It has been.....11 years since I bought my first Challenger DX from GAP antennas. Used it for 3 or 4 years, decided I wanted an antenna that covered 17 meters, sold my Challenger to a friend a few miles away. Went and bought a GAP Titan, had that up for about 4 years, would probably still have it, but finally got my tower up, and the Titan was just too close, and I had no where else to put it, wound up selling it to a gentleman in Coco,Fl.
Went through a couple other verticals from other manufactures, and they worked, but just didn't have the versatility of the GAP Challenger DX. So, in July 2010, went and bought another Challenger DX, had it close to the house as that is where I decided it neede to be. That lasted for about a year, I had all kinds of issues, high noise, higher than normal noise levels that is. Had one time where the damn thing wouldn't tune up on 40 meters...what? Don't tell me I can't use my second favorite band with this antenna...anything but 40 meters. Well, after talking with Rich Henf, owner of GAP antennas and a personal friend, I decided a move was in order. So with the help of a friend I moved my GAP Challenger about 15'-20' west of where it was. What a difference 20' makes! The change was instant, going from a 20-30 over S-9 noise level, and not tuning on 40 to, WOW.. no noise. I added my 3 15' radials and my 12/17 meter mod and life is good once again.
I don't know why, but when you have the opportunity to talk to the makers of GAP antennas when you have a problem with it...why don't you? Instead, you say the antenna is a piece of crap, it doesn't work the way YOU said it would! Well...did you follow the instructions..precisely? When you had difficulty with the antenna, did you call or email Rich, or Chris at GAP Antenna Products? No...then you only have yourself to blame. Rich Henf, this man is brilliant, he knows more about antennas and antenna theory than any other man I know, a wealth of knowledge, and his knowledge he is wiling to share..no charge!
My current Challenger has been up not quite 4 years, I've had it down twice for general maintenance, and cleanup,living in Florida not a dozen miles from the ocean the salt air does a number on these and any antenna you have that is in the air any distance. That said, its about time I get a buddy or two, bring it down, go over my Challenger, clean any oxidation build up, make sure everything is right and tight and put we back up. This time, I think when I take it down, its time to get a tilt over mount for it, makes it a hell of a lot easier to take down and put back up
I find operation from 75/80 meters on up through 2 meters with the GAP Challenger DX is with the exception of 17 meters is overall good. No issues to speak of other than those that I covered earlier, oh..just as an FYI, when erecting your GAP or any vertical for that matter, do not get too close to the metal gutters on your house, if you use metal gutters, or if you use gutters at all. I found that while it may not detune your antenna, you may have a host of other related problems..just sayin is all.
I found that with my first Challenger, my Titan, and now my current Challenger, 3 radials is all you really need. I had heard the more the better with the radials when it comes to vertical antennas. I started with 3 on my first Challenger, went to 6, then a dozen, then 21...didn't make a bit of difference, not with GAP antennas any ways. So...from then on, 3 radials, I have had them any where from 20' all the way down to 12'. Somewhere between 15'-17' I found gives you the best overall length when it comes to the Challenger at least.
At the end of it all, 40 meters by far is my second favorite band next to 15 meters. I am usually on a HF net most week day mornings, I have a full wave loop for 40, and my trusted GAP Challenger, some mornings, switching between the 2 antennas I cannot tell the difference which antenna has the better signal. Then there are the days when one favors over the other, heck..I ran the net one morning thinking I was on the loop, it wasn't until after the net I looked and found that I had done the net entirely using the Challenger, no one knew the difference..now that is an antenna, this is just a great HF antenna.
I have used this antenna on 2 meter FM, having no rigs with 2 meter SSB capabilities, I can't say. When I had my IC-746Pro a few years ago, the Challenger did work on 2 meter SSB, it was just too bad that there wasn't more participation in the area, for me to see how well this antenna does work on 2 meter SSB. Now then, 2 meter FM does quite well, SWR isn't high, well below 2:1, if memory serves it was somewhere around 1.5:1 or 1.6:1, maybe even as high as 1.7:1, but no higher, that I am sure of. I have on a couple occasions, several years ago now, when we had a UHF repeater in town, tried the GAP Challenger on UHF, as long as the repeater was close, and no more than about 50 watts was used it worked, but just. Not something I would recommend, only in an emergency case. So, if you are having a problem with your GAP antenna and can't get it fixed on your own...CALL RICH! That's what he and Chris are there for. Remember, this is just a hobby, we are here to have fun, if its becoming work, then something is wrong..fix it, then have fun.
73 de Mark
AI4HO |
