For those chomping at the bit to get their hands on ICOM’s IC-705 HF/50/144/430 MHz All Mode Portable Transceiver, you can get ahead of the game by having an upgraded antenna system ready when it arrives.
Now available from DX Engineering, the HFJ-350M 3.5-50 MHz 9-Band and HFJ-350M Toy Box 10-Band Portable Telescopic Antennas from Comet make welcome companions for the IC-705—or any portable HF rig. Perfect for operating in the field, tossing in a backpack, or stashing in your Go-Kit, these antennas are designed with a “wander-lead” that makes changing frequencies simple and fast. The combination of a base coil with five taps and a plug wire along with the 10-section telescopic whip top section provides a lightweight antenna that is easy to use. Quick manual changes can be executed by using the plug tap connection and whip length to tune any HF band.
The HFJ-350M model features:
- 80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10/6M band coverage
- Three divisions
- Extended height of 65.5 inches, collapsible to 14.25 inches
- 10-section telescopic element for fine-tuning SWR
- 9.2 oz. weight
- Maximum power: 75W PEP SSB on 3.5 MHz; 100W SSB PEP 7.0 – 50 MHz
- Vinyl roll-up case
- UHF (PL-259) antenna base mount
The HFJ-350M Toy Box model features:
- 9-band coverage plus a 3.5 MHz expansion coil for 160M
- Four divisions
- Extended height of 75.6 inches, collapsible to 14.25 inches
- 10-section telescopic element for fine-tuning SWR
- 14.3 oz. weight
- Maximum power: 75W PEP SSB on 3.5 MHz; 100W SSB PEP 7.0 – 50 MHz
- Vinyl roll-up case
- UHF (PL-259) antenna base mount
Comet recommends to use these antennas on your UHF mount or adapter with a counterpoise wire and tuner for best results. The antenna UHF base includes a side terminal for a counterpoise connection. The antennas are not intended for mobile operation.
Also, check out this video on what you can expect from the IC-705.
What do Hams think?
I am a brand new Ham. I bought this antenna and a Yaesu FT891 for my first HF rig…Once I read the instructions and measured the antenna to the correct length with the correct length of counterpoise, I got very good results. It can very easily be tuned by moving the antenna up and down to adjust the SWR. I was doing a 10M group the other night and they could not believe the signal that I was putting out sitting on my back porch with my FT891, a battery, and this antenna.
