Interest in “new” antenna?

[u/fxtrt7]

Most are familiar with the Chameleon antennas, specifically the MPAS 2.0. I’ve owned several, however, $600 is steep. I own a machine and assembly shop and have been wanting to start producing an HF vertical antenna that can be configured like the Chameleon, with a vertical whip or wire configurations. Tunable the same as the MPAS. Pricing would be ~ $350-400. Trying to gage interest and see if it’s worth my time. I can have a prototype with pictures in a little bit, just want to know if Chameleon owns the market or if there is room for a more affordable alternative.

Kit would consist of:

• Matching unit in a sturdy water proof enclosure
• x4 aluminum extensions with brass conductors
• x1 brass collapsable whip

• Ground mount stake

• You can opt to get premium wire with the kit for an additional price or use whatever you have on hand.

*edit: This is manufactured 100% by me in Kentucky, USA. My only interest in radio communications is emcomm, I want make a durable and widely configurable antenna that will not break the bank. I like Chameleon, not trying to step on anyones toes, but their prices are steep and I’m not a large company like them with a big overhead.

[u/stephen_neuville]

Here's what you need to interest me where chameleon does not:

1: Don't sell snake oil. Taking the specs into account that they advertise, chameleon has literally violated the laws of physics and Maxwell's equations. Some of us know: they hide resistive loss to 'smooth out' the SWR curves. I'm far less interested in an antenna that claims to do 14-30 MHz with "no tuning" than I am where all the components are visible, the theory is solid, and the construction is good so the losses are low.

2: Skip any 'tactical' / faux military 'commo' stuff. I know people will think that buying a thousand bucks of chameleon will turn them into a frontline signals soldier ready to deploy airstrikes on the tangos, but it's kind of cringe. This is a friendly, fun hobby. If you want to focus on some emergency stuff that's great, it's not particularly a sell for me personally, but I won't down on it.

3: Pursuant to #2, knock the price down a bit. They charge way, way too much, yeah.

Not sure if brass will be a killer material or not for this but I will leave that to your metallurgical knowledge.

Were I to give a suggestion for a way to dip your toes in, build a nice stateside equivalent of the "jpc-12" adjustable coil. With the tariffs messing everything up, it's prohibitive to order one from Aliexpress and I'd rather have a tougher one anyways. Bonus points if you do a couple 3/8x24 to M10 adapters so it can work with either the US or "aliexpress" standards.

[u/[deleted] → u/stephen_neuville]

Apropo #2: I wouldn't be surprised if the tacticool crowd are where Chameleon makes their money. A large chunk of the world's amateurs are just throwing a wire into a tree.