| AH6ZZ |
Rating:  |
2007-09-12 | |
| These are antenna tools |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Buddipole provides HF antenna tools to build HF antenna solutions. Budd’s stuff is not cheap, but over the past five years I have found all of his gear to be of the highest quality. The tools are there for the skilled and creative – the user is responsible for the effectiveness of the solution. Don’t blame the tools. |
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| AA2YS |
Rating: |
2007-09-12 | |
| Small package, NOT just plug and play |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've had a Buddipole for about 2 years, and have found that it's excellent under some conditions, and a royal PITA under others.
It's a great antenna to have if want to be able to pack a complete antenna system into a small space, and then be able to use it somewhere without having to worry about finding a convenient tree. Honestly, this thing packs *small* - including the tripod. But also remember that "small" doesn't necessarily mean "light".
The convenience does come with a price, both financial and time-wise. If you get the basic buddipole package, you will really, really, REALLY want to use an antenna analyzer. The coils are very high Q, which means that the resonance points are very small, as is the 2:1 bandwidth. Move a couple Khz in the same band, and you'll be re-tuning. And there's the fundemental problem - tuning the buddipole is time consuming. You will find that when you reach up to adjust the coil clips or whips that the SWR will be fine - only to get awful as soon as you move your hand away or re-raise the antenna. So there's a lot of back-and-forth before you get it right. Your rig's SWR meter will probably not be sufficient to tell you if you got things right, because they often give totally incorrect readings depending on the j and r of the antenna. Did I mention you REALLY want to use an antenna analyzer?
Location is key. *ANY* nearby object will change the tuning. Tune it in one spot, decide that you need to move 30 feet away for some reason - well, you'll be doing the tuning dance again.
One solution is the TRSB balun that they sell - it does make tuning *relatively* easy. It's also one more thing to pack, one more thing to buy.
If you read the Buddipole Yahoo group, you'll see many messages from people who are happy that it only took them 10 minutes to tune the antenna. Remember - that's just at one frequency. Move around in the band, or between bands, and you'll be tuning again.
Anyhow - in spite of all that, I like my Buddipole for throwing in the car and operating in a park, where I'm going to plant myself on one frequency and stay there. For backpacking, a resonant dipole for one band is smaller and lighter, in the long run, especially for using something like a homebrew QRP rig without good SWR indicators.
I bought mine at the popular auction site for about $125, including a whole bunch of accessories. At that price, it's deal if you operate portable like me. But there's no way I'd pay full price for everything you need to make operating it easier. |
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| WB0DMA |
Rating: |
2007-09-12 | |
| Tunning |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| It needs to be installed on a simple pole, just like the picture. The key to getting the swr down is to tune the antenna on the pole away from any objects that will detune the antenna. That includes metal, wood and the earth. I could not get it to tune at all when it was laying on a corner of a wood deck high off the ground. You would think you could hang it off one leg on a tower, but the metal on the tower raises the swr. |
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| WB6SIK |
Rating:  |
2007-09-12 | |
| I was getting paranoid. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I was getting paranoid that it was me all this time. Now many are coming out of the closet, and telling there tailes of woe. I have not had one bit of luck with this thing. I cannot get the SWR down to a decent level on any band. I have gone over the instructions. Not only that, it's flimsy. I have to adjust with my pinky in the air it seems. My reports are never all that great, not matter what configuration I adjust the tee for. I wish I had spend the $200 on a nice HW-101 and went to the hardware store for materials to make a plan old dipole. Sorry guys. But I wonder if these back-packers people are stacking the deck. My Pro Ams are sturdier than these poles and work better on the mobile than this antenna does portable. I toosed it in the corner of my garage and left it. |
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| N0AH |
Rating: |
2007-09-11 | |
| Not Shock Proof |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I used the antenna in Africa and KH6. Had some parts wear out but the Buddipole guys got the parts to me at KH6 overnight. You just have to get real when using any small antenna. It is High Q and when tuned on your frequency, it works well. You just need to be educated on how it works in general terms- For me, it lacks some armour to travel but it is a great antenna for teaching any new hams about antennas and to be working stations at the same time- Alligator clips dropped it down a point for me but maybe they have changed this part out for something better- The antenna I used was in 2004
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Earlier 3-star review posted by N0AH on 2005-01-08
I used the antenna from ZS6, KH6, 3DA0 and my own QTH in Colorado. I really found it a pain when ever the dew would build up on the coils or it would rain on them as I would have to run out and reconfigure the tap placement on the coils due to resonant changes. This is no easy task in the dark, when your tired from a long night of DX'ing, working the low bands, etc... Moisture really sends the resonant point whacko on this antenna. That said, when it remains dry, it works very well compared to a mini-G5RV. I did not find the antenna coils to be stout. The taps after time began wharping in areas where they were often placed. Over time, this lead to loose connections that I had to use electrical tape to hold in place. I also had difficulty getting the taps into the coils to make initial contact points. I was afraid I was going to break either the tap or bend the coil at times. I want to say that the owner of this company went out of his way to address the issues I had. I was only borrowing the antenna and Bud sent me the parts I needed to KH6 when I had problems. So by now, I doubt if some of my concerns are still valid, but that said, if you ever home brew your own tap coil antenna, you might want to insulate as much of it as you can once you figure out your resonant points. The Outbacker antenna is such a design, to a point, but without the diversity of this antenna. Very self contained, with a stand, and various configerations, if wieght is an issue on your next low power DX'pedition, go for it with the Buddipole- But practice at home first. You'll work out the bugs and make sure all the parts in your bag are in good working condition. Just keep in mind, to me, this antenna is fragile when setting up and working DX. But man is it nice to carry on an airplane! Just avoid Hilo and stay on Kona.
73
Paul N0AH |
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| K8RBW |
Rating: |
2007-09-11 | |
| Great Portable Antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
It is a terrific resonant portable antenna. I have used it both as a dipole and vertical in all sorts of configurations with tremendous results. The only thing possibly equal to the performance of the antenna is the support provided by Budd and Chris. Kudos to them for providing a high quality product.
73, de Dick, K8RBW |
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| K6SDW |
Rating: |
2007-09-11 | |
| Excellent too |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I kinda felt like the "spoiler" guy until I took some serious time to set up the antenna correctly, paying close attention to the base resistance values using an antenna analyzer. Ya gota get as close to 50 ohms as you can which is no small thing given the freq vs size of the vertical .... but once I realized what I was doing wrong, the DAMN thing really does work!!
And excellent quality construction and GREAT support!
Cheers All...... |
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| KF4ZGM |
Rating: |
2007-09-11 | |
| Glorified Hamsticks! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
What the heck? I can't believe this. I could do a lot better with Hamsticks. Both price and performance. In fact that is all these antennas are are Hamsticks. These are dipoles? Not harldy because they are nothing more than glorified mobile antennas.
I can see mine will probably snap the first time the winds blow it over.
And I don't see any great singals being launched as they advertise. I know its the bottom of the cycle and all, but I do better with my wire and tuner than with this thing strapped down on the garage roof. Most people gave me a 5/5 with the buddy-pole and a 5 by 9 with the wire and tuner. And it didn't matter where I turned the dumb thing. I had a rope so I could aim it for better signals. But no difference to the other ops.
Save your money. |
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| VE1VOX |
Rating: |
2007-09-03 | |
| Well Done! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| This year I finially decided to make the move to buy a portable antenna for my portable IOTA operations. I had researched the subject and the Buddipole seemed to be the right product for me. Along with the antenna I also purchased the TRSB balun. This is an excellent product! I have been able to configure the antenna vertical, horizontal, mounted near structure, free standing, attached to vechile, and always able to get a good swr match. Even with poor propagation I have been able to work 100's of stations with good reports. The ease of set up and take down is second to none (even in the dark). Also that the antenna is designed to work with a standard 3/8 thread allows interchanging of other manufacturer's antenna whips, which I do on 80m. The VersaTee center connector is also well designed to provide a variety of attachment options, from u-bolts, painter poles, BuddiMasts, etc. I have not encountered a situation where I could not configure this antenna and make it work. If you need a truly packable, portable antenna which is complete and workable in any situation this is it. |
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| KE4BIW |
Rating: |
2007-08-20 | |
| Just what I was looking for... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I ordered the Buddipole a few weeks ago. It is really nicely made. It's obvious that Budd and his son take a great deal of pride in their products. I live in a deed restricted community so I have a 40 meter dipole hidden along the top of a six foot wooden fence. It actually works pretty good on 40 and I've even loaded it up with a tuner and used it on 20. I bought the buddipole because I wanted something that would be resonant on the bands above 40 and would also be portable as I use the FT897 and can see myself taking it with me on trips. I put up the BP yesterday on top of a 20 foot painters pole and, using their suggested settings got almost a perfect SWR match. Getting that antenna up a little bit definately gives me better ears than my low mounted dipole. Bringing it down to change the settings only takes a few minutes. I would definately recommend this antenna. |
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