40 meter Hamstick dipole

[AA4PB]

By the way, I was able to compare the HamStick dipole mounted on my deck at about 12-feet high to my full sized 40M dipole at about 45-feet over a 600 mile path. The Hamstick was about 4 S-units below the dipole, but still solid copy.

[WW5AA]

The ham stick dipole will work, well so will a wire on a fishing pole grounded to the vehicle. A dipole made out of 12' MFJ telescoping whips will work better than the first two. I have done it all. The ham stick dipole I used was down 26 DB from the Johnson DK3 screwdriver in A=B tests. So it really only matters what your frustration level is and how important it is to make a contact. Have fun!

73 de Lindy

[VE3EFJ]

I've never heard of a broken wire problem with a Hamstick, but as described, it should be easily tested with an ohm meter between the stud at the end of the antenna and the whip. You should see close to zero ohms.

As for the Hamstick Dipole, yes, it works quite well; no antenna tuner req'd. The bandwidth is  narrow - 40 kHz or so, but it does work surprisingly well. Just make sure both whips are outside of each antenna "stick" the same amount, and move the whips in or out no more than about 1" at a time when you adjust the SWR or analyzer.


Wayne

[W8BNL]

Don't think I have tried a balun with the hamstick dipole. I only have a pair of 75M and then single 40 & 20 ones.

Another suggestion which in no way is diverting from the topic. You may want to check out my article (http://www.eham.net/articles/22237) "What Antenna Restrictions?" I too needed a solution to my unemployment/trailer park situation and decided to document what I came up with. I hope it helps!!

73 de W8BNL Tom

[AI4WC]

OK.  I'll jump in.  I am apartment bound and use Hamstick dipoles for all bands.  The 75m setup is VERY narrow in bandwith, and you basically set it for ONE frequency.  40m is not quite as narrow and it gets better as you go up in frequency, but I use an LDG auto tuner on all bands.  You should follow the tuning setup furnished by Lakeview for each antenna pair.  I have even recently successfully used one antenna as a vertical and resonated it with a counterpoise on the floor using an MFJ-931 artificial ground.

My 20m dipoles have allowed me to contact over 15 countries, usually on less than 100 watts.  Adjust the antennas as advised by Lakeview and use a tuner.  I also us a DX feedline choke to help prevent TVI.  You may also need one for RF feedback.

Every antenna is a compromise - some more than others.  Hamsticks were designed as mobile antennas, but they can be made to work as a dipole, albiet with their inherent limitations.  I don't know how you can isolate the antenna sufficiently from the truck if you use them in a horizonal configuration.   GOOD LUCK!