POTA with the HF-008 Antenna

A couple weeks ago, I received an email from Radio Oddity offering an HF-008 Antenna along with an M916 Heavy Duty Magnet Mount for about $120.

I had been looking for something to use for car based POTA activations since my QBV 40/20 switched antenna needed some repair. So Radio Oddity caught me at the right, weak moment. It wasn’t long before it was delivered and it my car ready for my next POTA activation.

HF-008 Antenna

The HF-008 antenna is basically a loaded coil style antenna with an adjustable whip. There have been many YouTube video reviews of the HF-008 antenna recently. Radio Oddity is offering some great deals on them.

I wasn’t expecting much from this style of antenna. But I used it during my POTA activation today at US-0321 - Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and I was surprised at how well it performed.

As you can see from the photos, the HF-008 screws into the M916 magnet mount and uses your car’s metal hood or roof as a ground plane. I used this as a portable antenna and would not recommend driving around with this in a mobile configuration.

I used the antenna with another Radio Oddity product, my Xiegu G90 which operates at 20 watts.

POTA activation and results

I may have been lucky with radio conditions and propogation but I was really surprised at how well this antenna performed. I was operating CW with my friend KC1UML. I wouldn’t say that our activation was easy; it took us about 80 minutes to make 11 contacts at the park. But when I looked at our Reverse Beacon results I was amazed. It seemed we were lighting up every beacon 20 meters could hit.

And QSOs in England and Spain as well. I would say that I’m pretty happy with the antenna.

Given my experience today, I recommend this antenna for quick, car based activations. Before you run out to buy one please know that the HF-008 is a fiddly antenna.

The HF-008 worked great but is a fidgity antenna

It has a high Q factor which means that it the plotted SWR has a narrow nadir. Each time you set up the antenna you need to adjust the jumper cables and whip length to work your frequency. It took me several rounds of adjusting the antenna length and then checking the SWR on my G90 before I was satisfied and ready to operate. That probably won’t be much fun in poorer weather, typically when I’m doing my car based POTA activations.

It took me several rounds of adjusting before I was satisfied and ready to operate.