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Reviews For: Diamond HF17CL

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Diamond HF17CL
Reviews: 1MSRP: 69.95
Description:
HF center loaded mobile antenna for 18Mhz
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.diamondantenna.net/hf17cl.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
G1HSG Rating: 2016-03-01
Diamond quality, platinum performance Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I use a Diamond HVC7CX multiband for mobile HF and the tuner in my FT-450D struggles to obtain a good match on 17 (in fairness the HVC7CX isn't designed for 17 meters). I thought I'd try out a monoband center loaded whip as all my previous mobile antennas have been base loaded. The build quality is, as ever, from this manufacturer suberb. Instuctions are in Japanese and English - a welcome change from the HVC7CX which came in Japanese only. At 88" long this is a sizable antenna, especially if mounted in the center of the vehicle roof. A foldover mechanism takes care of any garaging issues and is very substantial having a screw down locking ring. My triple magmount hasn't been troubled at 70mph but I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than this and ideally a fixed mount is called for. As ever in mobile installations establishing a good RF earth TO ALL THE BODY PANELS is essential if you wish the antenna to radiate effectively and allow you to realize the theoretical gains that center loading gives. For static mobile applications I use quick disconnect fittings to attach tuned radials to the antenna mount. From A/B comparisons with various base loaded whips the HF17CL certainly has the edge on TX, RX performance was identical. I'm so impressed that I'm intending to acquire further monobanders. Diamond do manufacture them for all bands from 1.8 to 50Mhz.