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Reviews For: Tarheel Antennas

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Tarheel Antennas
Reviews: 205MSRP: 295.00
Description:
Screwdriver Antennas,Stainless Steel mounts,Mobile and Base
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tarheelantennas.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
152054.8
KK8ZZ Rating: 2012-03-12
Amazing Performance Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Here in Ohio, winters are sometimes brutal, so I switch between the Little Tarheel II (mounted high on the SUV in winter) and the Tarheel 100HP (regular trailer hitch mount in summer). Both have held up well for over 5 years of service. I've used the manual switch and currently the Turbo-Tuner for the Icom IC-7000 in the car. No matter what the weather, these guys have always performed quickly, quietly, efficiently, and always found the minimum SWR and been right there whenever I've needed them. I'm still amazed by the Little Tarheel II, which tunes from 75-6 meters with a 45 inch whip. I can check into 40 meters ECARS and MIDCARS any morning on the daily commute. With any antenna, be sure that they are WELL grounded to the vehicle body, and you'll do just fine. These screwdriver antennas have been one of the very best investments of a ham career that's spanned over 45 years. Tried the High Sierras first, but found that they were poorly made and wouldn't hold up over the winters. Maybe that's why they're no longer made.


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Earlier 5-star review posted by KK8ZZ on 2008-07-19

After replacing a High Sierra Sidekick (which had trailer connectors for the controller - lots of corrosion in winter) with the Lil' Tarheel II three years ago, I've had nothing but great results with this antenna. Mounted on the rear hatch of my Toyota Highlander, it has worked from 75 to 6 meters with no problem, tuned with a Turbo Tuner between it and my Icom IC-7000... the antenna has NEVER had any problem with rust or corrosion like the HS model did. COnstruction is first-rate and Bob and Cindy are always models of southern hospitality and customer service.

de KK8ZZ
KA6PSD Rating: 2011-12-30
3 years & counting Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased the Model 100A-HP and decided to mount it on the tower. It has worked flawlessly till I had to take it down due to hail damage, NOT the antenna but the roof and air conditioner. The Tarheel still looks as good as the day I bought it, and preforms the same. An amazing anteena to take that brutal of a beating and still working like day one. You can see install photo's of it with my ATV antennas on thier website. Well the tower had a tweak in it and it was parted with and the tarheel is now on a roof mount tower, I will be sending Cindy the new photos soon.Well constucted, can take a serious beating and still preforms super well. I also got thier antenna controller with memory and the top hat atachment. I actually was able to tune some of the 160 meter band with a little fussing around. I love mine an simply amazed how it has hand;ed the hot weather here in Arizona. I keep testing and using my Tarheel for another 20 years and report back with details. Yes I know it will go that far ! Simply the best buy for your hard earned dollars !
NY4DX Rating: 2011-09-21
Not that Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Mine is a Model 200. The antenna is painted and the paint bubbles up due to improper preparation before painting along the rear spline. The antenna has a cheap feel to it when you hold it. You can twist the antenna to pieces with little effort.

If you need a power extension plug...make it yourself, If you need a longer whip, check Radio Shack first...1/2 price. These two items can be found much cheaper than buying them from Tarheel.

If you mount the unit on a bumper in the Northeast, the salt will eat the power cord and the coil on the antenna mount.

Check out the Scorpion Antenna if you can afford it. All Stainless Steel construction.
KC6F Rating: 2011-09-21
Built like an M1 Abrams Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This thing is built like an M1 Abrams tank. Its got solid, welded stainless steel mounting hardware. I stuck it in a trailer hitch on the back of my Honda Civic and grounded it to the frame with 1" grounding braid. Then I adjusted the 80M matching coil, and achieved a 1:1 match on all bands. Works well with my Turbo Tuner, in addition.

Can't ask for any more. Shipping was also fast and well packed.
VE6WR Rating: 2011-09-08
Very hardy antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my tarheel 200A, which I purchased used, mounted in my trailer mount at the back of my Jeep Cherokee for just over a year. Here in Calgary it easily gets to -40 degrees, as it did for about 3 weeks this past winter. Not even a hiccup in this antenna. Continued to work splendidly, motor went up and down like it should, even in that cold. Couldn't ask for a better mobile antenna. I run my TS-480SAT into it.
K9RJO Rating: 2011-09-02
Great antenna for a fixed space ground mounted install. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use a Tarheel 200 ground mounted as a base station antenna. My normal configuration is a 9 foot whip and a capacity hat which allows coverage of 80 to 17 meters. Performance is almost unbelievable and way beyond expectations. A key factor if you are going to use this antenna ground mounted is to lay down as many radials as you can. I have 44 radials in the ground approximately 16 feet long. They do not have to be resonant. Keep adding radials until you get the characteristic impedance as measured with an antenna analyzer as close to 36 ohms as you can. Don't fret about the swr. It will be slightly less than 1.4 to 1. Being in a partial antenna restricted community the antenna is mounted in the back of the house and close to it. This is the only way to get it approved. You can see a picture of my installation under my call K9RJO at qrz.com. Running 400 watts with this antenna I get consistent reports of 10 and 20 over 9 as well as loudest signal on the band.
GW0JLX Rating: 2011-08-01
400A - Fantastic ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just purchased a Tarheel 400A and after a bit of a search for suitable U bolts to mount it to the Land Rover external roll cage (being a bit of monster with the whip & all), got it all fitted and took it out for a test.

One neat trick if like me you have the main body mounted quite high up and can't easily reach the top to screw the whip in: place a couple of nylon type cable ties tightly round the top extremity of the whip and then attach a nylon cord above the cable ties, and use the nylon cord as a tie-down a-la-military style. Works a treat and doesn't affect the antenna tuning and can be released and allowed to dangle for normal use.

Took the landy out to my favorite test site and ran out two 35' grounding radials from the support bracket - she tuned up on 80m beautifully and my first QSO was with a station on the other side of the country who gave me a solid 59. Not bad for a FT-857 running 100W mobile.

Next QSO was just down the road about 30 miles away, and I guess that was groundwave. 48 from him.

The manual motorised drive works a treat, with the antenna tuning across 160-10m HF without problem.

So 10/10 from me on this one so far. I'll update this review later when I've had it out on Salisbury Plain as well.

One word of caution - it's big (tall), especially with the whip fitted on top regardless if it's tied down a bit or not. I am close to the 4m upper limit when the whip is tied down, so watch out for those overhead obstructions !

Mechanically, I think the sideways mounting of the base mount which holds the long tuning tube section of the antenna in place is held together with a couple of fairly small nuts & bolts, so maybe I'll fix a secondary support in the form of a hefty cable tie arrangement ? I am sure this would be a benefit - just in case something mechanical on the basic support frame gave way ?

73 de Andy,
GØJLX
W2WP Rating: 2011-05-23
Model 40-HP * Two Thumbs up Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
In the past I did a lot of stationary HF with Hamsticks. They worked pretty damn good for what I was doing but man what a PITA needing to constantly changing them from Band to Band. Well I purchaed the Model 40 Deluxe Package and mounted on the corner of my 2004 Tacoma truck bed. I wasn't expecting to much to tell you the truth. I was sure i was going to miss the great ground plane of the top of my roof. Not counting running the wiring to the back seat of the truck, I was up and running within 1/2 hour! Using the TurboTuner, which BTW also works flawlessly, I could not beleive how well I was hearing stations but to my surprise how great my signal reports were coming back. The first 5 stations I worked were 2 Italy, 2 Russia, and Oman. All 5/8 or 5/9 from New Jersey with 100 watts from my IC-7000 (AND THE BAND WAS TERRIBLE). The 10m, 12m, 15m, 17m, and 20m Bands all tune perfectly to a SWR of 1:1. 40m took 5 minutes to get to 1:2.

What more can you ask for?
W5GV Rating: 2011-04-25
Great mobile antenna even running QRP/Mobile! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought a pickup last fall and thought it would be fun to go HF mobile although I wasn't sure at the time how much I would really use it in the truck. Since I know the antenna is the key part of any installation I did a fair amount of research and selected the Tarheel 75A antenna based on reviews here on eHam and other reviews I could locate. I thought it was the best unit for the price and have found that to be true!

I mounted it in the bed of the truck and lacking funds to buy another radio for the truck I installed an ICOM 703+ that I purchased for portable and pedestrian mobile thinking I could swap it out when funds permitted with an ICOM 706, but I have been using it that way for the last 7 months.

Wow, I have been using it like crazy! I have it on virtually every minute I'm in the truck and make contacts often, either answering a CQ or calling one. Sometimes I drive up to the mountains here in NM and park some where in a good location and spend the afternoon making contacts. I've just about worked all continents, half the states and several foreign countries including Japan and Finland. 90% of my ham hobby is now working QRP from the truck. I usually keep it at 5 watts so I can count my QSOs as QRP, but will turn it up to 10 when I'm just enjoying myself.

Of course the critical factor for all QRP work is the antenna. The Tarheel works very, very well for me. It will tune up across the bands at 1.5 or better and then the internal tuner in the 703+ will tweak it down to nothing. The key part is to get the antenna grounded well to the chasis and then bond your doors, hood, body, etc. with copper or braided ground strap. It actually worked well just getting the antenna grounded to the chasis. The extra bonding helped reduce noise a little more and the antenna seems to radiate better. I am totally amazed how well the Tarheel works running QRP. Most of the people I talk to from the truck are amazed as well.

Most people would think think I am crazy to run Mobile/QRP since running mobile is a challenge in itself without reducing your power level to only 5 watts, but it works well and I have learned a great deal about QRP and how to make it work.

Really no complaints that I can think of.
KG7RS Rating: 2011-03-30
Excellent for Antenna Restricted CC&R QTH Too Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi Folks,
We live in a neighborhood where antennas are not specifically prohibited, but out of respect for my neighbors, I've chosen to keep my HF antenna low-profile. With a long-time interest in QRP & especially HF Portable operation, I've used lots of small loaded verticals in the past with reasonable success such as the Buddistick, MP-1, Outbacker, etc. My introduction to electrically adjustable "screwdriver" antennas came with the purchase of a good used Tarheel model 75A and I quickly discovered they are in a performance class of their own. I still use the 75A for portable ops, mounted on one of the (fantastic) Super Antennas MP-1 tripods with a 12' MFJ telescopic whip and eight 10' untuned wire radials laying on the ground. Recently I added a homebrew lithium battery pack and wireless remote switch to remotely-control the antenna motor. To date, I can't conceive of a better performing, easier-to-deploy-anywhere portable antenna. It gets plenty of use. Although a bit too large/heavy for backpacking, this concept could work if the heavy 75A is replaced with a Little Tarheel II.
My only home QTH antenna is a Tarheel 100A, ground mounted with Tarheel's standard mobile mount attached to a 4' galvanized pipe driven into the ground. I have one of Tarheel's radial plates and use twenty 9' untuned wire radials buried under a layer of decorative gravel in the backyard. The whip is a gool 'ol Radio Shack 102" CB whip. The antenna easily tunes 80-15 meters and also down to 10 meters with a 5' whip to replace the 8-1/2' one on this band. Performance is fantastic on 20-10. 40 meters and especially 80 meters is a quite a surprise. I worked 23 new DXCC entities with this antenna in the last two DX contests, mostly on 40-meters, including some amazing DX on 75 meter SSB that I wouldn't have believed was possible (this is the most I've ever worked 75/80 meters). Yes, I was running a little power (600w from an Ameritron ALS-600 amplifier) but also worked quite a few DX stations at the 100 watt level. For everyday non-contest use, performance is fantastic whether ragchewing on SSB, running my homebrew 6L6 transmitter on 40-meter CW or digital modes at QRP power levels. In short, my Tarheel 100A setup does not seem to be a compromise - it performs as well as any other commercial vertical antenna I've used such as the Cushcraft R5 and beats the pants off a low dipole on 40 & 80 typically deployed in a stealth installation. My immediate neighbors are aware of it and couldn't care less. The only part visible over the fence is a barely visible skinny whip - and that can be removed when not in use if anybody does care. Tune-up is easy but modest frequency excursions on the low bands requires frequent retuning. This is most easily done "by ear" - reception very noticeably increases at/near resonance. Great SWL antenna too..with the configuration of my 100A, I can tune the antenna down to around 2.3Mhz & listening to 90 meter & 60 meter tropical bands gives better performance than any antenna I've used - a real treat on winter nights. In my opinion this is just about the perfect antenna. No, its performance can't complete with a large tower-mounted array, but it certainly provides for minimal-compromise performance for those of us who live in areas where such things are inappropriate. I hear they work well mounted to a car too!
73, John, KG7RS