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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
N5FW Rating: 2008-12-26
Outstanding service! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I read all the reviews and loved the fact that the TW2010 needed no radials (I have a small yard), was small in size (I have HOA issues) yet very well built in the US (a real plus), and seemed to perform well (it does). Very hard to do in a small, easy to set up package!
So I really can't add much to what everyone has already said on the antenna and its performance. I CAN add to the fact that TW Antennas has outstanding service. I ordered the antenna from a retailer--and it came with several of the butterfly screws missing, the box was somewhat battered and the antenna looked as if it had been slightly used. I called TW Antennas, and they offered to send me a new antenna, no questions asked!! I took them up on their offer and am now enjoying great operating from a location that I thought I would not be able to work HF from. So, I only have praise for TW Antennas--a great product, from a great company! You won't go wrong here.
KA6GEM Rating: 2008-12-11
This is the BEST portable antenna available - period! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
In my opinion the model 2010 from TW Antennas performs very well and its build quality is excellent. I have been using one for six months in a variety of locations and I really believe that this is one of the best portable HF antennas available.

I have discovered that the three rules of real estate also apply to DX… location, location, location. Where you locate your transceiver makes a huge difference! Reception at my home QTH is marginal but when I park near the San Francisco Bay and set up the TW-2010 close to the water, signals from throughout the US, Asia and Australia come pounding in. It’s a hoot! Today I heard BX5AA from Taiwan so clearly I thought he was parked next to me!

My Yaesu FT-897D was made for portable operation but up until now, I haven’t found a really suitable multi-band HF antenna. Most require careful assembly, tuning and re-tuning… too much time is spent on the antenna. As far as going portable, the TW 2010 is really in a class by itself. It goes up in about 5 minutes and there is no tuning or fussing. It’s truly “plug and play.” It’s as easy to set up as a beach umbrella! The SWR is indeed 1:1 on 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10. Signal reports are excellent. Although heavier, I like it better than my Buddipole, much better. Did I mention no tuning? And there are no threaded parts that might be damaged if accidentally dropped.

It’s important to keep both the coax and control cables away from the antenna so I use two “Cord-Wiz” reels (www.stringliner.com) and unravel cable from both ends. The weight of the reels lying on the ground several feet from the antenna is sufficient to hold the cables away so that they don’t cause an SWR problem.

Operation is push-button simple. A controller cable connects the antenna to a small 12 volt controller box… just push a button and an LED tells you what band is active. I love it!

If you enjoy driving to an ideal spot to chase DX, then this is the antenna to take with you! It’s as portable as a set of golf clubs and far less frustrating!

73,
Paul, KA6GEM
W8KQE Rating: 2008-10-27
The best 'stealth' antenna out there! Incredible! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I finally got my hands on one of these amazing antennas a few days ago, and was waiting for the CQWW SSB contest to see how it performed. Assembly took less than 15 minutes, and I placed the antenna on my backyard patio about 20 feet away from the house. I've been a Ham since 1977, and i've got to tell you, this antenna is a winner to say the least! I consistently got through to nearly all the stations I called on 20 and 15 meters running 100w from an FT-450AT! I managed to work 31 countries in just a few hours of casual contesting, at the bottom of the sunspot cycle no less! Received signal strengths were on par with my GAP vertical (not bad!). As long as the coax feed was kept at more or less a right angle to the antenna, SWR was low (1.5 to 1 and under). If you are living in an 'antenna challenged' development, or looking for an excellent performing portable HF solution, this antenna is without a doubt your answer (if anyone from the 'antenna police' asks, just tell them you're using it to receive HDTV). Easily one of the best conceived of and executed 'smaller footprint' HF antennas EVER!
K5WMH Rating: 2008-10-27
Sweet portable antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
First thing is I’m giving this review on this antenna for what it is and it’s the best portable antenna I have used, bar none! I have had the antenna for over three months and didn’t won’t to give a review until I put it to the test. This last weekend was the CQ WW contest and a great way to see how it performs. All I can say is WHAT an antenna!!! I have it mounted on my 5th wheel trailer, attached to the ladder using some hose clamps, so the bottom of the antenna is about 12 feet off the ground..
After the contest some of the stats, I worked 33 different Country’s in 17 Zones on 20m and 11 different Country’s in 6 Zones on 15m. No propagation on 10m. As a note, I did not put that much time working this contest. When working some of the DX stations it did take sometime and effort to get past the pileups and I was not able to work all that I heard, but I was hearing them! Something to be said about that in it’s self! (Can’t work them if you can’t hear them) Granted it’s not a beam, I am however very pleased on how the antenna played!
I can’t add anything more about its construction, quality and how easy the setup is, that hasn’t been said already.
In conclusion I highly recommend this antenna, so much so I’m getting the 4040 center section and asked about the up and coming 8080. So if you need a portable antenna or something with stealth that performs, get this antenna! It’s SWEET!!!!

73 Mark
AB0JM Rating: 2008-10-26
Excellent Value and Performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I received the TW 2010 via USPS Priority mail at my 2nd QTH in Hawaii. It was packaged and protected flawlessly. Upon opening the boxes I saw high quality of materials, workmanship, and design. It was impressive at first sight.

I was able to assemble it on the beach (KH6) in less than 15 minutes the first time I put it up. On all bands the SWR was less than 1.3 for voice (factory calibration). I decided to use it for digital modes, so I had to adjust the coils to a lower frequency resonance point. That effort took me less than 5 minutes.

Then I decided to use 20 meters in PSK-31 for my initial trial run from grid BK29. In less than 4 hours I was able to contact 5 continents operating by battery on the beach. I was getting 559 through 599 reports! If I could hear them I could work them! I contacted V7, UA, VK4, VK2, JA1, W7, W3, W2, W4, LU2, and RA stations! I almost had WAC 20M Digital, but my batteries ran down. I will get Africa tomorrow I am sure.

This antenna is great. It is easy to set up, and adjustment is very simple. The instruction manual is very detailed and carefully prepared.

This is an impressive product. You need to consider this antenna for mobile DX activities. It is lightweight, easy to pack and carry in its heavy duty bag.

I am glad I made the purchase.
N9QGU Rating: 2008-10-06
TW-2010 vs. Force 12 Sigma 5 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I like to play ocean side radio from Jamaica, St. Martin, or the Bahamas. In the past four years I have made over 2100 contacts from these locations. Radios get smaller all of the time. Finding an effective antenna that is easy to pack and deploy has been a challenge. Up until this year, I used a Force-12 Sigma 5 vertical dipole. You can see my review of the Force 12 Sigma 5 on this website.

Although the Sigma 5 has performed well, I was planning on retiring it from service due to concerns about its longevity and my fear that it would fail catastrophically at a very inopportune time. There is a significant outlay of cash involved in traveling to these locations. The last thing I want to have is an avoidable equipment failure. These concerns were brought to a head by a report I read about a DXpedition to the Cook Islands. http://www.e51mmm.blogspot.com/

They were using a Sigma 5 set up next to the ocean. After a few days the salt spray destroyed the antenna’s controller. This failure confirmed my concerns about the design of the Sigma 5 and its potential for failure. A susceptibility to corrosion from salt water is quite unfortunate as vertical dipoles are at their best when set up next to or above salt water.

The relays that are responsible for changing bands on the Sigma 5 are mounted on a PC board inside a large piece of PVC in the center of the antenna. The PVC has openings at the top and bottom to accommodate the antenna mast which passes through it. These openings are not water tight. There is also a large slot in the side to accommodate the coax, control cable, and a support arm. To be fair, a number of individuals on eham.net have reported using this antenna in adverse conditions for extended periods without any problems. So your mileage may vary. Given the quality control issues I encountered, I wasn’t comfortable taking this chance.

I was very excited when I discovered that another company, Trans World Antennas was selling a portable 5 band vertical dipole, the TW-2010 Traveler. Although both antennas are based on the same design (short vertical dipole) and appear to have the same electrical characteristics, the TW-2010 Traveler (now called the “Adventurer”) is a more elegant implementation of this design. The folks at TW Antennas have done an outstanding job on design, the selection of construction materials, and quality control.

The horizontal arms on the Sigma 5 have to be connected with screws and wing nuts (little pieces that can be easily lost). The horizontals on the TW2010-Traveler/Adventurer simply fold down and lock into place. Also the vertical sections of the Sigma 5 require machine screws and wing nuts to hold them in place. The vertical sections of the TW2010-Traveler/ Adventurer snap into place and tighten with large plastic knobs.

As manufactured, the Sigma 5 requires a screw driver to attach the control cable to the switch box. The TW2010-Traveler/Adventurer is all plug and play. It does not require any tools for assembly. Because it doesn’t require tools, nuts, or screws; the TW2010-Traveler /Adventurer can be assembled in a third of the time of the Sigma 5. I can set mine up in less than five minutes.

Due to their superb quality control, the TW2010-Traveler/Adventurer did not have the problems with rough edges and missing pieces that I initially ran into with the Sigma 5. In addition, the TW-2010-Traveler/Adventurer's switching array (where the coils and relays are mounted) is inside a sealed box which is center mounted on the antenna.

Shortly after receiving it, I set up the TW-2010 Traveler/Adventurer and hooked up my MFJ antenna analyzer. The only place the SWR was a little high was 17 meters (1.6:1). However, in retrospect this may have been due to the facts that I set up the antenna less than 20 feet from car and I did not feed the coax at a 45 degree angle to the antenna.

A final difference of note between the two antennas is that the TW-2010 Traveler/Adventurer uses an electronic switch box to change bands. You can either change bands manually via push buttons or you can control it automatically from a recent model Icom or Yaesu rig with a $9.95 optional cable. This is far superior to the Sigma 5 which uses an exposed manual rotary switch that is mounted to an “L” shaped piece of plastic.

The only complaint I can make about my new antenna is the size of the “quadra-pod” stand. It is of excellent quality and construction and I would not hesitate to recommend it for permanent or semi-permanent installation. It would also not be a problem to throw it in the trunk of your car and bring it along for portable operation. However, it is too big to fit inside the TW2010 carrying case. If you are traveling via air the stand has to checked separately or combined with the antenna in a larger case. I use a hard sided golf bag case. Trans World Antennas has recognized this as a short coming and have created a much lighter “quadra-stand” ($59) to support their newest antenna, the “Backpacker”. Fortunately, this stand is robust enough to support the TW-2010 Traveler/Adventurer and fits into the travel bag. So the problem is solved. If you are buying this antenna to take to faraway places you should take a serious look at the lighter “quadra-stand”. The antenna comes with a stake for ground mounting. You can use the ground mount at home and use the “quadra-stand” while traveling.

Performance: In May 2008, at the bottom of the sun cycle I took the TW2010-Traveler/Adventurer to St. Martin. In two weeks while running 100 watts, I made over 800 contacts. Although the majority of these contacts where with North America (as far west as California), I also worked plenty of stations in Europe, South America, and Canada.

Customer Service: Beyond quality control, my single largest complaint with the Sigma 5 was Force 12’s customer service. The antenna was shipped three weeks later than promised and I had to badger them to have a missing part sent to me. I understand that Force 12 has recently changed owners so customer service may no longer be a problem.

Customer Service has never been an issue with Trans World Antennas. My antenna was shipped as promised. Since everything was included that should have been, I can not comment on their ability to follow up on missing parts. However, I have called them on several occasions to discuss their products. I found them to be helpful, friendly, and more than willing to spend as much time as necessary on the phone with me to satisfy my questions or just to chat about the antenna.

Upgrades: Trans World Antennas has just begun selling a lighter version, the “Backpacker” and a 40 meter version, the “4040”. The Backpacker features manual switching for 10, 12, 15, 17, and 20 meters directly on the switching array box without the need for a controller or power source. The “4040” switching array box covers the entire 40 meter band (i.e., 7.0-7.3 MHz) without the necessity of either manual band changing or the need for a controller!

What’s really sweet is that these two new antennas are essentially the same as the TW-2010 Traveler/Adventurer only with a separate center section. So if you already own a TW-2010 Traveler/Adventurer you can purchase a “Backpacker” or “4040” center section for slightly less than $150 each and convert your existing antenna if you want to go backpacking or work 40 meters. It takes all of maybe 30 seconds to swap out the center section.

Cost: Currently the Trans World Antennas sells a package with the Adventurer Antenna, control cable, travel bag, and stand for $549. The Force 12 Sigma 5 is currently $449 for antenna and stand. If you are in the market for a short 20-10 vertical dipole do yourself a favor, spend the extra $100 and get the Trans World antenna. The quality of the Trans World Antenna will impress you. The Sigma 5 is likely to disappoint you.

For more information on the TW-2010 Traveler/Adventurer see the excellent review by Gordon West in the September 2008 CQ.

http://transworldantennas.com/media/24-TWReviewWestSept.pdf
KC4UIG Rating: 2008-10-06
Amazing Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the TW Antennas TW2010 Traveler HF Portable Vertical Antenna after a few e-mails trying to get a better sense of it. Dennis was very helpful. I read the reviews and ordered it! Arrived very quickly. I initially had planned to put this in my attic, but my measurements were a bit off and it wouldn't fit. It is a very stealthy looking antenna so I put it up outside my patio fence and had the members of the HOA take a look. I actually got approval to leave it in place. It assembled in minutes and was perfect right out of the box. I have made a couple of contacts on 10 meters (arranged local) and now a few on 20 as well during last weekends (10-4/10-5) QSO contest. Good reports all the way around! I have the ICOM cable for it so it does the band switching for me. If this antenna had 40 and 80 meters on it I would never need another. I can't wait for the bands to open up again so I can start talking the world! Thanks Dennis...You've got a masterpiece here!
M3SKF Rating: 2008-09-29
JUST THE JOB Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
WORKING HF IN A SMALL APARTMENT FLAT IN THE UK CAN BE VERY DIFICULT OPTION.TRYED MOST TYPES OF /P WHIPS AND WIRE WITH VERY LIMITED RESULTS.READING THE REVIEWS I THOUGHT WHY NOT GIVE IT A TRY,ITS A WELL CONSTRUCTED ANTENNA THAT I USE /M AND AT HOME IN THE FLAT.IVE HAD FANTASTIC RESULTS WITH THE TW TRAVELER AND AM VERY PLEASED WITH MY PURCHASE.WELL DONE TO THESE GOOD FOLK AT TW,THANKS
K6SGH Rating: 2008-09-22
ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Recently, I operated as W6S, rover 2, during the 2008 Route 66 On-the-Air special event. Having operated this event in 2005 using mainly hamsticks and wire antennas, I decided that I would look for a portable multiband antenna that I could deploy quickly and without the hassle of carrying supports. Although hamsticks are easy to use, switch and work reasonably well, my experience told me I needed a better multiband solution given the much poorer band conditions now versus 2005. And I did not want to spend half an hour each time to erect and take down my wire antennas.

I came across the TW Antenna and was immediately intrigued. Reading through the Eham reviews, one can only come away impressed with the comments from TW owners. So I contacted the company and they graciously provided the TW-Traveler Light model for me for the event. This model uses jumpers to change bands rather than the powered switching box on their other model.

From the start I was quite impressed with the TW. Firstly, its design is so well thought out that you can put it together blindfolded in about a minute, and it comes down and back into its case in the same amount of time. So, as I was rovering and came across a nice spot to transmit, I had no hesitation to break out the TW and try the bands. I did this many many times over the course of my 7-day travels across the western portions of Route 66.

But performance is what counts and here is where the TW really shines. The antenna is very quiet and works like a champ! SWR out of the box on each band was 1:1.5 and reasonably broad. I did use my Palstar tuner with the antenna but I really didn’t need to. The pileups I generated and the signal reports I received proved the performance of this antenna was superb. Occasionally I rotated the antenna to see if I could determine any pattern but I really didn’t notice much difference in the reports I was receiving. So, I kept it facing generally northeast from where I was located.

I also made several comparisons to my 20-meter hamstick from several locations during the event. The TW was consistently 2-4 S Units better on receive and of the half a dozen or so transmit comparisons I made with contacts, I was told that the TW was 3-5 S Units better on transmit than the hamstick. One contact said he could barely hear me on the hamstick and I was S5 on the TW. Need I say more??

I worked over 400 contacts in 6 days on 20 meters from many different locations using the TW. It is such a pleasure to erect and use that I have removed my hamstick mount from my camper. I only operate portable, not mobile, and frequently operate from near the ocean. I cannot wait to get the TW over a salt-water ground and see how much DX I can work. I am sure I will be amazed even further with its performance.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the TW to anyone seeking a quick to deploy multiband antenna. For those of you who live in restricted areas, the TW is your solution to a multiband antenna that won’t bring down your neighbors or the police on your station. If you’ve been considering a portable multibander, do you self a big favor and get a TW Antenna. I guarantee you will really enjoy this antenna.

You can see pictures of my operation with the TW during the event at:
http://www.k6sgh.com/rte66_2008/journal.htm

W6S, Steve, K6SGH
AE7YD Rating: 2008-09-21
surprising but it works Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was skeptical but having an HOA and having tried every possible stealth and portable antenna including the Buddipole, YP2, screwdriver and magnetic loops, I decided to give it a try.
I use the Buddipole and Buddistick for portable operation with great success but for home I needed something that can be left in place in the small back yard and not seen from the street.
Well, I can only say that it works. I did assemble it(easy) yesterday and the frequency was too high on 20,17 and 15. An email to Dennis at TW Antenna was immediately answered with the instructions on how to tune it and that if it still didn't work they would send me a new center piece.
The tuning went easy and a few minutes later I had a qso to Washignton state with my K2/10. No DX but with my situation, 8 watts and the poor propagation I was happy.
Thanks Dennis for the great service.

Yvon (Rock) AE7YD