Erik, Each of the listed antennas has a good design and application. The Bug Catcher is more a mobile antenna, and needs radials to work portable. It will need a mobile base adapted to a portable stand.
The Outbacker is a mobile antenna that now comes with radial kit and stand,but is short for the bands, and limited bandwidth. You will need a tuner. Same as above about mounting, although Alpha Delta sells one which is pricy. The Outbacker is a short helical monopole, and thus incomplete without radials, as was Bug Catcher a short coil loaded monopole. The Hustler is mainly a mobile antenna also, and same applies. Of the ones you list, the most sturdy for portable ops and designed for that task is the Buddipole. It is a coil loaded dipole, so does not need separate radials set up. It comes with sturdy parts, I studied them at Ham Com in June, and visited extensively with the company designer/ owner. I am not easily impressed but I was. The Buddipole is being deployed with Embassy and other groups from Uncle. The Buddipole has two versions, one breaks down into attache case sized pieces. You can get a sturdy plastic hard case or a nice bag of nylon to carry it. It has a stand you can set it up either as horizontal dipole or vertical dipole or sloping. Very flexible rig. The parts are rugged and top quality all the way. There is another antenna for 3 bands that does not require a tuner. You tap up on common loading air dux type coil. It is all made of PVC pipe sections, and a 6 foot telescoping whip. However, over all, it is not as rugged as Buddipole, and needs a couple of mods to work better. One is to add a six inch PVC pipe to the top pipe section. This is to add one more velcro tie around the whip to keep it vertical in wind. The other mod is to add hairpin clips available at Home Depot to the base H support pipes Center Tee piece, to avoid it rotating in wind conditions and laying over the antenna in mid QSO. You have to drill the pipes to attach these clips to lock the Tee and pipes from rotation. You have to provide coax with UHF plug for the Minuteman connector. The assembly is quick and simple after you do it a couple of times. The antenna comes in a cardboard box about two plus feet long, but no bag or case. Go to Container store and get that. It comes with sets of radials to deploy from a stud with wing nut. It works great, just not too sturdy in windy areas. After mods, mine is MUCH better. You need some weights to put on the ends of the H base to keep the light pipe assembly from blowing over in wind. Rocks or bricks work, or bury the H in sand at beach. Minuteman had a web page last I looked. GL, Stuart K5KVH _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
