| M0MRR |
Rating:      |
2006-02-12 | |
| Well impressed |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I had several Hustler mobile antennas, but was tired of changing antennas for different bands. Also the Hustler's along with the MO-1 53" mast was not suitable for 'real' mobile use. I wanted to buy a mobile antenna that was multi-band as opposed to single band.
I had considered the ATAS-120, but this didn't tune 80m and was limited to Yaesu radios and even though I have an FT-100D, God might bless me with an Icom radio one day. The Sidekick is a lot chunkier than the ATAS, but for my purpose and where I live, I will not leave an item like this on the car permanently as it is likely to 'walk'. After a lot of looking around I got a High Sierra Sidekick mobile antenna, which tunes from 80m to 6m.
It is mounted to my car using a large 3 way mag mount. When it arrived, it was exactly as expected from seeing pictures of it on the internet. All parts were there and a very basic instruction manual was present. I was a bit worried about scratching the paint on my car, so I placed the magmount on my car roof on top of a thin piece of cotton material (tea towel). I hung the coax cable and power cable through a window leading into the car. It wouldn't tune 80m.
Some research suggested that the capacitance effect for an rf earth of the magmount maybe affected by the cotton material. I then took the plunge and placed the three way mag mount directly on my vehicle roof. The antenna now tuned all bands. I can pretty well achieve an SWR of 1.2 on all bands - but careful adjustment is required to do this. I can not remove the magmount without a great deal of force.
Whilst I was going through the installation process I had some questions regarding the power lead of the antenna and I emailed High Sierra directly. I was a bit worried that the antenna motor power lead would 'chaf' as it comes out of the bottom of the antenna through a small rectangular hole. I was also worried about rubbish getting in through this hole. Much to my amazement all emails I sent were answered within a few hours (this was over a weekend). Jim was very helpful and confident in the product.
The antenna has now been used when mobile at 70mph on 80m (max height) and it works extremely well. I am probably more impressed by the antenna to tune 80m and work stations from my mobile set-up. I have played with Hustler antennas and the Sidekick is as good in performance but length wise, much smaller. The antenna is easy to tune, but requires final adjustment to get the best SWR - usually 1.2/3 is achieved on all bands. The mag mount is a rock - it won't fly off, and is now a fixture of the car. I unscrew the Sidekick when I have finished playing.
For such a small antenna - the whip is only 3ft, it tunes as stated 80m through to 6m, and I in the short time I have had it I have had many contacts throughout England and Europe / Africa. Its good fun having the antenna set on 6m and having sporadic E contacts, to then switch to 17m as you want. I like being able to work 80m mobile and people are often surprised by my signal when they discover I am mobile. For those of you interested I have some pictures of the installation on my website http://homepage.ntlworld.com/m.rabel/Sidekick.htm
I rate this antenna 5/5 as it does exactly what it states it does.
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| AB9LX |
Rating:      |
2006-02-10 | |
| This aint your dads ATAS! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I purchased this Sidekick to use mobile. I wanted an antenna that was not large like the 1800 but could outperform the ATAS (not hard to do). Well this is it! This antenna has performed great. Been driving in snow, rain, sleet, WELCOME TO THE MIDWEST, and have not had any problems. My atas 120 lasted a day in the summer rain, glad I didnt try it in the winter :0 ! I can tune 75 meter to 6 meter while it is mounted on a tri magnet mount! Try tuning that atas on 60 or 75 meter hahahahahaha, NOT. I cannot believe the rx difference!! Much better than the atas. I like to toy around so I tried an experiment, hooked my Uniden Grant up to the sidekick keyed it up on channel 19 AM (super truckers cmon) and the antenna tuned perfect and I got a "super duper trucker radio check" with good reports. The antenna is the bomb! I use a counter for ease of tuning. The counter makes the fast motor a plus for tuning, My settings,,,,#4 to tune 10 meter,,,, #14 for 20 meter,,,,, #38 for 40 meter,,,,, # 58 for 60 meter and #98 for 75 meter,, oh and just bottom it out on #0 for 6 meter.
Don't waste your money on the Atas,,,, the ease to tune is useless if it gets wet and dont move or all your buds are on 75 meter during that night time trip to be first in line at Dayton!!!
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| ZS5J |
Rating:     |
2006-02-06 | |
| needs few mods |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I purchased a new sidekick and Icom IC-7000 from AES in Las Vegas while on vacation there last month. The sidekick performs well, but there are some issues that I had problems with. Firstly, the motor is way to quick - on an average bandchange, I have to rock the motor up and down about 10 - 15 times before I can get the "sweet spot". I always overshoot the match, when I am close to a match, and tap the up or down button really fast, I overshoot, to a point where the swr is unacceptable. I will be doing a mod to mine to get the motor to turn at half the speed.
Second issue I have is the supplied dc cable that goes into the antenna. It is this bright red and black ripcord stuff, with a BIG connector 6 inches from the antenna. It is unsightly, and makes the antenna look unfinished. That cable I will be removing and replacing with a dc cable that is covered in a black jacket, and I will source a better, more low-profile connector.
Apart from that.....the antenna works great, performance is good. I also use an FT100D with ATAS 120, which is way easier to tune, but it doesn't do 75 meters.
73
John ZS5J
Richards Bay, South Africa |
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| AF1S |
Rating:      |
2006-02-06 | |
| Works Great! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This antenna with the TS-480HX and N2VZ controller is the nuts! The Sidekick is mounted on a Jeep Cherokee using a SSM-1 ballmount and heavy duty spring with the 6' whip installed. It plays from 3.5MHz to 29.7 with no troubles at all. I've worked Europe, Africa, and S. America on 20m usually having only to call once (naturally, the dx station was good enough to give priority to the "stroke mobile") On the lower bands it works good, not a barn burner, but with a six foot whip you can't expect miracles.
Ultimately, you get what you give in this world. This install was done at the expense of drilling and blasting holes in my vehicle. The doors, hood, engine block, and exhaust system have all been electrically strapped together.The ballmounts (have an identical mount on the other quarter panel used for 6m and future high power mono band operation) have been extensively grounded. The power wires are 4GA going into a distribution block that feeds a RigRunner fused distribution panel. I used RG-213 for feed line with a 10 turn choke (had to use up the extra 10' of feed anyway) at the feedpoint.
Compared to prior installs of the FT-100D/ATAS 100 combo and the IC706/Hamstick setup...this is head and shoulders above the rest. One button operation/bandchange with the N2VZ controller and the backlit keys on the TS-480 (not to mention front panel access of most user settings) has made this a very successful, flexible, and friendly set-up.
And...for answering technical questions or getting advice on the install...Jim at High Sierra has been great. Wonderful customer support. |
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| NE7X |
Rating:      |
2006-01-24 | |
| Sweet !!!! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have been operating HF mobile for over 30 years and this antenna is outstanding. Visit my HF mobile website for pictures and full installation details.
http://www.ne7x.com/mobile.htm
73s, Tom NE7X... |
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| WB1BPV |
Rating:      |
2006-01-02 | |
| Excellent Antenna!! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I purchased the sidekick a few weeks ago new from John at Quick silver Radio (http://www.qsradio.com)and boy am i glad I did! He answered all my questions before I made the purchase and if he didn't have an answer, he refferred me to Jim at High sierra who emailed me back the same day.Talk about customer service!!Anyway, I used to be a hamstick fanatic but became tired of trying to change antennas everytime I wanted to change bands.Well, no more! I started the process slowly, the first day after I received the antenna i read the instructions, the second day I started splicing the wires, the third day I hooked it up in my Jeep Cherokee with a tri mag mount and played with it without transmitting. I have it hooked up to an FT-857. Well, at first I depended on the rocker switch to get the lowest SWR,but didn't realize that you still need to fine tune by switching to AM/FM and keying the mic to get the lowest SWR. The problem was the smoke comming out of the radio when fine tunning, so I now have to lower power to 5 watts and then retune.Not a big deal if your used to multitasking while driving 65mph. Once I figured the tunning issue out, all was well.I made my first contact with the antenna today on 17 meters from Connecticut going down the Merrit Parkway. It was ON4HIL in Belgium with 90 watts.He gave me a 57, but told me my microphone sounded like the PTT button on my FT857 was intermittent, but thats for another review as I now need to go to the Yahoo Group to find out why this is happenning.Anyway, the antenna is fantastic, relatively small for its size.I have no prolem tunning it from 10-40.I do want to get the longer whip so I can tune 6meters 80 and 160 if possible.I don't hit the roof anymore when going through Mcdonalds or the bank drive through.Great antenna, save up for it as it is a bit pricey, but definitely worth the investment and great Customer service and support to boot!! |
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| GM6TVR |
Rating:     |
2005-10-15 | |
| Good, but I have now found better. |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Been using the Sidekick /Portable for a while now with good results. I stumbled on WHF antennas on the Waters & Stanton website three weeks ago and ordered the WHF-20 and WHF-40 mobile antennas. Both of these antennas are leaps and bounds ahead of the Sidekick, provided you don't mind changing antennas when changing bands. At £20 or so each, you can't go wrong, I am delighted with mine.
Can't look at any other make of mobile antenna now,
Good d/x.
John - GM6TVR / GM0FQV /9G1BJ
www.johnblack.org |
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| N4SLN |
Rating:      |
2005-10-14 | |
| Better Communications with the Sidekick |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
When I went to Mississippi to work EOC Communications I took with me some antennas that had to be switched. With all that was going on in support of the EOC I really didn't have time. When I returned home I sent for the High Sierra Antenna. I got the Sidekick with a tripod so I could use the radials. What a great antenna. Nothing but good reports. Not many times this day and age can you buy a product that has good quality and can see pride in building of the product. well High Sierra you make a great product. At the same high quality is your staff.... Great Folks
Thanks |
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| WD4BLL |
Rating:      |
2005-10-01 | |
| Sidekick w/ (New)Six Shooter Capacity Hat |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I've had my Sidekick since July. No more changing Hamsticks!
With Jim's new Six Shooter Capacity Hat and the 6 ft whip, I can can work mobile 160-15. Didn't check 12 or 10. Each of the 6 rods are 2ft, so you need a little room (4ft). It goes out horizontal at the top of the coil body and the whip goes into the Six Shooter.This is not the HS-120, that's on the web site. |
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| NK8T |
Rating:      |
2005-09-22 | |
| Better then the ATAS 120 |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| After having been using an ATAS 120 with my FT-857D that had provided great mobile HF, I wasn't sure what to expect with the Sidekick. I wanted the ability to operate 75 mtrs with a compact antenna that had good reviews, so I purchased one from Jim at High Sierra. The antenna is working great, SWR less then 1.5 on all bands, and just as easy to operate as the ATAS 120. The attention to detail and workman ship is excellent. The manual that came with the antenna is straight forward and informative. I have never delt with a manufacture that is as friendly and extreamily helpful as Jim at High Sierra. Thank you for a great product. |
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