The new Buddistick Pro from Buddipole, Inc.

You’ll need to call or email if you want to get one before he gets them on the site.

 

Thank you. Hey I had no idea that posting a video about a product that ive been using successfully and love would cause such a mess. I have just decided that I would go through the thread and reply to those who genuinely were trying to get info about the product. I do not work for Buddipole, although I do consider Chris (the owner) a friend. I have always been able to call him up and ask questions or get advice and help and if hes not right in the middle of something and sometimes even if he is, he takes time to help and ive been using the Buddipole system since around 2012. THATS a company that I like spending my money with. Is the Buddistick Pro the best portable antenna out there?? Well, I would think thats a subjective question, because the best antenna is one you can use successfully. My goal with the video was to show everyone what comes in the kit, how to put it together and share that ive used it successfully in my Parks on the Air activations, so successful I earned the Kilo (1,000 contacts) award from that specific park with just that antenna. Does that mean anything to the ham radio world? Probably not much except that at least in my instance it performs and im sure it will perform for you too. There will be other videos out soon on how to tune the anteanna, etc.. My video was not a full review of the product, it was a quick view of what it actually was and how it was constructed. I would hope that anyone viewing the video would do their research before spending their hard earned money just as I would and do. So, I suppose some of the Chum Stirrers are correct, I am trying to be an "influencer" and if thats the case, im guilty.. because I do hope you are successful with any antenna you build or purchase and id be happy if it was a Buddipole antenna because I know the quality and customer support that comes with it. I would also "influence" you to built upon the basic kit... make it longer, raise the feed point, change the configuration around, see what works best for your situation and location..

 

Like that doesn't happen to all of us? I am sure most every ham that operates mobile or portable has gotten people into radio by exposure on the streets. I know of three I got started that way in recent years. Difference is I don't need accolades for it.
For house bound hams same situation but instead we will visit and help when we can. Again don't need accolades.

You guys like to be seen, I get that. But for some of us your need to be seen is more of an annoyance than benefit. I respect those making videos who don't need to be the star of the show but instead elevate the state of the art.

 

Maybe you should have guyed it down.

 

Exactly how I tune mine. I also use my analyzer to speed things up.

 

also with the tap points provided in the manual that will ship with the new ones.. the tap points are super close so realistically for MOST situations, all you will need to do is lengthen or extend the counter poise by a few inches to get it fine tuned. Of coarse an analyzer always helps.

 

im sorry you had that problem.. everything that is made for portable unfortunately has to be made at light as possible while still being able to perform. I hear people say its "fiddly" and normally after talking to them they are referring to tuning and even after that, they figured out they werent tuning it correctly. Once its setup correctly, when you take it to the field you should in most situations only have to roll in or out the counter poise wire to fine tune. Theres a system to it just like anything else. I hope if you still have it maybe you can re-visit when you have more time and see if you can get it setup correctly. As far as it toppling over, im not sure what mount you are using if its the bspro or the regular one with possibly a tripod but most tripods / mounts when its windy does need some type of guying. On my BSPRO I place my accessory bag on a "hook" under the versa mount, this gives it a good bit of stability. now, i doubt it would withstand 20mph wnds, but i wouldn't put an antenna up in those winds in the first place. I hope you are able to enjoy your antenna in the future. Ill help anytime I can, my email is good on qrz. If you are on the book, theres a good user group there too as well as groups.io

 

Most stupid genre ever. And has lots of views. What's wrong with the people?

 

I'd say the hobby has not to be promoted due its irrational nature. Demonstrate and help newbie in – yes, well, but no more. Promotion is rather harms as involves occasional people who then destroy the hobby from inside. The hobby needs let's say ideological hams but not occasional people; number of licensees is nothing but the 'quality' (i.e. a kind of degree of involvement, degree of sincere selfless interest) of every single ham matters.

 

You are so right, Crazy world, and if is not screwed up let the government get involved they can take care of that. I owned and operated a Machine shop (Job shop) for years, but the gov started in on requiring me to be responsible for every type materials, and every chemical that came through my shop. Paperwork alone was a full time job.

And because of this I turned away some good paying machine work because it cost me more to dispose of some of the metal cuttings because some contained small amounts of Beryllium in the copper. Beryllium is very toxic and you must flood the material with coolant to keep from any particles to become air born. One things leads to another, so now I have contaminated metal's, and contaminated coolant to dispose of. We are only talking about only .3 parts per billion of Beryllium in the copper I would be machining, you get more of that in some vaccines. Good to be a Responsible manufacture and follow best practices, but the gov goes to far at times and manufacturing becomes to costly to do in the US so it is moved overseas where very little or if any environmental controls are followed, CRAZY.

 

As a manufacturing business owner who worked his way up through a trade - dirt under the fingernails, barked knuckles, and all - you have a clear and wide view of the all costs involved. And you nailed it about overseas manufacturing. The cost of complying with laws - laws generally enacted with good intent - virtually forced many U.S. companies overseas where enforcement of environmental and safety laws are lax, and that's if those laws exist at all.

I work in the powdered metal/parts fabrication business. My head spins when I see what our safety guy, HR gal, and the owner have to contend with to satisfy dictates from Washington, D.C. and Hartford. Though recently turning 70, I'm still working in the shop out on the floor. However, a couple years ago I kicked back to 20 hours or so a week. Like many things in my life, my "retirement" is half-assed. At least I'm consistent.

I hope you're enjoying good health and hamming in retirement!

Stay well.

 

Fiddly tuning? Its surprising how people think a coat hanger should tune dc to 6 and expect the same antenna talk to other planets in distance proverbially speaking.

The Buddistick is a relatively high Q antenna and thus, tunes a very tight range of frequencies usually within 10 to 20kc up or down tops before need a slight retune. This high coil Q allows for a better signal to be emitted from the radiating elements. Im sure someone will make fun of me for my vernacular being short of Christ like perfection, but you normal people know what I mean.

 

hahaha..

 

The website is now live.

 

Looks like it is $275 for the package ... not cheap, but not horrible either. The only thing that I can see that might be a "pain" for shorter operators (I'm 6'6" tall, so it won't bother me too much) is that the whole thing is over 9 feet tall so on the bands where you have to adjust the whip, that is gonna be an issue (even for me), but since it appears that the coil is about the 6 to 6.5 foot height when mounted on the tripod, doing the initial setup and possibly even moving the jumper from tap to tap might be a pain.

Nothing insurmountable, just something to note. Certainly easier the the MFJ "Big Ears" with two whips and a coil.