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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
AE7RN Rating: 2020-09-14
Be realistic Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased this antenna to use portable when camping. I mount it on a 15 foot mast on a tripod. Hearing that some folks have had trouble on 80/40, and that it is meant to be mounted 30 feet up, I guy mine with three, 35 ft wires. That seems to make the difference in my use. After getting it up and guyed I was able to work BY2 on 30 and 40. Later that evening I was able to work into the Caribbean on 80 FT-8 easily. Granted, that was FT-8 but the antenna worked for me.
I did try the antenna with regular rope guys and found that it did NOT work as well as with the wire guys. I would guess that it is best to think of it as a "vertical dipole" and that the 30 foot mast is 1/2 of that. So, my 35 foot wire guys help make up that missing half.
It certainly is not a multi-element Yagi nor is it a full size wire dipole on top of a tower. But as a portable, quick set-up, campground antenna that keeps me connected, it seems to truly fit the bill. I am very happy.
VA2DV Rating: 2020-08-31
Have realistic expectations Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this vertical as a replacement for a Diamond BB7V that’s was relegated to a portable status. Although almost the same design, the cha-250 is a bit more solid for permanent installation. Reasonable performance 15m to 40m. Weak on 80m but I have been able to ear myself via websdr’s in Europe at night. If your goal is to work NVIS on 80m, this is clearly not the antenna for you. However, with the current conditions, I have quite a lot of fun with it on 20m and 40m. If your have weak s3 signals with it all the time, I suggest checking your coax. I am able to overload the 7300 with strong signals on 40m.
It must not be that bad...most dealers can’t keep up with the demand.
K4PIH Rating: 2020-08-31
Good Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I replaced a delaminating Shakespeare fiberglass vertical antenna with the Comet CHA250B. The Comet has out performed the Shakespeare hands down across all bands. Easy to assemble and easy to mount. Handles power well and no tuner needed.
W9JB Rating: 2020-08-30
Useless below 7 MHz Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just an update to my earlier review: if you have high expectations of good performance on the lower frequencies, you had best lower your expectations. A local ham tried to check into statewide nets on 75 meters with this antenna; he could rarely be heard by anyone. He switched to a traditional dipole, and improved his signal dramatically. This antenna can enable you to be heard on the higher frequencies, but is USELESS on 75/80, and is not much better on 40. It's an okay antenna for RX; look elsewhere for TX unless you have no other choice due to covenants and restrictions. Earlier review: If you're in a CCR environment and forced to use this antenna, it's better than an indoor dipole . . . but not by much. While it loads well on most bands, you should expect (at best) 3-3 reports on 75 meters; performance seems to improve (marginally) on higher freqs. Adding radials to the installation did not improve signal strength, and messed up the SWR on some bands. A pricey compromise antenna, but has held up well to the weather elements.
AE1BB Rating: 2020-08-30
Nice performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have not had the antenna for a long time however, it took about a half hour to put together.Put it on my deck. The base is about 15 feet up. Put it up with the help of my wife. I live in NH and my first contact was within minutes of installation. Spoke with a ham in Bellingham, Washington. Got excellent signal reports. Heard but did not try to work stations in Cuba, all over Europe, Greece, Russia. Very low noise. Very impressed.
N5WRX Rating: 2020-06-12
A good antenna ... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
OK ... This antenna is NOT a tuned single band antenna and will not perform as good as one.
That said ... for a all band vertical that is easy to put up requiring no radials or tuner it is GREAT.
I have this one up around 25' to the base and can easily get an S-9 report from stations 25 miles away on 10 meters.
Local contacts on 80m and 40m are very easy to make and only about one or two S units from my 80 - 40 dipole.
This is a very good antenna for those that can not erect dipoles or verticals with radials.
20' push up pole and you are on the air on all HF bands using no tuner.
Beats the heck out of a long wire end fed Zep type antenna.
Will be testing it on the local 10M and 6M nets this week and will post results.
W6ZSL Rating: 2019-08-23
good for receiving Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
got one for use field day. It works well on receive as it is very quiet. Background noise is almost non-existent. Much like a terminated beverage or mag loop. Signals that barley move the S meter are quite readable. The bad news is that ALL signals barley move the S meter. I did get only 1 contact: he was a local station S9+20 on a random untuned wire. received a signal report of readability 3 and strength 3. 100 watts of transmitter power causes significant heating of the matching transformer in a very short time. Keep your transmissions short and use very low duty cycle modes. Limit your power to about 10 watts for digital modes. It would work better if the matching transformer is by passed and the high swr is addressed with a good tuner. Might be useful for WSPR - maybe. You'll certainly qualify as a "weak signal".
W4AFJ Rating: 2018-11-02
Fair Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had my Comet CHA250B for about 2 months. I also installed a Carolina Windom 40 Compact Dipole around the same time. The Comet is at a respectable 42ft. The dipole is about 40 ft high between 2 trees. I have an Icom-7300 with an antenna switch. When switching between the two, there is absolutely no comparison. The $169.00 dipole outperforms the Comet by a wide, major, margin. The $400 Comet lags in both the transmit and receive category. The dipole only requires 34ft horizontal width, and works on all HF receive frequencies extremely well. On transmit it is very, very, good, on 6m-40m bands. If you have 34ft between two trees or structures, buy the dipole. Half the price and 2-3 times the performance.
K6GBW Rating: 2018-10-30
Solid Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I realize this antenna is a compromise. But I have a limited amount of space and some nosy neighbors. That required that I keep the overall impact to a minimum. I dug a three foot hole in the backyard near a tree and cemented in a ten foot water pipe to use as a mast. I mounted the antenna on the pipe about seven feet off the ground. No radials or anything else. Then I ran 75 feet of RG8X and right to my Yaesu FT991A. The on-board tuner makes short work of tuning it up on everything from 80 meters to 10 meters. The antenna works fairly well on 40 and 20 meters. I'm able to check into nets all along the west coast from Los Angeles and I routinely talk up into Vancouver.

On 80 meter I can get in "okay" to a local net that covers CA, AZ, NV and OR. The noise is pretty low and I have power lines nearby. It may not be the best antenna in the world, but if you don't have space or supports for big wires then this will work.
KE0RYF Rating: 2018-10-27
Outstanding Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought this antenna from another ham, though it had never been set up. Incredibly simple to set up. Took me less than 20 mins. Hooked it up, only about 3’ off the ground, came back inside, and made an immediate contact 535 miles away. Got a 599 report. I’ve checked SWR on all bands from 80 m to 6 m, all are 1.1or less!
The plan, taking advantage of promised great Fall weather tomorrow, is to replace my vertical dipole with the Comet. The mast I’m going to mount it on is 20’ tall, so I may figure out a way to shorten it to 15’, to keep the top of this antenna just a bit lower than the clouds!
Granted, my time with this antenna is limited, but I am quite impressed with it. Would love to make some overseas DX contacts!