Chelegance JPC-12
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| Frequency | 7 - 50 MHz (40 m through 6 m), tuned with a sliding multi-band loading coil |
| Bands | 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m |
| Power | Rated 100 W. A short center-loaded vertical; stay within the rating, especially on the low bands where the coil runs at high RF voltage. |
| Modes | compact portable center-loaded vertical (telescoping whip + coil + counterpoise) |
| Weight | 1.4 kg (3.1 lb) - About 1.4 kg; folds to ~34.5 cm and extends to ~410 cm (13.5 ft). |
| feed | Coax connector on the base (SO-239 / BNC depending on version), 50 ohm |
| system | Telescoping whip, four screw-together aluminium arms, a sliding multi-band loading coil, and a counterpoise/radial wire (counterweight); packs into a carry bag |
| power req | Passive antenna; no power. Tuned by sliding the coil tap (and adjusting whip length) for each band; a counterpoise is required. |
Very packable and quick: the sliding coil lets one short antenna work all of 40-6 m, it folds to about a foot, weighs 1.4 kg, and goes together in five minutes. The kit includes everything (whip, arms, coil, counterpoise, bag), it handles 100 watts, and it has become a go-to budget POTA/SOTA vertical with lots of community support.
It is a short, center-loaded antenna, so it is an efficiency compromise versus a full-height vertical - especially on the low bands - and it needs a counterpoise and per-band tuning (slide the coil, recheck SWR). The small base wants a stable mount, and like any vertical it picks up more noise than a high wire.
The Chelegance JPC-12 is a compact, inexpensive, quick-deploying portable HF vertical that covers 40-6 m via a sliding loading coil - an excellent grab-and-go antenna for POTA/SOTA and travel where packed size matters most. Accept the efficiency trade-offs of a short loaded whip and give it a counterpoise; for more efficiency on the higher bands a full quarter-wave like the MC-750 is better.
The Chelegance JPC-12 is a compact, highly portable HF vertical that has become a staple of POTA, SOTA and travel operating. It is a refined take on the well-known PAC-12 design: a short ground-plane vertical built around a telescoping whip, a stack of screw-together aluminium arms and a center loading coil with a sliding tap. By moving the coil tap (and adjusting the whip), one small antenna resonates across 40 through 6 meters - eight bands - in a package that folds to about a foot long and weighs only 1.4 kilograms.
Everything needed comes in the kit: the whip, the aluminium arms, the multi-band coil, a counterpoise/radial wire and a carry bag. It assembles in about five minutes with no tools, mounts as a small tabletop tripod or on a spike, and feeds with a single coax through a base connector. It handles 100 watts, so it works equally well with QRP radios and 100-watt portable rigs, and at around $110-130 it is inexpensive.
The trade-offs are those of any short, coil-loaded vertical. Because it is electrically shortened it is less efficient than a full-height quarter-wave, particularly on the lower bands, and it depends on a decent counterpoise to perform. You also retune for each band by sliding the coil and rechecking SWR, and the small base benefits from a steady, level mount. Like all verticals it tends to hear more local noise than a high horizontal wire.
It is the smaller, coil-loaded sibling to Chelegance's full-height MC-750, and competes with other packable verticals such as the Wolf River Coils Silver Bullet 1000.