Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes
Reviews Home

Reviews For: Wolf River Coils TIA

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Wolf River Coils TIA
Reviews: 18MSRP: 130.00
Description:
Wolf River Coils Take It Anywhere (TIA) is a portable HF
vertical with tripod and collapsible 11.5' whip. Comes with
3 33' radials.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.wolfrivercoils.com/TIA.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00184.3
K5CEL Rating: 2022-10-27
Coil Bent! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my Wolf River TIA back in 2018, mainly using it on 20M. Until last week, I'd been very happy with the antenna. I was doing a POTA activation using this coil, and a Chameleon CHA MIL 2.0 whip. I set the antenna up on a slight slope, which caused the whip to be a few degrees off vertical. After the completion of my activation on 40M, I noticed that the coil was bent in the middle, right where the current path would enter the coil. I was operating 100 watts SSB with a Yaesu 891. Keep in mind that the Chameleon weighs only 48 grams (1.69 oz) more than the whip WR provides.

According to Wolf River's specs, this shouldn't have happened! Contacting WR, I was told the coil was out of warranty and nothing could be done. I was also told, and I quote, "On rare occasions under normal operation this has happened due to poor PVC manufacturing. We find not all PVC is created equal". I don't find this lack of quality control of their raw materials comforting.

As I said, I have used this antenna many times in the past, and had no problems. I attribute the bending to the fact that the antenna was slightly tilted, weighting the softened PVC, and that I was operating on 40M which heated the coil right in the middle, allowing it to bend easier. Fortunately, I was able to soften the coil using a heat gun, and bent it back relativity straight. Your milage may vary.
K3USS Rating: 2022-09-04
Buy an Analyzer first. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Silver Bullet 1000 : Right off the bat get a 17 ft whip from Wolf River or MFJ, I didn't and that was a big mistake.
Also an analyzer is very important. Not very much unique about this system, it's just a whip with and adjustable coil at the base. I am impressed with the workmanship of the tripod assembly, it's beautiful. I may just use the tripod with my Hamsticks. I did buy the stainless steel ground spike, a great product compared to that junk you see on Amazon. Is it all worth the money, yes.
N8MRC Rating: 2022-08-15
Works good but..... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Coil worked great with the tripod, I used it for a POTA activation mounting it on my car with a trunk mount, did not use it while in motion, and the coil melted with only 90w and tilted over. Sent WRC an email with pic and had a new one in a few days. if I was to order again I would get the platinum version. They do stand by their products
KE4D Rating: 2022-03-27
works great easy to set up Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Used a WRC last summer while we were in NC. Ran QrP and QRO with it for three months. Worked from 80 to 10m, checking into a FL traffic net every morning. ALso did a sweep of the 13 colonies special event week. Pretty good for a coil and a102 inch whip. Sold the WRC when we got home but just ordered another to use with my IC 705 for POTA work.
K6SRV Rating: 2021-04-30
Incredible Performance / Value Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Got my General upgrade a few weeks ago and ordered the WRC TIA with extended base legs. I was able to tune it to 40m with Nano VNA in less than 5mins and worked 40m without a tuner, which I have not been able to do with my CFD.

This has been my everyday antenna since I can make contacts on 40m and 20m in a heartbeat. Made my first Out of Country QSO with it. As a relatively new ham and green General breaking into POTA later today, actually, the WRC is an incredible value.

I have added three counterpoises to compliment the 20m band and my counterpoises are housed in chalk boxes, making setup, breakdown and storage a breeze. Taking my time and not rushing it takes me less than 8mins to break down my station and pack everything up in my truck.

Note: I’m K6SRV, my vanity is pending eHam approval for change. 73’
N1RBD Rating: 2021-03-19
Whip is a weak point - Specs downgraded since purchase Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
My whip lost a locking collar 4 months after purchase. I guess this is why the whip only has a 3 month warranty. It had actually felt loose after a few weeks. Guess I should have notified them then.

Here is the kicker. The specs have been downgraded to 50w CW from 100w when I purchased it. As recently as July 2020 their website listed the power rating for CW at 100w. If you check the current specs on the website it shows 50w! I guess that's due to the recent issues with the PVC melting. I purchased a 100w unit but wound up with something rated for 50w. Not too happy about that.

As for performance, it works well. I've had both SSB and CW DX during portable ops. It also works camped to my 4th floor apartment balcony about 30 degrees off vertical. I run a WSPR beacon and have been spotted in Australia and Antarctica running 4.2w.

EDIT - 18-Mar-2021
Well, another section of the whip is loose. It's being held together by three strips of painters tape at this point. When you purchase this, factor in the price of purchasing a decent whip into the price. If I had to do it again, I'd seriously consider purchasing the coil and tripod only instead of the kit with the POS whip.
N2AOO Rating: 2020-10-21
Works Great - A few updates Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
UPDATE: 10/20/2020
Convert your TIA or SOTA antenna system to a center loaded vertical with 24" extensions. I have used it on 20 and 40 meters. I added a couple of 33' radials and 4 16' radials for 20 meters. I was blown away by band width increase. It's now below 1.5 to 1 across the entire 20 and 40 meter band. I'll try it on 17 meters today.


I bought the TIA package with the silver bullet coil. I set it up at a site near the Cape Fear River in Southport NC initially using the 3 supplied 33’ radials. Brother Rick (N9DAZ - the one mom always liked best) suggested I purchase a 100 foot spool of speaker wire at Lowe’s which yields six 33’ radials. I added 2 radials for a total of 5. Some observations:
1. I added 90 degree coax adapter to facilitate connecting the antenna analyzer.
2. Pleasantly surprised by the bandwidth on 40 meters. I found I had to rotate the ring 180 degrees to lower the resonant frequency to the 7.300 to 7.180.
WM4RB Rating: 2020-10-05
GREAT coil and Workmanship! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Easy to setup and use. (I use it as my mobile antenna on my truck). I set mine to 3.750Mhz with a 102" whip and use a autotuner. Tunes 80-10m very well. I highly recommend!
AC1DV Rating: 2020-10-04
Great antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After reading all the positive reviews I purchased this antenna. I am NOT sorry. Right out of the box it's easy to set up and adjust. First contact was 57 to BC Canada from RI operating 15 watts portable.
Some comments. Invest is extra radials. It tuned good with the stock radials but I added 80, 20 and 17 meter radials and seemed to get better reports from known areas and SWR was flat were before maybe 1.6:1 was the lowest. Only used the added radials once so still getting used to them. I found tuning to be easy. As a way to remember where on the coil each band was I used a magic marker to mark just beneath the collar. It worked great when I was out in a park with no analyzer. I do find I have to re do them on occasion because they wear off with use. I'm open to other suggestions as well. I also used a 90 degree coax adapter and found it convenient.
Observations... Be careful with the threaded area on the aluminum legs. I had to go over mine with a die after a few burs prevented it screwing into the base. Going to get some plastic caps. Also the plastic tip on the whip antenna comes off relatively easy so a drop of glue worked well. With no cap the element can go too far into the next segment. Maybe belling it would be an idea. The coil is very solid and well constructed. No problems with that.
Overall this antenna has performed well above expectations. Even with QRP. I compared it to my travel dipole and found the ears were exactly the same. Haven't compared them for transmitting .. mostly because I get such great results with the vertical. This antenna is a must have for any Go kit..
KC0VOE Rating: 2020-04-22
Unless you have an analyzer don’t do it. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Unless you are packing an analyzer with you. You will absolutely hate this thing.