PAC-12

I set up this antenna in my back yard with the ground mesh setup into three strands at about 120 degrees apart. I set the coil for 20m (gold mark) and the rod was fully extended. The SWR was around 1.2 using a NanoVNA. The radio was doing a good job picking up stations for being a portable antenna. I moved the coil to 40m (silver mark) the the SWR was very good. I was picking up good there too. Did not have time to make contacts but I am going to use this antenna for Parks on the Air. I like how easy and quick it is to setup and it a good value so far.

The JPC-12 is hands down my favorite POTA antenna. I have 20 activations with this antenna and it has never let me down. It sets up quick, tunes up well (there’s a learning curve), and always performs. I HIGHLY recommend this antenna. I do not think there is a better bang for your buck antenna on the market.PSA: When you first get the antenna, I highly recommend tuning the center of each band. Once you get the antenna tuned, mark the whip with a sharpie on where the whip should be collapsed to. This will save you a ton of time when switching bands.Pros:-Ease of use-Quick set up-Easy tuning-Cost-Good performance-GREAT for POTACons:-Radials are a little subpar-Whip is not double crimped so be careful pulling out each segment (has not been an issue, just something to note)-The JPC-12 FEELS cheap, but that’s to be expected at this price point.All in all, I cannot recommend this antenna enough for portable use; I would not recommend it for a shack, though. If you’re on the fence and love doing portable ops, your search is over. The JPC-12 has been and will continue to be my go to antenna in the field.Thanks all and 73sKW0X

(This review is written for the amateur radio operators and uses terms a ham will understand.)(22 June 2025 update): I originally rated this product one star due to the build quality of the telescoping whip of this antenna and the lack of printed documentation that fully explains the assembly of the antenna. I changed this to four stars due to the rapid intervention of the vendor to offer a full refund. Since this antenna was meant for Field Day operation coming in two weeks from purchase date, I just asked if I could get a replacement whip, to which the vendor responded with a complete antenna with a working telescoping whip. Documentation could still use some serious improvement but just use the setup demonstration in their product page for this antenna to get good idea of assembly instructions. Better yet, print the product page instructions and keep them in the antenna carry case for easy reference. It is important to keep the intent of this antenna in mind before you order it - it is NOT a multi-element beam mounted atop a mobile antenna tower with a rotor. It is, however, a compact system that you can put in a go box or backpack for rapid deployment and use with your QRP transceiver. As such, it is a compromise antenna meant to give the little pistols a chance at making QSOs in specific operating conditions. It remains to be seen how well it performs in Field Day 2025 from a local park at QRP levels with my mobile HF radio, though my skepticism has been lowered a lot because of the replacement with a working whip. GL es 73.(Original Review Left Intact for Context) I would not recommend this antenna if your purpose is to use it in a portable situation like SOTA or POTA. The build quality of the antenna components could be best described as 'delicate.' Out of the box, the antenna looks great and would appeal to a backpacker or QRP enthusiast. Unfortunately, the telescoping whip of my antenna was lacking one brass shim/bushing that acts as a stop between whip segments and also as an RF connection that allows the whip to be seen as a continuous length of conductor to the RF coming from the transmitter. This tiny, missing piece of brass caused a cascade of failures with the whip that took me an entire afternoon to troubleshoot and construct a workaround. The price of this antenna is attractive to the budget conscious ham, but the build quality of the individual pieces don't suggest the antenna system can withstand the punishment packing these components into remote areas or even your back yard.As a personal aside, the documentation for this antenna is the worst I have ever seen provided with an antenna. There is little to no detail that a person who has never worked with a system like this would need to know to assemble the antenna and get on the air. There are no descriptive images either. There are two photos that pertain to the model I purchased, but they are too small to see any details and do little more than show the antenna in two different situations. This lack of coherent documentation irritates my technical side that spent over three decades supporting technical material including technical document creation. You may get more out of the documentation than I did and good on you if you can.If I were to recommend this antenna for a specific situation, I would have to say that it would probably work for a one-time use such as Field Day or POTA, but it won't last much longer than a day or two. Otherwise, I would suggest saving a little more money, then buying a more purpose-built antenna that can withstand the rigors of bumping around in a backpack or Go Box and can withstand the rigors of extending a whip (if that antenna has a whip) more than zero times.

Great portable antenna, especially when there isn't something to support a long wire. I've had this for a few months and wound up using this as my Field Day antenna (you can see it off to the right, behind my shelter in the photo below) and I got good results. It's quick and easy to set up, and very portable with it's nicely organized case. I've used this for POTA activations, and POTA hunting with great results.

This is a great portable antenna that I use with my Xiego X6200. It is very easy to use and setup. For optimum performance, please read the instructions. You can setup the antenna in about 3 minutes. I have gotten the SWR down to 1.1 on several bands with 3 ground radials about 10m long with small length adjustments right out of the box. I've been using a small (1m dia) mag loop antenna and it's an excellent antenna but it's not very easy to carry and include on backpacking trips for SOTA activities. The JPC-12 is !! It comes with a very nice carrying case (about the size of a small laptop case) and is quick to set up. I like the selectable coil for different bands and I've experimented moving the coil to the bottom without the extension rods and using only the whip antenna for the CB bands, it works great ! Just be careful with the whip antenna and pull the sections out with care, I've seen too may people jerk the whip apart on other model antennas. A friend of mine bought the JPC-12 and he highly recommended it, I'm glad I did !I would highly recommend this antenna for the newbie (like me) as well as the experienced ham operator. The price and build quality is great !