Chameleon Portable Resonant Vertical Tested!

You can PRE-ORDER your CHA PRV - NOW!

Don't misunderstand me, I love Chameleon's equipment. However, I can't justify their expense anymore since we all know there are options out there which are much less expensive, just as rugged, and work as well and often times better that Chameleon's products.

I love my CHA antennas. They are always first in class in my book and this is a great addition to their line. Watch for more and more products to be released between now and early next year. Some will be game changers!

Your production quality is mint. I really like the overhead shots.

I appreciate all the information you provide. I will be testing soon for Tech and General, please keep doing what you are doing. 73's Daniel

Satire: Vern W6MMA called. He wants his design back. ;)

Great video Josh. I like chameleon and will I will buy the CHA-PRV, can't wait!

CHA Provides excellent manuals. Very detailed and well researched. You almost lost me when you said you tested it without reading the manual :) But I hung in there anyway :)

I am very excited to pick this up. Huge Chameleon antenna fan here!!

Good review Josh. Glad to see Chameleon putting out a resonate antenna. The 5 to 1 transformer in most other models is very lossy unless you absolutely need a broad band antenna. Most don't except for specialized cases. I'm betting it will cost north of $500., seems to be their sweet spot. This antenna will work like every other portable, coil vertical antenna, only with a big price tag cause it's ''PURDY''. The silver bullet at a much lower cost offers a larger diameter coil which is lower ''Q'', which is always better. How much of a difference that will make is most likely small. I don't know why they are not using their 17' whip. Any time you use less of or no part of the coil, you gain a lot of efficiency and signal strength. The short whip makes no sense except the long 17' whip is too long for 6 and 10 meters. Maybe they realize people will want the added efficiency and ease of the 17' whip and buy one in addition to their kit. Easy way to get more money from the consumer. Addition of a cheap short whip solves the problem of 6 and 10 meters. Last, banana clips are fast and work great until they break. I prefer the solid ring and bolt. Just as fast, much cheaper to build, so it doesn't add more cost and much more solid and reliable. Bottom line, if you're DADDY WARBUCKS AND CAN AFFORD TO BUY ALL OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE GEAR OR JUST HAVE A NEED TO IMPRESS, THIS IS YOUR ANTENNA. If your like most of us, buy the silver bullet coil, get a 17' whip and add whatever base you want or need and you will have enough money left over to buy quality coax like M&P and have some extra money left to put towards a better quality radio or other piece of gear. And, you will have a more efficient antenna. Or, get the SILVERBULLET set up and buy a EFHW antenna and a 6 to 10 meter pole and have two different types of antennas for about the same money you would spend on the Chameleon alone. A Silverbullet set up for long range and the EFHW for medium, closer in and NVIS use. Ham Harder and Ham Smarter. Also, power capacity? From the look of the thin coil wire size and maybe core material, it looks like it will turn from digital signals to smoke signals at somewhere between 30 an 50 watts.

The short mast extensions are to raise the coil above the feedpoint. Moving the coil away from the feedpoint on a quarter wave improves the efficiency of the coil. WolfeRiver and SuperAntenna and Buddipole all employ similar mast extensions to be inserted between the feedpoint base and coil.

Great Video! Can't say I'm sold on that antenna.

Seems familiar. Looks a bit like Super Antenna MP1. I have used the MP1 and love it. Like the ruler that comes with it so you know approximately where to slide the coil, then just use your tuner to do the final tuning.

I'm just getting into Ham, and I think it's a great idea for portability!

You need to straighten out the radial wires. Paying attention to the ground system is the KeY to vertical efficiency.

Thanks Josh, great review. I testify of the great quality and more importantly, outstanding customer service!! #BuyAmerican

Very cool...Chameleon fan here so I'll probably pick one up when available. Those two other spikes...do you think they may be there to elevate the antenna up off the ground a bit further? Thanks for the vid!

I'd be interested in seeing how this performs compared to the Super Antenna MP1DXMAX. It looks to be a similar design but also has extra coils to be able to use it for 60m and 80m. It can also do 6m and 2m. One thing I like is it also includes a "ruler" to hold up against the coil to get it close for the band you want (instead of using a chart and guessing how long you have it).

I would suggest the extensions would screw on under the coil and make the shaft longer below the coil a bit like how Hustler do it.

thank you for the info.