Buddipole 9 Band HF Antenna
Buddipole HF Antenna Overview
I recently re-acquired a ham radio license after letting one lapse many years ago. One of the things that’s become a bit more difficult than I remembered is setting up a HF station. That difficulty comes mainly in the form of homeowner association prohibitions on antennas.
Laws were changed a few years ago prohibiting HOAs from banning antennas for over the air reception of TV and radio signals but unfortunately the definitions in the law did not include amateur radio transmissions. Hobbyists groups have lobbied for changes but they simply don’t have the clout that developers and realtor groups have.
As a result, hams have been forced to hide antennas as the primary issue has been aesthetic concerns. Despite the fact that most hams don’t have 80-foot towers with huge beam antennas, unfortunately, that’s the perception.
Rather than hide a permanent antenna, I decided to use a portable antenna and simply plan a few extra minutes of hobby time to set it up and take it down. A portable antenna also provides the opportunity to toss it into my RV and take it along on camping trips for a little portable operation.
Antenna Components
Buddipole antennas have been around for quite a while so they certainly aren’t new. They do meet the requirement of being easy to assemble and disassemble and they are definitely portable. For a new ham in an antenna restricted location, on paper at least, it should meet my needs.
The Buddipole deluxe package includes a tripod, and extendable mast, various connectors, coils and coax as well as some extensions to form the antenna.
The antenna can be set for 9 different bands from 2 to 40 meters by adjusting the both the physical and electrical length of the antenna using telescoping whips and coils. The primary center connector called the Versa T can be used to vary the slope of the antenna arms as well as configure the antenna as a vertical antenna using a counter poise or as a yagi with available optional parts.
Antenna Operation
So after getting the Buddipole set up, per the instructions I connected an antenna analyzer to validate the antenna resonance and the SWR.
Using just the measurements listed for the 20 meter band, I ended up with an SWR of 2.0 using an eyeball approach to the 4 and a half units of extension on the red side of the antenna. The black side called for all six extensions to be pulled out for 20 meters at the FT 8 frequency of 14.074 megahertz.
With the antenna analyzer connected, I shortened the red side by about 1 inch and got the SWR down to about 1.6.
Connected to an older Yaesu FT 100D rig with a SignaLink sound card and WSTJ-X software, I was able to make contacts in Brazil and Hawaii using FT 8 with about 30 watts of power. PSK Reporter showed my signal had heard all around the US and into South America as well as Asia’s Pacific coast.
I’ve still got some experimenting to do and some FT 8 strategy to figure out but it appears the BuddiPole is a reasonable solution for folks like me with HOA restrictions to deal with.
I’m looking forward to packing it into my RV and getting some portable work done
Buddipole HF Antenna Video Review
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