I cleaned up that subject line, sorry.
I still have the antenna but don't use it now. A friend and Handiham volunteer helped me install 1 70-foot long wire outside the mobile home with an SGC234 remote autotuner at the feedpoint and the grounded to the house. There's annoying noise from power lines across the freeway (about half a mile away), but the system isn't bad. I copied W1Aw at S7 from Mountain View California on 80 for about 30 minutes.
The way I tuned the budipole was to slide the bananna plug from the center end of a coil toward its whip end and listened for a peak in noise. When I found a peak I'd dip the tap plug into the coil turns and tightened it. Then I'd do the other side the same way. With the balun, the 1:1 setting worked most of the time. The autotuner in my TS440 would achieve a match, but I never knew if I was getting output. I found out that the match the tuner made wasn't 1:1, and the SWR was often higher then 1:3, where the rig wouldn't deliver much output. For the new system, we made an RF output monitor so I could be sure the SGC234 was finished tuning. For a frequency not in its memory, it sometimes took as much as ten seconds to settle down.
----- Original Message -----
From: tom behler <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tuesday, Feb 1, 2011 17:53:53
Subject: Re: MPJA February Specials - Ref: 287936.Re: I hope to have HF capability soon to join in the Cross Country net.
>
>
> Yup, I had one of those baluns, and it did indeed help a little bit as
> you suggest.
>
> I'd be curious as to how you end up doing with the Buddipole.
>
> As I said, it was a good antenna that worked quite well, if I could get it
> tuned up correctly for my desired band and frequency.
>
> 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Keithley" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 5:37 PM
> Subject: Re: MPJA February Specials - Ref: 287936.Re: I hope to have HF
> capability soon to join in the Cross Country net.
>
>
> An item that can tame the Buddipole somewhat is the 4:1 balun they sell. It
> removes the problem of having different settings on the two coils for the
> same frequency, and I think it also reduces noise.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: tom behler <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Monday, Jan 31, 2011 17:50:28
> Subject: Re: I hope to have HF capability soon to join in the Cross Country
> net.
>
> >
> >
> > Kevin:
> >
> > I had a Buddipole for a few years, and used it as my main HF antenna in
> > our
> > first RV travel trailer.
> >
> > What I found was this: When the antenna worked, it really worked.
> >
> > However, I found it to be quite difficult to get the right combination of
> > coil tap settings and whip lengths for various frequencies without the aid
> > of an antenna analyzer to see how the antenna was actually performing in a
> > given configuration.
> >
> > I eventually sold it, because I felt there were just too many variables to
> > contend with in order to insure that it performed consistently.
> >
> > In saying all of this, I do not want to discourage you. Maybe you can
> > figure out a system to get it to work well in various configurations, and
> > have those configurations easily set up when needed.
> >
> > If you can do that, you will be a much better guy than me.
> >
> > If you want to write to me privately regarding my Buddipole experiences,
> > my
> > personal e-mail is:
> >
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> > Thanks and 73 from Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Kevin Minor" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Monday, January 31, 2011 1:22 PM
> > Subject: I hope to have HF capability soon to join in the Cross Country
> > net.
> >
> >
> > Hi.
> >
> >
> >
> > For quite a while I've had a Kenwood TS-2000. I've enjoyed using it on 2
> > meters and 440 Mhz. When I purchased the radio I also bought an MFJ
> > apartment antenna. It didn't work well at all. This past week I decided
> > to
> > bite the bullet and purchase a Buddypole. I hope this antenna works a bit
> > better. Whenever I can get some help over here to put it together I plan
> > on
> > seeing how many stereos and television sets I can get into <grin>.
> > Seriously, I'm looking forward to getting on HF again, and maybe I'll be
> > able to check into the Sunday net on 20 meters. If anybody has had
> > experience with a Buddypole, I'd be curious about what you think of the
> > antenna. Be honest about it. If it's a crummy antenna, I'd like to know
> > so
> > I can cry in my beer. I've heard some good reports about it, so I'm
> > hopeful
> > it will work for me.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any information.
> >
> >
> >
> > 73, and don't work too hard.
> >
> >
> >
> > Kevin Minor, Lexington, KY
> >
> > [log in to unmask]
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