Gabil GRA-7350TC Portable HF Telescopic Whip Antenna, 3/8"-24 Connector | Laser-engraved telescopic whip covering 3.5–50 MHz with 3/8"-24 connector for portable amateur radio operation

As an amateur radio enthusiast who's had more antennas than hot meals, I recently had the pleasure of trying out a vertical, multiband dipole antenna that has, quite literally, elevated my radio adventures to new heights. Covering the 80 meter down to the 10 meter band, and not forgetting the 6 meter band (because who would want to forget about the "magic band"?), this antenna is a true Swiss Army knife in the world of amateur radio. First off, let's talk about the design. The antenna is a masterpiece of engineering, consisting of three main elements: a telescopic section that reaches for the stars (or at least tries to), a coiled section that cleverly sneaks the 80 meter band into the mix, and a lower section with an impedance adjusting feature that's as finely marked as the lines on my forehead. And yes, those markings are laser-etched, ensuring you won't need a magnifying glass or a guessing game to make adjustments. Now, for the pièce de résistance - the antenna's portability. It breaks down into three short sections, making it easier to transport than your favorite camping chair. Whether you're heading out for a POTA (Parks on the Air) activation, a SOTA (Summits on the Air) expedition, or just setting up in your backyard to escape household chores, this antenna is your ticket to a hassle-free setup. It's so light and compact, you might forget you're carrying it – until you start making contacts across the globe, that is. But how does it perform, you ask? Let's just say it's like having your cake and eating it too, except in this case, the cake is a clear, strong signal and you're eating up the airwaves. From the lush valleys of the 80 meter band to the lofty peaks of the 10 and 6 meter bands, this antenna ensures your signal is heard far and wide, turning your amateur radio dreams into reality. In conclusion, if you're looking for an antenna that combines versatility, portability, and top-notch performance, then look no further. Whether you're a seasoned ham venturing into the great outdoors or just someone looking to dip their toes into the amateur radio waters from the comfort of their own backyard, this multiband dipole antenna is your go-to companion. As long as you do your part in properly tuning the length to the portion of the band you will operate in, it's solid! Don't forget to add ground radials. I made some that seems to work well (5 wires of 20 meters length DX-50 soldered to a spring clamp and spread out around the antenna which was mounted to a ground spike.) So prep your radials, pack up your gear, set up your new antenna, and get ready to make some waves. Just don't forget to come back down to Earth every once in a while!

Being an urban ham, most of my HF activity is at local parks, and I've been looking for a good unobtrusive antenna less I attract passersby weirder than myself. Big wire antennas are no-go. Been using Hamsticks, but looking for something more packable and frequency-agile. I'd considered the WRC or DIYing something like the original PAC-12 when I came across this. Seems the same principle as the WRC (or any other base-loaded adjustable antenna) but really clever packaging, and much more rugged for throwing in an already crowded pack. First impression out of the bag: solidly built, LIGHT, packs down to around 12", *terrible* instructions, but if you know how a short vertical works it's not hard to figure out. I've already made a tripod mount for my Hamsticks, so as soon as I got this I packed it up with my FT100D and headed out to my favorite operating location. Setup was fast—I used 4 16' radials and had an ATU on hand, which turned out to be unnecessary. Volume up all the way, adjust slider for max noise volume, key up on AM briefly to check SWR. I found the coil settings were a bit lower than stated in the guide for general/phone. Obviously if you have a VNA all the better but I have enough in my bag already. Started spinning the dial. A few minutes in, Chile calling CQ on 20m—I answered and hadn't even bumped my power up past 20W yet, got a 57 report back. Obviously he was doing the heavy lifting, but a dummy load this is not. After sundown, dropped down to 40m and chased a few late-shift activators down the coast, and picked up a regional net here in the NW. Haven't tried it on 80 and I don't have a lot of hopes, but it's an option. I'd be curious swapping a 17' whip for that. This thing works. It's a little pricier than the WRC TIA Mini and doesn't come with a nice little tripod, but I don't worry about this thing melting under QRO or getting smashed up in my bag. My signal reports on SSB are about the same as on my Hamsticks on the higher bands, but the portability is far worth it. I'll have to try to experiment more with this at QRP levels. I'll be headed down to the SW later this year and hope to do some quick activations at parks where wire antennas will be a hassle. To the seller/distributor, I appreciate the option for a mini-tripod, but I would love to see a more affordable ground spike.

I had purchased this antenna several months back and could not achieve a good SWR in any configuration. Upon further investigation I found there was no continuity between the top and bottom of the main coil. I contacted the seller and he shipped me a new coil (I sent the old one back). Again no continuity between the top and bottom of the coil. Frustrated I set the antenna aside for a time. I picked it up again this week to see if I could get it to work. I tested continuity one more time to make sure I had measured correctly and still no good. Being past the date of possible return and being the ham radio op that I am I decided to disassemble the main coil to find out how it was manufactured and see if I could fix it. Upon removing the hex nut which held in the main shaft (bottom nut) I removed the shaft and discovered that the brass cap at the top of the shaft held a flexible copper connector that engaged the coil located inside the upper tube. The brass cap was not screwed on completely and therefore did not push the copper connector all the way into position and was not able to make proper electrical contact with the lower shaft. I removed the brass cap, cleaned the threads and reinstalled the cap. I had to make some slight adjustments when screwing in the cap so the flexible copper connector would not be to tight against the coil when reinserted into the upper shaft. The lower shaft now runs smoothly in and out of the upper shaft while maintaining proper electrical connection and I am able to achieve better than 1.5:1 SWR on all band. In setting up the antenna I used 50ft RG8X with the last 25 ft curled in to an 10 in coil and four 10ft radials for best SWR. When I uncurled the coil and laid the coax out straight and/or used 8 radials my SWR would increase above 2:1. When I adjusted the coil on the antenna I used approx 3.5 position marker for the 20 meter band and for the 7 meter band I used about 13.5 - 14. Your millage may vary so you will need to experiment with configuration. I struggled for an hour and gave up trying to make contact with KK7CJV in Montana (1700 Miles) during the Lewis and Clark Special event. The pile up was massive. I then found HB9EOU out of Switzerland (4000 Miles) and made contact first try. I gave him a 58 signal report and he came back to me with a 53. Overall I am satisfied with this antenna, I do not expect it to be a top performer, but after some minor repairs I was able to make a solid contact to Europe. The small footprint and ease of setup make the antenna a great POTA option.

Bought this antenna with its matching tripod base a few weeks ago after borrowing the same from a local ham friend for a few days. I was interested in getting started in doing POTA activations. This antenna is very easy to use and tunes easily with ground radials. Very compact and quickly assembled/disassembled to get you on the air fast. I've worked numerous European and S. American countries calling me during my POTA operations running 100W. This antenna is really amazing. The only negative is the poorly translated instructions. Most of it, the seasoned ham can figure out himself. Using this on 6m, though, the instructions are somewhat vague.

I needed an antenna that I could use when portable that didn't require disturbing the ground or putting things in trees. A good wire antenna is my preference, but it's not always an option. I was actually somewhat frustrated by this antenna at first, but I think largely due to my inexperience with this type of product. A vertical antenna like this is always going to be a compromise and I knew that going in, but I could not get it to tune into anything close to the advertised SWR. I was considering it returning it but gave it another shot on a free afternoon. Somewhat by accident I discovered that my problem was trusting the graph in the documentation showing what number to use on the coil for a given band -- that graph wasn't even close to right. Once I realized that, with my VNA I was able to get it tuned well and be heard much further than I anticipated. The antenna is pretty well built with good quality materials. The top sections of the antenna are very thin and fragile, but that's not surprising given the size of the antenna overall. My one complaint about it is that the nut on the coil doesn't seem to hold terribly well. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't collapse on its own when properly tightened but it is very difficult to adjust or collapse the vertical without losing your coil setting. Overall I'm quite happy with it for what it is, particularly paired with their tripod and a well chosen set of radials.

This design is currently being marketed by several manufacturers, but I purchased this one after seeing the non-laser etched version. I deploy it on a BuddiPole tripod with 8 radials appx 15 feet each. Any vertical of this type needs some kind of counterpoise system. This setup tunes well on all the bands it's designed for, and since almost all connections are 3/8th by 24 (the extendable whip threads appear to be different) you can get creative. Looking closely at the picture you will see a thicker coil assembly NOT PART OF THIS ITEM PACKAGE. I added a 60 meter coil from an old vertical from another maker that tunes well. Summary- this antenna appears well built. I find it easier to deploy than the Superantenna MP1. Give it a decent mount and adequate radials. Hopefully you'll be as satisfied as I am.

So I have the tripod and antenna paired together and use an X6100 radio for touchups on my first deployment of this system. I carried my analyzer with me but I can attest the anodized markings are consistent once you find the resonant spots. Even with the compromised set up between buildings and using no radials, I got decent signal reports for qrp using 5-10 watts. What you should notice though is that I got out anywhere with the antenna and a qrp radio...i have not tried a rag chew on 80m but the antenna could handle that according to my rig expert pro. I bought this over their November sale so I saved like 10 bucks, but I'd buy this at full price too after my testing. The antenna fully deployed with a 5-10 mph wind did not move on the gabil tripod's shortest setting so I assume it would be even more stable with the legs fully deployed. This requires some sort of analyzer or swr reading device to tune the antenna. Hope these practical observations help.

I bought this to use as a QRP portable antenna for Parks on the Air. However I struggle to get the VSWR down to a reasonable / acceptable level. I've tried radials (10m) like the brief paperworks mentions but it just doesn't work for me. I'm using a Rigexpert Pro to check the VSWR but Ijust doesn't get it below 2 and the impedance is way out. I've watched countless youtube videos and they are deployed and working in a few minutes. I've tested my coax and the antenna itself, and electrically it checks out but I just can't make it work on air. It might have been helpful if the company included an idiots working diagram, e.g a coax of 25' and radials or 10' and here's a picture etc. I also purchased the Gabil tripod and the earth connections are spring loaded and don't make great contact so this could be the issue. I've now order a different antenna and will probably put this on a well know auction site to recover my losses. I'm sure it's my setup but I can't get the VSWR low enough to use which is a huge shame as the unit is well constructed. I have tried contacting the company via email but they have never responded. I've had 500 QSOs in the past month on a randon bit of wire but not one on this antenna with 20watts

It barely has any rx worth noting,and swr wont come down below 5 on any band....seems to be built well enough it just doesnt work

Well made, pleased

This is way overpriced for what it is. Not actually tried it. Performance could be ok! W9UCW published a two part article in 2014 about mobile antennas with low Q. His theory is the length to diameter ratio does not make a real world difference. He mentions an old antenna webster bandspanner. It looks like this is based on that. Not sure if that was the first screwdriver antenna? So my problem with it is the thread on the telescopic. If you damage that its the end of the antenna. The thread is M10 1mm female. Most of the M10 telescopics are M10 1.5mm. I can't find an adapter for this. The telescopic is way too thin. The one that comes with the JPC-12 is better but that will not fit this! Regardless this is very expensive for a loading coil and a very poor telescopic. Would expect signals to be maybe several points down and that's ok if using 100w. But if you only have 20w would look for something else maybe JPC-12 or MC-750. A 5m telescopic with a base loading coil works ok on 40m and full size 20-10m. On the one I was sent the writing on the scale is missing part of the numbers. Not engraved at all just painted!

It tunes easily, if you use the enclosed chart as a rough guide. The nub on top is not screwed on, so i would recommend red locktite or some epoxy. ( I threaded mine, but most people wouldnt have that size tap and die) So far it seems to work best with four 8'2.5" counterpoises. I havent tried to make any QSO's yet, but will try it on my HAM activity group later today and update this review.