CHA EMCOMM II vs. EMCOMM III Portable vs. EMCOMM III Base

These three antennas share a broadband field-communications purpose, but they are not merely small, medium, and large versions of one recipe.

The correct choice comes from the site, setup time, support count, power class, desired regional or longer-path geometry, and whether the installation is temporary or deliberately maintained.

Choose the architecture

• EMCOMM II V2: 60 ft, approximately 1 lb, 1.8–54 MHz, less than 15 minutes, with horizontal NVIS, sloper, and inverted-L options.
• EMCOMM III Portable: 73 ft, approximately 1 lb, 1.8–55 MHz, less than 15 minutes, with sloper/inverted-L, inverted-V, and horizontal NVIS options.
• EMCOMM III Base: 130 ft, approximately 2.2 lb, 3.5–30 MHz, less than 30 minutes after the site is ready, with inverted-L, inverted-V, half-square, and conductive-tower sloper options.

Compare the complete station

• Available support count and height.
• Room and attachment method for the required return conductor.
• Power and duty cycle.
• Temporary recovery versus maintained base installation.
• Need for rapid regional NVIS, general-purpose field coverage, or deliberate directional geometry.

A practical decision sequence

• Start with the contact distance and bands the station must support.
• Walk the site and count usable supports before choosing a wire length.
• Decide whether the antenna must disappear after every operating period or can remain as a maintained base installation.
• Add the actual feed line, return conductors, support line, stakes, tuner, weather protection, and recovery time to the carried system.
• Practice the selected geometry and record the final dimensions before depending on it for emergency communications.

Do not merge the guides

Each model has its own wire length, counterpoise rules, coax conditions, configurations, and power ratings. Connector similarity does not authorize swapping those values.