QRP POTA Activation: Pairing the Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop, LDG Z-100 Plus, and Icom IC-705
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ต.ค. 2024
- Click here to read full details about this activation, including all equipment links, at QRPer.com:
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Thanks for watching!
73,
Thomas
K4SWL
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I greatly appreciate you taking the time to talk about your process and observations with your equipment.
My pleasure. Thank you!
I'm listening to your videos to "get back into CW". So, these videos can't go too long...for me. Great job. Awesome equipment!
So glad you're enjoying them, David! Bravo on getting back into CW!
If you ever find yourself going to Norway, please tell us, as it would be awesome to meet you in person 😁 take care!!
I will definitely do that. I would love to do a road trip along the entire west coast of Norway! It's on my bucket list! So is Svalbard and the Faroes. :)
Lately I'm seeing more TH-cam influencers using Chameleon products. I hope to try their products soon.
Yes, Chameleon's approach to marketing is to get people out there demonstrating their products. I like this approach because I've always believed, "the proof is in the pudding!"
This was a super presentation, Tom. Above and beyond. Thanks!
Love your videos. Sat watching in the bath (tub)! Very relaxing!
Thomas thank you for sharing this video excellent 👍👍👍👍👍
It'd be great to see this antenna tested with WSPR. Pick a band. Send for 10 minutes. Rotate it 90 degrees and go again. Then move on to another band. WSPR has the advantage of not being dependent on the time of day or who decides to come back to you. And since it uses two telescoping poles and connecting wire across the various lengths could be adjusted to be an actual full-wave delta for any frequency above its natural resonance, which my rough calculations found to be about 24-25 MHz.
Thomas, yes your videos are long. HOWEVER, your conversational style is easy to follow and done in such a way that it seems as if we were right there activating with you.
If have watched far shorter videos that seemed far longer than yours.
You actually have a perfect balance.
Keep up the good work. Your channel is an asset to Ham Radio. N7KHH
Thank you so much, Robert. I really appreciate that.
Great video... I need to get motivated to learn CW.
You can do it! Would be great to work you in CW someday!
You always put up good videos.
It’s just me but I’m not into CW.
But I still watch your videos on your setups n antennas.
That, I'll take as the ultimate compliment! Thank you!
36 minutes for 10 contacts. Impressive. I am mainly a SOTA activator and lately I have started activating POTA. Of the three POTA that have not been combined with SOTA, it has taken me 2 - 2.5 hours to get 10 contacts in CA, operating QRP. Lots of fun, just takes longer than SOTA. How do you like that CW Morse "Pocket Paddle"? Nice video.
Great antenna, I worked Spain on 20m with the 705 and the mat tuner and that antenna, this last July at a northern Michigan pota site. Chameleon is quality machined cnc products and is worth the price, no pvc and glue with most if not any of their products!
Agreed and well done on the on the DX!
As usual, great video! You need a Peovi cage...makes a big difference in handling the IC-705.
I would like one of those I'm sure.
What I like to do when I tune is to change the mode to FM and hold the mic ptt down while tuning, or put my keyer in bug mode and hold down the right side with a steady tone. Great antenna and video, my Chameleon TDL will be here on Monday. 73 de AI5DD
Thank you!
As I am learning what I am really starting to feel is overwhelmed with what antennas do what and if all radios can use any imaginal antenna setup. Btw your videos are some of the best and motivating, thanks for sharing your knowledge. I do have the Xiegu x5105 and a portable qrp loop antenna right now but still studying so only can listen.
It can be overwhelming for sure. Knowing that you have the Xiegu X5105, you have a nearly unlimited number of antenna options since it sports such a great internal ATU. I'd highly encourage you to consider even building your own simple antenna like this one: qrper.com/2021/06/field-report-lets-build-a-super-simple-antenna-on-site-and-activate-this-park/ You might invest a total of $4 in it!
I just ordered a extra whip and cha hub kit to make the delta loop.
I think you'll be very pleased--it's a great self-supporting antenna option!
How do you think the Delta Loop compares to the MPAS 2.0 or even the MPAS Lite?
I have the MPAS Lite and wonder if the performance of the TDL over the MPAS Lite is enough to justify the $170.00 it costs to convert the MPAS Lite to a TDL.
So I'll try to answer you both in this:
New, the MPAS Lite is $340 and the CHA TDL is $355.
If you're buying it new, I would go for the CHA TDL because you can very easily convert it to the CHA MPAS Lite with a 25' or so ground wire. Super easy and a super cheap. In a sense, it's like you're getting two antennas in one.
With that said: personally, I love the CHA MPAS Lite configuration so much, I'm not sure I'd fork out $170 to convert it to the CHA TDL. That has more to do with my style of operating, though. The MPAS Lite serves me so well with SOTA and for quick activations. When I have the room for the CHA TDL, I could just as easily deploy a wire antenna.
Then again, if you're operating in areas with higher QRM, you might find the CHA TDL a bit quieter. Frankly, I haven't tested this yet because I typically operate in spots with no RFI.
Clear as mud? :)
I love Hamrs but I take a Bluetooth keyboard with me if I am expecting to log people at any speed. Then I grab the adif of the log, upload the full one to QRZ LOTW etc and strip out the fields POTA doesn't need and just submit those.
Do you use a RF isolator? Probably not at QRP. Thanks for the great video. I love to hear you do CW.
The cable I have came from Chameleon and has an in-line RF choke. I don't think it's necessary at all at 5W, though. With the loop, I'm not sure at what power level that might become a concern. With end-feds, I usually want a choke with anything 20 watts and over.
Another awesome video! Quick question, I’m deciding between MPAS Lite and TDL, which do you prefer and why? I need only for portable ops and quick setups, I don’t have a home shack so set up each time I play radio, performance is what I’m interested in. Tnx, KQ9L
Hi, Richard, I'm going to copy a reply I left just moments ago on another similar question:
New, the MPAS Lite is $340 and the CHA TDL is $355.
If you're buying it new, I would go for the CHA TDL because you can very easily convert it to the CHA MPAS Lite with a 25' or so ground wire. Super easy and a super cheap. In a sense, it's like you're getting two antennas in one.
Then again, if you're operating in areas with higher QRM, you might find the CHA TDL a bit quieter. Frankly, I haven't tested this yet because I typically operate in spots with no RFI.
The only thing you'd be missing from the CHA MPAS Lite would be the 60' wire and spool that allows you to make a number of random wire antennas.
@@ThomasK4SWL Thank you very much! Aside from the possible rejection of QRM with the TDL, is there a performance gain over the MPAS Lite?
@@kq9l115 hmmm...I'm not sure. I have no way of testing that in real life since I don't have enough antenna components to build both and compare side-by-side. It would make for an interesting test. I would think that the TDL might be a little more efficient on 40M just because there's more of the antenna--the radiating portion is about 3+ times longer than the MPAS Lite's 17' whip. The TDL should be better at NVIS on 40M as well. But to be honest, I'm not totally sure how they'd compare.
So other than the NVIS ability, does this perform better than the MPAS Lite vertical. I have the Lite and considering gettting the addons to make the delta loop, but not sure if it is worth it
I'm not sure I'm qualified to properly answer that. I can tell you that another advantage of the loop, though, is it's better at mitigating RFI. I do find RFI at some parks.
Great video, as usual. Really enjoy your videos. Nice antenna that performs quite well but, my god, the price. Seems I recall you having great success, and building in the field to boot, a speaker wire antenna for under $25 that also worked quite well. Chameleon is a fine company that builds quality products, I even own some, however, this antenna costs over fourteen times what your speaker wire antenna costs. I may be wrong but I don’t think this antenna performs fourteen times better than your speaker wire antenna. Does it even perform three and a half times better than your average $100 EFHW? Don’t get me wrong but I believe that a good quality antenna is essential to a good station but at what price does it become ludicrous. If one has the means, go for it but I think there are less expensive alternatives. Thank you for reviewing this interesting antenna and I look forward to future videos.
I already had the whips and the Chameleon Hybrid Mini, so I purchased the hub. I was not going to pay full price for the antenna.
Very good points. So, the advantage of the CHA TDL and the Chameleon (and other brands) verticals is how easy they are to deploy and the fact they're self-supporting. On a summit, where I might not have proper trees to hang my 28.5' antenna, that CHA TDL will be a brilliant tool. Also, I could configure the antenna more like the MPAS Lite and then have a super portable vertical. In fact, the MPAS Lite has become my go-to SOTA antenna. Takes me all of 2 minutes or less to set up and have on the air.
I actually prefer a good, larger aperture, resonant wire antenna in terms of performance. However, I can get "in and out" with my Chameleon faster and likely rack up enough contacts to top off an activation in short order.
Truth is, I'm probably the wrong person to ask because I love trying various antennas just to see how they perform. That speaker wire antenna is one of my favorites! :)
But as you say, Chameleon quality is second to none. Your money is going into that.
Also good points. Antennas are personal choices and the one that is right for you at a particular site may not be right for me or someone else. A self supporting, lightweight antenna system is essential for SOTA operations because you may not have trees or any other natural supports available on some mountain tops. Sometimes one doesn't even have natural supports at POTA locations.
Would it work better or worse on an elevated tripod? I use the Chameleon MPAS vertical on a Buddipole tripod.
It would work better in an elevated position. I need to sort out a reliable way to do that.
Great Video.. G90 and MPAS 2.0 is one of my POTA rigs... de KO4KHB
Clean the table :)
Ha ha!
I reckon leave it, Thomas, it's in the spirit of POTA! You praised the IC-705 audio - have you used and can you compare with the older Kenwoods which are well loved for their audio (and I am currently using)? The TS-140S is just a joy to listen to on an open band, keen to hear your opinions too.
@@bmcosier so the great thing about the IC-705 audio is that it's clear and the speaker is front-facing. It's brilliant for CW and very good for SSB as well. It reminds me of built-in speakers you might hear in a mobile VHF/UHF radio--meaning, it has ample audio punch and is clear. It's not a great speaker for broadcast band listening, though, and that's where those legacy radios like Kenwoods have an advantage. It's a small speaker and really optimized for the more narrow bandwidth audio sources like SSB and CQ from what I can tell. Some of the Kenwood transceivers have much richer audio fidelity, but of course, they don't have the lower receive current drain figures of the IC-705. The audio amplification chain can really demand a bit of current. So, compared with most other *portable* transceivers, I think the IC-705 is at the top of the heap.
Aloha Thomas, has any hams ever get ate up by a bear(s) during a POTA before? I worry about you during these videos, lol!
i know NO8C personally, Mike from Miller City, OH I will ask him if he worked you or someone else. !!
Thank you!
Great video, as usual. Keep up the good work! de Brian - K3ES
Thank you so much, Brian!
💎
You need a mortgage to buy this antenna ! !
I think my comments are going to your spam filter. They’re disappearing.
I'll take a look in the SPAM folder of TH-cam and see if it trapped some there. I'm not entirely sure how TH-cam filters comments. It's all automatic.
I love your videos, and I think Chamaeleon makes a good product. But, Delta loops are just horrible antennas. Most people advise to build anything else but Delta loops, because almost anything else out performs them. The Delta configuration you have set up, Apex down, center fed, has a spherical radiation pattern. It’s a good cloud burner. I guess maybe if you wanted to make local contacts it would be OK. But, even the ones that are apex up and corner fed have less gain than dipoles and worse radiation angles than verticals. This is the equivalent of taking the finest engineering & materials to build a 1971 Ford Pinto.
I modeled the Chamaeleon antenna via EZNEC and compared it to a dipole at same height (13 feet) as the horizontal wire of the delta loop. The model's ground was set to: "real/MININEC." The loop is close to resonance at 17 meters. So, the comparison was performed at 17 meters (18 mHz). The antennas had similar radiation patterns, the dipole had a slightly higher gain at 15 and 21 degrees (minus 1.08 dbi and plus 1.3 dbi), but the delta loop was a very close second with minus 1.32 dbi and plus 1.1 dbi, respectively. Without doubt, the Delta won the cloud-burning contest with plus 6.08 dbi at 90 degrees. The dipole's highest gain was plus 5.58 dbi at 72 degrees -- not as effective at cloud-burning, but a close second. Based on this modeling, it appears to me that the difference between the two antennas is not significant. Most likely what hurts the Chamaeleon's performance most is its 5:1 UNUN. By design, it's a lossy device meant to smooth out wide variations in VSWR in non-resonant, wideband antenna systems. For more info on the UNUN's design, do a google search using keywords:
"g8jnj broadband hf vertical"
Ken WA8FCI
@@DaDitDa Hi, Ken, not to get particular, but the problem with your model is that you put the dipole at 13 feet. My guess is that's to compare with the chameleon. But the problem with this is the Chamelion can't go higher than 13' in a standard ground deployment, but a dipole can - easily. Especially in our part of the country. If you had modeled the Dipole at 25 ft (approx 1/2 wavelength above ground at 17m - and a pretty easy deployment), you know you would have gotten better gain, with low take-offs and no cloud burning on the resonant frequency.
That's the problem with vertical delta loops, they're harder to deploy than a vertical EFHF or a dipole, and they're worse antennas.
My go to unun for "all-band" is the LDG 9:1 for portable multi-band performance or my Par end-fed half-wave. Check out that 9:1, it cots $25, it brings a 41' wire's SWR less than 5:1 across all bands, and with a SHORT feed line and tuner you've got a really effective, cheap, broadband antenna. That would be a killer video, especially for a KX2 with the built-in tuner.
@@kd8opi You're correct. I placed the dipole at 13 feet for an apples-to-apples comparison. Of course, raising the delta loop and the dipole to greater heights yields similar performance results for both antennas. But, as you eluded to, the downside for the delta loop, in portable applications, is that raising it a significant height quickly becomes an unwieldy endeavor.
So, I fully agree that an EFHW or EF random wire is a much better choice -- in many respects -- for portable operations.
73 Ken WA8FCI