[Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

[Phil Hystad]

I have used both a Buddipole and wire antennas out in the field during various birding trips — while my wife is stalking feathered friends with her camera, I set up a nice field operation with my KX3 and antennas.

Often I have my pickup and I used to have great performance with an inverted-V 20-meter dipole using the center pole an extensible fiberglass pole (up 24 feet but raised by 5 feet so top elevation 29 feet).  Although the wire conductors are sized for the low end of 20 since I operate CW only, I extend each of the two Dipole legs further out using dacron line before anchoring to the ground with tent pegs (or something else if convenient).  The result is an inverted-V with a large angle separation to the legs.

Oh — one other thing.  The fiberglass pole is mounted in the truck stake hole on the rear part of the bed and I can get buy with no guy lines if I am careful in setup.

I have not compared the Buddipole to the inverted-V dipole antenna directly because I bought my Buddipole after I broke my fiberglass pole and decided on using a Buddipole instead as it was more flexible in some ways and I would not have the dependence on my pickup truck.  However, in general, I would say that the Inverted-V always beat out performance of the Buddipole but also the Buddipole does work.

Note — all my field work is KX3 QRP (10 watts) or a few times only a few watts using my KX1.

Both antennas though took me about the same time to set up — maybe about 20 minutes as I am not usually racing for some record set up time.

73, phil, K7PEH



> On Sep 29, 2016, at 1:01 AM, Michael A. Wong <michaelwong at mac.com> wrote:
> 
> Hey folks,
> 
> KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made all my contacts with the Buddistick.
> 
> Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend a random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO over a wire?
> 
> I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet between two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202 and rig up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the Buddistick up and running in about 3 minutes....
> 
> Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts. 
>