The
Challenger antenna is the first production multiband antenna
to utilize GAP technology. Thousands of Challengers are now in
use throughout the world. From the jungle of New Guinea to
the bitter cold of Finland to the brutal sands of Desert Storm,
Challenger with its elevated feed, links its user with rest of the
world. Challenger is the first and only antenna capable of
operating on eight separate bands from 3.5 MHz to 144 MHz.
Its operating bands are 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m,
and 2m. Over 130 KHz of bandwidth is provided on 80m. On
2m, the Challenger is a great base station antenna.
CQ tested the Challenger and established that on 2m, for
example, its gain was approximately 6 to 8dB. On 40m
compared to a mono band vertical, they found Challenger an S
unit stronger. This is typical of the many reports received from
amateurs around the world. Challenger is designed to be
mounted directly in the ground or elevated. A ground mount is
provided with each antenna. With the ground mount in place,
the Challenger simply drops in. If necessary, because of space
limitations, but not to improve performance, Challenger may be
roof mounted since it does not require earth loss to obtain a 50
ohm match. Challenger requires a counter poise of three 25ft
insulated wires. They may be buried or just scattered on the
ground. Symmetrical deployment is not critical. Adding
additional wire will not significantly improve performance. All of
this is covered in a 16-page assembly manual provided with
each antenna.
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