I wouldn't call them dogs, but you do have to appreciate that you are
operating on an extremely short antenna...

I use Iron Horse hamsticks on my mobile. I routinely operate on 40m
(daily net in the Hawaiian Islands on 7.088) and get great reports all of
the time. Have also had contacts from mainland on 40m on occasion. I use
the sticks with an "extended bumper mount" that is bolted to the trailer
hitch mount and hangs out on the left side of the truck just ahead of the
bumper. To raise the mount point of the hamstick, I have a chunk of pipe
with 3/8 bolt hardware that bolts to the mount, a 4 inch spring on top of
that, and the hamstick mounted to the spring. It lengthens the antenna
about 18" or so, and the by product has been a lower SWR and wider
bandwidth for all bands I've used.

I can't say that I do as well on 75m, but it is usable at least in the
Hawaiian Islands (I'm on the south end of the Big Island, so Kauai is the
farthest from me, roughly north. Oahu is just below (south) of Kauai.)

Thanks
--Rick AH7H

wrote:

Randy wrote:
What Brand would you recommend and why?
Brands include:

Quickstick from Quicksilver Radio
Lakeview
MFJ
Valor/Proam

Any real world experiences with any of the above antenna's.

The "hamstick" would be used for a NVIS ARES emergency dipole on 75m
and 40m. And yes, I know about the bandwith and effeciency. This
would be a temp, portable, emergency antenna.

Randy ka4nma

Hi Randy, as you know Hamsticks are dogs above 20m. If you are
planning on using them in a dipole configuration on 75m, get the most
sturdy. For NVIS ARES emergency dipole on 75M, from my experience
other configurations will work much better. Field day experience.
Gary N4AST