![]() on my third use, the whip pulled apart between the two lower sections. In other words, you're not getting SSB and digital on 40 without having to retune between the two, even with a tuner without good SWR. Which means, if you want to tune up or down the band for any reason, you have to go and tune the antenna again (outside the limits of your tuner, if you have one, obviously). which means very high Q, which means it has a very narrow bandwidth. ![]() Second, on top of the tuning issues listed above, the whip is small, so a lot of the antenna is in the coil, especially at 40m. And then once you're there, you've lost all motivation to switch bands for the rest of the day. it just takes a long period of frustration to get it there. They are too small and there's only the tiniest bit of room to slide the clip onto the very small coil and tune it. back and forth, back and forth, on and on. ![]() I have a stick analyzer, which makes things easier but, in the 10 times I have used it, I have had no less than 10 trips back and forth to the antenna to tune it where I wanted it - adjusting the coil, tweaking the radial. I have set it up used it about 10 times, and now it's going in the garbage.įirst - this antenna is a royal pain to tune. While initially impressed at its compact size, portability, and performance, that faded fast. We travel a lot in our RV and this was going to be my go-to antenna for mobile. I purchased the Buddistick Pro in May 2023 for mobile ops. Poor quality, pain to tune, and non-existent customer support. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.Not worth the hassle. I plan to take it for land based portable operations in the near and distant future. I like the shoulder bag and tripod that comes with it. This is my third Alpha Antenna purchase and like the others it has not disappointed. ![]() There was no reason to use the Buddipole system my friend Peter, VE4TTH, lent me even once on the entire 23 day adventure. The delta loop has broad side lobes and it did not work over the North Pole when the boat was docked facing North-South yet the Alpha antenna performed reliably and went the distance in all directions. The omni directional radiation of this antenna performed better than the onboard home brew delta loop in some situations. I was able to have QSO with stations 110 nautical miles away and pass traffic to my wife so she knew I was safe since there was no cellphone service. Back in Winnipeg, a local net gets together on 3.747 Mhz every evening. It allowed me to be safe by deciding when to stay put and when to leave the Island. I called on hams on HF who read me the WX forecasts for Lake Winnipeg North Basin from a link I had on my qrz.com page. This alpha antenna proved to be a real asset to have along. ![]() George Island is so far north the VHF marine radio did not copy any WX broadcasts. The antenna worked excellent on HF bringing in stations from Europe, Australia, South Cook Island, New Caledonia and many destinations in Canada and the USA. The four radiating /guy wires could not be extended in four quadrant directions but I managed to separate them as much as possible considering the restrictions of the dock. I set up the Alpha antenna on the dock at George Island Harbour. I had the opportunity to try the Alpha antenna or a Buddipole on a recent mini sailing DXPedition to activate George Island Light station Can 845 which is located on Lake Winnipeg, MB (VE4 land). ![]()
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