The Chameleon CHA-SS25 stainless steel whip is a twenty five foot version of their popular SS17 17 foot whip. I’ve been using this whip for the last two months, and I’m going to tell you what I’ve learned about this whip and show you five different ways in which you can put this vertical whip to use.
Paired with Hybrid micro or mini transformer
The first and most obvious thought to use the SS25 whip is with Chameleon’s MPAS series of transformers. The Hybrid Mini and Micro are 5:1 ununs, that with a tuner allow you to operate on just about any band between 80 and 10 meters. The 25 foot whip does give you a performance gain as compared to the 17 foot whip or the combination mil-whip and mil-extension. If you like using the MPAS in its vertical configuration, I’d probably recommend this whip to you for that reason alone.
Using it as a ¼ wave vertical radiator and with wolf river coil
I’m a big fan of the ¼ wave vertical radiator for use on the upper bands as it is quick to deploy and offers good performance. The SS25 can be utilized in that fashion as like any other whip. The easiest way to tune it is to use an antenna analyzer to find the resonant point for your frequency choice. The whip is even long enough that you can use it as a resonant ¼ wave radiator on the 30 meter band.
But if you add the Wolf River Silver Bullet 1000 to the mix, the whip’s extra length will really makes a difference on the 40 and 80 meter bands. Fully extended, you hardly need any coil at all for forty meters, and the amount of coil for 80 meter operation is amazingly small. I used this setup for late night 40 and 80 meter FT8 with great results.
The rigid Rybakov
I will admit that the first thing I thought of when Chameleon announced the SS25 whip is that it would make a great Rybakov style antenna. The Rybakov is a 25 foot vertical radiator fed with a 4:1 transformer with 4 16 foot ground radials. Designed by Enrico, IV3SBE, this non resonant antenna has great DX performance on the upper bands, but will operate down to 80 meters with a tuner. Using the SS 25 as your vertical radiator means you don’t need any other trees or supports for the antenna, just fully extend the whip and add a 4:1 transformer at the base.
The inverted L antenna
But if you want to take the Rybakov one step further, consider adding some wire to the top. On its own, the 25 foot vertical radiator loses performance rapidly as you travel down the bands. Adding 28 feet of horizontal wire to the top of the antenna, creates an inverted L with amazing results. You can support the other end of the wire with a tree or a fiberglass mast, I used my 22 foot spiderbeam mast for that purpose. Low band performance is increased and I also found it really did a number on 15 and 20 meters. Again this is a non resonant antenna, so you will need a tuner. The wire itself is easy to put together. I cut 28 feet of 22 gauge wire, the lighter the better in this case, and added a mueller spring clip on one end and a loop on the other. If you are a fan of the Rybakov, you’ll love what the inverted L can do.
The POTA Dominator
Finally, I’m going to mention the POTA dominator. This is the 5th and probably the most powerful setup you can do with the SS25. Greg, KJ6ER designed an elevated half wave antenna system using a vertical whip and a 49:1 transformer at the base. The 17 foot whips allowed operation on 15 – 10 meters, but if you replace the whip with the SS25, you get access to the 17 and 20 meter bands. This elevated half wave antenna’s 12 degree RF radiation takeoff angle has killer DX properties. Check out my video on the Dominator and Greg’s construction documents in the video description below.
So what is my experience with the Chameleon SS 25 stainless vertical whip. When I initially deployed this antenna, the first thing I said was: wow, that’s a lot of whip in the air. Fully extended the whip does have a noticeable bend, it will not be totally erect. This bend or sway doesn’t appear to affect on air performance at all, although in windy situations, I did notice a slight bit of SWR fluctuation as it swayed.
The whip is certainly well constructed and it does hold up to stiff breezes quite well. I didn’t have any issues with gusts in the range of 20-25 miles per hour. I did notice that horizontal flex is quite high, though and I wouldn’t deploy this antenna horizontally or at an angle other than at 90 degrees vertical. I think the stress would be too great. I also believe that’s the reason why Chameleon doesn’t recommend using this antenna as part of their Tactical Delta Loop system.
The other concern I have with the whip is that it requires a rigid base. Something like Chameleon’s spike mount is good. Or a bolt on antenna mirror mount. The jaw clamp that I typically use for vertical deployments introduced too much flex, so I had to add one of these mirror mounts to my flag base to support the antenna. That made a big difference.
So the big question is, should I get an SS 17 or an SS 25? I look at it this way. If your primary focus is using it on 20 meters and higher as a ¼ wave radiator and with the wolf river sporty forty coil on 40 meters, then the SS 17 is sufficient. It is a rugged and reliable whip and well suited for that purpose. If you are thinking about some of these other deployments, like with the MPAS transformers, the 4:1 transformer, or on 80 meters with the wolf river coil, then by all means go ahead with the SS25. Its extra length will give you versatility and you can always shorten the whip up to its resonant points on the higher bands.
There’s a link in the video description if you are interested in this antenna. Do you have any questions or comments about the SS25? How are you putting this 25 foot whip to use? leave them in the comments below. I’m Michael, KB9VBR. Thanks for watching, have a great day and 73.
KJ6ER POTA Dominator 20M-10M halfwave – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o1QYlNhYp-JY_Azqn0XJWM7q7Tit0x1m/view
POTA Dominator vs PERformer antenna: https://youtu.be/W1Y6ODGGphY
53′ Inverted L antenna: https://youtu.be/i1RDLy7a0ZA
Revisiting the Rybakov antenna: https://wb3gck.com/2018/12/09/revisiting-the-rybakov-806-vertical/
Chameleon CHA-SS25 stainless steel vertical whip: https://chameleonantenna.com/shop-here/ols/products/cha-ss25
LDG RBU-4:1 Unun: https://www.ldgelectronics.com/ru-4-1-unun
SignWorld Cross Base for Tear Drop/Feather Flags: https://amzn.to/3Yo0swl
Jaw Mount Antenna Clamp: https://amzn.to/3VL5Ir6
SO-239 stud mount for jaw clamp: https://amzn.to/3VT1KwG
Crotek Double Groove Antenna Mirror Mount: https://amzn.to/487i96E
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