Shark Stick/Ham Stick HF antennas

[@Sky1]

A Case of beer to maintenance helped me get my antennas up on the roof of my apartment building. 🙂

[@spacecoyote6646]

An easy way to get the coax through a window is to use a pool noodle or foam pipe insulation to keep the wind out. Cut it to fit in the window and close the window on it. A small v-notch allows the coax to pass through

[@spacecoyote6646]

Hamsticks are underrated. I use an adapter and put them on the nmo mount on the top of my truck. The entire truck is the groundplan. It works pretty well for field day, camping and when I have lived in an apartment. My other temporary/portable antenna is an End Fed Half Wave.

[@steveverhoef5667]

Thank you for the video.. excellent show and tell! Are the buttons on your transceiver illuminated?

[@greyman5590]

Quick detach coupler will affect tuning. Tune it either with or without coupler and stick with it. Nice video.

[@N9IBZED]

I am running 2 102 inch whips in dipole configuration and that gives me 10-40 and I don't have to go outside to change bands in the frozen conditions we have up here in Wisconsin during winter

[@indridcold8433]

That is what I have set up for others. For the ground plane, I used jumper cables because the operator has a wooden porch deck. Nailed a round pizza cooking sheet to this corner wooden rail with one nail, put the antenna magnet mount in the middle, then used two really cheap jumper cables to make an ugly, yet very functional, ground plane. With very minimal running, he says he has good SWR 10 through 40 with good reception up until 80. I wonder if he uses a good tuner if he could transmit with good SWR. He is only using a junk, homemade, tuner I made. He is happy. The 102 inch antenna I use is on my rear bumper for antique CB radio. I am not allowed to transmit ham bands.

[@st.charlesstreet9876]

Extremely helpful for me as a cave dweller.Thank You very much for the help! Going to be using it.

[@SteveH-TN]

Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts in this video. I especially appreciate your explanation of using the Ham Stick & the disconnects. I called Tower Electronics to order a couple of the quick disconnects and extra tops but unfortunately they were out of stock. I live on a farm in Tennessee most of the year and also have 9th floor Condo 😂with medal railings a few miles West of O’hare Airport & Chicago, would love to operate with mag mount and Ham Sticks. Your experience has been very inspiring. 73 Steve AA4SH

[@donsilva4441]

Nice video. If you have the mfj-1979 17 foot whip, (they have a coil add on for 40 meters) it would be a good upgrade for 20 and 40. it is 3/8 24 too, so it would go right on those mounts.

[@chrissewell1608]

Looks good to me, as long as it works! And doesn't radiat the birds 🕊 Since your antennas are mounted just outside and on that level of the house. Have you had any problems with RF interference inside the house? Ie. TV's, wifi & blu tooth devices? I ask that because, I had a 2M/440 mag mount, stuck on top of tv's swing out arm. And I accidentally fried a wifi DVD player, sitting on a cabinet, right below the tv. (I was using 50 watts!) The TV was fine. But I smoked that DVD player!

[@ClimbingColorado]

Your setup is really neat. It would be great if you were able to add antenna analyzer information for your setup. I wonder about the antenna's performance given the limited ground plane.

[@N7MYW]

While not the most optimum, my swr is great at less than 1.5/1. And the ground plane is rather decent with all the steel in this balcony railing.

[@nateitkin8279]

Thanks for posting. It would be fascinating to compare that side-by-side to a 50 ft vertical with ground radials on the grass below your apt. 73

[@donnakano3697]

You may want to add a ground jumper by putting a small screw into the metal railing and adding a grounding tab to your mag mount. When I operated similarly many years ago, the capacitive coupling to ground didn’t work well below about 20M, but adding the ground improved both matching and radiation. You may also want to try mounting the antenna horizontally, using a clamp to see how it works for you. Thanks for showing people you don’t need a big antenna to operate on HF. While my preferred mode was CW, FT8 should do much better.

[@dandypoint]

I do something similar for portable and also at home in the summer on my screen porch with my FT 891. I use the Hustler system of resonators with the 54 inch mast and their quick disconnects. When inside the shack I use my K3 with dipoles for each band up from 35 to 60 feet depending on the band. Usually the dipoles are better but the mobile antenna is sometimes even equal or better! I have my mount on either a tent stake or C clamped to my deck with from 2 to 4 radials on the ground. 73, N4DJ

[@joshspurlock3631]

Would a metal roof be an acceptable counterpoise?

[@DavidAnderson-se1or]

Great video. Quick question. What's the model# of your MFJ magnetic mount? MFJ-335BT?

[@N7MYW]

335-BT

[@DavidAnderson-se1or]

@@N7MYW Thank you!

[@KX4UL]

Very clever! It's always interesting to see how those in HOA homes and antenna challenged homes get on the air. Makes me want a 3rd story balcony. Ok, now where can I get a few of those couplers? A-ha, that question has been answered in another's comment. Made by 'Shark' and available at 'HRO' of course. Now subbed...73!

[@N7MYW]

Shark Antenna

[@Ozarkwoods]

Good information I am a newbie and just getting into what equipment I need. I live in an HOA so my needs are stealth

[@lightingnut]

What happed to the white lights along the tree row?

[@charleswoods2996]

Good video! I went with the Chameleon CHA MIL Matcher (Hybrid) rated @ 500 watts, 17-foot telescoping whip on top of that, a 3-foot jumper of 9913 that goes into an MFJ RF choke, then 18 feet of more 9913 coaxial cable that comes into the LDG AT-1000ProII Autotuner, that ends in the Icom 7300! And I'm only on the 2nd floor of a 7-story building - but my ground elevation is about 1,200 feet ASL! A mere 100 watts from the TXr is all I need. On another note; I admire the Buddhist decor in and around the background. Broadly speaking I study the same stuff. KD8EFQ/73 Namaste -?

[@snail2171]

I have few of those antennas. Very narrow tune frequency. Might be good if you work on the same frequency so you can tune antenna to this. Will fail to work from CW to the end of SSB.

[@ernietech-101]

I do it as a vertical dipole using Hamsticks and a MJF-347 mount. I also have a 991A. The metal railing is the trick!

[@mcdonald1743]

I just bought the 991a yesterday. It should be here tomorrow or Friday. How do you like it? I'm excited to get it in.

[@billdillon8139]

Cool setup. Thanks for sharing.

[@Martin-hq1if]

Hi, can you linked the antennas under the video please?

[@ka0tp]

KA0TP HT portable in the Portland area (147.040 or 146.52) while working or using FT-818ND and Magmount with the Shark Mini-Hamsticks. Uusally 20M.

[@lenny0272]

I went up to hro and bought doubles of every band of those shark sticks and put the quick couplers on all.

[@KU9L]

The crow adds an element of realism, LOL! Thanks for the video, I am looking for alternatives to my EFHW antennas for when there are no trees or structures for antenna launching on POTA activations. 72 es 73, Davey - KU9L

[@earicci]

How do you feed the feedline into the apartment?

[@elkabong6429]

Where are these couplers available and what are they called? Thanks!

[@SuperCapsfan101]

Any QRM from the neighbors?

[@michaelrichardson1898]

Is 40 feet cable ok for connection for the antenna for better reception I live in a apartment

[@guitodd]

Nice setup! Thanks for the tour.

[@usernamemykel]

It's a "Quick disconnect" coupler.

[@K0MRDRadioPrepper]

Great set up, where did you get the cupplers?

[@usernamemykel]

"Cupplers" ? You're kidding, right??

[@williamwhitaker5951]

want to know if that antenna pick up internet I have trees all way around yard I am going up the big boy tree to mount let me know what you think wow 50 sounded good ha

[@dheller777]

Can't seem to get the swr low enough on any of the hamsticks I have to be able to use them even with an external antenna tuner.

[@Somnium158]

where did you get the mag mount?

[@N7MYW]

Ham Radio Outlet, though it is an MFJ 335, so available all over.

[@Somnium158]

@@N7MYW right on thank you

[@AldoCugnini]

Very cool. Did you make the couplers yourself?

[@N7MYW]

No, they are from Shark antenna.

[@certinstructorron4050]

I'm a Ham General Class, my wife feeds the birds too!

[@indridcold8433]

I am just a CB operator, which is dead, by the way. But I have set up very similar antenna configurations for very small homes. With a homemade antenna and a minimally tuned 102 inch whip, the amateur radio operators have reported good performance from 10 to 40 with reception to 80 meters. Using a real, quality, tuner, besides my homemade junk, may yield better results. I have used cheap jumper cables for groundplanes for some antennas. It is easy to make a 10 meter J-pole that can be made to operate on a few more bands also, from 6 to 40, though it is rather long for small areas. Birds are part of the radio hobby, in my worthless opinion. When climbing a tall tower for better established stations, one has to stop and admire the birds. By the way, merry old England was on 10 meters recently on the lower parts, like 28.0Mhz to 28.480. It was so crowded many went to LSB to get some more room. AM 29Mhz to 29.2 and a little beyond was even active. But I can not talk on amateur radio bands. I just set up stations, modify equipment from other services to operate on amateur radio bands for other people, set up antennas, make power supplies, tuners, and climb towers. People do not seem to understand that one can enjoy amateur radio without a license, especially if financially challenged. They can just set up the equipment and make it.

[@ftlaud911]

I like the setup!! Very nice

[@spacecoyote6646]

I was worried about all the tattoos until he said he's in Portland. 😊

[@johnc3403]

I was worried about the accent 'til he said he was in the states🤓

[@ManuelPinner]

Perfect for Hams that Live in Apartments in Large Cities,

[@UR4UNV]

Tattoo on your hand (aperture) looks like logo of "Patriot rental" in which I work. 73! UR4UNV

[@bioteecher]

How do you ground?

[@ElCalin]

that balcony is an excellent lightning rod, he's gonna blow the hole building, I'm surprise HoA hasn't knock on his door 😂

[@wa8khp-468]

Very nice configuration. I have the FTDX10 and work a lot of POTA FT8 mobile. Always looking to improve operation. Can U tell me who makes the coupler for quick discount? I have been using the KD-T quick discount from Tarheel. Thanks David

[@N7MYW]

I nought mine at HRO and they are Shark brand. Usually they sell a package of five.

[@nicklikesradio]

Do NOT buy cheaper quick disconnects (opek). They can flare open enough to pop your hamstick off at the car behind you. The good ones are hardened.

[@alr8282]

how much power do u run?

[@N7MYW]

50 watts

[@CigarsOnTheAir]

Thanks for sharing! Cheers and 73! De W3LAM

[@myshack51]

good job

[@Runtothemusic]

NICE

[@jeromegrzelak8236]

The y r called quick disconects kg6mn

[@redveiner]

chic a dee dee dee !!

[@FRS-eo2pl]

Hi, what is the SWR with the HF antenna ?

[@N7MYW]

I have a 1.3:1 without tuner.