Thank you for the prompt reply. I agree with 100% of what you believe. Again, thank you for posting videos that people actually have a chance to learn something. I am a new learner at CW, and I believe you were among the first to give a real time, on air translation on the screen. I loved it. You will always have my respect for the videos you post. BTW, I think the weather videos are most informing as well! Thanks again, KG5OBD

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the great comment! As far as I know I'm the only one doing subtitles with CW on YTube. : ) I figured out real quick if people don't know CW it would be boring without translation. BTW I decided recently to create a new channel and move my weather/chasing videos over there. From now on I'll be posting to that channel. I don't think they fit here and many have complained. Here's the channel. kzread.info/dron/UEx8Btg6kO_Hq7xbJVEk3w.html

Funny you have ham sticks. I find myself doing same stuff you do. You’re always one step ahead of me. Saves me a lot of experimentation and gives me an idea of what to expect. You are definitely my favorite youtubber for hams. Thanks for posting. Happy New Years!

@TridentMissileTech

3 жыл бұрын

I just got ham sticks for Christmas. Going to have to order an octopus or rig up something similar

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Ah man that's so nice. I wish I could make more videos, but full time job + kids it's hard. Really appreciate that comment!

Stole the election. Almost choked on my coffee.

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

100% stolen. Big cities. Philadelphia, Atlanta Madison, etc.

@Bob814u

3 жыл бұрын

@@hamradiocq Possession is 90%. Not Stolen. Stolen is "Hey my car is missing, I think it was stolen!" Country Jacked (Car Jacked): Get out and give me the country!! And I am taking your kids with me for reeducation!!" Done in plain sight without a care in the world.

@KX4UL

3 жыл бұрын

@@hamradiocq - I agree 100%!

@TridentMissileTech

3 жыл бұрын

Agree. Election was stolen.

That's about what I got from Norman, OK using a Mini G5RV in my apartment on the 2nd floor on JT65/JT9 modes. 20 meters worked better and I have a ton of contacts in California and that was always a given. My radio hit California every time.

My testing SWR only was 10’ off the ground attached to a utility trailer. Still got 1:5 at that test position. I will do SWR once I get these in the field on POTA activities

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

I need to try something diff then.

I agree. Point it east and west and try WSPR and see what results you have. I get low SWR on my hamstick when up on my van. All the best. 😀

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing

@dren2jdh544

3 жыл бұрын

It’s low because you have more metal on the ground side. If this guy throws a chicken wire fence (or ground rod) around the area and connects the ground to it, I bet the signal would improve.

Thanks for sharing. Wish we had made a contact on 75 meters before you left the state and headed to OK. We have a net on 3.963 at 8 each morning and then the Mo>state traffic net is at 5:15 winter hours on the same frequency.

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Why does the state matter I'm curious? I'm much better situated with my new property to get on 80 meters now. I love that you have that net my friend. Bear with me.

@dheller777

3 жыл бұрын

@@hamradiocq Looking forward to making a QSO with you if the future. Stay well brother!

Another great video! I do not have the Octopus, but I have a MFJ dipôle to which I obviously used two 20 meter hamsticks. After messing around, I tuned each hamstick alone and then mounted them together. I had been adjusting the overall length by changing the overall length with the same amount. Turned out one was about an inch shorter than the other when I finally got a 1.2 to 1 SWR. I,also, agree with your politics. Thank you very much for your time and effort. 73. KG5OBD

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks for the comment and tips. Yeah I call it common sense politics. I don't care to throw away my rights and open borders and higher taxes. Gee I must be crazy.... Trump had 11 million more votes this time and somehow lost to a guy that speaks with marbles in his mouth that couldn't draw 50 people to his crowd...where they physically blocked GOP poll watchers in the big cities and counted votes and there's video of democrats bringing in suitcases of votes...on video.

I have the 20m and 40m Ham sticks. Each have their own coupler/SO239. (I added quick disconnects for easier assembly/disassembly). Droop is a natural for these type thin whips. If you want the measurements I got on mine let me know. I got them both at 1:5 which these will tell you on the packaging. I used a price of conduit with a 3’ price of pvc on that and attached the antenna to that. I keep the two sticks marked so I don’t mix up the positive stick switched with the negative stick. Everything is marked for either +/- (the coupler is also marked +/-$

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Hmmm, thanks for the comment so I can compare it. I didn't mess long, but 2.1 seemed the best I could do any other adjustment, together or separate made it go up. Ugh.

Is that a dxengineering mast? Would love to know what specific mast you have. Looks very sturdy. Also did you use a MFJ 347 to attach the hamsticks to the mast? Great informative video.

Even with an ATU the antenna would still be 2.1 SWR but the radio 'sees 1:1', I tend to scan for the best resonant frequency and shorten/lengthen from there

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

That's true, you can't tune your way out of a bad antenna. I was just hoping to be able to control the SWR better. At least they're cheap!

@M0SZT

3 жыл бұрын

@@hamradiocq yes I love these whips, I have been using 2 for 17m lately, I imagine the 40m ones have a very tight resonant frequency

I've been looking at getting one of these. It will work with just one set of ham sticks. but i think the trick is to have multiple sets in it because the ones its not using to transmit on will act like a counterpoise, I think you should use a minimum of 2 sets of ham sticks. worth a shot

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

It never occurred to me that more sticks might help. I thought they might hurt, Hence the experiment you see here. Thanks fer comment. More to come friend.

@Justin-bd2dg

3 жыл бұрын

You don't use co-linear conductors on a horizontal polarized antenna as counterpoise. That actually would be conductors within the near field and certainly would interfere with lobe trajectories.

Those 40m hamstick antennas are really finicky to tune! I spent a lot of time getting my mobile 40m antenna to resonate with a decent match. They’re also very narrow banded. You’ll definitely need a tuner. I like the concept though and have thought about doing the same thing you’re doing. Hope you’re doing well in the new QTH. 73 de K2CJB

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment K2CJB. Yeah, looks like a tuner will be necessary. We love the new QTH. Warm winter so far!

Looks like fun. Antenna experiments are my favorite part of the hobby. I fashioned a hamstick dipole about ten years ago and it worked pretty decent for camping. The reason your SWR is 2 or more is due to feedpoint impedance. It's unlikely you are anywhere near 50 ohms. A typical dipole is 73 ohms, and a dipole with loading coils is probably higher than that (100 or so). Achieving 1:1 will be impossible without a matching transformer. You might be able to model the antenna, but that's a little beyond most hams. Alternatively, you could learn balun construction (TRX Workshop is an awesome resource) and experiment with 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1 ratios. Additionally, your coax is no doubt resonating, so a 1:1 choke between the coax and the matching transformer will prevent this. Also, I used hamsticks mobile over the years and always had to use capacitors to get a better match. Lastly, if you insert too much whip into the fiberglass section, you risk the end of the whip impacting the inductance of the loading coil. Shortening the whip may be necessary.

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Great comment my friend I wish you were my neighbor. : ) Yeah, ideally I like these things cause they are cheap I was hoping they'd work out well for a weekend at my moms or on vacation or something.

@christiansweningsen2829

3 жыл бұрын

What is TRX Workshop?

@gravestonemyth

3 жыл бұрын

@@christiansweningsen2829 Sorry, it's TRX Bench, a great YT channel.

@gravestonemyth

3 жыл бұрын

@@hamradiocq As mobile antennas, Hamsticks are great performers. I worked a German station from a park in IL this week using CW, 20W into a hatch-mounted Hamstick. The bands were not even very good that day. They also work as a decent ground-mounted vertical with a few radials. They're great for POTA.

@kd5you1

3 жыл бұрын

Do you think the OCF concept would work with hamsticks? I've seen dipoles with one side longer than the other & the impedance was closer to 50 ohms.

Dude you should’ve able to get those ham sticks to almost flat swr. You have to tune them individually. Also you have to have about a 1/2 wavelength coax cable . The formula is : 498/F multiply by coax velocity factor. This will give you the coax length. And do even multiples. I guaranty you get better swr. Another thing is the height it needs to be about a 1/4 wavelength height above ground..

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I probably need more coax, but it's hard to take it up and down and tweak at 1/4 height.

@noelbulls8628

3 жыл бұрын

@Ham Radio CQ mount the hamstiks on a mag mount on a car tune them individually. Then put them on the octopus mount and check. I have two shark ham sticks and I tune them indoors using my bathtub on a magnetic mount. Swr is 1:1 to 1. And I have 1/2 wavelength on the coax cable . Oh make sure to use a tuner for impedance match you will not have 50 ohms all the way thru. This is when tuner come in handy .

Hamsticks can be a pain. Some seem to get the SWR down to a 1.5:1. I used a 20m and later a 40m mag mounted on my extended cargo van and finally got them down to 2:1. But on my car they simply wont tune. I installed two 40m Hamsticks as a dipole in my attic and after 20+ trips up and down the attic stairs I never got them below 5:1 so I removed them. I have seen dozens of videos on KZread of others having the same issues. A 2:1 SWR means you are loosing about 10% of your forward power. For example, if you are running 10 watts with an SWR of 2:1 you would be transmitting 9 watts. I don't think SWR was the problem resulting in your sparse WSPR contacts. I am sure propagation was the problem. 73!

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Great comment KX4UL. Good to know. I like these things cause their cheap and I wanna explore putting them up portable. But disappointed I can't at least control the tuning. I get that they are a big compromise, but I still like to be able to adjust my way to at least 1.3.

@gravestonemyth

3 жыл бұрын

Have you tried adding capacitors? www.radiomanual.info/schemi/ACC_antenna/Lakeview_Hamsticks_HF_antenna_user.pdf

@KX4UL

3 жыл бұрын

@@gravestonemyth - Hi Steve, Good suggestion. Yes, I had considered that option but was trying to avoid it if possible. For now I just use my mobile tuner.

Very short resonant monopole and dipole antennas exhibit very low impedance and very narrow bandwidth. Without some type of impedance transformation device/method either at the antenna feed point or somewhere between the 50 ohm xmitter (generator) and antenna (load), expect a high SWR. Ken WA8FCI

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Yep, I hear ya Ken. You cannot cheat the Universe.

will the other hamsticks affect the swr?

@hamradiocq

Жыл бұрын

I believe so yes.

Great video! Anthony O.Ridlen KC9QVE Marion,Indiana

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Tony

How much of the whip did you end up having to put inside the tube ? I had to cut the excess off of mine. I used to use the stick dipoles for pota, and could always get them to 1.5. Also, you can make one side a bit longer than the other. This helps with fine tuning. They do really well once you get them up the 25+ feet. Good job.

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Well, I would guess about 8" are inside the tube. I ended up going to 1 side after I did both sides and still 2.0, 2.1 was the best I could do.

@oldpreach

3 жыл бұрын

@@hamradiocq Maybe having one set of sticks on the 8 way matters. Do you have a single set adapter? I think the part number is mfj-347. Trimming the excess is what's recommended, but not too much as you need some to adjust the tuning. If you leave too much whip in the tube and apply higher power levels, it can heat up the tube and ruin it. Set screws should be tight.

@kd5you1

3 жыл бұрын

I had to cut the excess off of mine too, and as a vertical with a wire counterpoise my SWR is 1.07 at 7104kHz.

Hi Tom, I love watching your videos!! All the best and 73 from the Baltic Sea, Peter, DK7- -

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Many thanks!

Not bad for 40 meters what were you expecting certainly not DX

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

I've done this before and had more contacts simple as that.

A die pole that low does not have directionality imho. A half wave dipole @ 1/4w height barely shows directionality, but Im still curious to hear results ☺️ KC3ONO

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

always interesting eh?

I think the effects of a solar flare is envolved tonight. Ill check later. KI5WW

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Johnny 2 times

Like your politics.

@hamradiocq

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, they call it common sense in the real world friend.