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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
WU7X Rating: 2008-10-28
Incredible! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If Robert and Cindy ever found out how I mistreat this antenna they would kill me. I recently went on a fly fishing/off-roading trip to north central Idaho with my Tacoma pickup and 706MKIIG/Tarheel 100/Turbo Tuner system. The antenna is mounted on the right rear bumper using one of Robert's stainless steel mounts. After getting home, I noticed that I must have snagged a tree limb because the SS mount was torqued about 15-20 degree off true. With a bit of trepidation, I tried changing frequency from 20 meters to 18 meters. The poor antenna gave a bit a groan and stopped! Dang! I thought I had killed it and the Turbo Tuner! I pulled out a large crescent wrench and retorqued the mount into alignment and tried the tunner one more time. It worked like a charm! I strongly recommend that you don't try this at home! This system is darned near indestructible!

Thank you Robert and Cindy for one tough product! My truck has been designed for heavy duty expedtion use; and the antenna system fits right in.


Dale WU7X.
KD8EUR Rating: 2008-10-08
Little Tarheel II Rocks Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Here's a copy of a letter I sent to Tarheel about their product.

Hi there, I bought a Lil Tarheel II used from a guy off eham about 6 months ago. I just wanted to drop you a line and tell you what a great antenna that thing is and how much fun I've had using it. I'm live in northern lower Michigan so life on 2 meters is pretty slow. Now with HF in the car I am having a blast. I drive down state quite a bit and the trip flies by while I play radio. But I'm constantly shocked at how that antenna gets out. Yesterday I talked to the Virgin Islands and with a guy in Utah. The Utah contact said was was "Boomin" in and asked what I was using. Told him I had the Lil Tarheel II and he laughed and said he had one too and can't get over how well it works.

When I first was looking at them I was a little worried about how to tune it. But it's a snap and you really can get pretty close to a match just by listening to the static. I normally listen and then just have to give it a few little taps to hone it in. One thing I need to do thou is right Up and Down on the rocker switch. I find when going down the road I start to second guess myself.

But even with the bands as dead as they are I've made contacts with that antenna on 80,40 and 20 without any problems.

Thanks for the great product.
9K2UU Rating: 2008-09-08
absolutely superb Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased Tarheel 100 last year and I mounted it first on the wench base that is attached to the front part of my 2006 Chevrolet HD truck and later moved it to the bed of the truck using the MT 6 mount and IC 7000. Photos of my set up are posted in Tarheel’s site. Due to my camping hobby, I use this antenna most of the time off road in the harsh terrain of the Kuwait desert “sizzling temperature in the summer, dusty and rough roads” and subject it to high speeds in the highways with no problem except a little twisting of the 6-feet whip. I can say that this antenna is well made and rugged compared to its huge size and weight. The performance is outstanding and it tunes easily and SWR is not an issue at all. Some times I would not believe the flat SWR reading in my IC 7000 so I resort to an external SWR meter “Diamond SX-1000” and it gives me a similar result “wow”. The secret to that is good antenna grounding and vehicle bonding. Many DX stations in Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia and Middle East I operated were astonished when they learned that I’m working mobile. My signal reports, even with the poor propagation now a days, most of the time were remarkable “5/7 and 5/9 or more”. My ham friends here in Kuwait were also impressed with its performance and appearance and so far I have imported 6 of Tarheel antennas for them. For such a happy experience, I give this black monster a big 5.

Barrak Alkhubaizi, 9K2UU
K4XS Rating: 2008-08-12
GREAT FACTORY SUPPORT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the model 200 back in February of 2005, but didn't get a chance to install it on my truck until January of 2007 after we got settled in at our new QTH out in KH6. I have been totally satisfied with it since the installation.

Two weeks ago the internal mount of the antenna fatigued and broke. Shipping is always a big factor out in Hawaii and between that and repair/new parts charges I though it might be an expensive project to get fixed. Surprise! I sent the defective mount back (I paid the shipping to them). Within ten days I got back the repaired part, no charge for shipping or part replacement. That's what I call great support!

These guys make a great product and with service like that you can't go wrong. Are the antennas a little expensive? Yep, but you pay for quality.

KK0AL Rating: 2008-06-16
Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is undoubtedly one of the best ants. I have ever owned. Support was great for the questions I had about the installation. Every contact I have made so far with the ant. and my 857d have given me a 5 by 9 plus. The swr's on 10-80 meters is 1.1to1. It is very easy and quick to tune to the next band and just a tap or two on the switch when you move up or down a freq. and you still have low swr's. Sure beats the 5 hygain ants. I use to have with a ant tuner. Now 1 ant does what those 5 did before. ALL I CAN SAY IS I REALLY LOVE THIS ANTENNA.
N3WBS Rating: 2008-05-21
Great Antenna!!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I would have to say this is one well made antenna.
I purchased a used Tarheel 100 from a friend of mine and i'm very happy with its performance and construction. Its connected to my Hyundai Tucson on a home brew mount made of SS steel bolted directly to my frame. Works excellent with my IC-7000 at just 100 watts. I have worked most of the country and several countrys over the pond. I have seen it take 80MPH on the interstate with no issues. The only thing i did do to modify it was put a 9 foot whip and a cap hat on it to perform better on the low freq. Worked well with the 6 footer but much better with the mod. My SWR is 1 to1 on most bands and 1.5 to 1 at the worst. The only draw back to using a 9 ft whip is you will loose 10 and 12 meters. Which was ok with me being those bands are pretty quite these days anyways. When the cycle gets better ill use the 6 footer. With all mobile installs you will have to ground your vehical very well in order to get the most out of your set up. I have over 60 hours in my install! Bonding is a must for mobile HF! For the money you will not go wrong with this company in service and quality, Cindy was very helpfull with all the questions I had and stood behind even a used antenna with some parts that I didnt have to mount it to my vehical.
W7GGM Rating: 2008-05-20
Problems with performance Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased a Little Tarheel II antenna about a year ago. The antenna never worked, right right out of the box. I have it installed as a base antenna right outside the shack. The SWR is poor on most bands. The signals are weak on all bands. I added a ground plane, grounds to the ground plane, removed all grounding to the radials, but the performance is poor. I have tried different whips but have the same poor performance. I have not been able to make even a single contact with this antenna. Nobody at the store where I purchased the antenna, W0BO, or Tarheel Antenna Inc. seems to be interested enough to complete any communications about how to fix this thing. My recommendation: Don't waste good money on this antenna. I wasted $350 total, on this thing. The performance is poor and the support is even worse.

Vern Harris
W7GGM
KJ4BIX Rating: 2008-04-17
200A-HP package Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This antenna works exactly as they say. I have a Suburban and mounted the antenna on a receiver hitch, added a couple of short braided ground straps from the mount to the hitch, and made sure the paint was removed at ground locations. The tuning of the antenna perfectly matches the pictures they show in the manual. It is really unusual to buy something like this and it work with no tinkering. I expanded the coil for 80/40M just a little - resulting in 1.1-1.2 SWR on 80M/40M, 20M up to about 25Mhz with the 6' whip is absolutely flat. No need for an antenna tuner, save the money for a tuner. The antenna is really broad banded, much better than Ham Sticks (which I was using before). The height of the 200 is perfect for a Suburban/Van.
K5BJM Rating: 2008-04-14
Perfect 1 to1 SWR 75M - 3.5 M Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a Tarheel 75 Stubby mounted on my toolbox on a Dodge Ram pickup truck driven with a Yaesu 857D radio. Best Antenna I have ever used. Excellent support from Tarheel. Built Well! Tunes from 3.5M through 80M with the highest SWR on 40M at 1.2 to 1. Every other band is 1 to 1 SWR. I hooked it up and made over 30 contacts on SSB With reports of 57 and 59 in 2 Hrs. from the east coast to the west coast. This antenna has OUTPERFORMED ANY and ALL of my expectations of any moble set up. Thank You TARHEEL!!!!!!!
K4DJL Rating: 2008-04-01
Tarheel 100 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I really enjoy mobile HF and I think the Tarheel 100 makes the differance. I should of picked up the model 200 for my full size Chevy van. Make sure you tell Cindy what type of vihical you plan to operate from and how you intend to mount the antenna. Listen to what Cindy and Robert have to say and it will save you in the long run.

With 80% of my time spent on 40m & 80m phone I seem to perform as if I am sitting at my QTH. Some stations insist I am not mobile. I just ordered a Model 75 "Stubby" for travaling in the XYL's vehical and to use in hotel room's.

Thank you Tarheel for all you do to support our hobby.