I set the Buddipole up today on 20 meters, following the instructions laid out on the Buddipole videos and got it all up and running ok.
As anticipated the background noise was at 5/4 or so, making it hard to hear any weaker signals. I called CQ a number of times and was given a 5/9 signal report from Geelong, Victoria (VK3) so it’s certainly working.
I’m not sure if I’ll bother using the Buddipole again as a vertical unless I’m in the field close to the sand or water. I much prefer the whisper quiet conditions that I get from the horizontal dipole configuration.
Filed under: Amateur Radio
Hi There,
I’ve been reading through your blog and firstly I want to say thanks for posting your experiences.
I have a similar set up to yours. I have a FT450AT and a Buddipole. I think I have some common mode issues when running on 20 meters and the Buddipole in the horizontal dipole configuration with the shock cord mast. I get decent reports when operating portable, but I can’t help to think that I’m not getting all the RF into the antenna.
Do you use a balun currently? The Buddipole balun is nice, but pricey. I could easily make a common mode choke myself if that is the solution.
73,
Rob
KC8YNI
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the comments and for the feedback and nice to meet you for the first time. I rarely meet anyone on air with a 450AT so there’s a coincidence. Great rig! I wrote this post shortly after purchasing the Buddipole and must say that I was wrong! The Buddipole works great as a vertical and you’ll see from some of my subsequent posts that I’ve had some excellent results and experiences with it.
The first thing I need to ask is how high off the ground is your Buddipole when operating horizontally on 20 metres? I tested mine this way when I first purchased it and found the results disappointing due to the insufficient elevation (I have the Buddipole Deluxe package with an 18′ mast). Since then I’ve only operated on 20 metres using the vertical configuration and counterpoise with some excellent results.
I only set up in good vantage points usually by the water so this is no doubt a contributing factor. During the first two months of 2013 I regularly found myself in pileups late at night local time using the vertical set up from a balcony so you can definitiely do well with this antenna.
Have you downloaded the ‘Buddipole in the Field’ PDF from the Buddiple site available from the Documentation section? It gives plenty of information on the pros and cons of the different configurations and I found it invaluable.
I’m about to purchase the TRSB with some other accessories because I experience loose RF when using the Buddipole horizontally and I want to use it this way on 15 metres.
Hope this information helps and please do not hesitate to contact me via the site’s Contact Me link.
73s and regards,
Jonathan VK6PTU