Are Ham Sticks on a Car an Effective Ham Radio Antenna for POTA?

Let's test out my SharkRF ham stick Ham Radio Antennas and see if they will work for POTA mounted on my Chevy Suburban.
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[@SevenFortyOne]

This video is not monetized. If you see ads while watching this its because KZbin has added them per their usual practice. I am not receiving any ad revenue from this video.

[@aldewitt9]

I wish you were. I appreciate your content.

[@TwstedTV]

They recently took away all monetary earnings from every channel that has less than 100k subscribers. They did this recently. In order to get monetized you have to have 100k subscribers. I guess they did this, because google was leaking money like crazy, so they had to slow the flow of money going out...

[@SevenFortyOne]

That's not true

[@TwstedTV]

@@SevenFortyOne They brought it down, I didnt know that.. A friend of mine just told me, its now 4,000 watch hours over the last 12 months at least 1,000 subscribers on your channel. It used to be 14 thousand watch hours and 100k subs.

[@alanserl4046]

Hamsticks will work. I have height restrictions in my backyard due to power lines so I have a 40M hamstick mounted to the top of my chicken coop in the backyard. The coop is a repurposed chain link dog kennel with a chicken wire top. I am in California and have worked Japan and Australia from the coop. 73 de KM6KPW!

[@SevenFortyOne]

Awesome! Thanks for the info!

[@jeffgrant1264]

Great video Rob!! You have inspired me to use my FT891 in my Jeep. I have a mount similar to yours installed on the spare tire carrier. I have a power pole strip inside to hook up the power and a shelf where the back seat would be. All I have to do is plug in the radio and screw in a Firestick. This is genius! Thanks for your great idea and a nicely produced, informative video.

[@SevenFortyOne]

Glad you liked this! Good luck with the installation.

[@davidg5308]

Very good! I just bought my CA park pass (make that pa$$$$ - way too much $ but that's CA for ya) and will get out in a few weeks. I have 40 and 75m sticks and will pick up a 20 next week. Sticks should be easiest in some of our busy beach parks. Have a good week!

[@Sky1]

back in the early 80's my friends and I all used Walkie talkies. One friend bought one of those safety flags for their bike, removed the flag and taped a whip to the top and coiled wire down the mast. He tuned it to 27 Mhz and did really good with it. In a few weeks we all were using them. His name was Litchfield and called his antenna design "The Litch Whip". One day when our bikes were chained up and we saw some guy looking at our antenna construction. A few months later a Firestick was invented and then later "The Ham Stick". So when you buy one of these and think it was engineered by an expert realize it was just some kids wanting more range for their walkie talkies. 🙂

[@patriot9455]

"Kids" who don't know there is a box always work outside it until the get educated out of innovation.

[@walteredwards544]

I'm definitely leaning towards starting out with these type of antennas for mobile. It's definitely on my list of things I want to try and accomplish

[@SevenFortyOne]

Go for it! You'll have a ton of fun with them

[@CLP2102]

I've learned more about ham radio from 741 than i have anywhere else combined, thanks man, keep doin what you do! 73 KY4IT

[@SevenFortyOne]

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you are enjoying my videos, thanks for letting me know!

[@pinkpantherak74]

I use a 20m Shark ham stick on a magmount with my G90 for POTA. I have had very good luck. I’m in NY and I’ve worked California, AK, all over the US. Plenty of DX and never an issue getting contacts. So easy to set up.

[@SevenFortyOne]

Sounds like a great setup!

[@TubeRadiosRule]

My elmer installed an Icom IC706 Mk2G with its matching auto tuner in his Jeep Wrangler many years ago (late 1990's), along with a 20 meter Hamstick. No others, he just let the auto-tuner do the work. He made a lot of good contacts with that setup.

[@aldewitt9]

I use a Wolf River Coil because it is easy to setup and I can be on the air in 10 minutes with a center loaded antenna for 20 and 40. I tried doing a hamstick dipole several years ago and could ever get it tuned.

[@brentjohnson6654]

Another fine video! I am looking at starting portable or POTA with a couple of ham sticks. I have seen the hustler mount that can accommodate 3 sticks treating the ham sticks almost like a fan dipole. I like the simple approach to the ham sticks and if I am really wanting performance I will put the time into raising a wire antenna. All the best, 73 de KI5HXM

[@Radiowild]

I'll have to look into those hamsticks. That's the ideal wintertime setup.

[@SevenFortyOne]

Yep...you can stay nice and warm in the car

[@N82SV]

Great video. Just got a set of Hamsticks on sale. Will be doing this soon!

[@johnkemas7344]

I found my ham sticks on mag mounts don't have a sufficient ground plane under them even in the center of the car body. SWR was OK but not great. So I made a ground plate of copper to mount between the NMO mount of the 7" mag mount and the antenna by putting 4 Banana plug jacks in the 4 corners of the square ground plate. Added 4 -30 ft ground wires and just tossed them around the car evenly. Wow! What a big difference, much better performance (equivalent to my EFLW) and the SWR came down to 1.2:1 on all my bands (40, 20, 15) I made comparison tests with a 67 ft EFLW to the ham sticks. Most days they were about the same all things considered based on signal reports. Some days the hamsticks were a little better, other days the EFLW was a little better. In my estimation a wash. I don't like having to shoot wires into trees, setting up masts etc. I'm 70 and a bit stiff in the joints!! Hamsticks are much easier and faster to setup in the grand scheme of things! To each his own, but a much better ground plane under a hamstick will make a big improvement, just like any vertical antenna. Many car bodies are plastic , glued together, or have little metal and in most cases certainly not grounded together and hence the bad performance guys complain about. Hamsticks are quick and easy and work great with a good radial; system added.

[@DK5ONV]

I love your Chevy Suburban & the 751Sticker on the FT-891. Looks awsome... 💯👍👍👍

[@SevenFortyOne]

Glad you like them!

[@StuartM0TTQAmateurRadio]

Thanks for the P2P! I was on an EFHW on Sunday but I am a big fan of Hamsticks, I use them on my bike from time to time. There are better antennas out there but there isn't anything more convenient for quickly getting on the air.

[@SevenFortyOne]

Thanks for the contact Stu...it was great to work you!

[@N4TCM]

Got a old Radio Shack HTX 10 in the car with a K40 cb antenna. Works good when the band is open. Not much going on 10 these days. Thinking about a Xiegu G90 for 40 with a hamstick.

[@ellisc.foleyjr9778]

Good example of how well ham sticks will play. I have two (80-20m) had them for over 20 yrs now and always had good luck with them. on a trip from Ma -GA one time the xyl worked CC from WV/m4. to Washington State. 3k miles what more could you ask for that was on 80m. and we have worked dx avross the pond with the 20m one so they do work. thanks for taking the time to share your experiment and activation. de Ellis WA1RKS

[@radioactive8772]

Thanks for the video, I’ve had some good luck with the 20 meter stick on top of my pickup, worked some DX this summer. Easy to setup and take down. Thanks 73 K7WHN

[@bhenry5091]

I realize this is not a new video, but would like to make a couple of comments. I regularly do POTA from the comfort of a car here, in the Canadian winter, and use both hamsticks and hustler antennas. I just spent a week at Quartzfest in Quartzsite, AZ, and listened to an interesting seminar on the efficiency of hamsticks. The fellow did measurements comparing hamsticks to a basic dipole of the same band. A 20 meter hamstick is about 50% efficient, with the bands below, such as 40 and 80, being much worse. Hamsticks above 20m gradually have a better efficiency as one moves towards the 10 meter hamstick, which is around 90%. I rarely use my 40 or 80 hamsticks , unless I am trying to contact someone fairly close, because of their inefficiencies.. This year I will be substituting a 17 foot telescoping whip for the bands form 20 up, hopefully geting better results form a resonant quarter wave vertical, in place of the loaded hamsicks, which are definitely a compromised , albeit , very handy antenna. Cheers

[@RaiderDonnie]

Great video as always, Rob! Is your antenna mount vehicle specific or just a universal mount?

[@SevenFortyOne]

It's universal...3/8 24 stud mount

[@N2NWK]

I use Hamsticks for all my activations. I use a 20 meter hamstick on multiple bands. I have hamstick mounted on my vehicle and sometimes I mount hamstick on a camera tripod.

[@w3tua]

Hamsticks are decent antennas. I used original Lakeview Hamsticks on 20 and 40 meters for County Hunting decades ago as I travelled across the country mobile. They did the job! As a side note, these antennas are usually poor on 75/80m and tend to work a bit better on higher bands.

[@N2NWK]

73 de N2NWK I even use a 20 meter hamstick on 30 meters and make a lot of contacts. I use the same 20 meter hamstick on 15 meters to do voice and SSTV. I run the hamstick thru an LDG Tuner and I never cut or trim my Hamsticks.

[@davidsradioroom9678]

You did quite well with hamsticks. I have had good luck with them, as well. You could operate in all sorts of inclement weather from your vehicle. 73

[@SevenFortyOne]

I was happy that they worked so well - 73!

[@MowerJunkie]

Nice demonstration. It's content like this, That will eventually get Me licensed.

[@SevenFortyOne]

So you are saying I'm a bad influence 😁

[@MowerJunkie]

@@SevenFortyOne Yes!......But in a good way. Take care Rob, Happy Holidays.

[@DonDegidio]

Hi Rob, Nice demo that Hamsticks will produce results. Have them for 80, 40, and 20. You and the family stay safe. 73 WJ3U

[@SevenFortyOne]

Thanks Don!

[@edurrant]

Well done, however a vertical antenna between trees is always going to have some reduced coverage. Perhaps look for a more open park to give the antennas a better chance 73 Ed DD5LP

[@RedNeckSurgeyTech]

Or maybe they are in church. Maybe Saturday morning would work well? Also what does 741 mean? Great video. I bought some ham sticks last year and tuned them but never really tried them. I'm gonna try them this year.

[@doccpu7]

I find a great way to experiment is use a laptop or smartphone to tune to a WEBSDR like utah or KFS etc and see what your signals look like far from your QTH. I found out a HamStick on the back of my van does 2 to 5 db better than the 19' tunable endfed on the back of the van. I use a 15 and 20m hamsticks on a plate in the back yard for worldwide WSPR coverage. Yep they get out and receive well.

[@kevingoshe4371]

What kind of magic is this? Those eyeglasses appeared out of nowhere! Happy Holidays!

[@SevenFortyOne]

I've needed cheaters to read my phone and my log sheets for a year or so now. Old age is creeping up on me!

[@truthfilterforyoutube8218]

It was great to see you use these Ham Sticks for POTA. However, I wish you would have spent time to show how good the initial tune was (and how), vs what you actually had when you moved....( SWR / bandwidth). Would have been nice to see the rig expert screens. PS how did you do with 40 meters with regards to tune ? I understand that can be a real challenge. How many watts were you transmitting with ? Cheers VE7KEG

[@SevenFortyOne]

It wasn't too hard to tune 40. 80 is much more difficult. I usually run 73 watts

[@corey_roberts7671]

Great content I’m just now learning about Amateur ham radio and should have my tech license soon maybe we’ll connect in the future 👍

[@SevenFortyOne]

Awesome! Glad to hear you are getting into the hobby. I look forward to contacting you on the air soon

[@BikingHikingRadio]

The past two winters I've put up external antennas when I POTA. I had a couple of hamsticks and acquired some Hustler ones this year. I put the IC 7100 in the car and was skeptical that they would work, however to my surprise they've done well on both CW and SSB at activations. It's nice to drive up and stay in the car unless I am swapping out antennas for other bands. Last winter I got out of the car and put up EFHW or vertical antennas and ran radials. By the time I got back into the car I was cold and had wet feet. Thanks for your confirmation as well that although hamsticks are a compromise compared to other portable antennas, it's very convenient to drive up, operate and leave. 73 and Merry Christmas.

[@SevenFortyOne]

I agree,other are convenient but don't perform as well as other options

[@Sky1]

I worked you on 40 meters back in 2017 🙂

[@oldpreach]

P2P to England on a stick. I'm jelly now. Good video, and great job.

[@SevenFortyOne]

It was a good catch for sure

[@FishinChickin]

I worked Poland ssb with three watts on a modified radio shack center load mobile cb antenna, so, yeah.

[@williampeacock9473]

Rob where did you find the mount for your ham sticks? I think I want to try putting a ham stick on the front of my truck like you have. And can I get two of your 741 stickers I would really appreciate it. Enjoyed the video very much. I also run a Yaesu ft891 in my truck and ham sticks .73 AE4OY William Peacock EM-81UF SOUTH EAST GEORGIA

[@bradleyjohnson452]

Very nice. I am thinking about getting some of these as well and mounting to a tripod. Would a single ground wire or radial be sufficient or should I go with 2-4 ground wires?

[@SevenFortyOne]

My advice is to experiment and see what works best for you. I've had some luck with 3 wires. Generally more is probably better but less may work with no noticeable effect too.

[@williampeacock9473]

THANKS for the video you made. It was helpful to me I use the same radio (YAESU FT-891) and the Ham Stick Antennas. What kind of tuner was you using in the video. 73 AE4OY William Peacock EM-81UF SOUTH EAST GEORGIA

[@SevenFortyOne]

Glad you liked the video! The tuner I had in the video is an MFJ-945D manual tuner

[@gregsmith1116]

Great Video! Cool antennas and I may need to get some ham sticks!

[@SevenFortyOne]

They are handy to have

[@gregsmith1116]

@@SevenFortyOne Sure. I have one HS for 20m and use it at my cabin in Colorado and it gets great when the band is OK. Fun and convenient! De K5GTE

[@digitalanaloguehamradio]

I have worked ham stick to ham stick. UK to America. It’s a great antenna no doubt. I think I spoke to you on it.

[@SevenFortyOne]

I remember - you were running a hamstick and I was in the shack that day. It was a good solid contact too if I recall correctly. Another example of how these antenna can work for POTA

[@digitalanaloguehamradio]

@@SevenFortyOne We should do more transatlantic tests. It would be quite topical at the moment

[@SevenFortyOne]

That would be A ton of fun...drop me an email or private message if you have something in mind you'd like to try

[@wild-radio7373]

This is great! I have been doing the very same thing over on the Westcoast with a 10m hamstick ♡ great minds :) Be well😎🔥

[@SevenFortyOne]

Awesome! Glad to hear this is working for you too!

[@just_in_time5518]

Not bad! And you get to stay warm in your vehicle!

[@SevenFortyOne]

Yessir!

[@45auto]

I only have a 20m hamstick on my Jeep and I have already hunted 34 states and 4 Canadian provinces in the last two weeks.

[@SevenFortyOne]

Awesome!

[@1crazynordlander]

Thanks for sharing. POTA question for you. Do different band contacts count as one POTA activation or do you have to get 10 plus contacts on each band? My best performing Ham Stick is my 20 meter one. I don't have good results on 40 or 75 meters transmitting. I have a 17 and a 10 that I have not taken out of the package yet. I might have to buy a 15 meter one to try.

[@SevenFortyOne]

You just need 10 contacts, doesn't matter if they are all on one band or multiple. My friend John has a 17 meter stick and has a ton of fun with it.

[@thomasdunaway2573]

kf4ahw i have a 10 meter that works 11 also. Hamstick , Ive talked all over the states and europe on it

[@1crazynordlander]

@@thomasdunaway2573 I broke a hamstick at the base when I hit a tree with it. I kept the whip part and adjusted it for 11 Meters and adjusted the other whip for 10 meters. Now all I have to do is change the upper ferrule and whip.

[@wesley20991]

Just curious if you ever use or have needed to put some sort of counterpoise wire off the ham stick or is that not needed because it’s on your car.

[@SevenFortyOne]

I've tried using counterpoise wires and haven't noticed a difference.

[@Dallas-Rife-UDX-347-Tennessee]

Very neat 👍.

[@TwstedTV]

What antenna you like better for extreme mobile pota/sota. you mentioned about it but didn't mention the actual antenna you said you prefer more than the hamsticks. thanks.

[@SevenFortyOne]

I like my linked dipole the best but it takes longer to set up and requires a lot more room

[@1958johndeere620]

O ya, also heard you work K8MRD at WE4DX K-3241 . You got him about 4 qso's after me.

[@SevenFortyOne]

I didn't hear you. I turned the radio on and got him on the 1st or second call I think.

[@ralphnunn3]

I've had great luck with my 20 meter ham stick mounted on my car or truck. I'm usually working through a pileup with it. So, do they work? Absolutely! I also noticed that you have NT2A in your log. Good ol' Gene. I have him in my log, as well. DE K7RLN

[@Pedro8k]

Ham sticks are great for static mobile hf qrp use I use an auto atu don't use the vehicle battery if you can get up high even better

[@johnjacobs3160]

Running in the middle of the morning, 80m and 40m, would be slow. My guess is that when you tuned your antenna at home, your house metal flashing, and gutters caused you to drift. Tune in the same environment you plan on operating to understand what your antenna is doing without interference.

[@1958johndeere620]

3rd comment is a charm,,,, I have a mount on my headboard of the truck and I screw my wolf river coil and the long 17 foot telescopic whip on it. Makes for an easy deployment.

[@SevenFortyOne]

I saw a similar setup a couple of months ago. That's a good option too.

[@DCDura]

Did you run a RF exposure calculation? You are only a few feet away.

[@SevenFortyOne]

At the power I run (50 to 70 watts) the min compliance distance is a little over 1 foot.

[@ilantsameret3927]

What are your other mobile antenna better options?

[@SevenFortyOne]

Aside from hamsticks I use linked dipoles and end fed half waves - not really mobile antennas

[@btaylor1948]

How did you get the 80m but how did you get the 80m stick to tune so high? Mine with a mag mount can't get any lower 1.5:1 on 3600. Also very high Q. Thoughts?? from Bob WB6TIS

[@SevenFortyOne]

Did you trim your whip so it doesn't protrude down into the coil?

[@btaylor1948]

@@SevenFortyOne I was working on this about a week ago, so I'll set things up this afternoon and record the measurements I get with different lengths of the whip. But I was careful to not have the whip protrude into the coil. BTW, I am working with MFJ sticks which I believe are very similar to the Sharks.

[@btaylor1948]

@@SevenFortyOne So what I found today was I could get it to tune at full extension on 3740 at 1:1. Moving the whip down to just above the cap it would tune on 3960 at 1:1. So I extended it to where it would tune near 3800 at 1:1. That was having the whip extend 3" below the nut. Why it tuned today? Maybe it was the lack of capacitance due to a paper towel under the magnet. Trying to not scratch the truck you know. But the 40m stick tunes at 6.76m so it looks like I get the saw out. Thanks for getting me back out there.

[@vrb1960]

What does 741 mean? Thanks Brad NØDPR

[@SevenFortyOne]

It's a tribute to my dad

[@kennethlapham9054]

Ps mfj tri mag mount works as well as permanent mount and let's you center and place on top of vehicle no distorted patterns no metal above driven element helps bigtime

[@SevenFortyOne]

Thanks for the info!

[@wushock92]

That's what Don, N5SKT, uses on his minivan for his POTA activations. He loves the set up.

[@thomasdunaway2573]

it works very well once antenna is tuned for it

[@1177Pointman]

maybe i missed it but how much power were you running?

[@SevenFortyOne]

I didn't mention it in the video...73 watts

[@kennethlapham9054]

I did ham sticks for years 20 meters up is great 40 down to 160 is alot of tuning they only do 3 to 4khz before your swr shots up off scale .diamond hf 40 cl does about 10 kHz of usable band ,not so hy q.....73 ke6iev

[@dheller777]

How many watts was your output?

[@SevenFortyOne]

If I didn't say in the video it was either 73w or 50w...I run one or the other when I go portable

[@1958johndeere620]

You know that on 80 you need a jigawatt for anyone to talk to you. Anything under a 20 over s9 and you won't get any love.

[@SevenFortyOne]

This is true..

[@AllanBProductions]

Is it the best antenna? Probably not. Will it work? Yes, most likely

[@SevenFortyOne]

I agree

[@BandanazX]

Mexico? The NATO phonetic alphabet has changed.

[@SevenFortyOne]

I knew what he meant

[@marinkusev5664]

Thank you! 73 de Lz1mak/ kc2yzl. Kust bought this kind of antennas

[@14404145]

I use ham sticks mounted on a copper rod with 4 radials for 20-meters from my property and Works very well. Going to try from a couple local town parks and see what happens. Of course QRP. Dick w2wc

[@ivandubinsky1857]

I just acquired a 5-pack of Shark Antenna hamsticks (80-40-20-15-10 meters) and am impressed with the build quality and the fact that they work better than expected. A perfectly viable solution for POTA activations...Ivan VE7IVN