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Reviews For: Eliminator screwdriver by KA8KIP

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Eliminator screwdriver by KA8KIP
Reviews: 2MSRP: 250
Description:
These antennas use the basic design of the original DK3 antenna plans from Don Johnson W6AAQ. Kenneth Akerman, K8RWK started building the antennas in the mid-1990s and made substantial mechanical improvements to the basic construction. I used one of them on my semi and straight truck for over 950,000 miles and it is still in use today. They have proven themselves for ruggedness and reliability. K8RWK became a silent key in May of 2005 and I picked up where he left off and continued to improve on the DK3 design. After 2006, they became only available with a copper mast.
Product is not in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0025
NM8Q Rating: 2013-04-22
Great Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought this antenna from Dave to replace a Outbacker OH8. I thought the Outbacker was doing a good job but I am getting 59 reports on my nets from stations that I can barely hear and I'm running Icom 706 straight to the antenna. I would recommend this antenna to anyone!!
N2CU Rating: 2013-01-13
Nice antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I went out on a limb and bought this antenna even though I could not find any reviews on it anywhere. What I really liked was that it has a copper tube in the area where most of the current and radiation is present. Aluminum and especially stainless steel don't come close to copper for conductivity. It also has machined brass components.

I took it out for the first time on my mobile setup. The antenna is mounted on an offset hitch mount (as seen in the photo) and uses a braided ground strap to the car body. I do have various body panels bonded together like recommended by the mobile gurus. I realize the experts say hitch mounts are inefficient but very few people can realistically install a screwdriver on their roof!

How well does it work? My mobile operation just happened to coincide with the January NAQP CW contest, so I found a decent location and parked the car. I proceeded to make 195 QSOs in 37 states and 4 provinces, including Hawaii and Alaska, in just 3.5 hours. This was with 100 Watts output from my K3 on 10-15-20 and 40m.

Tuning the antenna is easy with the included DPDT switch - just install it in a box and wire it up. Adjust the antenna for a peak in band noise and you should be very close to resonance. Fine tune by applying a small amount of RF and tweaking the SWR.

I am very pleased with this antenna and the customer service is second to none. KA8KIP stands behind his product 100%. And he is a great guy to boot!

73, Tom N2CU