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Reviews For: CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna
Reviews: 70MSRP: 299
Description:
The CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna™ is a revolutionary antenna that stands at a mere 8.5 feet tall and contains a unique trap coil design. This antenna is ideally designed for mobile, portable or base station purposes were limited space is a concern. This antenna is a lightweight antenna system with 11 BANDS of capability including: 6m, 10m, 11m (Citizens Band), 12m, 15m, 17m, 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m & 80m. The CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna™ can also operate on the 70cm, 1.25m & 2m BANDS (144Mhz to 500Mhz) but is primarily a HF antenna. Unlike other multiband antennas, the CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna™ requires no changing of switches, jumpers, coils, etc. Our simple screw together two-part system makes the CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna™ easy to manage and store. The CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna™ is a Super-Flexible Whip. This advantage allows the antenna to withstand extreme shock from obstructions without breakage or failing. To function properly this antenna REQUIRES A TUNER (RECOMMENDED) OR A 9:1 BALUN.
Product is in production
More Info: http://chameleonantenna.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00704.6
2E0GOQ Rating: 2011-07-03
GREAT ANTENNA Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I BOUGHT THIS ANTENNA AS I AM VERY SHORT OF SPACE IN THE GARDEN AND SORE THE CHAMELEON V1 FOR SALE ON EBAY SO I SENT AN EMAIL TO CARL&ALEXANDER ASKING FOR INFO AS I HAD NOT SEE OR HEARD OF THIS ANTENNA JUST PASSED LICENCE SAME YEAR AS I BOUGHT THE ANTENNA AS I AM DISABLED IT TOOK A LONG TIME FOR ME TO PUT UP BUT SOMETHING WAS WRONG EMAILED CARL AND I TOLD HIM I HAVE6X25FT RADIALS BUT STILL NOT WORKING ANYWAY HE SENT ME FREE JUST PAY POSTAGE A NEW 9-1BALUN WHEN IT ARRIVED 6 DAYS LATER PUT IT ON SWR 1-1 ALL BANDS WITH ICOM756PRO BIULT IN ATU AND HAVE HAD COPYS ALL OVER THE WORLD USING 50WATTS INTO JAPAN FROM THE UK 59 SIGNAL AND GREAT AUDIO REPORTS I THINK WITHOUT CARL AND ALEXANDER IT WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FIX THIS GREAT ANTENNA IT STANDS ONLY 10FT OFF THE GROUND 6X RADIALS 25FT LONG EACH AND I USE RG213 COAX CABLE AND IT WORKS FANTASTIC WISH I COULD GIVE IT 10/10 EXCELLENT KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK AT CHAMELEON THANKS AGAIN CARL AND ALEXANDER 2E0GOQ RON,...
N8DV Rating: 2011-06-04
Jury is still out.... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I like the build quality and simplicity of installation. I have the antenna on a mast at 15 feet. I am getting some rf into the shack, not too obnoxious yet, but it's there. Is there anyone else running the antenna as a base antenna? You can email me your observations n8dv at arrl dot net (did this to keep spam spiders from invading my mailbox).
N1KPW Rating: 2011-05-19
Good Investment, happy user Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Overall, I'm extremely happy with this antenna. So far, since installing this less than a month ago, the contacts made include Slovenia, England, and Ireland on 15m, and Belgium, Italy, Belarus, Greece, Hungary and the Slovak Republic on 17m. All were while mobile in Connecticut and all were via busting pile ups with 'stock' IC-7000 power. Being able to hop bands and be where the action is without stopping the car and changing antennas is the single biggest advantage, to me, about this antenna. That it also performs so good on those bands is a big plus. I was considering a screwdriver style antenna, but I'm glad I made this choice instead. I will spread the word to everyone that asks that this antenna is a good buy, and well deserving of the high ratings here.
IZ0PXT Rating: 2011-03-17
Very Good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own this antenna since last Xmas ,I bought it because I live in a place with a limited space . I use in my balcony at 8 meters of height, i live at last floor and I can say this antenna has solved my problems.I received very goods reports in all the bands, i got low swr also with my 400 watts linear.
I am very happy on 40 m it works very well.
Quality of the antenna is outstanding!
I cant wait to use on portable!

73 de IZ0PXT
W6UXB Rating: 2010-11-26
What a great antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Eight and a half foot of power house, the best antenna you can get in this size, plus Carl is the king of customer support, I asked for extra radials as the original antenna only came with one, great price shipping was OK but when he shipped he refunded me the extra $6 that it did not cost him, way cool. You will not have a bad experience dealing with these nice people
KA7PLE Rating: 2010-11-13
Very Nice Portable Antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
First of all this is a compromise antenna. You should not expect it to work like a dipole at 45'.
That being said, it does work very well. I purchased this antenna because I live in an antenna restricted community. I had been using a random wire at about 15' high. It broke during the storms last winter. I also have an MP1 from Super Antennas, that I pressed back into service after the wire antenna broke. I got tired of having to re-tune it every time I wanted to change bands. I saw an add for the Chameleon and did some research on it.
Carl was very helpful in answering my questions and the antenna arrived quickly.
After mounting it to a piece of wood screwed into the side of my house, just at the roof line, I noticed it was not performing as well as I expected. After several Emails to and from Carl, on tips for my installation, I am happy with the performance. I had to raise the antenna so its about 2' above the roof line, instead of right at the roof line. That change made a big difference in noise level and the stations I can hear. Also because of the trees behind my house, the antenna is almost invisible from the street. Which is something I needed. ;-) The first week I had it, the wood it was attached to broke and the antenna came crashing down onto a chain link fence. No damage to the antenna at all. It is very well built, rugged, and will survive lots of rough treatment.
There is a balun that comes with the antenna, it is highly recommended to use it for the HF bands. It is not needed or recommended if you are going to use the antenna on 50Mhz or higher.
One thing you MUST do is ground the shield side of the PL259 connected to the UNUN, or antenna, to a good earth ground. Doing this will improve the VSWR of all bands, and reduce the common mode noise. You will still need to use a tuner.
I worked the ARRL November CW Sweep Stakes, and was able to contact just about all the stations I called, using 5W. I plan on trying the SSB contest next weekend using 5W and see how I do there.
Carl has provided wonderful customer service and support. His reply's to my inquiries were very fast. He really listens to your particular issue and gives appropriate advice.
I gave this antenna a 5 because of the quality of the manufacturing, the excellent customer service from Carl, and the over all performance of the antenna. Comparing it side by side to my MP1 and mono band HamSticks, it does work better, both receiving and transmitting.
I will admit it took some time and tinkering with it to get the VSWR and noise down to reasonable levels. But worth the effort, IMHO.
Great job Carl, nice antenna. If you are looking for an all band portable antenna, you can put up quickly and will be invisible, I recommend the Chameleon V1.
73
Mike
KA7PLE
N6XSZ Rating: 2010-10-22
GREAT antennae and GREAT service. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used this antennae for 3 plus years and results are great. It was a hit at a field day type event as many contacts were made. I used it attached to truck bumper without radials as visitors were walking around it and tripod mounted on ground with 4 25' radials. Again many contacts. After sale service is extemely good. My tripod tumbled and the antennae broke at the junction of antennae coupling and antennae tube.
I contacted Carl at Chameleon and had a new, improved antennae in three days. Excellent service over and above. Thank you Carl and the team at CHAMELEON.
WV6N Rating: 2010-10-20
Excellent multi-band antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I owned this antenna for about a month and for what it is, a multi-band electrically short antenna, it works great. I use it with two radials only sloped at about 45deg due to the QTH conditions. The antenna is elevated at about 12ft and it is hidden behind some trees. It can't match my two magnetic loops as far as performance goes (about 10dB less TX RX on the bands from 3.5 to 28MHz) but for those living in restricted communities, it might be the way to go rather than just sit there and pout all day long due to the lack of space for a dipole at 1/2 wavelength
I purchased the antenna at www.towermount.com. The support from Steve was nothing short of excellent. Same applies to Carl at www.chameleonantenna.com Very fast reaction time!
KA4RUR Rating: 2010-10-20
Excellent Antenna/Great customer service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this antenna for almost 2 years, it
is use for portable operations. When in portable
operations it is mounted on a 13' telescoping
mast and tripod with four radials. The radio
that I use is a Icom 703plus with a LDG IT-100
with nothing else in between. My first contact
was with TG9ADM in Guatemala City on 17M
(cw)599/549. The antenna does exactly what the
makers say it will do. Carl and Alexander
provides the very best customer service.
N6SBX Rating: 2010-10-19
Works great and looks beautiful Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have this antenna sidemounted on a springed ball mount on my Astro Van. I use an ICOM 706 MKIIG into an Icom AH4 tuner with nothing else in between and am very satisfied with the V1 HF performance. Two unique things about this antennas. 1. I can use an antenna switch to route my VHF/UHF antenna output to the V1 and only need one mobile antenna. The results is not quite as good as a dedicated dualband VHF/UHF antenna, but it works most repeaters just fine. 2. This antennas looks great. Of course we "Hammers" think all antennas are wonderful to look at, but I have received comments from my non Ham friends about how "cool" the V1 looks.
Now for the best part of this antenna. The company behind it. You can tell they are very proud of the V1 and go above and beyond with their customer service.