Myself and N4DJR activated Carters Lake Wildlife Management Area this weekend and had a blast! We setup the Buddipole Hex Beam for 20m and the buddipole Dipole for 40m. We were in NWGA and pointed the beam due west, I think we worked almost every station in Tx HiHi. After 20m finally took a dive, we moved over to the 40m dipole and worked a lot of east coast stations. It was a productive activation and was a lot of fun, pile ups from beginning to the end. We also worked K5SDW an aeronautical mobile station 35,000ft above Atlanta Georgia! Shout out to KI5QZL for making his FIRST HF contact with us!
Nice video again Friend, I’m going to Smash that Subscribe button as they say, hi hi. You didn’t have the park to yourselves for long did you? Thanks again and great Picture Quality too.
Thanks for the subscription! You are most certainly right, it didnt take long before the park filled up. We had some people sit a couple tables away, blast their music and talk to each other as if they were across the park from one another but we still had a great time!
These POTA Hams are doing an amazing job! Helping with my own knowledge of geography, in fact! Carry on folks & 73!
I don't consider the Buddihex a POTA friendly antenna. In a earlier YouTube video W4FDT and N4DJR mentioned it took two people 20 minutes to assemble the Buddihex in Alaska. In the field, by myself, I want setup in 10 minutes or less. I can achieve this with a Buddistick or PackTenna Mini wire antenna. I'll pass on this one.
I've never used any of the Buddipoles, but I can vouch for the PackTenna. I did a first activation of Posey Island State Park, K-3251, in the San Juan Islands using a PackTenna EFHW -- took about 15 minutes to unload the dinghy and get the station set-up. Also my first POTA activation...39 contacts in an hour. Amazing what a small hunk of wire can do!
You are correct, this past weekend it took us both around 17 minutes to get it ready to get on the air. This antenna isnt being marketed for someone to deploy it for an hour or so and take it down. This would be something you would use all day at camp, or qso parties, field day, etc.. Other antennas would be better suited for quick activations such as the ones you mention and those are two perfect examples. Thank you for watching the videos friend!
Hello Dewayne, SW-Germany is waving a hand into GA-State! Hope to make contact with you soon. Keep up your awsome work. 73's de Your Friend Uncle Guenter out of Wiesbaden City
The hexbeam is a superior performing antenna to all your other options...once you get it at least 1/4 wave high. On 20M that would be at least 16 feet. The value of an antenna should be not JUST how easy it is to deploy, but what you can do with it. 73 Chip W1YW
You must also take into consideration of what you take and how it appears to the public and the space it takes up. With an "Attention Getter 5000" eyesore hexbeam in a state, national park or preserve is a quick ticket to getting kicked out by law enforcement/park officials. You may still get asked to leave with lesser set-ups but with something that large and unusual you are just asking for more attention that you never wanted. Not to mention and a wasted trip to wherever you traveled to and the likelihood of any ham thereafter being asked to leave to avoid more "Attention Getter 5000s" being setup in the park and ruining it for everyone.
The biggest problem I see with the Buddihex right now is the fact that they still seem to be unavailable and Buddipole is not very good at responding to emails about them. Two inquiries, zero replies.
Question for anyone with a Buddihex antenna. What is the outside diameter of the fibreglass spreaders ?
