- This is the chameleon, LEFS 8010 lightweight
end fed sloper antenna.
This high performance and fed antenna will give you
coverage all the way down to the 80 meter band.
I recently had it out on a parks on the air activation.
How did it work?
Well, we're gonna find out coming up now.
(bright music)
What I have here is the Chameleon CHA LEFS
8010 Lightweight End Fed Slope Antenna.
Chameleon describes this antenna as an eight band no tuner
high frequency antenna for use
on the amateur radio bands from 10 through 80 meters.
It has a minimalistic design and lightweight components
so does good for all of your outdoor adventures.
Chameleon did send me a unit in exchange for a review.
A link to this antenna can be found
in the video description below.
In the package, you're gonna get three components.
The transformer unit with 63 feet of wire attached
to an integrated wire winder, a 67 foot piece
of wire to extend the antenna to the 80 meter band
and a 50 foot piece of micro 90 paracord.
This is an end fed halfway of antenna
so the transformer consists
of a 49 to one unin. Through the protective covering,
you can see the windings
on what appears to be a size 240 ferrite.
The transformers mounted
onto an integrated wire winder to hold the 63 feet of wire.
The wire is 20 gauge copper clad.
Kevlar with a PTFE insulation is very smooth and flexible.
There is a compensation coil
about six feet away from a transformer.
This is to aid in resonance for the upper bands.
Power handling is 500 watts side band
250 watts CW and 150 watts digital.
What makes this antenna different is at the end
of the wire you're gonna find it's terminated
with a socket.
On the included 67 piece of wire
you're gonna find a plug
and a carabiner clip.
This extends the antenna to a full 130 feet
for operation on the 80 meter band.
This makes this two antennas in one.
You get the basic 10
through 40 meters end fed halfway antenna
which only takes up about 50ish feet of space to deploy.
And you can add this entire extra piece
of wire for uninterrupted operation
from 10 meters all the way down to 80 meters.
Chameleon recommends two different configurations
in which you can deploy the antenna
either as an end fed sloper or an end fed horizontal.
The sloper configuration is preferred
as it is gonna give you good general purpose communications.
The horizontal configuration
of the antenna enhances its NVIS
or Near Vertical Sky Wave propagation.
For this review, I tested the antenna
in its basic slope or configuration.
To deploy the antenna, the feed point
should be elevated at about 25 feet.
This will entail using a tree or other support
structure to place the feed point at about 25 feet.
Once the line is in the tree, unwrap
and spread the antenna wire
out in the direction it will face.
There is some directivity broadside the antenna,
so pick a direction along the sides you wish to favor.
Next, connect the coax.
Now lift the antenna while holding the wire
so that the coax end
of the antenna doesn't tangle with the wire side.
Secure the line and then use a tent stake
which is not included to secure the other end
of the antenna at ground level.
Now you're ready to get on the air.
To use the antenna in the horizontal position
you'll wanna deploy the feed point
at about 15 feet of height.
Then secure the other end of the antenna
at the same 15 foot height so that it is horizontal.
This low height will favor the NVIS style propagation
of about a hundred or 300 miles on the lower bands.
To use the antenna as an 80 meter end fed antenna
you will connect the additional 67 foot piece
of wire to the end of the antenna.
The carabiner clips into the ring for strain relief
and then the plug fits into the socket on the main wire.
This antenna can be then left
in the same sloper configuration
with the 25 foot feed point height
or you can lift the other end
of the antenna for a horizontal NVIS operation.
Now one important note, especially
with the horizontal deployment is
that you do not want the wire to be tight or over-tensioned.
The wire is a 20 gauge copper clad Kevlar PTFE-covered wire.
It is strong, but it is not as strong as heavier gauge wires
that you may be more used to.
Over-tensioning this wire can cause it to break.
Recovery is similar to deployment.
Just perform these steps in reverse.
You can wind the paracord
and the main antenna wire onto the integrated wire winders.
Now let's talk performance.
First off, looking at the SWR graph
by frequency provided by Chameleon, you can see
that the antenna has very good dips
on the 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands.
Measuring the SWR with my analyzer,
I found the same to be true: good SWR
on those main bands and a bit higher on 17 and 12 meters.
When I added the 80 meter extension
a couple of things happened.
First off, there was a pronounced dip
at the bottom of the 80 meter band.
I believe the residents was at about 36-40 kilohertz
and SWR climbed to two to one at 3,800 kilohertz.
Even though you get good 80 meter performance
there's just not enough bandwidth
and you're gonna need a tuner to use this antenna
in the phone portion of the 80 meter band.
But also when adding the extension, the SWR
for 17 and 12 meters dropped into the good range
and bandwidth increased slightly for 40 and 20 meters.
Otherwise, performance was very good.
On 40 through 10 meter band
the antenna had enough bandwidth to cover 40 meters, fine.
I noticed that on the 20 meter plot
that the resident point was a bit outside of the band
but SWR was otherwise fine.
I don't think this is really a big deal
or indicative of a problem.
Just remember every deployment will be different
and SWR will shift slightly depending
on environmental factors.
The important thing to consider is
that the antenna delivers reliable performance
in a wide variety of situations.
As long as your SWR is within the recommended limits
of the transceiver, this antenna is going to work fine.
For example, I use this antenna
on the 80 meter phone without a tuner.
Even though my SWR was close to two to one
the radio didn't mind
and using just really right down close
to about 3,800 kilohertz
I was able to get contacts as close as a hundred miles away.
And as far as the Carolinas, if you wanna see and hear more
on the air and the signal quality tests of this antenna
please watch my previous parks
on the air activation at Governor Thompson State Park.
It'll provide you, I'll provide you a link
for that down in the video description.
Now I've been using the original Chameleon
Lightweight End Fed Sloper Antenna for a little over a year
and a half and I thought it would be fitting to
compare this antenna to the, to the newer Chameleon 8010.
First off,
the LEFs the L E F s,
both of these models is a very durable antenna.
This one has been, has provided very rugged performance
over the last year and a half and it's gonna last a long-
and so I'm, I'm confident that this one
the LEFs 8010 is also well constructed
and it's gonna last a long time.
The obvious difference between the two, other than the lack
of the protective covering on my older antenna;
it was an early production model
so it doesn't have this covering, is
that the compensation coil on the original LEFS is closer
to the end of the antenna and on the newer one
they moved it closer to the feed point.
I see no difference in performance in moving the coil.
I believe they did that just for
to make it easier
to add that 80 meter extension.
So there's no performance difference in that.
Price-wise, the original LEFs is about $180.
The LEFS 8010 is $225.
Honestly, I'd spend the extra money to get the 8010
version just to have this extra wire
and legitimate 80 meter capabilities.
I've used my original LEFS
as an 80 meter antenna with a tuner.
While it works,
you know, it's not the best.
It's got some weird,
weird radiation
patterns and whatnot.
So I found that the, the extra wire with the 8010 makes
that 80 meter performance so much better.
End fed half-wave
of antennas are quite popular, especially for portable use,
and there are many different permutations
of this style of antenna available for sale.
Performance wise, they pretty much all work the same.
The defining difference between Brand A
and Brand B is the construction and not
and the non-RF features of the antenna.
Things like how easy it is to deploy, what the quality
of components are and the power rating of the antenna.
I think Chameleon hits the mark
with its version of the end fed half-wave.
It's well constructed.
The integrated wire winder is very nice
and really it just works as expected.
I really like the option of deploying this antenna either
with or without the 80 meter segment when going portable
you may not have the space for the full 130 feet
or you want, or you may not wanna use the 80 meter band
but leaving it out, you know, still makes this a quality
a 40 through 10 meter antenna.
Although the SWR is just a little bit higher
on the on 17 and 12 meters.
If there's anything I don't like
about this antenna is the lack of a wire winder
for the 80 meter section.
It makes this a little bit
harder to deal with.
I had to put some Velcro on here.
Otherwise you can make a wire winder, a wood one
like this or just buy an inexpensive kite winder,
but I'd like to see a plastic wire winder included
with the package for this accessory wire.
So what do you think?
Do you have any questions on the chameleon LEFS 8010?
What do you look for in an end fed half-wave antenna?
Leave a comment down below.
I'd love to see your thoughts.
If you've enjoyed this video and wanna see more reviews
like this, well please hit like and subscribe.
Extended content like an end to end parks
on the air activation using this antenna can be found
over on my Patreon page.
But that's it for this time.
I'm Michael KB9VBR
Have a great day in 73.
(birds chirping)