Howdy Paul (and fellow QRP Critters),
Paul (K1CGZ) wrote:
> I saw ur post on QRP-L regarding the Hamstick on 40 M. I've
> been experimenting with a 40 M Hamstick too. I have had a
> few QSOs, but not what I'd term wild success.
>
> Ur 19 radials, were they 33 ft long, or what? What angle did
> they form with the vertical element, 90 degrees, or....? Did u
> use a capacitor between the coax center conductor and the
> radials (per the instruction sheet) ? If u did, what was its
> value and type? What size whip did u need to resonate?
Actually I only had six radials, two each 1/4-wave for
20/30/40m. Yes, these were cannibalized from some of my
old dipoles - the horror.... :-) The Hamstick was mounted
to a corner of my patio cover, with the radials in a semi-
circle centered north, sloping slighty from 8 feet (mount
point) down to about 6 feet at the ends.
No matching network at the antenna. Just used my Autek and
screwdriver to adjust the SWR as low as possible on the
desired freqs, then used a tuner. The 40m Hamstick would
*not* resonate on the bottom of 40m with the standard whip,
so I ordered an extended whip and that solved the problem.
Typical SWR was just above 2.0:1, but it was good enough.
By all means, get an antenna analyzer on those beasts and
tune them to resonance (as best you can). You're RF is
already fighting a loading coil, may as well give it all
the help you can.
Heck, in less than a year I worked all 40 states QRP with
this setup (using 20/30/40m Hamsticks). YMMV (your mileage
may vary), but it was cheap, low profile, and it worked!
(Uh oh, I'm starting to sound like Sterba... :-) ).
Good luck!
Cheers de AB7TT,
-Joe, vole@primenet.com, AZ ScQRPions (Phoenix)
2-Way QRP WAS: 46 (Need: HI, ND, RI, WV)
"QRP, Unix, MST3K and Babylon 5: The Four Pillars of Nerdvana" - Me
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