[land crusher]

For those of you that are Hams, I raise this age old question. I fear it may be more of a Ford vs. Chevy debate than a Land Cruiser vs. Jeep debate, and thus six and one half dozen, but I need some help deciding.

[ca62cruzr]

Either are excellent radios and I'd own either, its all a matter of size and how good of a deal are you gonna get. I own Kenwood, Icom and Yeasu gear. Ive worked the 706 some, stay away from the Yaesu ft-100 to much noise

[e9999]

I've heard it said more than once that the menus in Yaesus are easier to deal with than the other main brands. (no personal experience to that effect)

[BC_FJC]

I run both a Yaesu 857D and a Kenwood TS480SAT and would recommend both of them. The Yaesu is probably the easiest to use but the Kenwood is not that much more difficult and you have more setting that can be adjusted without going into the menu's plus a built in antenna tuner. I know a lot of people that have switched from Yaesu 857 and 897 to the ICOM 7000 and would not go back apparently the quality of the DSP makes learning how to use it well worth while. As for the 706mkIIG I can't comment.

What are other Ham's you know running? it might come down to what your support group are using.

[Roland]

I recomend IC706mkIIg over yaesu.

[bj70_guy]

Originally Posted by Roland

I recomend IC706mkIIg over yaesu.

Ok... why?

[mkfour]

I played with both at HRO before my purchase of the 706. Use of the 706 and the button layout seemed more intuitive compared to the 857. And the deciding factor was the larger display.

The two radios are very comparable but there are slight non-critical differences.

Icom
~100 memories
Green display
No software available

Yeasu
~200 memories
Multiple colors
Software available


These are only a few of the differences, there are probably some more, but none of these are critical.
The 857 is also $100-$200 cheaper and you can pick up the ATAS-120 and the 857 for about the price of a 706.

[CreeperSleeper]

I have no proof to back this, but it seems to me that the Yeasu's are more heavy duty. I have a FT2800 and I just bought a VX150 HT.

[land crusher]

Went with the Yaesu. Now trying to figure out mobile HF antenna options that work while not breaking the bank.

[rusty_tlc]

Originally Posted by e9999

I've heard it said more than once that the menus in Yaesus are easier to deal with than the other main brands. (no personal experience to that effect)

As with a lot of electronics and SW once you understand the logic a particular vendor uses to structure menus new products are easier to use. All of my radios are Yaesu, I barely opened the manual for the last one I bought. I'm sure if I had switched to ICom or Kenwood there would have been a learning curve. Many people, understandably, can't distinguish between this learning curve and ease of use.

[BC_FJC]

Originally Posted by land crusher

Went with the Yaesu. Now trying to figure out mobile HF antenna options that work while not breaking the bank.

And you thought picking out a radio was difficult Did you pickup a antenna tuner as well or are you looking to tune the antenna to a frequency?

[land crusher]

Originally Posted by BC_FJC

And you thought picking out a radio was difficult Did you pickup a antenna tuner as well or are you looking to tune the antenna to a frequency?

I got an LDG Z-100 autotuner. My plan is to have a couple portable antennas (maybe a multiband dipole and an NVIS setup or maybe a Buddi-pole style rig) for HF use at camp, but I'd also like to have something on the truck to use in a pinch when I don't feel like setting up something outside the truck.

[BC_FJC]

I just got one of these CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna and am in the process of testing it out. My first contacts with it mounted to my patio table where promising when compared to other vertical antennas I have tried from the same location. I will be trying it on the truck this weekend and comparing it to my screwdriver antenna with both a 36" and a 102" whip. So far I have made contacts on 80m, 40m, 2m, 70cm. If things work out I will be connect it to a duplexer before connecting it to both the HF and VHF/UHF connections on the 857.

For camp setup nothing can beat wire dipole antenna. I use a 135 food 7 band dipole and have had excellent results with it and it takes up almost no space in the trick.

73,

[land crusher]

Originally Posted by BC_FJC

I just got one of these CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna and am in the process of testing it out. My first contacts with it mounted to my patio table where promising when compared to other vertical antennas I have tried from the same location. I will be trying it on the truck this weekend and comparing it to my screwdriver antenna with both a 36" and a 102" whip. So far I have made contacts on 80m, 40m, 2m, 70cm. If things work out I will be connect it to a duplexer before connecting it to both the HF and VHF/UHF connections on the 857.

For camp setup nothing can beat wire dipole antenna. I use a 135 food 7 band dipole and have had excellent results with it and it takes up almost no space in the trick.

73,

I'll be curious to hear how it works out. It looks like they're only selling them on ebay but I don't see any listed now (although I see they've got a Canadian dealer in Burnaby, is that where you picked up yours?)

[land crusher]

Hmm.. I see you can reserve them on the site. I suppose that's a good sign if they can't keep up with demand.

[bj70_guy]

Cool Drew, that antenna sounds promising! if it compares remotely well to your screwdriver it'd be a bargain. I look forward to your review... could be just the ticket for my 74.

Are you making the next CC meeting? I'd like to check it out for sure.

[BC_FJC]

Originally Posted by land crusher

Hmm.. I see you can reserve them on the site. I suppose that's a good sign if they can't keep up with demand.

Burnaby Radio was closed for there summer holidays, so I contacted the vendor and they do have them in stock now.

Originally Posted by bj70_guy

Cool Drew, that antenna sounds promising! if it compares remotely well to your screwdriver it'd be a bargain. I look forward to your review... could be just the ticket for my 74.

Are you making the next CC meeting? I'd like to check it out for sure.

I better be there or I'll get linched. I've got this months prizes and No I'm not putting this antenna in the draw

I should have a chance to play with it this weekend and will let everyone know how it do's

[BC_FJC]

It compared not to badly with my screwdriver antenna with the 36" whip. The screwdriver was a little more efficient at getting the signal out power out. But both where about equal on receiving V1 was just a little stronger. The screwdriver with the 102" whip clearly out preformed both by a good S2.

The autotuner in my Kenwood TS480 was unable to tune the V1, but my LDG Z11pro tuner was able to tune it on all frequencies. From my first tests it looks like the loss from the autotuner is greater then that of the loading coil in the screwdriver antenna. I will be trying a few other mounting locations on the truck to see if I can get better results.

[bj70_guy]

Interesting. Where did you have it mounted?
I REALLY want this antenna to work well, it would be such a nice easy solution. Not to mention, 1/3 of the price of a good screwdriver...

[mkfour]

Originally Posted by BC_FJC

I just got one of these CHAMELEON V1 HF Multiband Antenna and am in the process of testing it out.

Seems kind of expensive. It would be interesting to see how it compares to the 102" whip or a hamstick.

[bj70_guy]

Originally Posted by mkfour

Seems kind of expensive. It would be interesting to see how it compares to the 102" whip or a hamstick.

well, to be fair you'd have to compare it to 10 Hamsticks and a dual band VHF/UHF antenna. That's going to add up, plus you have to change your sticks every time you want to change bands.
I don't think the 102" whip does much on 80M - only what I've heard, no personal experience.

Drew's messed with hamsticks and Hustlers, so he could give you a comparison.

[BC_FJC]

Worked way better then the 102" whip by it's self. My antenna tunner has a hard time getting a good match on anything between 40 and 160 and vary little power makes it to the antenna even if the radio lets you output full power.

As for the Hamsticks it is vary comparable, I have both 20m and 80m hamsticks but you have to change the antenna to get the performance. When operating on the frequency that the antennas where tuned to they did out preform the V1

The Hustler antennas preform about the same as the Hamsticks but are quite a bit more fragile.

If you take a 20m Hamstick and connect an additional 20m base to it, it will tune up 80m and out preformed the V1 but only on 80m.

I put a temporary mount on my roof rack and ran a grounding strap down to a good ground. All antennas except for my screwdriver where tested from this location

[mkfour]

Originally Posted by bj70_guy

well, to be fair you'd have to compare it to 10 Hamsticks and a dual band VHF/UHF antenna. That's going to add up, plus you have to change your sticks every time you want to change bands.
I don't think the 102" whip does much on 80M - only what I've heard, no personal experience.

Drew's messed with hamsticks and Hustlers, so he could give you a comparison.

I meant hamstick/whip with a tuner.

My 40m hamstick (with tuner) tunes up 80-6m, pretty good on 80-20m. I'm still working on it.

[BC_FJC]

Originally Posted by mkfour

I meant hamstick/whip with a tuner.

My 40m hamstick (with tuner) tunes up 80-6m, pretty good on 80-20m. I'm still working on it.

What I found with both my 20m and 80m hamsticks is that they out preformed the V1 on there tuned freq. But once the antenna tuner was needed that things leveled out pretty quickly with in the matching band for the antenna. If I had my 20m hamstick up and was tunning 40m the V1 out preformed the hamstick.

I don't know if I will have time this week to run throw the test again but this time put a RF power meter inline just before the antenna to confirm my findings

[mkfour]

Originally Posted by BC_FJC

What I found with both my 20m and 80m hamsticks is that they out preformed the V1 on there tuned freq. But once the antenna tuner was needed that things leveled out pretty quickly with in the matching band for the antenna.

My tuner seemed to match my hamstick better than the hamstick alone. But I've got a different radio/tuner. I use an Icom AH-4 which acts more like a coupler. It's supposed to be mounted right next to the feedpoint and so I guess my antennas all look like base loaded ones. The feedline is just wire and not coax.

I should receive my 102" whip in the mail in a day or two and will give that a try.

[mkfour]

Originally Posted by BC_FJC

I put a temporary mount on my roof rack and ran a grounding strap down to a good ground. All antennas except for my screwdriver where tested from this location

I wonder if the mount/mounting location matters. Try testing with all the antennas on the roof rack.

[land crusher]

Drew,

Any new reports on that Chameleon antenna?

[Rob1955]

The trick with the chameleon v1 is having a good ground on your vehicle and a good location! Better the ground = better the SWR. Is that simple!

I own 3 chameleon v1 (home - truck - portable for travel) and I'm VERY pleased with them. They're so easy to setup and use! You can't go wrong with them.

73

[bj70_guy]

Hey Rob, got any pics of your install?

I bought a Chameleon to mess around with, haven't had enough time with it to make any kind of report yet.