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Reviews For: Tarheel Little Tarheel HP

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Tarheel Little Tarheel HP
Reviews: 1MSRP: 539
Description:
When properly installed on your vehicle this antenna will provide
continuous coverage from 7.0 to 54 MHz with the supplied whip. The
Little Tarheel antenna like all of our motorized antenna models are
built to meet the highest standards but in a smaller size.

All of our antennas come with the sensors already pre-installed so if
you decide to add one of the auto controllers (SDC-100 Simple
Controller, SDC-102 Programmable Controller, Turbo Tuner) now or
later everything is ready.

We designed this antenna for the person who wants to enjoy HF mobile
but is not interested in our large antennas. Don't let the small size
fool you because we designed this antenna to be mounted higher on the
vehicle, and when mounted higher on the vehicle you have less ground
loses which equals higher performance. Also, because of the smaller
size you can use a more common type of mount like the Diamond K400
Series, the Comet HD-5 Series or similar 3/8" stud type mount.

And like our other antennas you get the same great look with our
Powder Coat Paint System with standard colors of Black, White, Red or
Silver. It also comes with the LexanTM Weather Shield like its big
brothers, not the flimsy stuff others use. This model also uses the
commercial 12 volt gear motor.

We designed the Little Tarheel as a package. All you need extra is a
mount of some sort and a nice HF radio. Included standard with the
Little Tarheel II antenna is: the whip, 20 ft. of plug & play control
cable, manual control box, ferrite decoupling core and 3/8-24 stud.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR USE WITH RECEIVER HITCH MOUNTS

The warranty is simple: For the 1st 30 days if for any reason you are
not completely satisfied, return the antenna for a full refund less
the shipping charges. The antenna has a ONE YEAR NO MATTER WHAT
WARRANTY to the original owner. If for any reason (other than damage
due to negligence, improper use, use of Non-recomended Controllers or
unauthorized disassembly) your Tarheel Antenna fails to perform due
to quality or workmanship Tarheel Antennas, Inc. will at our
discretion either repair or replace at no charge for parts or labor.
Shipping charges are your (the customer's) responsibility to and from
Tarheel Antennas' repair shop.

You won't be disappointed with the Little Tarheel, I GUARANTEE IT.

Any questions, don't hesitate to contact us via phone or e-mail us at
sales@tarheelantennas.com

ANTENNA SPECIFICATIONS
Lower Mast Size -- 1 1/2"
Lower Mast Length -- 16"
Whip Length -- 32"
Total Length of Antenna in 54 MHz position -- 48"
Total Length of Antenna in 7.0 MHz position -- 54"
Frequency Coverage Continuous -- 7.0 to 54 MHz
Power Rating -- 500 watts P.E.P. SSB
125 watts P.E.P. All other Modes
Typical SWR -- 1.5 or less
Weight -- 1.9 lbs.
Product is in production
More Info: http://https://www.tarheelantennas.com/littletarheel_hp
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
KE4IAJ Rating: 2019-04-04
Great value, quality, and support! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is the high powered version of the Little Tarheel 2. This antenna will handle up to 500 watts P.E.P. (SSB Only).

Other than higher power the main difference between the Little Tarheel HP (Hereafter known as LT-HP) and the Little Tarheel 2 (Hereafter known as LT-2) is that with the LT-HP your gain increases but you lose 80m while mobile. This is due to the larger coil wire used. The LT-HP has ~3dB more gain (~ half an s unit) on 40m than the LT-2 with the same whips. You can add the 56" whip to gain 3dB on both the LT-HP and the LT-2 at the expense of eliminating 6m. And with a 12' telescoping whip (stationary only) you can tune and use 80m with the LT-HP (again at the expense of eliminating higher freqs).

I don't drive much in the evenings, wanted the higher gain, and might add an ALS-500RM later. For those reason I chose the HP version.

This antenna may not have the performance of the larger screwdrivers on the lower frequencies, but it's smaller and you gain 6m. If you are looking for a screwdriver antenna that includes 6m there aren't many choices and any of the smaller Tarheels would be a great choice.

I love the size of the Little Tarheel series. They don't require special mounting like the larger screwdrivers do, and they are more aesthetically pleasing IMO. I am using the Breedlove 208 Screwdriver Stud mount. The installation isn't bad at all especially if you are already running ham sticks or other 3/8x24 antenna.

To install I simply unscrewed the ham stick and screwed the Tarheel right in (Has standard 3/8x24 threads), then screwed in the whip. I then ran the control cable from the antenna to where I mounted the motor switch, and ran power from my accessory fuse block to the motor switch. Lastly I installed the included ferrite core on the control cable near the antenna, and installed the included tuning coil from the bottom of the antenna to ground. That's pretty much it.

Tuning is fairly easy by moving the antenna up or down until you hear the most static. Then fine tune SWR from there if needed. I plan to get a TurboTuner2 later.

If there's anything I don't like about it it's the fact that it takes 90 seconds to go from 6m to 40m. But if it was geared higher that would make fine tuning SWR more difficult.

So far performance seems just as good if not better than the ham sticks I was using before, with the added advantage of continuous coverage from the top frequency to the bottom frequency. This means if you want to tune 11m while traveling you can do that too!

Before purchased I sent Tarheel at least 10 questions while I was researching and they had quick, courteous, and informational replies. I am very pleased with this antenna's build quality and support so far and will update this review later as I get more use out of it.

73
-Will
KE4IAJ