Very cool to see you activating from my neck of the woods, I hope you all had a great trip. If you hike to the top, Mt. Livermore, you can get a POTA/SOTA 2-fer. Fun fact, I’ve worked Slovenia with 5 watts SSB on 20 meters from the top of Angel Island!
I remember that day! I'm located about 50 miles North of there in Sonoma County, and I saw your call sign come up on the POTA spot list for Angel Island - so I kept checking back on the frequency over a couple of hours - but I never heard you at all! Wondering if perhaps I was just too far for ground wave and too close for skip propagation...? But perhaps I was just listening while you were making adjustments / working through the conditions. Sorry it was so challenging, I would have thought that would be a good spot for POTA contacts - but maybe you were over some old metal as you were thinking. Fairly new ham here, I always learn something from your videos - keep them coming! :)
I would love to try this with a Buddy Stick Pro Tripod and legs. I'm currently doing the same thing with my Wolf River Coils mini and the combination is awesome and a lot easier to tune than their standard coil.
I found it interesting that Chameleon used a shorter whip for this antenna. I have a SuperAntenna and I bought the Chameleon 17ft whip to use with it thinking more metal in the air is better.
Wolf River 17' whip, the sporty 40 coil and their small tripod base has been a killer SOTA setup. Make a bypass link to take the coil in and out and with an FT-891 I'm getting great results.
@@JeffCowan wow, ok, that is very important for me to know! That’s a whole four inches shorter than the one I had with me. Which makes the difference between fitting in my luggage and not fitting in my luggage.
For the DXCC award, a remote contact from any continental US station with an AK or HI station will count as a new entity for you. For the WAS award, all states must be worked from stations that are within a 50 mile distance. If you want to mix the ones you worked from home with some from a remote for credit, you'd need to use a remote that was within 50 miles of your home. You could also work all 50 from the same remote, or group of remote stations that were no farther apart than 50 miles. Ignoring contests and awards, for some of us it's just nice to be able to get on the air in a minute without having to go outside and put up an antenna.
I want a reason to get a Chameleon for portable use. Reviews always seem to show great results with permanent setups and meh results with portable ones.
This may sound like a dumb question, but can you do a video on how you’d tune one of these without using or having access to an antenna analyzer? Especially with a radio like the 818 that has a very basic SWR scale on it.
nice park. looks like what was under ground was effecting you from getting out. metal underground with a resonating wavelength can drain your signal ETC. would love to go to that park with my girlfriend. I am in Boston NY. we have many nice parks around hear, and HAM friendly. Park rangers very nice. had them take lunch break with me. They know importance of HAM radio. I love the low noise floor. just shortwave listing is a lot of fun. AM radio comes in better in parks hear in NY. 73's
I have a question, i have 2 baofeng uv5r and 2 gt5r, all 4 work great, but 3 of them have an issue with the roger beep, on 144MHz the beep works perfect but on the 400's its got a strange noise and hear only that noise but the recicer hears the normal roger beep, what can be the cause of it and how could i fix it, yes they ar genuin baofeng's, im really annoyed by that as i love to use the roger beep, i have ordered 2 genuin nagoya na-771 as i been told it could be the antennas fault, didnt test then yet will test them soon, i will let you know the test went, I hope you can help
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I do believe that the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop and the Chameleon LEFS EFHW antennas are a much better choice. Just saying…….
The PRV is more portable than the TDL and takes up much less deployed space than the LEFS. There isn't a universally "better" answer here, these are options. @@Ammed_KN6STX
interesting video. Just my 2 penneth - It would have been good to have the kx2 with its built in atu to better match the antenna and also have a higher tripod. To give the antenna a better chance. The height point is valuable to me as I am seeing similar problems with a mini tripod and a new Spanish loaded vertical. Hey we learn through experience HI - 73 Ed.
"Could me a military job [site]". Well, the Eagle, Globe and Anchor on the pit behind you suggests it was built by Marines. Without a doubt there's TONs of crap in the ground there. :)
Built into most modern $$$$ radios. MFJ also makes a voice keyer, buts its large kit and is $$$ for what it is. Could probably DIY something with arduino components fairly easily.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I got it, just seems it should work either way then. I can’t see 12” of spike being that great a ground return. I do like the product though. Glad it fat and NOT skinnier like the Gabil. Any idea on a price?
Will have to keep an eye out for future reviews on the antenna. Might be a nice setup for the mag mount on my 1-ton pickup. That whip looks like it's got some GIRTH and could really take some wind. Safe travels!
Best to use a wire if you want contacts. I've had very little success with portable verticals. My friend and I have been doing A-B tests and a wire beats the vertical every time. Either EF random or EFHW. No comparison for us. Enjoy your videos. Steve, k7ofg.
This antenna definitely has not impressed me. Your comment about it needing to be 3-4ft off the ground is a little nuts considering they sell a little mini antenna like you used...
Look forward to another video on the Chameleon PRV soon with range testing! Subscribe and click the bell!
Thanks for posting this Josh. The qrp with a compromised antenna struggle is real, we’ve all been there.
Very cool to see you activating from my neck of the woods, I hope you all had a great trip. If you hike to the top, Mt. Livermore, you can get a POTA/SOTA 2-fer. Fun fact, I’ve worked Slovenia with 5 watts SSB on 20 meters from the top of Angel Island!
Nothing like bringing a good baguette to the island! 0:33
I remember that day! I'm located about 50 miles North of there in Sonoma County, and I saw your call sign come up on the POTA spot list for Angel Island - so I kept checking back on the frequency over a couple of hours - but I never heard you at all! Wondering if perhaps I was just too far for ground wave and too close for skip propagation...? But perhaps I was just listening while you were making adjustments / working through the conditions. Sorry it was so challenging, I would have thought that would be a good spot for POTA contacts - but maybe you were over some old metal as you were thinking. Fairly new ham here, I always learn something from your videos - keep them coming! :)
I would love to try this with a Buddy Stick Pro Tripod and legs. I'm currently doing the same thing with my Wolf River Coils mini and the combination is awesome and a lot easier to tune than their standard coil.
I tried super hard to get you! Glad you got the bugs worked out for the most part.
A really interesting activation. Thanks for sharing.
Josh, what tripod are you using for the base?
Josh, it would be a good idea to have a metal finder on hand to know what is under ground to avoid times like you are dealing with.
Is this where they filmed “Shelter Island”? Mike K3CXG
I found it interesting that Chameleon used a shorter whip for this antenna. I have a SuperAntenna and I bought the Chameleon 17ft whip to use with it thinking more metal in the air is better.
Chameleon will sell a lot more 17ft whips now. 😊
My MP1 and adjustable Pac 12 both work best off the ground. Never tried them on the ground as the stand that I use keeps it 3 or 4 ft above ground.
Wolf River 17' whip, the sporty 40 coil and their small tripod base has been a killer SOTA setup. Make a bypass link to take the coil in and out and with an FT-891 I'm getting great results.
Do you know the length of the WR 17' collapsed?
@@pquimby 23" or 58.5cm
@@JeffCowan wow, ok, that is very important for me to know! That’s a whole four inches shorter than the one I had with me. Which makes the difference between fitting in my luggage and not fitting in my luggage.
@@pquimby That is interesting. Glad you found it helpful.
I thought you’d really dialled it in when you first set up, until I realised it was a recording of your pota call 😂
How about a show about this remote ham radio thing. Id love to be able to use it to round out some contacts that I can never seem to get (AK,HI)
For the DXCC award, a remote contact from any continental US station with an AK or HI station will count as a new entity for you. For the WAS award, all states must be worked from stations that are within a 50 mile distance. If you want to mix the ones you worked from home with some from a remote for credit, you'd need to use a remote that was within 50 miles of your home. You could also work all 50 from the same remote, or group of remote stations that were no farther apart than 50 miles. Ignoring contests and awards, for some of us it's just nice to be able to get on the air in a minute without having to go outside and put up an antenna.
@@EdwardGriffin This is exact.y why there needs to be a show about it.
POTA with a baguette, NICE!
I want a reason to get a Chameleon for portable use. Reviews always seem to show great results with permanent setups and meh results with portable ones.
This may sound like a dumb question, but can you do a video on how you’d tune one of these without using or having access to an antenna analyzer? Especially with a radio like the 818 that has a very basic SWR scale on it.
Nice video. Whats the pouch ya got ya HT in ?
Cheers
Glad I could help with your activation! Next time I’ll join you in person. K2YE
Cool!
So, either use it with the ground spike (where feasible and permitted) or elevated several feet above the surface, yes?
Hand held radio question? Can you get a Bluetooth to wireless headphones radio?
nice park. looks like what was under ground was effecting you from getting out. metal underground with a resonating wavelength can drain your signal ETC. would love to go to that park with my girlfriend. I am in Boston NY. we have many nice parks around hear, and HAM friendly. Park rangers very nice. had them take lunch break with me. They know importance of HAM radio. I love the low noise floor. just shortwave listing is a lot of fun. AM radio comes in better in parks hear in NY. 73's
That looks like a scene from the show "50 years After People".
I have a question, i have 2 baofeng uv5r and 2 gt5r, all 4 work great, but 3 of them have an issue with the roger beep, on 144MHz the beep works perfect but on the 400's its got a strange noise and hear only that noise but the recicer hears the normal roger beep, what can be the cause of it and how could i fix it, yes they ar genuin baofeng's, im really annoyed by that as i love to use the roger beep, i have ordered 2 genuin nagoya na-771 as i been told it could be the antennas fault, didnt test then yet will test them soon, i will let you know the test went, I hope you can help
What is the "extension" you have connecting your mic to the radio?
Any idea on cost?
Josh, this antenna, is it a resonate? I thought coil antenna’s need a analyzer to get it resonate.
You don’t need an analyzer to get in close enough.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I do believe that the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop and the Chameleon LEFS EFHW antennas are a much better choice. Just saying…….
The PRV is more portable than the TDL and takes up much less deployed space than the LEFS. There isn't a universally "better" answer here, these are options. @@Ammed_KN6STX
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Okay….. Fine then!!!!!
Military construction? Isn't that a Globe & Anchor casting in the cement behind you?
Yes it is!!
1:59 - No, Josh, that is the _Bay_ Bridge.
Pretty cool place to play Radio #PotaOn
interesting video. Just my 2 penneth - It would have been good to have the kx2 with its built in atu to better match the antenna and also have a higher tripod. To give the antenna a better chance.
The height point is valuable to me as I am seeing similar problems with a mini tripod and a new Spanish loaded vertical.
Hey we learn through experience HI - 73 Ed.
These types of antennas should never use an ATU. The antenna should be adjust for resonance, nothing more.
And here I thought I was being neurotic when I thought I would have set up the antenna on the picnic table from the start.
"Could me a military job [site]". Well, the Eagle, Globe and Anchor on the pit behind you suggests it was built by Marines. Without a doubt there's TONs of crap in the ground there. :)
Nothing like a wooden picnic table to get your antenna up!
Antenna got radials. 👍
How did you setup the auto announce/call? Would you mind detailing that?
with icom at least my ID-52 it's a function in the menu, you can record a message and have it auto TX or and set the timing (3sec, 10sec, etc..)
Built into most modern $$$$ radios. MFJ also makes a voice keyer, buts its large kit and is $$$ for what it is. Could probably DIY something with arduino components fairly easily.
what is the K-1123 and what does it mean.
It's the unique identifier for that park in the Parks on the Air program
4:32 the disadvantage of a 17 foot whip on a windy day 😭
Is that an automated CQ? I need that....what is it?
Built into most modern $$$$ radios, MFJ makes a voice keyer though, its not cheap and its big.
@@meola69420 Cool I have a few new Icoms including the one he is using...I need to dig into the manual.
Next video "Using your vertical antenna as a Metal Detector" 😆
It comes with a 1ft spike but they want it 3 feet off the ground? Hmmm.
3ft off ground when not using spike.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I got it, just seems it should work either way then. I can’t see 12” of spike being that great a ground return. I do like the product though. Glad it fat and NOT skinnier like the Gabil. Any idea on a price?
I idea on price yet. This is a manufacturing prototype.
Will have to keep an eye out for future reviews on the antenna. Might be a nice setup for the mag mount on my 1-ton pickup. That whip looks like it's got some GIRTH and could really take some wind. Safe travels!
Best to use a wire if you want contacts. I've had very little success with portable verticals. My friend and I have been doing A-B tests and a wire beats the vertical every time. Either EF random or EFHW. No comparison for us.
Enjoy your videos. Steve, k7ofg.
Ummmm,.......Concrete pads have remesh embedded so they don't crack lol
It's easy to get a big imbalance with 3 radials. Try 2 radials next time. W6QR
This antenna definitely has not impressed me. Your comment about it needing to be 3-4ft off the ground is a little nuts considering they sell a little mini antenna like you used...
Conditions are Zero, it is better not to use HF equipment today.