[FQP] FW: Relative Signals in the FQP

[W4ZW]

I'm certainly no expert on mobile antennas, but after fooling with them for
50+ years I can offer my empirical opinion.  I've used everything from
bug-catchers, old time Hustlers, steel whips/tuners, etc.

 

And my first satisfying mobile antenna was the original BIG High Sierra
frame mounted on my Cadillac at the time with a BIG steel whip.  It was too
long to tune 10M and I couldn't use any drive-thru’s, but it really worked
well.  XYL hated it because it was so big and ugly, but hey, it was my car,
not hers.  

 

But to keep the peace,  tried the ICOM AH tuner/whip.  Poor.  Tried a single
102" steel whip with both the ICOM AH and the Kenwood AT-300; poor.
Switched to the Tarheel, smaller but still no joy.  These all worked, but
not as well as that old High Sierra in my opinion.  I still have that High
Sierra and the custom made mount I had a machine shop fabricate that bolted
to the Cadillac’s frame.

 

In my first FQP I mounted a Yaesu ATAS-120 for band-hopping on one of the
Escalade’s roof rack cross rails, and a 20M Hamstick on the other.  I
quickly discovered that the big 20M hamstick on top of the escalade with a
direct body ground at the base worked MUCH better.

 

After all that, I think a hamstick on a high roof (van, SUV) centered if
possible with a direct ground to the roof is pretty hard to beat.  Can't use
the drive-thru's and some bridges bounce a bit, but it works pretty well in
my opinion.  Only thing better would be a specially made trailer towed
antenna like K5KG and others use.

 

This tall (18’) Buddi-Pole is a pretty good antenna for mobile/fixed
operation. It comes with stakes and nylon guys for any kind of windy
condition.  I bought these for our school clubs to use for quick setup and
takedown, and we worked just about anybody we could hear with 100w.  We
preferred the vertical element with the lower one at an angle that gave us a
good SWR.  We also used the 33’ verticals from Eagle One (
<http://www.w8afx.com/> http://www.w8afx.com/) with ICOM AH-4’s and had very
good results with a good ground and minimal radials.  For the schools, we
bonded the grounds to the schools’ tin roofs.  With one of MFJ’s heavy duty
tripods, a good weight, an AH-4,  and pre-cut radials, it worked quite well.

 

I agree with Jeff’s thoughts.

 

My 2 cents.  

 

73's from 10,000'

 

 

Jon Hamlet, W4ZW/Ø

Breckenridge, Colorado 

 

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We all know most mobile antennas are inefficient but I think the Hamsticks
and Hustler mobile antennas are far from being dummy loads. If you mount
them on a good high spot on the car/minivan and make a reasonable effort to
ground them you will find they work pretty good

 

I would be interested in hearing some thoughts on this ?

 

 

Jeff KU8E