Very Happy with this HF MOBILE antenna.

Ordering and the customer service was excellent. Steven kept me updated on the progress as the antenna was built, and updated me as he posted YouTube videos of SWR measurements and mounting the antenna on the Alpha Jam Mount. The antenna was ordered on February 6 and I received it in less than two weeks.

I found that the Jam Mount would not work the way I had envisioned on my Buick Rendezvous; the mount prefers a more vertical alignment of the back hatch so with the slope of my vehicle I couldn’t come up with a configuration that would let the antenna be vertical. I wound up placing the mount on the roof of the vehicle, screwed into the rails where the roof cargo rack mounts. That provides an excellent connection to the chassis “ground”.

On the air, my only mobile experience has been during my commute to/from work in North Texas, driving between Granbury and Fort Worth. So I get about 30 minutes each way of air time, minus the necessary driving interruptions for traffic.

I understand that just about any mobile antenna is a compromise, obviously I will not get the same performance as my SteppIR BigIR with 48 radials each 70 feet long. So I did not expect to be chasing DX. But I am extremely happy to have not only worked domestic (U.S.) SSB with 100 watts from coast to coast and border to border, but also Cuba x2, St. Croix, Venezuela, Ecuador, Lithuania x2, and even “busting through the pileup” according to his words, C6AMM in Bahamas. Most of this has taken place as I got used to eyes off (the radio) mobile operating (it takes a lot of care you know, you are foolish and hazardous if you don’t put 99% of your attention to your driving!) during the last work week with one or two QSOs a day. For a multi-band mobile antenna, I would say that you can’t ask for more!

Some of my considerations in choosing this vs. a hamstick type or screwdriver type antenna included the fact that the Rendezvous isn’t friendly for mounting antennas, they either need to go high up on the hatch back with an adjustable mount or on the roof, and that means the antenna needs to be able to give way for entering and exiting both the home garage and parking garages. So a screwdriver on top is out unless I used a rather expensive motorized mount to raise and lower it, and a hamstick would have to be removed and replaced each entry/exit cycle. The MOTO lets me pull the whip down to a catch I installed just above the driver’s window, and that clears the garages just fine. In addition, I favor the quicker band switching that is simply a press of the tune button on the LDG YT-100 tuner, rather than tweaking a remote motor or changing sticks. The MOTO also lets me undo one nut to remove the antenna and take the car through the car wash.

I also plan to use this antenna our boat. Again, just removing one nut will let me take it to the boat and screw it on the mirror style standard thread antenna mount on the boat. I am looking forward to what I can do while relaxing on Lake Granbury this year and I plan to write an update about that later this year.

N0JY

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