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Reviews For: Scorpion Antennas SA6-160

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Scorpion Antennas SA6-160
Reviews: 19MSRP: 949
Description:
SA-6160 covers 10 through 160 meters.
Length retracted: 43” Extended: 65”
3 inch diameter coil with 14 gage tinned copper wire wound at 10 TPI.
Mobile or backyard typical vswr 1.5:1 or less.
Antenna rated at 1500 watts PEP
Weight 18 Lbs
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.scorpionantennas.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15195
NV6R Rating: 2013-06-24
Has stood the test of time Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Okay, this is an updated review. I posted my other review under my old call, AD7VH. I have been running the Scorpion for 4 years now. I live in the mountains at 7100ft above sea level and the Scorpion has performed perfectly at air temps (not windchill) of -40 and has functioned at temps of 120 degrees in the southern Nevada desert, too. I had it mounted on my Chevy truck, which seen some light off-roading, and now it is mounted on a modified Jeep Cherokee XJ, that sees SERIOUS off-roading; the Scorpion hasn't missed a beat.

I still get the great signal reports and talk a lot of DX on 75m -- with close to 100 countries on 75m and 11 on 160m. I have snapped many whips off in 4 years, obliterated several caphats, even had to use an EZ Out to remove a stud that snapped off in the coupler nut, but the Scorpion is just as good as the day I bought it. The high Q coil can be a pain on the low bands, since any nearby metal while traveling in a town causes the SWR to go wacky, but that high Q is responsible for the great signals, so I'm not complaining.

I you want an antenna that is plug-and-play and doesn't take some strategy in figuring out how to mount and match it, the Scorpion isn't for you. If you want the gold standard in mobile antennas, deal with the troubles of mounting it, the troubles associated with matching such a high Q antenna on the low bands, and the big signals that come with it, then the Scorpion is just what you have always dreamed of.

73, John, NV6R
AE7HW Rating: 2013-03-10
Best antenna ever Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Ive had my SA6-160 for more than three years now. I have upgraded to extra class new call AE7HW and just now updating on eham. This antenna has not failed and I do not baby it. Currently mounted in back of my new truck it smacks trees in the woods been smacked by a round bale of hay and no issues. Ron takes care in his workmanship when building these Ive paid allot more for a less quality antenna. Save yourself a headache if you are going to run mobile and want a quality antenna buy one from Ron. I will be buying the 680 for my wife's jeep this summer.
VE7GDM Rating: 2012-05-01
Fantastic Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Scorpion works fantastically. To give you an example I was the only one on the BC Public Service Net to copy and relay for a Mobile Station in Prince Rupert. Prince Rupert is just across the way from the Alaskan panhandle. I am using it with a 102" whip and a 30" clover leaf top hat. One like K0BG has on his web pages. I am sure I will not be able to get to the highest HF bands with this configuration but does it ever work well on 75 and I am sure on 160. Oh, yes the antenna comes down for travelling. Not a lick of RF feedback with chokes as wound using K0BG's instructions. I had to add one turn to the matching choke you provided and all fell into place. Sure a thing of beauty! On forty it tunes beautifully for winlink Pactor III. The hat It is made from #14 aluminum wire all tig welded to a 6" dia. central hub. It is very light and does not overly effect the whip even in a wind. I do not know its limits yet. The vertical mast is bonded in many places to the skin and frame of the airstream. All known precautions were taken to minimize electrolyses. A Flex 3000 and 500watt amp run well in the unit. To the left of the Scorpion is my normal 39' vertical cut and tuned to 3756 KHZ. I wish I had a way of instantly comparing them but experience over time will have to do.
KE5ZW Rating: 2012-02-07
Excellent! Antenna, robust, easy to mount and use Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased the Scorpion SA6-160 in 2009 after I saw it at the Dayton Hamfest. However, I use it not only for amateur radio, but for Army MARS and Public Safety HF service on my agency communications vehicle.

I had been looking for a mobile screw driver design HF antenna that had a better mounting set up. The huge pin design that Scorpion uses was what I needed. It is secure, robust and now I don't have to worry about it ending up sticking out of the windshield of the guy behind me.

Operationally, I run a 102 inch whip on the SA6-160 with a 16 turn shunt coil and that allows me to reach 2.3mhz freqs I have for public safety communications and the lower MARS freqs. I have not tried it on 160, yet.

Construction of the antenna is first class. I have the black version and so far have had no problems with the paint coming off.

I have a spare than I plan to use as a field deployed antenna. I hope to set it up soon.

Excellent antenna, no more expensive than the other high end HF mobile antennas.

Worth every penny.
W6JPP Rating: 2010-07-15
Great mobile anrenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After a long talk with Ron who took the time to explain his antenna and his talk with Don Johnson W6AAQ {sk} and his blessing Ron developed a superb improvement to Don's dk3. This antenna to coin another review is built like a tank. I mounted this unit in the left front corner of my pu,never would i have even dared to think of how well this unit would perform. With only 100 watts my first contact was Dublin Ireland with a solid 5-9. Of course the band conditions were good but i had both the scorpion 160 as well as another screwdriver antenna. The scorpion signal was at 5-9 with the scorpion and 5-6/7 with the other. I have taken this antenna all over 4 wheeling and just off roading with no surprises with the performance. To me this antenna gives you more bang for the buck than any other mobile antenna that I have ever used and is so easy to tune up. GREAT JOB RON
fRED cASWELL Rating: 2010-06-18
Work of art, excellent service Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I starting talking with Ron Douglass about this antenna after reading the favorable comments on K0BG's site. http://www.k0bg.com

Ron at Scorpion took the time to explain many things and help me design a mount for my Honda Accord.

The antenna is a precision piece of equipment. The machining and assembly are superb. It is built to withstand any roads or weather. When I was testing my setup, I went for a 200 +/- drive and worked the Ukraine during daylight on 40M while driving 80 mph.

I took the antenna on my 4,200 mile trip to the 3905 Century Club Eyeball in Mississippi in June 2010. I made hundreds of contacts along the way and got great signal reports. At the Eyeball I came in second place in the "mobile shootout". The first place winner was using a Scorpion antenna also!

In my opinion, the Scorpion antennas are the best.
AD7VH Rating: 2009-11-20
None Better Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This thing is built like a tank -- no other way to describe it. If you buy this antenna, get ready to make one hell of a mount for it. The way the Scorpion SA-6160 is built is one thing... the way that Ron makes the Scorpion look is a thing of beauty!

I have operated all bands from 160m-20m so far; the way I have it setup, it will not cover 17m and up anyway. On 160m my farthest contact so far was into western Kansas -- I am just outside of Ely, NV and I was only using 100w, too! I had trouble running my mobile amp as it kicks out at an SWR of 1.6:1; I ended up having to make another shunt coil for 160m.

Once I got the antenna matched for 160m, I fired up my 500w amp. Oh man, I was getting S9+20dB reports all over Colorado and even up into northern Washington. Conditions could have played a role in this, but they were not that great.

The real surprise came on 75m: I have been told by many of the group that I talk to, that the Scorpion is damn near as strong as my base. I have not tested this beyond 500 miles yet, so I cannot really say. I will continue to run it through it's paces and find out more.

Now, for 40m: on 40m it does an awesome job as well. I was working into Minnesota with a good signal... Not that this is a big deal normally, but from Nevada to Minnesota at 12pm PST is a very big deal.

I was pleasantly surprised at the performance on 20m, as this is where a lot of mobile antennas fail to perform. I will say the Scorpion is an excellent performer on 20m. I could go on about all of the DX I worked with it, but that is only half the story. I ended busting several pile-ups, which from the mobile is a feat; I don't give a damn how good conditions are! I found a frequency on 20m where the whole dang country was trying to call Guam... I just dumped in my call and got a response the first time. I was surprised to get an S9+10dB report. He could not believe that I was mobile.

I have had many people tell me that I have the best mobile signal that they have ever heard. As well as people not believing that I am mobile. True, I am running 500w, but this is still great performance. Once I have had the Scorpion SA-6160 about a year, I will do an updated review.

As for the 5 rating, what more needs to be said. The Scorpion SA-6160 is the best mobile antenna that I have every used, period! I don't think the other big brand is as good. If you think so you may be Hi;Question this if you want, but I am not going to.

73, John, AD7VH, east central Nevada
K4AED Rating: 2009-09-18
Quality antenna fabulous workmanship Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned one of Ron's SA-6160 for almost 2 years now and have had great results with it. The workmanship is far better than anything else on the market. I have the antenna mounted on the 5th wheel hitch base in the back of my Dodge 2500 4X4 truck. It gets quite a bit of abuse from the vibration and shaking when off road and has had no issues at all. I have owned 2 other brand name screwdriver antennas that both fell apart on my trucks within a year. Ron really stands behind the antenna as well, I broke the coax connector off when a tool box fell over in the back of the truck. Ron replaced it and went through the antenna to make sure there weren't any other problems. I highly recommend the antenna.
KA7KOQ Rating: 2007-12-29
a work of art.. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had an made a lot of mobil antennas, over the years... the SA-6160 it the most user friendly motorized antenna I've worked with.. the 160 Meter band is hard to work mobil, but this antenna makes it fun an easy, with a 100 watts... as I stated above, its a work of art... put together with care, an skilled hands.. the mount is well thought out, an I might add it's stainless with stainless fixtures...
ka7koq Bill