Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Chameleon CHA MPAS Lite

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 : Chameleon CHA MPAS Lite
Reviews: 2MSRP: $340.00
Description:
Modular Portable Antenna System that can be configured as a 60' end fed wire or as a 17' vertical. Both configurations cover 160 through 6 meters with a tuner. 100 watts PEP / 50 watts CW.
Product is in production
More Info: https://chameleonantenna.com/shop-here/ols/products/mpas-lite
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
1525
WB6AGE Rating: 2022-11-24
Great portable antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
All portable HF antennas are a compromise between performance, size, ease of setup, and weight. For me, the MPAS Lite fills a nitch almost perfectly.

It spends most it's time paired with my TX500 QRP rig. The combo is perfect for road trips where operations are from a rest stop, campground, or picnic spot. The ground spike is rugged and handles most soils. The whip is sturdy but wish it would collapse to the length of the ground spike for ease of packing.

One thing I would add immediately after purchase is a set of ground radials. They greatly improve the antennas performance across all bands. I have 4 radials about 25 feet long. They attach to the spike with a thumbscrew.

In almost 2 years of use there are zero problems. The ruggedness and high quality materials are worth the price.

WB7VTY Rating: 2021-09-10
Great, Flexible, Functional, Well Made antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I didnt see any other reviews for this antenna on EHAM, and it is significantly different than the MPAS or MPAS 2.0 so I added this as a new item. A number of years ago I got involved with SOTA (which is a blast) (mostly as a chaser) and have been on a quest for the ideal, portable, single antenna. For my application I have found it. Sometimes I like to string out a wire but other times the location is better suited to a vertical. I like to be able to get on all bands and not be restricted to only a few HF bands. I also dont like to fiddle with coil jumpers or links. I want to set up the antenna, and then sit down and operate and not have to fiddle with the antenna. (Ok, so Im lazy). I only operate QRP these days with my 817, 705, or PFR3B so the 100 watt PEP / 50 watts CW rating is more than enough. Im not a SOTA Mountain Goat and probably never will be, but I do enjoy portable operation very much and when I can find a summit suitable to my capability, thats my preference. This antenna is very well made. It sets up quickly. It works as described. I have used it in the configurations specified in the manual, as well as a couple others haha, along with an Elecraft T1 (by far my favorite autotuner) and a LDG Z11 Pro II and it will easily tune on every band from 160 through 6 meters as specified. SWR has always been less than 1.5:1 and most of the time closer to 1:1. Of course so does a dummy load so the question is how well does it work. Certainly it is a compromise on frequencies below 7 MHz, and especially in the vertical configuration. Conditions have not been great since I recently purchased this antenna but even so, I have been able to check into my usual evening HF net on 80 meters with both wire and vertical configurations. The wire config working significantly better of course on 80 meters. Distance to net control was roughly 75 miles I believe but I have been able to hear other checkins from neighboring states pretty well. I havent tried it on 160 yet. As far as the other bands are concerned I have found its performance to be more than acceptable, and it has amazed me in some cases. Here are some locations I have worked from SOTA activations from a couple of drive up summits here in Oregon using this antenna, the T1 and my ICOM 705 at 10 watts or less in the last few weeks; France, AZ, CA, CO, KS, NM, UT, NY, VA, NC, OR, WA. The vast majority of those were done with the vertical config on 20, 30, and 40 meters, including France, and eastern USA. Some may claim that the stations on the other end were doing the heavy lifting. Certainly true in some cases. However, a good deal of these contacts were summit to summit contacts here in the states where the other station was also QRP and using a portable antenna. SO, while this antenna is obviously a compromise in some ways, its a very good compromise that clearly works very well. It checks every single box on my list of what I wanted. I cant speak to its reliability as I havent had it long enough yet, but it is very well made and I dont expect anything will fall apart or fail any time soon as long as I dont do anything stupid to it. If there were anything to ding it on, and its not really a ding, its just what the antenna is - is that it is probably a little on the heavy side for a hard core minimalist backpacker. There are lighter weight options for sure. But for my style of portable operating, my desires for an antenna, overall performance, and the kind of hikes Im likely to go on as an old flabby guy - relatively easy sub 4 miles one way, this antenna cant be beat. I would add too, that I added my own additional home brew counterpoise wire (you can buy one from chameleon) and it is very easy to set this up as a wire antenna with that counterpoise such that it can be changed from wire to vertical config in about a minute if you want to do that. I have also used it with the base spike clamped to a park bench instead of stuck in the ground in both wire and vertical configs with the same success and tuning results. I could not be happier with this antenna and highly recommend it to anybody with a similar need. Its not the least expensive antenna, but this is a case where you get what you pay for. If you are sitting on the fence about buying one - do it. You will not regret it. Im happy to answer any questions. Just email me direct at wb7vty@gmail.com.

73
Joe
WB7VTY