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Reviews For: Comet CHA250B

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Comet CHA250B
Reviews: 138MSRP: 449.
Description:
The Comet CHA250B broadband vertical antenna will amazingly cover 75/80 meters through 6 meters with no gaps! Transmit range is 3.5-57 MHz and receive range is 2-90 MHz. SWR <1.5:1. This 23.5 foot vertical requires no radials and weighs only 7.1 lbs. The antenna consists of five sections of aluminum tubing that slide into each other. The bottom section has the matching network built-in. Only two simple measurements are required during the easy assembly. It can handle 250 watts SSB and 125 watts FM. SO-239 input. Mounts on a 1 to 2 inch mast (not supplied). Rated for 67 MPH wind survival.

Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cometantenna.com/amateur-radio/base-antennas/multi-band-hfvhfuhf-2/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
24.51383.7
G6DHU Rating: 2006-01-29
Easy up, Easy on Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I listen most of the time (outside the amateur bands to utility stations) and wanted an antenna that improved listening over a 70ft long wire and would allow me some HF contacts when I fancied it. I have a 100ft dipole to go up but that's for the spring - I needed this now and with the cold weather minimum of installation fuss was a must.

I built the antenna in 10 minutes in the basement the evening before and mounted it to a 20ft aluminium pipe the next day. With the help of the XYL and junior op we had the antenna secured to our steel wellhead inside another 20 minutes.

Within 20 minutes I had worked Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Wisconsin on 20m SSB and the Azores on 18MHz with 50W from an FT847 up here in Maine. Lower noise and better performance 2-20MHz on receive over the old longwire.

As one would expect with a vertical, contacts are mainly CONUS, but like others note here, I've found that if you can hear 'em, you can work 'em.

So, to reflect on the other reports here - not a dummy load, no radiation from the feeder and does as advertised with speed of construction and performance from my standpoint.

--mco
KB9TU Rating: 2006-01-28
On the Air Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Sure seems to be alot of varied opinions on this antenna, but it will get you on the air. It's not the yagi on the tower I had 25 years ago, but it was assembled, installed and transmitting in a couple of hours. Assembly was simple, and the constuction is of good quality. Mine is roof mounted at about 33 feet on a three foot tripod. SWR is as advertised and although my signal is not 20 over S9, I have worked coast to coast, Canada to Columbia, and with a little effort worked a couple of countries in Europe on 17 meters today, running an IC-736 at 100 watts. A compromise antenna yes, a dummy load, no. Again, if I hear them I can usually work them. If your QTH limits your choices of antennas, this one will get you on the air, and isn't that the whole idea of ham radio.
G0WTZ Rating: 2006-01-23
What I expected Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This antenna will be in the same category as the Miracle whip and the like over here we call it the Marmite thing You either love it or hate it.

We have one at shop and regularly work DX on 17m plus we work some of the 80m nets in the afternoon. generaly it is ok not the best not the worst.

If you live in a house with a postage stamp garden it is not a bad antenna. As to a dummy load working better. Pop your dummy load to the shop and hang in the end of my coax if it works as well as you claim I will order some.

I feel it is unfair to compare it to dipoles and the like because quite frankly if you have a dipole for 40 or 80 why would you want any compromise antenna. If you only want 20 and up then a Cushcraft R-6000 is a better bet.

All in all it is what I would expect from this type of antenna and I have many customers who are delighted to get on HF in an area where it had been impossible in the past

Chris Taylor ML&S
VK2NZ Rating: 2006-01-08
Not Good Time Owned: N.A.
Tried mounting it at 40 feet on my small tower, performance on the low bands was next to non-existant, receive was 6 s-points down on an old vertical at ground level.
Myself and a friend tried a walkaround with a sensitive RF meter.
It produced less output than the 80m/40m and 20m hamsticks on my pickup.
In fact the co-ax radiated more RF than the antenna. So we have sent it back to the local emporium for a refund.
I am going to save some money and get a Cushcraft maybe.
W5MIL Rating: 2006-01-07
Great, Quiet & Easy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I put the CHA 250B up about 15 ft. off the ground. First contact was into New Mexico on 20m, 59 each way...which never happened with the dipole. Since then I've worked coast to coast, Canada, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, Venezuela and others with good reports overall on several bands. Antenna is quiet, much more so than a dipole. Does not need tuner. Easy to put up. Solar Cycle is at rock bottom. I don't see the problem others describe but every QTH is different. I'm sure the GAP Titan with an expensive tuner might have more punch. It's also a lot more trouble and a much bigger eyesore. CHA 250B works fine as long as you follow the directions...which is only one page.
KB3IKD Rating: 2006-01-06
Works On HF Low SWR's Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I finally got a Ham to come over and hang an antenna analizer on the antenna and he said SWR's were very good across the HF band, a little higher on 75 & 80 meters. Now for the real test, a General Class Ham came over and worked several stations from Baltimore, my QTH and contacted a Pittsburg, Pa. station and a Ontario Canada station and both gave good signal reports on my station running 75 watts from an Icom 746 Pro. He said antenna had very good ears and if you can hear them you can work them. As stated in my earlier report I'm disappointed about the performance on 6 meters. My Comet CHA-250 is grounded to a ground rod and guy wires on the supporting mast.
WA7ARC Rating: 2006-01-04
So Far, Not Good Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The antenna was purchased with the intention of writing a review article for a disaster communication publication. I've had the unit up for about two months now. The base of the antenna sits at 20' (sorry, not 35!) and I'm less than pleased with the performance of the stick. We've been joking that I might do better to terminate into a large rock...

At any rate, I find the antenna is deaf - and doesn't transmit well, either. With 100 W applied, I'm lucky if I can carry on a 10m QSO with someone 10 miles away. And I haven't been lucky...

I'm in contact with NCG to see if they have any feedback on this report and I'll fill you in with what I discover. (Wondering if a lack of decent ground may be impacting this setup?)
W4GRJ Rating: 2005-12-12
Compromise however, overall excellent results Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Anyone with antenna limitations should consider this antenna. No doubt, it has some technical drawbacks as mentioned in other reviews however, the bottom line is it works very well as advertised. Easy to put together, well constructed, easy to put into the air. I have no way to compare it to other verticals. If I can hear the station, I usually can work them. Well satisfied user.