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Reviews For: TransWorld Antennas TW2010 Traveler HF Portable Vertical Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : TransWorld Antennas TW2010 Traveler HF Portable Vertical Antenna
Reviews: 81MSRP: 399
Description:
The TW2010 Traveler® is the perfect antenna if you are searching for high performance DX communications in a portable package.

Traveler® provides five-band, omni-directional communications in an easy-to-assemble package that requires no radial ground system or towers and is designed for operators requiring stealth performance.

The black powder coating assures stealth performance for Hams who operate in areas with deed restrictions or other areas prohibiting permanently installed antennas and towers.

A low take-off angle — an outcome of the modified-H design — produces maximum skip for successful DX transmissions and contact.

Traveler® can be assembled in minutes for either permanent installation on a mounting rod or temporary setup using a sturdy, optional quadrapod.

Product is in production
More Info: http://www.transworldantennas.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00814.9
KJ4YLO Rating: 2013-06-23
Amazing Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just closed the books on Field Day 2013. I did FD 2013 and FD 2012 with this antenna. Also numerous weekend beach and mountain trips have been made. Several times i have just set it up in my back yard to continue experiencing my amazement that this small 8 foot tall antenna can perform the way it does. Fellow operators look at it and say - you are working all those contacts on 20 and 10 with that? Just today someone said that 10m was dead. I flipped the switch on the TW control box, changed bands on the radio, found a freq and called CQ field day. I then just ran the contacts until I chose to quit.

I am operational before they can even unpack! I am packed and ready to go home before they can even loosen their ropes.

This is a very pricey antenna and worth the money. I have a very nice LPDA and high quality wires, verticals, etc. It is 2-3 s units down from my LPDA but holds its own with the wires better than 75% of the time.

My only complaint is the control box connectors. I wish it was a molex plug type connector. I have constantly awaited the failure of the factory connectors but can say they have held their own.

Build and finish quality is superb.

I do not hesitate to recommend this antenna.
G4ABX Rating: 2013-06-16
Good things come in small packages! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'll sum this antenna up in one word -- 'interesting'
It works. Actually it works rather well.
Its not a 3 element beam at 20 metres but it is quite an interesting solution for those of us without the space for an antenna farm or even a small tower.
I bought mine second hand. It came with one of the connectors cut off the selection cable and in the UK, the connectors are impossible to replace.
This is an 'old version' so the nice people at TransWorld hadn't a clue about the cable colour codes and because of the matching coils in the antenna unit, it was not straight forward to trace the connections. However with judicious use of a low-ohm meter, I manged to work out what was what.
I purchase the Quadrastand -- from their UK agent - for a cool £124.30!
So having set it up in the garden --- on some of our decking, (not exactly high-conductivity!) how does it work?
Well it seems to be pretty well matched out of the box -- so I imagine someone else has spent time squeezing and pulling coils in the Antenna. So with 10 watts from my K3 on 15meters I thought I would try a loud JA (589) as the Asian Contest was in full swing.
It took 3 calls but I worked him!
I then increased power to 100 watts and worked another then another and another. I swapped to my OCF 80M dipole for a comparison and it was a bit 'swings and roundabouts' The TW2010 was better with some signals, worse with others. It wasn't consistent. Far-off DX was generally better on the TW2010 but not always. My 80M dipole was quieter by some 4dB than the TW2010 on 15M but on other bands it was nosier by a similar amount.
I worked 15 stations in 30 minutes including Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Greece, Israel, Singapore, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
I then fired up my new ACOM 1000 (What a GREAT piece of kit!)
The TW2010 didn't bat an eyelid. 400 watts CW and a host more JA's and Asian contacts in the log.
So would I guy this antenna at full price (which is a LOT in the UK with shipping and 20% VAT added)-- maybe. But for £200 + £120 for the stand in the UK, I'll keep it. Good for portable (Its amazingly quick to set up) and for my antenna restricted home.
73
Bruce G4ABX
KD0SLC Rating: 2013-02-19
Terrific Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna because I want to do more backpacking and take my radio with me. I know the standard approach is to use a wire in a tree when you go rough it, but the TW Antenna said it was 25 pounds and so I figured that for short hikes in the woods is was luggable. It certainly was.

I got the manual and read it from cover to cover, then I assembled the antenna and put it on an analyzer. For 14.225 it came in at an SWR of 1:1.3 so I was pretty happy about that. I hooked it up to my Yaesu 897D and I was able to hear stations during the day on 20 meters from as far away as Calgary (I live in Jefferson City, MO).

I bought the stand instead of the permanent mount. You can literally set this thing up in 5 minutes and you can take it down in 4. It takes longer to disconnect and coil the coax than it does to mount the antenna to the stand. I love the fact that you can orient the antenna to any direction just by turning it a little bit.

I ordered and asked for rush delivery and got the antenna in about a week. The build quality is great and the people at the factory are good folks. They'll bend over backward to get you on the air.
K2GWK Rating: 2012-09-11
Great little Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I can't believe that this anttena doesn't get 5.0 ratings across the board because it is amazing. Unfortunately I live in a development with a Homeowners Association. I have tried a number of antennas including wire antennas and stealth verticals. Each time someone in the neighborhood with nothing better to do complained. I saw an article on the TW2020 in QST written by Gordon West a while back and decided to give it a try. My neighbors think it is a wash pole used to air dry your clothes and that is fine with me. What they don't know won't hurt them. I have used this little wonder of an antenna to work stations in the USSR and Saudi Arabia bare back on 20 meters SSB. This was a new experience for me because I never had an antenna that would allow me to do this living where i do for the past 25 years. Is it as good as a rotated yagi at 50 feet? Absolutely not, but never having the ability to work much DX in the past, to me this antenna is a God send and my neighbors don't have a clue. I wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China.
F5VDM Rating: 2012-09-11
Amazing for it's size! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had one since about 4 years and have only decided until now to review it. Since then I have tried various antennas, mobile screwdriver in the car and verticals at home.

The TW2010 still amazes me. I bought a Hustler vertical a year ago and put down 120 radials, it works brilliantly on 40m, but not as good as the Transworld on 10 - 20.

I bought the Hustler so I would have a one antenna solution for all bands, then ended up using both.

The Transworld is really incredible in how it goes together and how it performs. When I bought it, i was admittedly dubious but those fears are now gone.

Im looking forward to using it soon at a seawater location, that should really bring out its ability.
KX0D Rating: 2012-08-29
It really works! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I too had problems with this antenna fitting together properly. This issue was completely resolved by TransWorld Antenna. If you are in a similar situation, all you need to do is email them and that will get the ball rolling for you. It will take some time but in the end you'll be very pleased with the results. This antenna deserves a 5 star rating. I am in a townhouse with a small patio in the back and an attached storage shed. This is a bad situation for antennas. I have used a Super Antennas MP-1, a Maldol HVU-8, a BuddiPole, a BuddiStick and an Alpha Antenna 6-80 with 160 in the same location as the TransWorld antenna is currently sitting. The TransWorld out performs them all. If you can hear them you most likely will be able to work them. And this antenna hears better than any of the others, too. Be watching eBay since I will be selling the rest of my antenna farm shortly. The new ownership is great to work with and keen to get all outstanding issues fixed as soon as possible.
N2PJ Rating: 2012-08-21
Sadness is gone! It works great! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The repaired center section came in the mail today! Tested it out and the antenna works great! I would give a higher rating, but because of the extra gray hair I got waiting on a working product - I have to mark it down a couple of notches. It was ordered in March and finally working for the first time today (Aug 21st). At one point - I considered challenging the purchase with Visa, but I kept the faith. They slowly made good on all items and like I said - it works great. They appear to being working out the bugs of a transition to a new owner. I wish them the best - as this product warrants it.

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Earlier 0-star review posted by N2PJ on 2012-07-30

Ordered in March as a birthday present from my XYL. Individual parts arrived piecemeal. Still doesn't fit together and is unusable. Still waiting on a promised return shipping label. The whole process is depressing and causing me lost sleep. What started out as a cool gift has turned into a nightmare - metal machined wrong, bad solder joints, missing cables, and excuses etc. I'm bummed .. If I ever get a working unit I give another review.
AL7BA Rating: 2012-08-20
Great RV/Field Day Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've used this on the 2011 and 2012 ARRL Field Day outings and numerous RV outings over the past two years. At the campgrounds, it literally takes two minutes to put up and a few more minutes to string out the coax and control cable and bring them into the RV. I have been in campgrounds with many other campers and many tall trees. The 2010 still manages to put me in contact with literally the four corners of the world from my camper. I've worked into the Caribbean, Central/South America, Europe, Russia, South Africa, New Zealand, and throughout the US. And I've never had an SWR issue with it. I was at 1.5:1 or less anywhere in the five bands I wanted to work.

After speaking at length with Gary and J.R. at the Dayton Hamvention and the Huntsville Hamfest, I have faith that they are taking the company in the right direction and are definitely focused on customer service.
VK4TJF Rating: 2012-04-04
great antenna Time Owned: N.A.
great antenna, however lacking very much in costomer service. lets see I ordered it just after christmas, so part of the antenna came after a 3 weeks as is the normal delivery time to australia which is very slow. when I contacted them to say that it was missing parts they did not believe me and made me take photo's. of the parts i did have. it was missing the bag, and the two tee bars. after many emails and another 6 weeks due to usps lossing the item i finally got them in but not the antenna bag. the bag i had to wait like another month for them to get it in stock and mail it out and another 3 weeks to get in. the main problem is that they don't answer thier emails very much and they don't tell you up front that they don't have the bag in stock. even when they updated thier website that the bag was in stock it took them like two weeks to get around to sending me one. overall alot of hassel and alot of waiting. and i noticed that the cover on the matching section was put on upside down. little things like these point to a poor quality control and a lack of basic costomer service. they bhave a i don't care attitude.
K4AHA Rating: 2011-11-26
Good portable Fixed not so much Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The antenna is well built, perhaps the best constructed antenna I have ever seen. The control panel is a pleasure to use. If you are looking for a portable vertical look no further! But if your needs are for a HOA friendly antenna there is a better choice: The Force 12 Sigma 5. I have owned both for a long time and in direct A/B comparison on signal strength the Sigma 5 is over 6db stronger on 20 meters. This was carried out using many signal paths over several weeks.
I would not want to use the Sigma 5 as a portable unit. Its construction while OK would not be any where as easy to use as the TW2010.
I am glad I own both.
1 point off for lower signal strength.