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Reviews For: Scorpion Antennas SA-680

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Scorpion Antennas SA-680
Reviews: 106MSRP: 1045
Description:
SA-680 covers 10 through 80 meters.
Length retracted: 39” Extended:57”
3 inch diameter coil with 10 gage tinned copper wire wound at 6 Threads Per Inch.
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
151065
KB6HRT Rating: 2011-03-02
None BETTER! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have had a SA-680 for about 4 years now used it on two experimental projects. On the first project used radials on the roof of the house for the bands I wanted to work, the SA-680 was on a 24' pushup pole, this worked well when talking to mobiles on 75M in the morning hours on 75M using 100w. The second project, put down a ground field in the backyard made of 3500' of Nr14 wire then installed the Zero Five 43' vertical in the center, fed it directly using the SA-680, both of these products are first rate products. Its is a match made in heaven, this system works 10-160M using my ICOM 756PRO3 and my PW1 amplifier. Ron Douglas the owner of Scorpion Antennas and I put this setup together and it works better than GREAT! I could not be HAPPIER !.............KB6HRT
W6LOG Rating: 2011-03-01
Great Antenna wished I would have checked this one first. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I was having trouble with my antenna when was told of the Scorpion Antenna Line. Tried it and am very satified. Warranty is superb. I rate Scorpon as the best.
Highly recommend. Had this one for a short time and it works well for me.


W6LOG
W4SOP Rating: 2011-01-15
one of the best antenna,s you can get bar none Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this antenna for about two years, I travel a lot . this antenna preform,s better than any other antenna I have ever had. Don stands behind this antenna 100 percent. If I get a second vehicle I will buy another one for it. It is the best money can buy.
K7DCL Rating: 2011-01-02
Great antenna, awesome customer support Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Background:

I live in an HOA controlled community, but wait it’s worse than that, I live in a condominium. I had long believed that external antennas would be impossible in this environment. Then I came across Ron Douglass’s Scorpion Antenna website.

I looked at the specifications for the SA-680 and felt that this just might meet my needs. The physical size was such that the antenna might not be visible; which was one of the major requirements to get it approved. I put a tripod and a PVC mast up on the roof with some flagging tape at various heights and walked around the complex to see what the maximum height was that was not visible. Only part of the SA-680 whip would be visible when extend for 80 meters.

Dealing with Scorpion Antenna:

I called Ron at Scorpion to discuss my situation and see what he recommended. He advised me that my original plan to use the SA-680 with Scorpion Stinger Antennas™ (radials) would not perform very well because of my height restrictions. He recommended putting together a ground plane using screening as described on the website. He invited me to drop by his shop to see an example of that configuration. I spent about an hour and a half at his shop talking about my setup and what needed to be done. Now I felt that this was doable so I wrote up an Architectural Change Request and submitted it to the HOA board and waited for a response. In about two and a half weeks I received a letter from the HOA board – request approved!

So I called Ron to order the antenna, scheduled the electrical contractor to install the conduit for the antenna cables and started building the antenna mounting plates and the ground plane structure.
It all came together in a few weeks and I drove over to Ron’s shop to pick up the antenna. The next day I assembled the ground plane structure on the roof and installed the SA-680.

Antenna Tuning:

Tuning across 80m – 6m was a challenge; a multiday exercise.

Ron was more than helpful during the tuning phase, if I didn’t call him at the end of the day he would call me. We would talk through what I had changed during the day and what the result was. The problem was I could get the SWR down to 1.5 or below on 80m and 30m – 6m or 40m – 6m. I could not get both 80m and 40m down to 1.5 or lower. I had gone through many iterations of shunt coils in the tuning phase; different number of turns, different spacing of the turns, etc. Ron suggested that he drop by to help me, I eagerly said yes come on over.

When Ron came over we did some preliminary analysis to set a baseline and then started swapping shunt coils, he brought a box of different shunt coils with him. We found the “magic” coil for 80m and then another for 40m. Ron said he would go back to his shop and build a switchable shunt coil box so I could use one coil for 40m - 6m and another for 80m. Ron built the box and I drove over to pick it up that night. The next day I installed the box and had SWR of 1.5 or less on all bands 80m – 6m.

The customer support from Scorpion is outstanding, above and beyond my expectations. Ron was committed to see that this antenna worked for me. What a great guy to do business with, I would not hesitate to buy another Scorpion Antenna.

SA-680 Antenna:

The antenna itself is extremely well built. Top end materials and exceptional craftsmanship. The pictures on the website look impressive but when you see one for real the quality is really obvious. It’s a shame that no one can see mine, but that was the plan all along.

Thanks Ron, I’m a very happy camper.

David
K7DCL
N7HF Rating: 2010-11-29
GREAT BASE ANTENNA Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I guess I could cut this review short by just saying ditto to all the plus reviews...but that wouldn't be fair to Scorpion or my fellow hams. Also, we need a new category..base antenna.

I have the 680 on a 30ft push up with 2 stingers on 17, 2 on 20, 4 on 40 and a long wire for 80. My qth is Glendale, AZ. On 20 I have worked Japan, Argentina, Hawaii, Georgia and New Hamp. Basicaly..If I can hear them I can work them. Icom 756 P III, 100 watts. As for Service...I think Ron(NI7J) was as anxious to get me on the air as I was! I'm buying another to take to Hawaii for mobile...enough said?
W5LZ Rating: 2010-11-23
Very nice! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had the Scorpion '680 (shorter version) for about a year. Previously I had used a 'BugCatcher' so did have something to make comparisons with. (Those comparisons are all subjective, so take them for what they are worth.) When you factor in the convenience of NOT having to stop to change bands, the Scorpion is about as good as it gets.
I had problems with it. Those problems were my fault, not the antenna's. First problem was in not following the instructions about removing the antenna from it's shipping tube. There's a reason for those instruction, I would definitely suggest you follow them! :)
Next problem was mounting it. There's more momentum developed with the Scorpion than you might think. It proceeded to tear the tool box it was mounted on top of loose from the bed of the truck. (It could have been attached better to start with, the tool box I mean.) Remounted it to the rear side of that tool box after reattaching the box with larger bolts. Worked just dandy!
I was really surprised at the Scorpion's performance! Talked to several people on various bands, and it did just fine. Later realized I hadn't switched back to 'full power' after tuning the antenna (5 watts). Really amazed about that, but I wouldn't suggest it as a normal way of doing things.
It's been sitting idle for a couple of months now. Sold the truck it was on, can't figure a way to mount the thing on my new car. RATS!
I am a happy camper!
Paul

(I'd have given it a '6' but this thing won't let me.)


K0LU Rating: 2010-11-22
Very Nice Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have replaced my other large screwdriver with this one. It is built better and works great. I use it on my "farm tractor mobile" and was a little worried about how it would stand up, but after a couple days using it that fear went away. It is a very nice built antenna and was a plug and play for me. Look me up on QRZ and you will see a picture of the "tractor mobile". The packaging and shipping was awsome. WOW I have never see anything packed this well. I have worked Europe with a screwdriver from the tractor on 80 meters... 73 Leon K0LU
N4VHR Rating: 2010-09-16
Excellent Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Recently purchased the 680 Black Widow and mounted it on the toolbox in the bed of my F250 on a custom mount made by Ron. This antenna is built like a tank and performs great. Ron is great to work with. Answered all my questions and emails, and built the custom mounting bracket for me. Super customer service. Also amazed at the care Ron takes in packaging and shipping. Even UPS couldn't hurt the tube.

If you are serious about mobile HF this is the antenna to get. Expensive, but well worth it. I would buy another one in a minute.

73,
Bill, N4VHR
VK6LOT Rating: 2010-08-27
This is a fantastic antenna if i could give it a 10 i would Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Ive been using the SA-680 now for 5 months mounted on the rear of my 4x4 proberbly not the best postition for it but boy does it perform well.
on a recent trip around VK (Australia) with a group of hams it clearly outperformed all other antennas some well named and 3 of us using identical radios.
last weekend whilst mobile heading to our clubs portable setup for the international lighthouse weekend Lighthouse AU-73 i was able to relay a few calls that the clubs antennas were struggling with yet i could here them clearly.its definatly a heavy duty antenna and ideal for our rugged conditions in the outback of Australia.
And the support from Ron is just outstanding if only we could get service like that from suppliers here in VK.
This truely is a fantastic antenna if i could give it a 10 i would
73 VK6LOT
K0WJ Rating: 2010-07-09
Scorpion Wins Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The results for this year's (2010) 3905 Century Club's Mobile Shootout have been posted on the club's website at http://www.3905ccn.com/newsite/files/pdf/shootout-2010.pdf. I'm not going to get into any philosophical discussion about which antenna is better than another, because the results speak for themselves. And for those that just can't seem to put any faith into these Shootout results, I'll offer two stories.

On the way to this years Eyeball (and Mobile Shootout), I worked a station in California that it seems few others on the net at the time could hear in order to verify my contact. Then WB1I spoke up who was in North Carolina at the time and "Roger'd" the contact. Two days later, WB1I posted the second highest score in the Shootout with a Scorpion SA-6160 antenna. My Scorpion SA-680E scored slightly higher to garner first place. So, to reiterate, Scorpion scored 1st and 2nd in the Shootout. This is partially due to the quality of the antenna and partially due to Ron Douglas' knowledge of sound installation practices and his ability to pass that info to his customers.

After the Shootout, most of the Eyeball attendees went mobile in either Louisiana or Mississippi on that evening's net. I checked in no problem with the net control station in Michigan, others had to be checked in via a relay station in Florida. What I noticed was that the stations scoring lowest in the Shootout could not be heard by either Net Control or the relay station and had to be relayed in by myself or another station at the Eyeball site. This somewhat validates for me, the value of a Mobile Shootout and that the Shootout results can translate directly to on the air situations. I cannot conceive of working mobile without my Scorpion antenna. Why anyone would put up with the frustration of not being heard by the target station and having to depend on relay stations for communications seems way too counterproductive to me.

Give me my Scorpion antenna and I'll talk to who I want, when I want. It doesn't get any more fun than that.