Why Not Make A Dipole Or Beam Antenna Out Of Hamsticks

  In my search to look for some kind of antenna that would have the turning capability to null out the noise, have some gain and not take up too much room I came across some information on using Hamsticks in a dipole configuration. I have seen some  Ham Radio Operators take Hamstick Antennas for various frequencies and make a dipole antenna out of them. I like the idea due to the fact that they do not take up a lot of room. They also seem to break down pretty easy. This would be very helpful if I were camping, so I could make a fast set up and get some decent responses from it.  From what I have read they seem to work pretty good. I have also seen some where they use four or more to design a two element to four element beam antenna. There are different brands besides hamsticks by Lakeview Company. There are also antennas like these made by Jetstream and MFJ. These would only be fore the Ham Radio Frequencies.  I would definitely suggest to use a fiberglass mobile antenna for this kind of dipole or beam antenna. All of the mobile antennas have different ways of tuning the antenna. If a desired swr reading is not obtained, I would try using an antenna tuner. The lower cost brands seem to be MFJ or Vectronics. There are many different dealers or resellers on the internet. If you looking into that choice I would check on http://www.resellerratings.com/ . I have used them many times and saved myself lots of headaches.

 2 element 20 meter mini wire beam antenna

    If you would like to see how the Ham Radio Operator VE3SQB designed and built his Hamstick Beam Antenna just check out this link http://www.ve3sqb.com/hamaerials/ve6vk/ . This website gives some excellent information on the various steps he went through to design and mount the four element hamstick antenna.  I have seen MFJ sell their version on the mini dipole antenna for different Ham Radio Frequencies. You may just start out building a dipole with just a couple of Hamsticks or a couple of the various models such as Jetstream Antennas. I myself have a couple of K40 Antennas from a few years ago when I had them mounted on a light bar on top of a chevy s10 pickup truck I had. I may try to use these in maybe a 10 meter configuration since they are really for 11 meters.

MFJ-347 Hamstick Dipole Mount

  The next question you may have is how am I going to mount these antennas. Well you do have some different choices. The simplest may be using a mini dipole antenna mount. It is a metal mount with a couple of 3/8 inch stud mounts. There are some insulators to isolate the two fiberglass antennas. Your coax cable will connect to the mount. There is a clamp type connector to clamp it to your mast. You may want to use something like a Metal Push Up Mast . You should also use some dacron guy ropes to stabilize the mast. You could use a Fiberglass Heavy Duty Push Up Mast with some dacron guy ropes. If I were going with more than two elements then I would stick with the metal push up mast.

21 Foot Aluminum Telescoping Mast

41 Foot Channel Master Mast

  So where is the best place to buy the various parts you will need for a project like this. As far as a push up metal mast goes you can usually find them at lowes or radioshack. I bought mine from Lowes and that is what my imax 2000 is mounted on. You can find them through Amazon or Ebay for not too bad prices. They do come in various lengths up to 50 feet. Mine are about 30 feet when fully extended. As far as the mini dipole mount goes I have seen them on Amazon and Ebay. You can also buy them from Ham Radio dealers such as, MFJ, AES Electronics, DX Engineering and Universal Radio. Prices do vary between different dealers, amazon and ebay. There are some that seem a little more heavy duty. My advise also is to use an Antenna Analyzer to test your antenna set up before going live on the cb radio. This way if the swr is way out of resonance you won't damage your radio.

Channel Master Rotator Kit

  I would suggest using a antenna rotator to turn your antenna in the desired direction you are going to want to talk. Just remember there are many different brands of Antenna Rotators to choose from other than the ones I mentioned. If it is a dipole or two element beam antenna you can get away with a light duty antenna rotator made by channel master. If you are going bigger then I would suggest a AR-40 by Hygain or something larger. Hygain does make heavier duty antenna rotators, but they can be expensive. Yaesu does make very nice antenna rotators, but again they can be expensive. I myself like the look of the Yaesu rotator controller.
  If anyone decides to try this and build a dipole or a beam with the Hamsticks, Jetstream or MFJ  Antennas or whatever you decide leave a comment as to how it goes.
  Thank You for reading and have a nice day. Dan KC2YTI 73s .