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Reviews For: OPEK HVT-400

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : OPEK HVT-400
Reviews: 60MSRP: 60.00
Description:
HF/VHF 8-band mobile antenna. 120 watt maxiumum power handling. Freq: 80/40/20/15/10/6/2 meter & "air band". Use jumper lead to change freq./band. PL-259 mount. Retractable telescopic whip for best TX/RX.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.opektech.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
24.5603.7
WA3ZII Rating: 2011-04-23
Very Pleased Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this antenna on my mobile setup (small SUV) for several years and it's given me no trouble. I liked it because it was multi-band and small and light enough that I can use one of the Diamond motorized mounts on my luggage rack with it which makes it easy to stow the antenna when entering garages or going in fast food drive throughs.

I use it in conjunction with an ICOM-706MIIG and external LDG antenna tuner running the basic 100 watts and have had contacts all over the world, primarily on 40 meters. I've had several DX stations request verification that I was actually running mobile and had one station that wanted me to contact him from my home QTH (on my way home from work) because he wanted to see the difference!

While I've looked at screwdriver type antenna's (Tarheel mostly), to get the same level of operating ease would require spending more then I had invested in the ICOM radio without that much gain in performance so I've stuck with the OPEK antenna and would certainly get another one if this one ever fails (it did take a pretty nasty whack from an overhanging tree limb @ 45 mph that peeled the antenna completely backwards but after fixing the mount, the antenna was fine).

My only negative about the antenna is the lack of the WARC bands since operating 17 meters mobile is one of my interests and the limit of 120 watts (if I every decided to get an amplifer for the mobile). But for the price and performance it gives me, I have no complaints.
VE3TEF Rating: 2011-02-02
Great antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
OK, this is a compromise antenna, but then all mobiles are, but for the buck, this is a great buy.
I have had 2 for over 2 years now that I used on rental cars and they have never failed me. Why 2, I like to have a spare in the middle of nowhere.
Would I buy another. No.
I just bought the HVT-600 because it does the WARC bands, sold one of these antennas and am keeping the other as a spare.
If you want something that is truly worth the cost, buy one of these or the HVT-600.
If you want to get out like a base station, put a dipole on the car!
KD0BEP Rating: 2011-01-12
QRP! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
When you take into consideration what this antenna is meant for it is quite amazing how it preforms. This is the best antenna for mobile use that you are going to find for the price. It is a bit of a pain to have to go out in the dead of winter and move the banana clip to the right frequency and tune the whip but it isn't horrible. I recommend using an antenna tuner with this antenna because it saves a lot of time in tuning the whip. In fact with a Z100 plus tuner from LDG I never have to tune the whip. I use this antenna on my car and in my dorm with my FT-817 and I am truly amazed by its performance.
VK4FNRS Rating: 2010-12-16
usable compact Multi band mobile antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Purchased this 8 months ago, and used an MFJ Analyser, to tune for the bands I normally use.
As I donot have a HF set in my car the antenna is used for portable ,not mobile transmissions.
Best contact to date is from East Coast ( NOOSA) to west coast (PERTH) not bad with 5/9 signal into PERTH, using FT77 and 10Watts.( Australia)

When setting up I donot use an ANTENNA TUNER but have a CHART of antenna Heights for specific FRequency's , and find this works well.

the Antenna does what it was designed for, and suits my requirements.
VK4KKD Rating: 2010-11-20
fantastic/low cost works a treat Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Made the error of leaving my ATAS-100 on the vehicle while I was parked in the car park at the local shopping complex - some pea brain decided it would be fun to destroy it.
Saw and ad for the OPEK-400B being sold by a local ham and decided to give it a try.
No push button screwdriver - but on consideration I decided the number of times I actually changed bands while driving was ZERO!
So why spent 5 times the amount to replace the ATAS with a new one when the OPEK would give me coverage albeit with the need to swap the position of the wander lead.
What a pleasant surprise this antenna has turned out to be.
AUD$90.00 gave me all HF PLUS 6m/2m and 70cm - and the best thing of al is it works fine.
I set mine to resonate at 7.153MHz and also run it through a little LDG auto tuner - mobile radio is now an ICOM 706Mk2 G and I cannot fault the performance of the antenna. 80m/40m/20m/15m/10m/6m/2m/70cm all work superbly - I have to reset the resonator for 2m and 70cm if I want to work the OPEK there but decided to just run it on HF and fitted a 6/2/70 tri bander for the UHF stuff.
As one would expect the antenna has little operating band width on 40m and 80m - but 20m/15m and 10m are terrific and I am able to make good DX contacts while mobile running about 80w from the IC-706. What more do I want?
After many years of mobile and portable operation I knew that grounding is of prime importance and after inspecting the OPEK I knew that I would need to apply "Loctite" to the grub screws after I had set the resonance range of the little multi-bander - plus I did wrap all joints with self amalgamating rubber tape.
After more than a year of mobile operations on my 4 wheel drive this little wonder is still performing way above its price range. Would I buy another one? You bet - I have bought two additional units and keep them in the cabinet because I know that some day some fool will think it is fun to destroy the antenna on my car again.
The ATAS-100 worked well and it was a real joy - but expensive to replace for some a*#*hole to destroy. The OPEK works equally well on air for a lot less $$$. I don't mind changing the position of the wander lead.
Well done OPEK - good product at a sensible price. Purchasers should pay attention to mounting and fixing the grub screws once they have set the resonant range.

Kev. VK4KKD


W4YJ Rating: 2010-09-13
Terrible!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
What a joke this antenna is!! Don't waste your money. Swr is awful except on the upper frequencies like 15 and 10 meters. 40 and 75 is pretty useless.
NW9T Rating: 2010-06-29
It Does Work Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is not a plug and play antenna, nor can you set the whip for one length and resonate on all bands by simply changing the jumper. Each band requires the whip to be set for a specific length AND specific holes jumped. So no, it's not a screwdriver, nor Outbacker equivalent, but it's not that bad of an antenna either. Sure beats carrying a truck full of single band sticks. From 6=40 after adjusting the whip and jumper the worst SWR I show is 1.3:1. The measurements on the chart are off by a couple of inches on some bands, normally they should be shorter, so use those only as a starting point. All-in-all it's not perfect, but in my opinion it's not junk either.
KJ4DKT Rating: 2010-06-04
RIP-OFF Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
what a piece of crap. would not tune on any hf band. bought it, tried it, sold it. my outbacker is 100x better. save your money
W4PIG Rating: 2010-04-15
JUNK Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
THIS ANTENNA WOULD NOT WORK PROPERLY ON ANY BAND SAVE YOUR MONEY."PURE JUNK"
W4QO Rating: 2010-04-15
Bang for the buck! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm amazed that so many want a Tarheel equivalent for $70. Or that you think a small diameter 75M antenna 7 feet long can work well. It is a compromise antenna folks. And it's cheaper than 5 "stick" antennas and more convenient to change bands. OK, forget 75M. You should not rate this against antennas that cost 5 times as much, but how does it do for what you pay.

It works quite like a "stick" on 40M and above. While in the GA QSO party ROVING on 20M, I had several EU stations answer my CQ while running 60 watts. On 40M, lots of domestic stations worked - 125 in 5 hours of roving.

There are tricks to making it work on 75M easily but I'll leave that to you to find out how - do some research, etc. It won't work great but it will get out in a pinch. Here is one tip - adding a small auto tuner (LDG Z11PRO) to the package will bring it in line for a slight SWR conditions in the band of interest. NOTE: Don't try to autotune a mobile antenna on 30M when the tap is on 40M, but for inband tweaking, this will work. Still cheaper than a Tarheel (a great antenna) and you have a nice tuner you can use elsewhere besides the mobile.

RATED: BEST VALUE (Cost to get on mobile vs performance)