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The Chinese Buddistick (JPC-12) - POTA Fail
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2023
- I embarked on a POTA activation adventure with a borrowed JPC-12 antenna, also known as the Chinese Buddistick, to test its performance compared to the original. Unfortunately, the activation didn't go as planned due to unfavorable band conditions. But that's not the only hurdle I faced.
While the JPC-12 antenna showed some improvement over the original, it fell short of meeting my expectations. Its finicky tuning process proved to be a major drawback, completely contradicting its purpose as a user-friendly portable antenna.
Join me as I recount my experience and explain why the JPC-12 antenna didn't quite meet my requirements. Discover the challenges I encountered and gain insights into the importance of finding the right antenna for your specific use case.
Should you wish to take a closer look at the antenna you can buy it all over the internet. This is an affiliate link to AliExpress: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DEP...
#hamradio #amateurradio #antennas
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Note: The antenna design is now open source and can be found on Thingiverse.
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I own this antenna and have had a good experience with it so far. I think it just may not have been a good day for POTA the day you went out. I say give it another chance, if you haven't already.
I have a couple of more videos on it, and it turns out that it is okayish. The lack of good instructions is unforgivable though.
@@LB0FI yeah - the only reason that I knew how to set it up immediately was because I had already watched a few videos on it, including some people's struggles with it. I really want to try it over salt water to see how well it performs with a really good ground.
As for me, JPC-12 is a good antenna! Quick to assemble, takes up little space, good SWR at 7/10/14/18/21/24/28/50/144. The only downside of resetting in contest mode is the loss of time.
73 de ER/UT1ZZ!
If you watch the rest of my videos on it you can see that it's not half bad, only really cumbersome...
The coil must not be inserted anywhere at the top, but at the bottom, directly over the feeding point segment. And you do not need the coil for 15m: Take only three of the black rods and extend the telescopic rod to full, and you get a quarterwave groundplane, for 10m without the black extensions.The manual says, for 15m take all four and shift the telescopic rod down one segment, but regarding SWR, it does the same job. The coil is only for 20m and 40m. At 40m, you should try out, shifting the slider one or two turns upwards the marking of the coil, because that is meant for the lower band end. I love this antenna, because without fine tuning an fiddling, you are QRV on the four bands with SWR below 1:1,5. Of course, especially with groundplanes, the radials are crucial, and perhaps it might help to avoid tall grass. vy 73 oe1llc
I have several more videos where I investigate this. And you are partially right, the coil is for 20 and below, but this is a center loaded antenna, and the coil is meant to be in the middle, and not at the feedpoint as you suggest.
Also, when you say that you can get the SWR below 1.5 without fiddling you are simply wrong. This is an extremely fiddly antenna, but if you watch my entire series on this you will see that it is tunable on every band between 40 and 6.
This is an antenna that in kind of in between in it's market segment. It is easier to use than the Buddistick, but it is way harder than the Slidewinder DX.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Thanks Morten
Let’s see if could to something together on this antenna!
Great video! In my opinion, what you experienced, you can experience with any loaded vertical. I had similar issues with me Wolf River. What I learned is, that is does not only depend on the length of the radiating element or the coil but also on the length of the radials. I know that theorywise it should not matter. However, for me it does. So I only use the full length of radials for lower bands like 40, for 20 I fold mine back to half and for 10m to a fourth. That means I have an average length of 10, 5 and 2.5, and this equals to Lambda/4. I do not say this works everywhere, but on the dry and rocky soil of the black forrest hills it works for me.
All these antennas have their limitations, but I like the setup of the PAC-12. My Wolf River just came in a plastic bag. For sure I will get a PAC-12 as well 🙂
73, Kai
Thanks for the comment. And yes, all of these antennas have their limitations. The best one I have tried is the Slidewinder DX, which I have made one video on, and a couple of more are coming. I have a feeling though, that for 20 and up, a 17ft whip does the job much better.
Hi Morten, I am a happy owner of a JPC-12. There is one manufacturing issue with this antenna which I have encountered with mine and two more JPCs from other hams: The red isolation must be removed from the connector ring of the radials which is mounted between the ground spike and the feeding point. The ground spike needs proper contact with the radials since there is no conductivity between the ring and the anodized surface of the feeding point casing.
73 Krishan, DO1KRI
I will check with the owner if I can remove the heatshrink and see if that helps.
One is glad to be of service (hope it helps). By the way: I have always managed to gain 1:1.2 to 1.25 SWR on my analyzer just by adapting the whip length.
Hi Krishan.
Thank you for your info. I'm after my first "long" weekend (3 evenings/nights and some hours during the daytime) with PAC-12 and my feelings are simillar to Morten's, but when I was screwing the gound spike with counterpoles and antenna base I felt, that something could be done a bit better here. Well, the next time this red plastic will go out, and we will see...🙂Generally this antenna has the potential, e.g. in the evenings on 20 m I heard stations from JA, VU and both Americas at S7 - S9 signal level and very low band noise around, I was able to do some not only european QSOs, but e.g. on 6 m and 40 m it was rather deaf despite not bad SWR. Well, operating on the VHF from the gound level is not so good, on 7 MHz it is IMHO too short (I'm going to buy 5.2 m long additional whip), but a bit dissapointing results on 10, 12 and 15 m were caused by not so strong propagation (I think so 🙂). Anyway this antenna is really good build and I hope, that after some modifications I will be glad with it.
73! de Piotr SP5TZP
@@pt4389the 17ft telescopic anttena is fitted with a 3/8th thread the jpc12 threads are m10 you will need to make an adapter hope this helps
Interesting video.
There's always a better mouse trap and I've tried so many mouse traps. My go to antenna for POTA is my OCF40. But, both my friend and I have PAC-12 antennas. We both use 3 each 35 foot long radials along with 3 each 17 foot long ground radials. For what that antenna is, compared to other ground mounted verticals, we both found this antenna easy to deploy, easy and super easy to adjust for resonance. For 40 meters we put the slider right on the painted mark on the coils. We ended up right in the 40 meter band. For 20 meters, we found the mark to be one turn off. But, by putting the slider right on the mark, we still had a usable SWR curve on 20 meters.
The key to performance on this antenna is, "put down as much ground wire as possible. One ground wire, like the ribbon cable that comes with the antenna does not cut it. So many people just lay that cable down without separating the wires and spreading them out. As is, the antenna sees that cable as one ground wire.
We both found this antenna to be a very good performer for a ground mounted vertical. I'd buy another in a heart beat.
Barry, KU3X
Better luck next time... Hope to meet you on the bands one day
You’re already in my log Anton!
Were you operating with X6100 power or using an amplifier? I have considered the X6100 as a new QRP radio. Thank you for the example of the JPC-12. David AE4LH
I was using an amplifier for this as far as I can remember. I do have some other videos on the JPC-12, so it’s actually easier to tune than what I initially thought.
Hi Morten, thanks for the video.
With which other antenna did you compare the JPC-12, which was in use at the same place and the same time, please? Maybe it was just bad condx?
I played with nearly the same antenna setup a few weeks ago in my vacation and had similar results - only to find out that the condx were really, really bad. A wire with a tuner brought the same bad results.
I find it somewhat misleading to call an antenna a "fail" when the condx are the real culprit.
Only if you do side by side comparisions of two antennas at the same place (more or less) and same time (more or less), then you can make a real comparison.
Full disclosure: We sell the JPC-12 and have some fantastic user reviews, see our blog.
Thanks for commenting. And yes, the lack of QSOs were the due to bad conditions. That was also not my point.
My main point was that the antenna is complicated to tune, and is therefore diametrically opposed to it's purpose of being a simple antenna for portable use. I am, at heart, a wire antenna guy, but I would really like to find the compact antenna that suits my use cases for when I can't put up a dipole or an EFHW. An antenna for portable use, wether it be POTA, SOTA or something else needs to be simple to set up.
I have now tested the Buddistick and the JPC-12. My next antenna in line is the Slidewinder DX.
I fiddled with the JPC-12 antenna and sent it back and got most of my money back as well. I agree with your assessment. I may try the knock off version of the MC 750 coil antenna. The WRC antenna just works for me...
I ended up doing a series of videos on this antenna. It turns out that it works, but tuning is a big hassle.
@@LB0FI Exactly... Agree.
I’ve got one of these but haven’t used it yet, maybe needs some saltwater lol. You’ll enjoy the Slidewinder!
Saltwater fixes everything!
HI. How many radials did you put in? I with this antenna and a few radials, 8 if I remember correctly, made excellent connections in SSB. Then, ok, propagation is always needed... 73!
I used five radials. And I actually things the antenna is an okay performer, it's just that the tuning is so finicky that I use time I could have spent doing QSOs tuning the antenna.
More the better on the radials, I've used it on 40m, 20m no problems mmmm
Do you think if you marked the antenna after tuning you could go back to the right settings in the future?
To be honest, no. That’s the concept of the Buddistick, and it doesn’t work well there for me.
I made a vertical that style using some Hustler loading coils from a mobile system i have a coil for 40m 20m 17m 15m worked every time. OK for POTA as my car is near by and did not need to back pack them very far. I found those types of antennas you used was tuning it up for every band and costing a lot of time. generally the Hustler coils are tuned once and stay in tune for next time. vk5cz ..
I've that same set up Morten, JPC-12 is pretty good. My first time testing it I worked into Indonesia from West of ireland using the x6100 on 5w.
Ps i like the handles for the x6100
De EI2JHB
It is not a half bad antenna, as my later videos on it shows. It does however seriously lack good instructions, and it is cumbersome to tune. Once you have it tuned it performs on par with other loaded shortened verticals. I do prefer the Slidewinder over the JPC-12 though. The handles for the X6100 are 3D printed, you can find them on Thingiverse. I also have a video on those handles. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for testing it out for us. This antenna wasn't on my radar, but I'll steer clear.
It might be an antenna for you though 😀
@@LB0FI for me, the only attractive thing about this antenna and the BuddiStick Pro is the size. They pack down in a small bag which is convenient for travel. A friend of mine purchased the BuddiStick because he travels by air a lot for work. I'll need to try his out sometime, but I'm not too excited about it. I just got a SOTABEAMS Carbon 6 mast for travel and need to build some speaker wire verticals for it. I think that'll be the way to go for me. 😉
Simple long wire antenna with 9:1 un un on a fiberglass pole would be quicker and easier to set up ?
Are you asking or are you making a statement? And if it is a question, my reply would be as most things in ham radio, "it depends". Sometimes a shortened vertical is more beneficial to where you operate than a long wire, and sometimes a long wire is more beneficial. I adapt to the operating conditions when I do portable radio. I would prefer a 49:1 over a 9:1 any day though.
Love your video's Morten, they are real and you give your honest opinion. With regard the JPC-12, I have one.....or more correctly had one, until a fellow ham borrowed it and doesn't look like she is going to give it back anytime soon😂 She loves it, as did I. It takes a bit of practice but once mastered is fast and very resonant. I have had multiple contacts NZ to Europe with this antenna and the G90 at 20 watts. I am about to purchase another one.....I like them that much and so much cheaper than the competition. By the way, what is the cradle you have the X6100 in? It looks quite good. Keep up the video's....they are appreciated. Cheers ZL2VTH
Thanks for the long comment there Phil. And you are probably right that I haven't played with it long enough to master it, but I will give the Slidewinder DX a go before I try more with this one. The cage for the X6100 is 3D printed, you can find the STL-files on Thingiverse. I even have a video on that cage.
definitely an unlucky day!
I own both the PAc7 and the Pac12 and I use them a lot in my qrp outings and they often give me beautiful dx's! 73 IU1OLR
The antenna is actually a better performer than I showed in this video. I have made a couple of more videos on it.
As with any Ham function, did you learn something? If you did it was worthwhile. Also to steal a line from fishing, any bad day out playing radio is better than a good day at work. Liked the helicopter footage. I have seen a few of those in a prior time when I work with the Canadian Forces. 73
I always learn something whenever I go out to POTA. And the weather was nice too, so it was a nice day.
Love the pro-tips! I am sure any ham can relate.
Try a Wolf River Coil, I have two of them and love them both 73 KV5P
I haven't tried the WRC, but I've had good results with the Slidewinder DX.
You're certainly more patient than I am.
Could you please tell my wife as well?
@@LB0FI 🤣🤣🤣
Lamento escuchar ese comentario. Realmente es una antena muy divertida que no lleva más de 2 minutos montarla y 20 segundos ajustarla. De veras siento no saliesen las cosas como esperabas. La uso en qrp o con AL de 80w y estoy más que satisfecho.
@@elprimodeperico6450 Sorry, I don’t speak a word of Spanish.
@@LB0FI ok no problem. Sorry for your bad experience. I think good antena. My english if bery bad 🤦🏻👌🤣
Check out the Slidewinder DX Antenna
I absolutely will, as I said in the video. I just need to meet up with LB5JJ to borrow his Slidewinder.
Buenos días, tengo esa antena hace un año, la he usado en activaciones en terreno y muy bien de usar, por otra parte es una antena excelente para personas que viven en departamento, yo la utilizo en 40 y 10 M en foniatra y digital, relación precio, calidad y uso muy bueno. Saludos, CD3VKL, 73
I am sorry, but I don't speak a word of Spanish.
Not my experience at all with the JPC-12. Tall grass can make counterpoise length more of a factor. The connection to the coil needs to be squarely on and only touching one of the coils. For reasons unknown moving to an adjacent coil or two and retuning the telescope changed results dramatically for better or worse.
But, that’s why vanilla, strawberry and chocolate are all necessary, right?
Thanks for the video.
Thanks for commenting and your insights. It looks like I need to give this antenna another go.
@@LB0FI it is a design flaw to make it so hard to tell if contact is not spanning coils. At night my phone light is necessary to double check. Also, I almost always use the 5.28mm whip upgrade and added another set of ribbon cable counterpoise when ground is bone dry. Also I bracket, meaning when I find a tune I try the coil turn above and below. Also, I never pull the top few telescoping sections more than 1/2 or even 1/3 of the way unless the band calls for that length. That makes the antenna stiffer in a breeze. East Coast US to China was achievable. Oh, and make sure the ground spike doesn’t start to unscrew.
The ground spike unscrewing was certainly an issue. I am also wondering if there is some kind of matching network in the feedpoint which would explain some of the issues I was encountering.
@@LB0FI feedpoint cylinder has just a wire from the center pin to the antenna mount.
that's the JPC-7 right?
No. It’s the JPC-12.
I can inform you that when using 15 METERS you can remove the coil, I have found better results with the coil at the bottom takes on average 5 minutes to tune , the build quality is almost the same as BP for a 3rd of the cost as I own both, I think it's just inexperience with this type of antenna setup but we all started some where, I have made a few contacts around the world on 10 watts using the same antenna enjoy have fun 73's
Yo tengo esa antena y jamas me dio problemas. 73 Cordiales
I don’t use 15 I think you should run no coil for 15.
You are correct about that. I have a couple og more videos on this antenna.
maybe next time use a wind filter, or hi pass filter its very to listen to blobs :-(
Hi, and thanks for commenting. Could you tell me exactly where in the video you have problems with wind noise? Also, I always use a deadcat with my microphones, but when filming outside on a very limited budget poses it's own set of challenges. There are, however, links in the video description to support the channel financially just so you can help me upgrade my equipment.
That being said, how did you like the content?
@@LB0FI during the whole video there are low noise sounds of wind. I am listning with a headphone so i can hear them . Offcourse i could filter them out with a high pass .
. But it was a tip for next vids to use a wind or plop cap for the mic. Good video altough OM 73 PE1NGW 🙋🏻♂️
There’s always a deadcat on the mic, but sometimes there’s just too much wind anyway.
waste of time. an inverted v and fishing pole is smaller and faster to put up
Or perhaps my favorite, a monoband wire vertical.
Its you
Yes it is.
Man, you dit it WRONG! The coil is not in the correct adjustment. Search in RUclips.
I use one like this, and works fine!
73 from PY5MCB
I have a couple of more videos on this antenna. Watch those please.
I used it tune it in less than 10 mints i get a contact 7500 km
I even tested it inside my room i get 1200 km with 59 report befor i erect it is is a very efficeient antenna light wt easy to tune and ssemble
Thanks for the video
7Z1FA:ST2KI
73
If you watch the other videos I have made on this antenna you'll see that things are not as dim as they seem in this video. It is however not an easy antenna to tune, and it is about as efficient as any other center loaded antenna when you get it in tune. How far you reached with the antenna though, is dependent on a whole lot of factors.
Works good for me the JPC 12, just make better radials on the bottom looks like you have done ✔ De 2E1FUE
It's going out for another go today, according to the comments I was wrong in my conclusion.