Hamstick dipoles?

[prcguy]

I've tested Hamsticks on 40m and 20m and actually had ok success on 20m once they were tuned. I was using a choke balun at the feedpoint and the dipole adapter was mounted to an insulated pole, further reducing problems.

I also had a Buddipole dipole setup for awhile before I traded it off. I only used it a few times due to the hassle of setting it up and tuning plus I have other antennas that are much easier to set up and provide better performance. The Buddipole dipole is similar to using two Hamsticks but they have a tapped coil for changing bands. It turns out the coils and resulting two antennas are slightly different making an asymmetrical dipole and this is done on purpose. Just like Hamsticks, the Buddipole dipole works ok for 20m and above but 40m is not so good. The simple ferrite choke balun supplied with mine was very inadequate and there was always lots of RF on the coax. The Buddipole is insulated from the mast.

The typical dipole adapter for Hamsticks is metal and if a metal mast is used the mast becomes part of the antenna skewing the tuning. I would always insulate the dipole adapter and use an effective choke balun right at the feed. You can make a great choke balun for a Hamstick dipole by purchasing an FT-240-43 ferrite core for about $10 and wrapping 9 turns of RG-58 coax through it. This will target roughly 12 through 30MHz or 20 through 10m.

thanks for comments! To "TheSpaceMan", you shared that the hamstick dipoles have worked well for you, how did you tune the antennaes and/or any probs doing this? Admittedly, I have no stand alone SWR yet(one on order from MFJ), and just going by the antenna tuner built in into the 450D. The ant tuner tunes well with only one hamstick installed with its whip and the other hamstick inserted without the whip(so is hollow). Someone suggested getting a balun to help isolate the coax and the assembly and thus minimize inteference with auto ant tuning, and I will most likely get that. Any other suggestions would help.... alas, this radio is keeping me busy after I do my "regular" work in the am! thanks in advance!!!

 

[hbscanner1]

thanks for advice RE isolation and baluns!

With the hamstick dipole, I have it laying horizontally on our upstairs balcony, so no problems with metallic pole. I was going to purchase the MFJ 915 1:1 balun and do the connections, rather than constructing one myself(but thanks for instructions). Do you think then that that would work? thanks.

 

[wb6uqa]

Ham Stick

I would buy a tuner with a built-in swr meter. My LDG 1000 will tune a 10 to 1 SWR,

 

[prcguy]

Yes, it should work to the extent a shortened dipole can up against a building and it will make contacts. The hamstick dipole will be slightly half the size of a full size 20m dipole so the efficiency will be down a little but not too bad. If you experiment with digital modes like FT8 you might scare yourself with what you can do with a setup like that.

With the hamstick dipole, I have it laying horizontally on our upstairs balcony, so no problems with metallic pole. I was going to purchase the MFJ 915 1:1 balun and do the connections, rather than constructing one myself(but thanks for instructions). Do you think then that that would work? thanks.

 

[hbscanner1]

Appreciate all your comments!

One "last question"? Altho the other fiberglass stick does not have the steel whip inserted, and the other does, and according to SWR on the Yeasu, it reads just above 1:1, does that then mean that despite the other whip being "incomplete", the semi-dipole setup is working and can be used as if both sticks had whip inserted? thanks again all! Sorry for the questions! If you have any general pediatric questions, let me know and I can try to "repay" the favor by answering those!!(I'm a pediatrician). Merci!!!

 

[prcguy]

Is that 1:1 reading with a tuner in line and tuned, or without? If its without a tuner then that is your match and the antenna should be usable. I would make sure there is a common mode choke in line because with the two whips being asymmetrical, there would be a good chance of RF on the feedline.

Thanks for the pediatric offer but I need geriatric help advice.

Appreciate all your comments!

One "last question"? Altho the other fiberglass stick does not have the steel whip inserted, and the other does, and according to SWR on the Yeasu, it reads just above 1:1, does that then mean that despite the other whip being "incomplete", the semi-dipole setup is working and can be used as if both sticks had whip inserted? thanks again all! Sorry for the questions! If you have any general pediatric questions, let me know and I can try to "repay" the favor by answering those!!(I'm a pediatrician). Merci!!!

 

[hbscanner1]

Hi again, about my setup; I am using the built in SWR in my Yaesu transceiver; I am still waiting to get the stand alone SWR via UPS. I will go ahead and purchase a balun to isolate the sticks from the coax feedline. The SWR of 1:1 is what the rig shows when transmitting a 10 watt am carrier with the present hamstick set up, with one metal whip in and the other metal whip out. thanks in advance!!!