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Reviews For: Buddipole Portable Dipole/Vertical

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : Buddipole Portable Dipole/Vertical
Reviews: 215MSRP: 199.
Description:
It's a dipole... It's a vertical... It fits in your travel bag!. The Buddipole™ is more than an antenna, it's a versatile system for launching your signal. Optimized for transmit power and proven for DX work, the Buddipole™ is the secret weapon used by HF portable operators all around the world. Precision engineered for maximum performance using ultra light composite materials and High-Q coils. Zero-loss balun with Quick-Connect feedpoint. This antenna can be used to cover any band from 40M to 2M
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.buddipole.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
212154.5
W4FJT Rating: 2014-03-02
High quality build Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my favorite camping solution. The laws of physics haven't changed. Buddipole simply works within those parameters. Easy to set up/take down and have had many nice DX contacts.

The Buddipole components are of high quality construction and worth the extra dollars over the long run. The documentation they provide (for free) would be useful even if you homebrew one. But I like the fit and finish of the product and don't hesitate to recommend it.

KF7VWN Rating: 2014-03-02
Fantastic! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just picked one of these up. I am currently living in Germany (callsign DA1MH). I set up with an Icom IC-7000 running on a small generator on the top floor of an empty 5-story parking garage just outside of Munich. Set it up for 15m, read about a 1.1 SWR and within 2 mins after powering up made my first contact to Tim, K3LR, in Pittsburgh, PA and he gave me a 5/9. Absolutely fantastic product!!! Got a bit of RF noise (RX only) off the cheap generator but I will try to solve that with a ferrite choke clamp on the AC cord. A lot of people seem to complain about the manual changes needed to switch bands, but for portable ops this is an acceptable trade-off IMO. Sometimes a little trial and error is necessary; on 17 I found that 5 lengths on the black side instead of the 5.3 recommended in the pamphlet got me a nearly flat SWR. 5.3 had me at about 3.5. Patience is the key. Strongly recommended.
K5DHL Rating: 2013-11-11
Having a lot of fun with this antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just rec'd the mini version with the 8' mast. It wook me a little while to get 40m tuned in. I can get under 1.5 using a 1/4" whip length change for 2 settings to cover the lower & upper end of the band. But I plan to raise the antenna up another 4+ feet to see if one whip setting will cover the entire band at under 1.5.... The 20m band setup was quick and easy. From Oklahoma I made two contacts to KS & TX on a rather poor 40M band conditions. I am pretty happy with this little antenna & planning to take on vacation this November & Dec (of 2013). I am driving this antenna with new a FT-857D.
W9RRR Rating: 2013-10-20
Exceptionally Versatile Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I didn't buy the package but rather picked up pieces ala-carte. I wanted the low band coils for better 40/80 performance, long whips, etc. etc.

After getting everything together and playing with it, I am impressed as can be by the quality and the performance. Excellent construction. Excellent engineering. You get what you pay for and while this is not the cheapest antenna you can put together, it is an excellent value.
AK4NX Rating: 2013-08-10
Mini-buddipole Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have had this antenna for about a month now and am totally satisfied with it's performance and the quality of the associated parts. No junk here and it works so well with my Yaesu FT-817ND. Purchased as extras the rotating arm kit, VersaTee, and extra color clips. The ease of set up and I use the SWR meter in the radio so I didn't need a 259B to tune. The antenna coils are well consrtucted and color codes are right on for top performance. I set this up in my back yard on an MFJ-1919 stand that I had 8 feet off the ground tuned for 20 meters and all went well using the Buddipole VersaTee and U-Bolts that were easily purchased at my local ACE Hardware. Four voice contacts in about 20 minutes of effort for a first time setup. I from Central Florida and they from PA(2),AL(1), LA(1). Follow the instruction sheet with color code and you will have no problems. Way to go Buddipole!!!
N5TSG Rating: 2013-07-12
Excellent Portable / Emergency Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I want to first say that this antenna has a little bit of a learning curve, this antenna is a Swiss Army Knife in your arsenal. I'd suggest that new users join the BUG yahoo group and download all the files and read them. I would also suggest that while this is an antenna that can be tuned for exact frequency that you consider running a tuner. It makes setup a snap, I can literally have my station up in 20 minutes.

I've owned my Buddipole for over 5 years now. I'm still impressed with its quality (95% American made) and ease of functionality. You simply will not find a better made product out there, nor will you find better support from a manufacturer/distributor than these guys. They know their product and they stand behind it. I can't tell you how many times I've been at Hamcom or Dayton at the booth and had someone come up and have an issue with the antenna by the time they leave Chris or Steve (ol Goat) will have them fixed up. Its usually something simple. I've also witnessed Chris taking care of out of warranty issues and just plain abuse of the antenna system without any issue. No one does that anymore! He's a stand-up kind of guy who uses and believes in his product.

If your on the fence about a good solid portable antenna look no further. This antenna is capable of multiple configurations and comes with excellent support from the manufacturer and other hams ... you can't go wrong with a Buddipole.
KE7UFP Rating: 2013-07-06
Great Portable Antenna System Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I started with a Buddistick several years ago and have since built up a portable system that is a truly all band portable kit. It has functioned very well in some very difficult operating environments. It has been used on beaches, in parks, on mountains and in high desert. The only two times we had trouble was at a friend’s townhouse, and once during the WA State Salmon Run. The Salmon Run issue was on an 80 M Vertical that turned out to be a bad coax. We never got the BP to operate at the townhouse no matter what we tried.
I have seen some reviews that state that the system is unusable or poor performance. I would suggest trying the system in another area and take your time. Tuning has been difficult at times requiring us to touch up it up as the weather conditions change and the band conditions change.
But we have always been able to get an acceptable SWR, sometimes requiring a tuner. Not often.
It takes some work and patience to be proficient with the system, but well worth the effort.
WJ7S Rating: 2013-04-23
Great Portable Antenna! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I love operating portable and have used many varieties of antenna. I have used both the Buddipole and the Buddistick configurations and have had excellent results. When I first received the Buddipole, I had a difficult time getting it to tune up properly. After some frustration, I decided to check the continuity of the various components and found that I had a defective Versatee. After a call to JD at BP, I got a replacement Versatee and all is well. The service you get from BP is excellent and the product is well constructed, very high quality and works well. I alternate between the Buddipole and the Buddistick depending on what terrain I have to work with and what I want to carry. Few things in ham radio are as fun for me as working Japan on SSB from a portable location with 5 watts using my KX3 and the Buddipole. Read and follow the "Buddipole in the Field" book and you will enjoy these antennas.
John
W7SAG
AE5J Rating: 2013-03-11
Perfection in a Portable Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Let me begin by saying, (with no disrespect to previous posters) that the Buddipole is NOT for those wishing a plug and play antenna. It takes skill, an antenna analyzer, and a bit of experience to get really excellent performance from the Buddipole system.

Having said that, if you are looking for an antenna that can be carried in a bag, one that can be setup in an almost endless array of configurations, you can find none better.

True, it can be tuned without the analyzer (by ear), but I only do that with configurations I have previously gotten resonant with the analyzer. I can then re-create that configuration and tune it quickly by ear. It takes a bit of patience to utilize the Buddipole correctly. Once mastered, it is a stellar antenna system. Don't buy one thinking you can just connect parts together and get the performance you want. That performance comes with experience. Be patient.

I built and used a home brew "buddipole" from Bud's plans many years ago, so I had a large base of experience with the basic antenna. However, the Buddipole as sold today is worlds more polished than anything I could make at home. It is not inexpensive but, at least in my opinion, it is worth the expense. I simply cannot accomplish the vast array of configurations and band coverage with anything else. From 2 meters all the way down to 160 meters, (yes, you can create a full-sized 160m dipole if you add your own wire) it is a portable antenna builders dream.

I have tried other products and truthfully they will work also. I have found none to match the Buddipole for quality and engineering excellence.

Properly resonated, the Buddipole will amaze you at how well it works. It isn't a $5,000 beam/tower system, but it will work on top of a 10,000 foot mountain and can be easily carried by one person. Set up in the front yard or on a camping trip it delivers contacts around the world - even with very low power input.

My hat is off to the Buddipole team for a great product.
F4FXH Rating: 2013-03-10
Very good for portable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
What a wonderfull antenna for portable operations.

I always bring it with me for portable operations (holidays, radio amateur day, exhibitions,...).
I used it on all bands from 40m to 2m.
It is very easy to tune the antenna with an antenna analyzer (I prefer to do that instead of tuning it with ears).
It always get a good impedance at resonance point (small values for reactive parts of the impedance, sometimes none).
The antenna can be used with an internal rig's tuner on the whole bands when correctly tuned).
You can try dipole, vertical, L configuration, V configuration, J configuration, short whips, long whips,...
Easy to transport, installed and tuned in less than 10 minutes.
Of course you can brew it yourself but it is very difficult to reach the same quality and the professionnal finish of the product.

I always get good reports even barefoot (100 W) and made very long distance QSOs: from France, Indonesia and Brazil.

3 OM friends of mine adopted it.

Good job budditeam.

Nicolas