| NW9T |
Rating:     |
2009-02-23 | |
| Works Well |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I've had Ham Stick copies in the past and they worked well, but the only way to truly measure them is to compare directly with the original Ham Stick. I received my Ham Stick several days ago and stuck it on my MFJ Tri-Mag mount on top of my car. The first time I used it I was able to contact a station in France during their contest this last weekend, impressed. Today when I arrived home I found the set screws had loosened and the stinger had slipped down inside the antenna. A quick call to Lakeview told me how to test to make sure I hadn't severed a wire inside the antenna, warnings of this happening are clearly printed on the label. Luckily no damage done. I reset the SWR and made contact with a station in the Canary Islands, again impressive for a mobile antenna. I'm happy with it, except I echo the concerns of KD5ALU's review previously of replacing the slot type set screws with SS hex screws which I'll do before running mobile again. |
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| N0FPE |
Rating:      |
2008-09-28 | |
| works fine |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My 75 meter Hamstick works fine. Maybe not a fullsize dipole but it owrks everything I want it to while I am mobile.
I use it with a AH-4 tuner on my truck as the bandwidth is pretty narrow otherwise.
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| DAVIDVD59 |
Rating:     |
2008-09-28 | |
| confused |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I bought a 75m, 40m, and a 20m hamstick because the salesman at AES recommended it. I have the lakeview hamsticks. Tuning was not fun. The 40 meter one will not tune below 2.1:1 swr. While tuning the 40m one, I made a contact to Missouri from Wisconsin. The following day, I used the 20m one and I was shocked. I thought it would be fun to try the DX stations in Europe. Pileups on frequency, when I heard Germany come back to my call, if I had dentures I would have lost them on the ground. So I thought I would try a couple more. Complete and total shock, over 80% of all DX stations I tried came back to me even with base stations calling. I had a blast! My first signal report was 4/2 and went to 5/3, 5/5, 5/7, and even 5/9! Only 100 watts and a magmount on the roof of a van. I had a blast! I would like to try an amplifier next year. Yes, these antennas can work! Don't believe everything from these self appointed experts that you MUST have a screwdriver antenna to have fun.
I gave the antennas a 4 because of the 40 meter swr not adjusting to a lower swr, I feel if the 75m antenna can be tuned, certainly the 40m antenna should tune also. I guess all those people saying ONLY a screwdriver antenna will work have more money to waste than I do!
dave AB9PM |
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| AC4RD |
Rating:      |
2008-04-10 | |
| Good performer for mobile |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I'm in temporary housing for a year, tiny apartment; I was going to buy a Hamstick for 30 meters (to mount outside a window) and saw the price has gone up, so I was looking at other options here in the "reviews" section. After considering, I'll buy another real Hamstick. I had two I used mobile for about 2 years, for 15 and 20 meters, and they worked remarkably well considering the drawbacks you get with a small HF antenna. My first contact mobile on 15 was the Austral Islands--a new country for me and a REAL thrill. :-) Used to get in to VK/ZL very nicely from the car in the mornings. The only problems I ever had were bad connections on my trunk-lid mount; the Hamsticks never gave me a bit of trouble. I sure wish I brought them with me when I moved, but wasn't planning to operate while in my tiny urban apartment. I'll buy one for 30 until I can get the ones for 15 and 20 out of storage--they're a little more expensive than some of the others out there, but I was VERY pleased with the two I used mobile. 73! |
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| NA5XX |
Rating:     |
2008-03-24 | |
| Hapy with the results |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I bought 2 75 meter hamsticks and the dipole adaptor. I havent finisd mounting them as yet so I am currently running the 75 meter diploe 10 feet in elevation. I just finished checking into several nets up and down the western states (WA, OR, CA) Signal reports were very favorable. I am looking forward to getting them tripod mounted on the roof of the house. That will get me up to 30 feet. First impression of the antenna is very good. I have also run mobile with 10, 15 and 20 meter ham sticks with good results. One recomedation: Replace the sloted set screw with a SS hex set screw. |
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| WD4ELG |
Rating:      |
2008-03-23 | |
| Still superb |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
March 2008
SSN hovering at zero
Solar flux stuck at 70
Where are the sunspots???
but my Hamstick is still working great, only now I have my TS480SAT rig in the shack for SO2R ops, and my FT817ND QRP rig in the car. QRP is such a blast in the car! Especially DXing.
How about DX all over NA and SA, and even Europe, with just 5 watts and the Hamstick. On 20, maybe not that remarkable, but 40? Yep!
And check this out: Worked VP5 with a half a watt! Worked P4 with a watt. Both QSO's qualify for 1000 miles/watt threshold. Who says Hamsticks don't work? Send them my way!
*************************************
Previous review
Outstanding!
Conditions:
July 22, 2006.
Sunspot number - 17
Solar flux - 70
Kp - 2
Saturday afternoon drive from Orlando to Raleigh, NC
Driving a Buick Lucerne. Low expectations for the setup, but at least I should be able to listen to some HF activity and I had XM radio as a backup.
Picked up a TS-480 w/ 100 watts, a 20 meter ham stick, and a 3-magnet base mount from AES in Orlando. Left Orlando at 5:30 PM after a 10 minute installation of the entire setup. Ran the autotune on the 480 without pruning the Hamstick, tuned up for 20 meter SSB just fine. Fired it up and...WHOA! Great signals. But I am looking for some DX. So I start tuning, listening, and making a few calls.
I was able to work 9A, ON, PA, HC, KP2, TI, LA, OK, G, HR, T9, OM, 4O (Montenegro, with a small pileup), KL7. this is FUN!
Then the sun was totally gone at 2130 local as I crossed the state line into Georgia. Then it got really interesting… UA (his sunrise), followed by V7 (Marshall Islands). Since V7 had to be a multiple hop, and it was westward over CONUS, I was very impressed!
Easy to take apart when I got home at 0430 local, after navigating through I-95. For the price, these cannot be beat - it sure kept me awake during the drive!
Mark Lunday
WD4ELG
wd4elg@arrl.net
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| IRABREN |
Rating:      |
2008-03-16 | |
| Best bang for Buck |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I just got into Ham Radio - and have a 20m Hamstick magmounted to roof of my car outside house. I did tune it for low SWR with mfj259b analyzer - to properly adjust height of whip. - - Well I can tell you that this antenna REALLY PERFORMS !! - I have worked south america, carribean, all over us, madera islands portugal, etc etc - from houston, TX - It is just amazing to me. I do use a Palstar AT1KP External Tuner and FT-950 radio. For a $35 & mount - you can't go wrong . The Key - is to get whip properly adjusted - don't cut it - until - but you still may need to cut off a couple inches.
73
Ira, KE5STP |
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| KA4DQJ |
Rating:     |
2008-03-06 | |
| Few Problems |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I used my Hamsticks on a hole in the trunk lid with a stainless steel plate for backing. It's a compromise between the too low bumper mounting, and the too high roof mounting. Performance is adequate.
You can turn the 20m resonator into a 17m resonator by using a shorter whip, and the 20m resonator minus the whip entirely becomes a 10m resonator.
Use them long enough in the breeze, and the coil wire soldered to the bottom 3/8 x 24tpi will come loose on the heavier 75/40 sticks. When the resonators go intermittent, you'll have to peel away the PVC coating on the bottom fitting and resolder. It's difficult to get enough heat to repeat the factory job, so a propane torch or a 240w "trigger" gun may be needed.
I understand that you can mount the 40m stick on a 6 foot extention in order to get vastly improved peformance, but haven't tried it. Different lengths are supposedly in order for the other bands, but I don't know what those lengths are, and haven't tried them in any case. It would also make the arrangement too high for mobile use, but might just fit the bill while stationary (especially for me in the motorhome). Or, I've heard that you can "elbow" the extension and tie the whip down military style.
I even have a 3/8 thread at the peak of my carport's tin roof, and have used the sticks in a base station setup... not the most efficient way to get on the air, but it works.
I've had no experience with customer service, but I hear that it's pretty crappy. That would be intolerable for a complicated piece of electronic equipment, but for a fiberglass tube wrapped in wire topped with a steel whip, I have no intention of ever calling customer service to begin with. I'll repair the things until they can no longer be repaired, then throw them away and buy another when I go to hamfests. If I ever did call customer service and got treated the way some have described, I'm sure I'd stop using the sticks too!
HF mobile operation is a sucky compromise anyway, and I would never work mobile when the opportunity to work fixed is available. Even so, I check into the nets even using the 75m stick while mobile and manage to be heard with 100 watts.
Since the 1970s I used the Hustler mobile resonators. They worked too, but cost more and had enough windload on the low bands to reduce your mpg. |
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| K6SDW |
Rating:      |
2008-03-03 | |
| Back to Hamsticks! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Threw away the screwdriver antenna (Yaesu ATAS 120A POS!) and gone back to the hamsticks....not nearly as convenient but way more reliable and trouble free!!
Cheers All..... |
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| KF6IIU |
Rating:      |
2008-03-03 | |
| All antennas are a compromise |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had Hamsticks for 10/12/15/17/40 for several years. Compared to the competition, the Hamsticks are lighter, have fatter setscrews, and have components that won't rust. Thanks to its light weight and narrow profile you may be able to get away with a trunk lip or even a mag mount.
But all mobile HF antennas are a compromise. Below 20m, along with the most luxurious and expensive screwdriver, a Hamstick is unlikely to tune up "out of the box", you will have to fiddle with some matching, and placement is critical. Obviously you will have to swap antennas, retune to go to the other end of a band, and spend nearly as much as a (cheap) screwdriver to buy a bundle of sticks for all bands.
Besides homebrewing something exactly to your specs, the Hamstick is a good choice if none of the above compromises bothers you. |
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