Chameleon CHA LEFS Half-Wave End-Fed Antenna Review.

The CHA LEFS is a six-band, no-tuner HF antenna for use on the 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meter bands. Performance is stellar as EFHW antennas usually perform very well. There are some issues I highlight in this video, so watch it all. UPDATE FROM CHAMELEON AT THE BOTTOM.
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First off the unit you received (few months ago) were only made in a very small batch. Just about everything on that unit has been changed and/or updated since then. The transformer is now covered with heat shrink. We wanted to use LINEX but with the products shortage, LINEX is impossible to get now.

The same changes happened with the wire used to wound the toroid. The unit that you have uses regular enamel wire which is used by any other manufacturers in the industry. As you remember, during the summer 2021 it was just about impossible to get anything for manufacturing! The wire that we're currently using is a 14 gauge solid core wire with a FEP sleeve covering. Typically referred to as FEP, Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene is a type of fluoropolymer commonly extruded as both an insulation and jacket material for wire and cable. FEP exhibits outstanding resistance to chemicals, has a wide temperature range and excellent electrical properties. Very few manufacturer if any uses that kind of quality wire.

This unit doesn't come in a box because it's a portable unit. The box would have made it way too bulky and heavy. Just look at the CHA EMCOMM III B which is a base station unit and the CHA EMCOMM III P which is a portable unit. The B version is WAY bigger than the P version for portable.

Now concerning your wire crimp issue. It shouldn't be a concern to anyone really. We've been crimping about 95% of all our wires since the last few years already. It's a none issue. Crimp technology has surpassed soldering tech in some usages like the ones we're talking about. Crimping offers stronger, more reliable connections than soldering. Soldering uses heated metal to join the cable to the connector. Over time, this filler metal will degrade, which may cause the connection to fail.

From what I can see on your broken wire issue it looks like a sharp edge actually created that problem (break). Our wire come directly from the manufacturing spool to the little coil that we provide with all our antennas. We do not wound the wire on the winders anymore. It's faster and the customer can decide how he actually wants to install the wire on the winder.

So why I know it's a sharp edge? It's because the wire we're using is covered with PTFE sleeve and PTFE doesn't crack, break, split or doesn't become brittle over time under any conditions! This is one of the main property of the PTFE wire! You can literally tie a knot on the wire and undo it and the wire will NEVER crack! If you also look closely, you can also see one or two fibers of broken copper clad wire that has been broken! You can see that at 5:00 on your video.

The type of wire used in the LEFS antenna design is also very different from all other manufacturers. In order to reduce weight without compromising efficiency and durability we're using a proprietary Ultra-thin 20 gauge PTFE antenna KEVLAR wire (-70°C to 150°C). The CHA PTFE wire is used in high temperature electronic applications or where abrasion resistance is required. It has excellent thermal aging, solder damage, flame, and moisture resistance. PTFE resists solvents, grease, ozone and other chemicals. Low power loss, ideal for high frequency applications. Recommended for critical applications.

Видео Chameleon CHA LEFS Half-Wave End-Fed Antenna Review. канала Radio Prepper