Shark Mono Band Verticals 20M 44in

I started POTA activations with an EF between two masts. I switched to the Shark Ham Sticks on a magmount on top of the car for expediency and ease of setup. In less than a year, I've managed more than 10,600 QSOs during 116 POTA activations in Colorado (and a few in Utah) using an IC-718 at about 100 watts, In addition to the "lower 48," I've worked Alaska, Hawaii, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, around the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe, all well above the noise (https://wb0nwz.com/php/POTAMaps.html).

The outstanding performance and value notwithstanding, the sticks are a godsend for POTA activations: there's no worry about tying or launching wire through trees and/or putting stakes in the ground, both of which are often strictly prohibited. Woe betide the POTA activator who draws the ire of the park ranger.

In late 2026 March, I bought a second set covering seven bands from 75-10m to be used with the existing set as dipoles on a 25-ft mast using a single Intellitron AA-1602 Dipole Antenna Mounting Bracket on a 25-ft mast. To make switching bands almost as fast as when using the sticks as verticals on the magmount, I bought additional Shark quick disconnects, screwing the mounting stub into the "ports" on the Intelletron. This avoids having to screw and unscrew the sticks with each change. To go to a different band, I lower the mast, quickly switch the two elements, and reraise the mast. I have only one field trial so far, but I guess that it takes an additional minute for the switch. POTA is not a race or contest, so this is nothing in the scheme of things.

In the vertical mode, I could easy get SWR < 2.0 across the entire phone band for 20-10m, not quite so on 40m, and - of course - only a 50Khz wide notch on 75m. I am getting similar results in the dipole mode, except for 20m. There, minimum SWR is about 1.8 but I still get < 2.5 for the entire phone band. That is a bit of a puzzle. In dipole mode, the length of the steel whips in almost every case is several inches shorter than the vertical mode. I keep the whips the same length for each leg.

I whole-heartedly recommend Shark Ham Sticks to every ham who is looking for value, ease of use, excellent performance, and spending more time on the air than getting things in the air.

What a kick! I purchased a 20-meter Shark HamStick, wanting to use it (portable, not permanently mounted) with a mag-mount on the top of my car. Knowing that increasing the length of conductor below the loading coil would improve radiation efficiency, I tried adding a 26-inch Chameleon extender between the mount and antenna. I was able to set up and tune the antenna in about fifteen minutes (VSWR = 1.13:1 at 14060 MHz). Then over the next twenty minutes from the San Francisco Peninsula and with a five watt CFT1 CW transceiver, I successfully hunted a couple POTA stations in OK and CO. I could hear stations even further east but sadly did not have the time to Hunt them. Gangbusters! Yeah, band conditions were great, but still pretty impressive for a lowly (albeit augmented) HamStick!

On my current property, I am extremely limited for space. I bought several of these Shark verticals, of various bands to mount with a triple magnetic base on a large steel ground plane in my yard. I have worked most of the North and South American continent with this setup on SSB, and have reached Australia and New Zealand on FT8 mode. Recently, I bought a second 20m Shark and built a nice dipole in an NVIS config. I can't live without these things!