferrule a tiny bit and you'll be in business.
BREEDLOVE MOUNTS
I have an 05 Wrangler Unlimited and the RFI sucks in it....ground the tailpipe at the end to the last exhaust carrier bracket to the frame rail, helps a good bit, then ground strap the doors and hood and body to frame, helps some more....then you get to deal with the rest of the ECU and ignition noise...which I still haven't solved.