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Reviews For: Buddistick Portable Vertical

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : Buddistick Portable Vertical
Reviews: 63MSRP: $125.00
Description:
Designed as a multi-band, portable antenna for 40m - 10m, the Buddistick™ is an excellent performer with any rig up to 250 watts.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.buddipole.com/buddistick.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00634.7
N0FQN Rating: 2016-06-30
Mounting is of poor construction Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've been trying to setup a buddistick I bought a couple years back. The main problem is the plastic mounting bracket with the plastic extender piece that allows it to be mounted at different angles. Both cracked and broke trying to get them tight enough to hold the buddistick erect on the edge of a wooden picnic table. Have to find an alternative method. When you try and place one of the coil clips on the coil, they distort the coil wire considerably. This is especially true when you have to move it from one sector to another. Because the mounting system would not hold the antenna fell and broke one of the whips. Guess that's why they give you 2 of them. Not overly impressed with it. How can I be when I can't even get it on the air.
N6CIC Rating: 2016-06-26
Even Better When Modified Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have the standard Buddistick with the 5-1/2 foot telescoping whip and the two 24 inch aluminum extension arms, coil, speaker tripod, and one counterpoise wire. My main interest has been on 40 meters operating from an antenna restricted housing development. With this set-up I have gotten reasonable signal reports on 40 meters. For comparison I also bought an Alpha Antennas 80-10 meters vertical, which is also mounted on a speaker tripod, but uses a much longer Mil-Stick shock cord whip. On 40 meters I found the Buddistick significantly out-performed the Alpha Antenna. With this result in mind, I wondered how the longer Mil-Stick would perform on the Buddistick in place of the shorter telescoping whip. I tried this out and found that the torque from wind was too great for the vertical antenna clamp to hold this configuration upright. However when I used the Alpha Antennas vertical clamp in place of the Buddistick clamp, the whole arrangement was very stable in the wind. I found it was necessary to adjust the coil tap to about half that compared to when the shorter whip is used but the counterpoise length remained about the same (about 30 feet) to get an SWR of less than 1.5 to 1. To date this modified Buddistick has performed much better than the shorter whip version and I am getting very good signal reports from a location in a small backyard in a crowded residential neighborhood. I understand that Buddistick also sells a longer Mil-Stick whip with shock cords, and I certainly would recommend that version.
K1WJ Rating: 2014-12-08
Neat setup Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have buddistick with 9.5 whip. Two 22 in. sections then coil then 9.5ft whip. Coil clip at ring # 28 from the top. Set up for 40 meters. SWR at 1.5 at 7.200. Kenwood Ts-2000 internal tuner will tune 1:1 on the whole voice section. Have made a few contacts, antenna base is 5ft off the ground with a single elevated 1/4 w 40M radial about 4 ft off the ground. QC seems very good and the antenna looks really cool. Do not expect alot of DX with my setup but I am having fun on 40M. So far so good. 73 K1WJ
KC0CDX Rating: 2014-11-23
great quality, good performance for its size Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I really like the build quality of this portable. A step above the super antenna mp1 in my opinion. It can be difficult to tune without an analyzer but it is possible. Just takes a bit more patience. I've had many great contacts all over the world on 10, 17, and 20 meters so far. Best part is how compact it is when broken down into its carry case.
N7ISS Rating: 2014-09-13
BEST ANTENNA EVER Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I really wanted to try this antenna after reading so many good reviews. I bid on several on EBAY and they always went to about $200.00. I looked it up on the Buddipole website and saw they are only $139.00, crazy. I then thought it must be a long wait to get one. I ordered it anyway and guess what? I had it in ONE day... That was impressive. I just set it up using a light stand I had and followed the simple instructions. I did use my trusty MFJ antenna analyzer however.. In no time I had it at 1.0 on 20 meters WOW.. Then I set it up for 40 meters and got it to 1.5 right away. This is great antenna. I bought it for an upcoming SOTA activation I have planned in October the the volcano rim of Mt Saint Helens. Its going to do a great job. It built tough and accurate and looks cool. I got the all black antenna as everybody knows that black is the fastest and lowest drag color. Comes in a nice carry case also. Like I said, best antenna EVER.....
N6QIH Rating: 2014-08-16
QRP Vertical antenna and more. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just purchased a Buddistick Deluxe antenna on Ebay for the unheard price of $90 with all the extras that came from the seller that included a Buddipole shock cord 4 section whip a MFJ BNC whip for 80-10 HF. This buddistick looked brand new and set up just as the instructions recomended. Before I knew it I had checked into to my Utah Beehive net 7.272 QRP controler in Oregon and the Noontime net 7.268.5 Controler in Reno NV I was blown away with the easy setup and performance of my Yaesu FT 817.
K0QC Rating: 2014-04-04
Used /KH6 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of the Buddistick during our recent visit to Big Island. Was looking for something that would not take up a lot of space and this set up met that requirement. Purchased the deluxe package and also purchase the Iportable antenna analyzer. I ran my IC706 and AT180 and the Buddistick from the Lanai of our condo. The Lanai was on 2rd floor, about 20 feet AGL. The clamp worked fine on the Lanai railing. Tuning the antenna is the key and the Iportable really made that a much easier job. I logged 28 countries, including the FT5ZM Dxpedition, in 19 Zones, all running 100W. Most of the QSO's were on 10,12 and 15M, but did make QSO's on 17, 20 and 40M. Worked pretty much everything I could hear. The antenna is very well made and for the price, it certainly fit my needs. I plan to use it more this summer with the RV.
KJ4NWZ Rating: 2014-03-27
Buddistick FB Group. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hello to all Buddistick owners and users. I've started a Buddistick group site at Facebook. All are welcomed to join.

I mean no disrespect to the Buddipole group site already on fb but there is a reason both antennas are listed separately on eham.net. Thanks.
YV5OF Rating: 2014-03-26
Great portable antenna for QRP Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I'm using Buddistick since 2010 practical and versatile. Fully transportable and can operate in various weather conditions. This antenna use it much for QRP operations, made very good QSO.

Pre and Post Sales Service very good, and excellent support.
KM4T Rating: 2014-01-01
Delivers as Advertised Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had an old Radio Shack HT-10x for about a year now, but didn't have an antenna that I could quickly put up and lower, so the radio has been gathering dust. I did a lot of research and considered other options, but decided on the Buddistick Deluxe for my HOA challenged environment.

I received it on 12/29 and used it for the first time this morning. I set it up on a camera tripod outside of my home office window in less than 10 minutes. Wow, what a pleasant surprise when I fired up the radio. Within minutes I worked The Netherlands and Austria, followed up a little later with Italy, The Azores and England. There was a decent band opening that helped a lot for sure, but man, this simple little vertical really delivered for me today. Very happy with my purchase.