Testing the new Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop (CHA TDL) antenna

Chameleon Antenna has sent me a number of their antenna systems to evaluate in the field over the past few months at no cost to me. I appreciate not only the opportunity to test these antennas, but to provide the company with my frank feedback.

As I’ve mentioned previously, Chameleon antennas are military grade and build here in the US (check out Josh’s tour of their factory).  You pay a premium price–compared to imported options–but their gear is built for performance, easy deployment, and longevity.

What has impressed me most about Chameleon gear is how flexible and modular it is. Their antenna systems are adaptable to almost any situation and always built around the idea of emergency communications.

Recently, Chameleon sent me their new CHA TDL or Tactical Delta Loop antenna. This vertical loop antenna has been designed to be portable, and tunable from 3.5 to 54.0 MHz (80-6M), but, as Chameleon points out,  “is most effective on the bands from 10.1 to 54.0 MHz (30-6M). ”

TDL deployment

If I’m being perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect this antenna to look like–in terms of size–once deployed, so I set it up in the front yard prior to taking it to the field.

Set up couldn’t have been more simple: attach the 17′ telescoping whips to the stainless steel spike (with one whip attached to the Hybrid Micro), extend the whip sections, then attach the loop wire to connect the tips of both whips.

It might have taken me four minutes to set up the TDL on the first go.

This antenna needs a little space  for sure: this isn’t one you could easily deploy in a dense forest, but it has a very flat profile vertically. I can’t think of a single park I’ve activated that couldn’t accommodate the CHA TDL.

I like to try to give gear a fair chance when I do evaluations and thought I’d wait until propagation was at least stable before taking the TDL to the field and making a real-time, real-life video (as I used it for the first time). But, frankly, I’m way to impatient to wait for the sun to play fair! Trial by fire…

Lake Norman State Park (K-2740)

On Monday (March 15, 2021) I packed up the CHA TDL and headed to Lake Norman; one of my favorite parks to play radio.

Gear:

Propagation left much to be desired that afternoon, but the weather was perfect.

I decided to pair the CHA TDL with my Icom IC-705. Since the CHA TDL requires an ATU, I connected the mAT-705 Plus.

NVIS on the low bands

I had no idea what to expect from the CHA TDL in terms of performance, but Chameleon notes that it provides Near-Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) propagation on 40 and 80 meters. NVIS antennas are very popular for the military and for emergency communications since the propagation footprint is much closer to home than it might normally be.

NVIS is also a brilliant option for park and summit activators, especially if they’re activating in an area with a high density of park/summit chasers. For example, if you live and activate sites in the state of Maryland, employing a NVIS antenna might make your site more accessible to the DC metro area, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey–regions that might otherwise be in the skip zone of your 40 meter signal.

On the air

Operating five watts CW, I started calling CQ POTA on 20 meters and snagged four stations in about seven minutes.

I was very pleased to work a station in California and one in Montana with five watts. (Though I need to check, this might have been my first MT station logged from a park.)

Next, I moved to 40 meters and was very curious if the TDL would provide me with proper NVIS propagation.

It did! One litmus test for me is when I work stations in Tennessee on 40 meters. Typically, I only log TN stations when on 80 meters or when I’ve configured one of my wire antennas for NVIS coverage.

Here are my logs from this 28 minute activation:

Here’s a QSOmap of the activation–the delineation between my four 20 meter contacts and eight 40 meter contacts is pretty evident:

Video

Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation which also shows how the CHA TDL easily fit in among trees:

In a future video, I’ll show how I deploy the CHA TDL.

Unfortunately, I left my tripod at home, so apologies for the viewing angle as I operated the IC-705.

Summary

This first test of the CHA TDL really couldn’t have gone better.

I was able to easily deploy it on sloping ground, among trees, in a state park, and snag both locals and QRP DX within a brief window of time on the air.  All this, while our local star tried its best to interfere.

In terms of construction, the TDL is what I would expect from Chameleon: military grade.

For park activators and Emcomm purposes, the CHA TDL makes for a convenient, portable NVIS antenna on 40 and 80 meters.

While I have lighter, smaller footprint antenna options for SOTA, I must admit I’m very curious how it might perform on 20 and 17 meters from the summit of a mountain. The idea of being able to rotate the antenna and change the propagation footprint is very appealing. I’ll save this experiment for a summit that doesn’t require hours of hiking, though, and one where I know I can jab the stainless steel spike in the ground (i.e. not on top of a rocky mountain).

Any negatives? When I first deployed the TDL at home, we were having 30+ MPH wind gusts. When the gusts shifted, it did move the antenna. This could be remedied pretty easily by using a bit of fishing line filament to tie off one side of the loop. With that said, I’m not sure I’d configure the TDL as a loop if I expected strong winds. Also, as I mentioned earlier, this might not be the best antenna to pack if you plan to include a multi-hour hike in your activation.

And herein lies the brilliant thing about Chameleon Antennas: If I packed in the CHA TDL and found that winds were strong on site, I would simply configure it as a vertical instead of a loop!

The CHA MPAS Lite vertical

The CHA TDL can easily be configured as a CHA MPAS Lite portable vertical: all it’s missing is a counterpoise wire which you can buy separately from Chameleon or, better yet,  just use some spare wire you have on hand!

Or, you could configure it as a random wire antenna by directly connecting a length of wire to the Hybrid Micro transformer.

That’s the thing about Chameleon HF Antennas: they can be configured so many different ways.

If you’re interested in the CHA TDL, I’d strongly encourage you to read though the user manual: it’s chock full of info and ideas. Click here to download as a PDF.

Next time I take the CHA TDL out, I think it’ll be to a summit where I’d like to see how it might perform on the higher bands with the ground sloping away from the antenna site.

Click here to check out the CHA TDL at Chameleon Antenna ($355 US shipped). 

9 thoughts on “Testing the new Chameleon Tactical Delta Loop (CHA TDL) antenna”

  1. Thanks for the review! I know you’re really excited about the Chameleon antennas so this might be my next purchase for POTA/SOTA. Going to watch your video next and then decide. 73 Scott, KN3A

    1. Scott, this Chameleon antenna would be high on my list.

      What I love about it is that for $15 more than the MPAS Lite (which is $340), you get a field-deployable loop antenna AND an MPAS Lite minus the MPAS Lite’s counterpoise. Attach a 25′ wire to the ground lug on the spike, use one 17′ whip, and you’ve got an MPAS Lite!

      This might be one of the more bang-for-buck antennas in the Chameleon line up.

      Cheers,
      Thomas
      K4SWL

  2. I’ve been looking for a antenna to replace my WRC setup. I think I’ll give this try.

    Thanks for the review, Thomas!

    73
    Steve K0BWR

  3. Any other additional use/deployment of the CHA-TDL during POTA or SOTA operations since the initial trial by fire?

    1. I have taken it out on another activation that I didn’t record–maybe a month ago? I’ll do another video with it soon. Been waiting for a summit activation to try the 20M take-off angle.

      1. I will be very interested in that one. As you mention to Scott (KN3A) above, this seems to be a very versatile product within the Chameleon line up. I would also consider this one as a very likely purchase (investment) of a commercial antenna.
        Thanks for all your time and energy and the sharing of your knowledge and experiences.
        73 – Lloyd – KD4RUF

  4. Aloha Thomas…

    I really appreciate all of your work, sharing your experiences with
    all the various gear and equipment.

    By far this particular antenna is very intriguing, perhaps due to it’s limited footprint and effectiveness. I live in a HOA community, trying to establish a good NVIS deployment for EMCOMM is pretty difficult with the restrictions. Will stand by for your other videos utilizing this antenna.

    Mahalo again (thank you) Thomas for all your insight, greatly appreciate it.

    73 from the middle of the Pacific,
    Odell – WH6EAO

    1. My pleasure, Odell!

      I will have more videos with the delta loop soon. I think it would be a good NVIS option that can be deployed and taken down again in short order. An HOA can’t complain if you’re doing it under the cover of darkness, right? 🙂

      Mahalo/TU & 73!
      Thomas
      K4SWL

  5. Excellent write up and video. I am considering this antenna and may pull the trigger MOSTLY based on their high quality of construction / materials AND the fact that this can be deployed a few ways: Delta loop, vertical and wire! You are also inspiring me to finally learn CW.

    Thanks again!

    Brian K4BMW

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