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Reviews For: Tarheel Lift & Lay Antenna Mount

Category: Antennas: HF Mobile & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Tarheel Lift & Lay Antenna Mount
Reviews: 2MSRP: 459
Description:
motorized fold-over mount for mobile vertical antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tarheelantennas.com/mounts
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0025
KQ4KK Rating: 2010-09-05
Does the job, quickly, everytime Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
The County EOC bought a package of a large TarHeel, Ameritron SDC-102 controller and the Lift and Lay Mount for the County EOC HAM trailer. It was plug and play. A joy to install. When we roll on site, chock the wheels, send up the 35ft air mast, hit the up button on the lift and lay for 15sec, make sure the generator is stablized and hit the HF button, and we are on the air.

The lift & lay has a nice big base to mount on the top of the trailer. Look at all the photos on the Tarheel web site, great installations.

The price is a little steep for most HAMS. But, if you are driving a big RV, you have made the decision as to where you money is going, so the lift and lay is a great choice. Since the County was spending DHS grant money, it was a great choice for us also. Has reduced our setup time, and takedown time.
N5RTG Rating: 2010-04-06
Wonderful way to mount roof-top mobile antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Follow-up to my initial review of this mount (see below): We bought this mount over a year ago. Only complaint I had in initial review was lack of documentation in the box. I was able to easily contact the designer and the seller, they quickly sent me the requested documentation no big deal. Pretty cool to get timely response and feedback like this, eh?

We have used this mount as much as daily over the past sixteen months. After installing this mount onto my Airstream trailer's 8' X 23' roof, we hit the road south to Florida for Q1 of 2009. We are full-time RVers living in a 25' travel trailer. We wanted an easy-to-use and effective mount for our mobile motorized vertical HF antenna.

Trailer situated in the middle of a resort park, adjacent to a park model. I contacted 25 European countries easily operating barefoot with my High Sierra 1800pro antenna on the roof. What a great difference from having the antenna mounted to my pickup truck. This mount allows me to raise the antenna quickly and easily in the morning, lower it before storms and sometimes at night.

The Lift and Lay mount is hefty and rugged, and something to behold. All stainless steel construction, very neatly finished in matte finish, pre-drilled for mounting. Wiring is really simple, wire and switch included in the package. Not inexpensive, quality like this is worth paying for.

System worked right out of the box. Raises and lowers quickly and smoothly from the rocker switch in my trailer. Control automatically and accurately cut off power to the motor at the stops. Straight up when vertical, and dead level when down.

Initially I mounted the motorized antenna high up on the stub, eventually I mounted the antenna lower so it would be closer to the ground plane, shorten the ground strap. I bent a whip cradle and riveted it to the roof's front edge to keep the whip from whipping the trailer as we motor down the road.

Last month I upgraded to a larger flat braid ground strap from the antenna choke coil to the mount and the metal roof. In my mind, at least, the antenna works much better now.

I emailed for answers and received prompt and helpful replies from Robert Young and from WB0W. Some products you buy, it can be difficult to contact someone at the company who knows about the product. This is one product you can count on great support from the designers and sellers.

Great mount, solidly built, attracts a lot of attention wherever we go, and works perfectly. It will surely outlast me. I'd buy another in a heartbeat, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend to another mobile ham. What else do you want from a product?

73 de N5RTG Jim


Initial review, Dec 13, 2008:
A friend has one of these on his Airstream trailer and has excellent signal reports and operation with it. I just wasn't getting out with my High Sierra HS1800Pro motorized antenna mounted low on my truck fender. I moved my Yaesu 857d into our home (a 25' trailer) and wanted a powered fold-over mount on the ladderless aluminum roof. I ordered the Lift & Lay from Tarheel Antenna.

It just arrived FedEx a couple of days ago. Thirty degrees and dry outside today, so can't get out and install. Have to wait for worse weather for an antenna installation. Playing with it indoors and preparing for roof-top install.

Expensive and worth it. Looks great, beautifully designed, built and finished. Built like a tank. Very solid. I don't know why I expected aluminum extrusions, it is all stainless steel construction except the motor. Base plate is predrilled for up to eight mounting bolts. Eight 3/8" X 2" stainless steel bolts, nuts, and washers included for mounting. Also includes control wiring and switch for operating.

Fast shipping, received this week three days after on-line ordering. No documentation included whatsoever, but installation and operation seem straightforward. The two wires are labelled, 12vdc+ and 12vdc-. No other connections and no adjustments. So no problem with lack of documentation, I expect the documentation will catch up with the mount about the time I finish the install. No big deal.

I'll update review after install on top of our mobile house.

Jim N5RTG
http://dreamstreamr.com

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Earlier 5-star review posted by N5RTG on 2009-05-14

This is follow-up to my December 2008 review. Six months later, this has been a great performer. I have used it every week, sometimes a couple of times a day, to lift and lower my motorized antenna with 102" whip. This is a great mount.

From inside my QTH I raise and lower the antenna electrically. Requires approx eleven seconds to raise from horizontal to vertical. Automatically stops at each full-range position. Relatively quiet.

And this has huge wow factor. It should, for what it costs. The thing is, you get your money's worth. This is a very well designed product, shipped complete with control switch, wiring, and all mount parts. You supply the antenna.

This mount allows me to safely raise and lower my rooftop antenna atop my RV, without climbing anything. The mount looks stunning in the down or up position and works perfectly. Very glad we have it.

73,
Jim n5rtg
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Earlier 5-star review posted by N5RTG on 2008-12-13

A friend has one of these on his Airstream trailer and has excellent signal reports and operation with it. I just wasn't getting out with my High Sierra HS1800Pro motorized antenna mounted low on my truck fender. I moved my Yaesu 857d into our home (a 25' trailer) and wanted a powered fold-over mount on the ladderless aluminum roof. I ordered the Lift & Lay from Tarheel Antenna.

It just arrived FedEx a couple of days ago. Thirty degrees and dry outside today, so can't get out and install. Have to wait for worse weather for an antenna installation. Playing with it indoors and preparing for roof-top install.

Expensive and worth it. Looks great, beautifully designed, built and finished. Built like a tank. Very solid. I don't know why I expected aluminum extrusions, it is all stainless steel construction except the motor. Base plate is predrilled for up to eight mounting bolts. Eight 3/8" X 2" stainless steel bolts, nuts, and washers included for mounting. Also includes control wiring and switch for operating.

Fast shipping, received this week three days after on-line ordering. No documentation included whatsoever, but installation and operation seem straightforward. The two wires are labelled, 12vdc+ and 12vdc-. No other connections and no adjustments. So no problem with lack of documentation, I expect the documentation will catch up with the mount about the time I finish the install. No big deal.

I'll update review after install on top of our mobile house.

Jim N5RTG
http://dreamstreamr.com