| K5MSW |
Rating:      |
2001-03-03 | |
| I love it! It's not pretty or impressive, but it works! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have had this antenna practically since they came out. It's been in environmentally challenging locations (North Dakota and now New Mexico)and been moved at least three times. I have used it with an Yaesu FT-757GX2 and now with an Icom-746 and it's truly universal. Although it was not designed to work on WARC bands, it does with the built in tuner and as long as the "counterpoise" is not erroneously grounded (yes, I've done that!) it really works. I have buried counterpoises in the past, but currently they are on the top of the ground. I do put three lengths of nylon line, attached with a stainless clamp below the center insulator, but instructions don't require any guying---in our winds of 40 - 60 mph (usually) even when the line breaks, it just bends with the wind. When this one finally falls apart, I'll have to get another one! |
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| W7UIV |
Rating:      |
2001-03-02 | |
| An excellent compromise |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
In view of having moved to an area with CC&R antenna restrictions I will make my comments on the GAP challenger mostly with respect to that limitation in mind. If one doesn't have that limitation there are other alternatives that could prove better. For example, I would love to buy my crank up and two 70 foot fold over towers back from the people I sold (gave them away) to, and use those with the 20 and 40 meter beams. The 80 meter bobtail was great - on two acres with the trees to support it.
The question here was how to overcome the CC&Rs with an outside multiband antenna covering the traditional old ham bands. Within the pages of the CC&Rs I thought I detected a flaw. The flaw I perceived is in that there is nothing mentioned of a restriction on portable antennas, nor of antennas that are NOT "affixed to any building or permanent part of the property". My attention was aroused when a question of portable basketball nets in the front of some homes came up, and it was decided nothing could be done about them because; "OH..those are portable, and not affixed to the property". Well, heavens to Betsy...what have we here?
Hence, I figured if I drive a portable tilt over mount into the ground, it is not "affixed" to the property or any building. Neither are the guy rope anchors, which are those corkscrew type of dog leash ties screwed into the ground.
In looking around for the antenna to use, I kept in mind having never had really good experience with trap multiband verticals. And if I did for a little while, at least not over a long period of time. It is very frustrating to have a back-up vertical all set up, and then when you go to use it for something it doesn't work because the traps are loose inside, full of moisture, or they arc across when you key the rig.
The "portable", military camouflage painted green GAP Challenger, has been up for nearly two years with no CC&R challenge. And it remains fully operational too. I did do some recent adjustments to bring the best SWR point into the CW portion of the 40 meter band, but that was at my option and not essential. I just happen to like seeing it down at 1.0/1. For those wishing to make such adjustments I will pass along the information as I received from GAP, plus something else I found to get the match that low on 40.
Something I've seen in positive reviews of this antenna is that people will often say it "outperforms my (this or that) antenna" on several signals. I am not challenging this for those who've made some really intensive long term tests, but just want to keep some balance in mind with a comment.
In times past, having had as many as three antennas to experiment with at the same time, I found that if you stick with the same station over an extended period of time (say two or three hours) you will often find that propagation will change during that time to the extent that this same signal will be heard and worked best on one or the other antennas. For a while it may be the longwire. Then it will be the vertical. And then it may be the dipole. Therefore one can't make such a broad overall statement as "outperforms my other antenna on many signals" and have it really mean anything, because the other antenna may outperform your test antenna on other signals, or the same signal at different times over an extended period. During a recent contest weekend, on 20 meters there was a station that was S9 + 10 on the GAP but only about S8 on my "portable" dipole. (yes, I have a portable dipole too now!!) Yet a few KC away there was another station at S6 on the dipole that had no S meter reading on the GAP. For the most part however, the signals received on both antennas were neck to neck in strength, although local noise pickup on the coax dipole was >10 db less than the GAP (as indicated on the ICOM 756 PRO scope). I also have a Webster bandspanner set up which I consider a method of getting on the air, but essentially it is useless for anything but a way to get on the air, compared to the GAP.
GAP Challenger adjustments (with the exception of 80 meters, none of these are really necessary unless you simply feel better about having the minimum SWR occur where you intend to mostly operate)
75/80 meters is the top capacitor unit.
40 is the three counterpoise wires.
20 meters is the longest of the two lower tuner rods.
15 meters is the full length of the antenna.
12 meters is the shorter of the two lower tuner rods.
10 meters is the upper tuner rod.
To achieve 1.0/1 SWR on 40 CW I had to move the attachment of the three counterpoise wires up to a point which is 30 inches above the factory instructions. Keeping in mind this is not a factory suggestion; measure up 30 inches from the factory attachment point and simply drill a new screw hole to attach them at that point, being careful not to drill through the coax that runs down inside the antenna of course. The result should be 1.1/1 SWR from 7000 to 7060, with 1.6 at 7300. Since I was at it I also decided to put in the 3.9 Mhz cap for 75. This change caused the SWR on 40 CW to drop from 1.1/1 to 1.0/1, and at 7300 to go up one point from 1.6 to 1.7/1.
Tuner rods for the band being adjusted can be pulled down (as much as the pigtail attachment wires will allow) to lower the frequency of the best SWR center point in the band, or one can add a clip-on piece of wire instead to effectively lengthen the rod. 15 meters was affected by the move of the counterpoise wires for adjustment of 40. Originally the lowest SWR of 1.3/1 fell down below the amateur band, but is now 1.1/1 at 21.5 mhz.
In summary, given my CC&R restrictions and limited real estate, the GAP Challenger seems to fill the bill - if one can get away with using a 32 foot high "portable" antenna in your CC&R situation. With the optional portable hinged base one could lower and store it up against a fence if necessary when not in use. There are no traps for moisture or little spiders to get into. Performance seems roughly about the same as my dipole or to what I can recall of a (functioning) trap vertical. In the contest of Febuary 2001 I made the contact with every one of the (less than 20 or so) I called on both 20 and 40 meters, so in the lieu of solid technical specifics this type of statistic would indicate to my satisfaction the GAP Challenger does work, and all things considered is an excellent choice for anyone in similiar circumstance.
I will give it a full Q5 rating for these reasons. For S9 - as with any non gain antenna - one should expect to apply some power from time to time. My comments above are based on 100 watts, but the old 4-1000 rig is frothing at the mouth to give it a try. (I know I won't burn up any traps because there are none to burn)
Let me put it this way; you could probably go wrong with some antennas, but not this one. Just remember it's not a beam. It is a well built, dependable, effective multiband antenna that will get you everywhere from 80 to 10 meters on little real estate. If you have room for a relatively inexpensive multiple wire 80 - 10 meter inverted vee with a center support at 85 feet, use that. If you don't have that situation, forget the conventional trapped verticals or other complex designs to consider very strongly a simple, reliable GAP Challenger. They have been around a long time and still going. Ask this question of several others. Without mentioning any manufacturer names; Where is the AP series? Discontinued. Where is the AVQ series? Discontinued. Where is the R7000? Gone. Why is that? Do manufacturers quite building them when they have a real "winner"? On the other hand the Challenger is still here and lots of people still using them.
On a personal note; Regardless of all said of the GAP I'm getting brave enough to consider HEXBEAM'S portable HEX-PAC antenna for 20 and above as another CC&R "test". Reviews are great. I guess it's OK to mention the URL since they are an advertiser on this site. Take a look at http://www.hexbeam.com
73
Jim, W7UIV |
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| WB5IHK |
Rating:      |
2001-01-18 | |
| fine antenna; great support |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I erected my DX in january of 1998. I worked over 150 countries with it. Reports on 3905 Century Club net and others are approximately equal to others heard on the net. . No problem on 75 meter phone. It is not deaf. Works much better than other verts I have used since 1971
I can understand why some hams give bad reports. A driven element mounted vertically on the ground is the active element for many (very many) passive unintended radiators. In effect the ham has a vertical beam on HF that is not rotatable.
My qth is at the top of a 1300 foot hill. While this location indeed helps, the location is not the only factor since other verts did not perform as well. Soil is rocky with part-time underground spring and moss. Telephone lines form a partial Faraday cage around the qth on the south side. Yet, south into vk land from MD are phenomenal. Probably the lines act as directors or reflectors.
Use a coiled-up section of your feed coax to cut down radiation from coax.
You may need to tweak the side bar elements a bit
to get the resonant locations right. Also, change
counterpoise length and geometry. I run 500 watts
when I need to break-in a pileup. Worked 20 meter
campbell island after 5 calls. Power helps. Remember it is not just the ant you are using; consider that some of your competition has 5 stacked monobander yagi ants at 200 feet! And
1500 watts. I'm extremely pleased with this little guy.
Customer support in 1998 was great! They answered all questions in writing promptly.
rod |
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| IK1QHB |
Rating:     |
2001-01-12 | |
| fine choice |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I'm one of the first amateur in my country to take the Challenger DX and
after 240 country SSB/CW with multidipole 1/2 wavw 10-15-20-40 i decide
to buy this vertical antenna in the low period of propagation.
I putted it on the rooftop @150 feet with 6 radial with 15 couterpoises.
Two times was demage by strong wind and now i think is impossible, because
i think is too easy the wind destroy the rooftop with 15 couterpoises
instead destroy the GAP. Also at the second demage i've substitute the
central pole 2mm thick with another 3mm thick. Now is rugged enough
for the 120 km/h really. With 2mm .....mmmmmm too fragile for Ligurian
wind in my city. It work very not so bad in 10, not so bad in 15,
very fine in 20 and is fantastic in 40. In 80 i don't know, because is too
limited by CAP only around 30-40Khz and very low power.
I've destroy 1 CAP with 1/2 power of TL922. Anyway i think it's the best
vertical in the market, if the space is your problem, with Butternut HF6V.
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| KF6QIC |
Rating:     |
2000-09-30 | |
| Performs as advertised |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I am pleased with this antenna. It works just as advertised. Assembly went smooth, everything fit.
On air it works better than my dipole on 10,
15-40 works well. Yes 80 is narrow but that narrow segment does a good job. I have not used it on on 2 or 6 but if it is as good on vhf as hf it it should please anyone. The best part is moving from band to band and not having to tune an antenna and my rig (Drake TR3) |
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| AB8BC |
Rating:      |
2000-08-28 | |
| Another GAP owner |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I think KA4AQM is right. Not everybody loves this antenna for one reason or another, BUT, I cannot agree with the other gentleman about CushCraft. I own an R7. I've had it several years. I HAD a GAP Titan but had to sell it in the move to our new home. Nobody wanted the R7, so I kept it. I have had both antennas side by side at one point. There is no comparison. The GAP outperformed the CushCraft in everyway. I had some initial difficulty with both antennas. GAP was easy to talk with. CushCraft didn't have the time of day. In short, I think GAP outperforms in service and real performance on transmit/receive. And construction......who wants pipe-clamps!?! Gimme a break! |
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| KA4AQM |
Rating:      |
2000-08-27 | |
| Excellent |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I would advise anyone who owns a GAP and is having poor performance with it, contact the manufacturers about it. I did this 4 yrs ago when I got mine and they were VERY helpful. They don't want to market a bad antenna and are very sensitive to your needs. They helped a great deal. My GAP was one of the best antennas I've evr had and I used it in the middle of an apartment style military housing area. It had good "ears" and I never had anyone knocking on my door complaining of TVI. I produced a little phone QRM, but that was easily resolved with chokes. Call the folks at GAP and let them help you if the antenna is not performing as advertised. Good Luck. |
|
| W4DLB |
Rating:      |
2000-07-25 | |
| I like it! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have owned a Challender DX for much longer than I have been a ham. I bought a Challenger DX about 10 years or so ago to use with a wireless modem I was designing. After the project was completed, I basically forgot about the antenna lost in a large stand of trees behind my house. After I got my license, I decided to resurrect the Gap. It had survived several tornados with with only minimal damage. I have no idea how long the nylon guys I had initially used when the antenna was erected had been broken. I suspect it was long before the last tornado paid us a visit. In any case, I repaired the Gap, put it back up and it still works very well. It tunes all the advertised bands. It is very narrow on 80 meters, but that is to be expected. I recently worked a 5 watt Cuban station on 6 meters with the Gap. It also works well on 2 meters. I have worked many DX stations on the HF bands with the Gap. I do plan on a decent tower soon, but I doubt that I will ever completely stop using the Challenger. In my opinion, it is the best antenna bang for the buck on the market. |
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| WB0UGO |
Rating:     |
2000-05-24 | |
| Excellent Antenna 40-10 WB0UGO |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I put the challenger up with the 3 25 foot above ground radials on top of an underground spring that runs through the back yard. It generally out performs my carolina windom 80, full wave loop for 80, sloping dipole and G5RV on 40 and
holds its own on 20-10. It even tunes up and works well on 30 meters, where its not supposed to work. Performance on 80 is not real good and does not compare to the loop or windom. I use it mostly on 40 meters. I know the good ground helps, but it worked well for my dad at his QTH without an underground spring. It is far better than my cushcraft R8 was. It is a must to guy the antenna. Overall a good performer. |
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| W0CKI |
Rating:    |
2000-03-11 | |
| Gap Challenger |
Time Owned: unknown months. |
| I used it on 80 and 40, good solid performer on 40 and meets my needs, nothing special, on 80. At one time I had a R6000 also on the property, in every instance the Cushcraft outperformed the Gap on 10-20. I've since put up a Yagi ans sold the R6000.If you need tech support at Gap, the folks that work there can't do enough for you, Richard and George will try and help in anyway possible. THERE IS NO SUPPORT AT CUSHCRAFT!!!! My Gap installation is not ideal as it sits on the side of a steep hill. It is guyed and has survived some nasty winds. I continue to experiment with radials even though Gap says 3 are all that is necessary, I've had up to 16. Overall, it's adequate. |
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