Manuals+

BuddiHEX Quick Start Guide

Overview

The BuddiHEX is a 6-band high-performance hexbeam antenna. It is specifically designed to be lightweight, making it an excellent choice for both portable and base station use. The antenna packs into a set of compact components for quick setup.

Please use the following instructions to assemble the antenna.

Support Structure Assembly

  1. Sit the lower hub on the ground with the upper hub vertically above it.
  2. Unfold each of the six spreader arms and insert into the lower hub arm sockets.

    Figure 1: Inserting spreader arm into lower hub. Illustration showing a spreader arm being inserted into a socket on the lower hub.

    The assembly should now look like a central hub with six spokes.

    Figure 2: Lower hub with 6 spreader arms installed. Diagram of the lower hub with six spreader arms extended, resembling spokes.

  3. The color-coded wire clips on each spreader must be positioned on the spreader. Rotate each of the six wire clips on each arm so the clip opening is facing towards the ground and slide each holder towards the outside.

    Figure 3: Wire clip positioning. Close-up view of a wire clip on a spreader arm, showing its orientation against a clip stop.

  4. Tensioning cords are attached to the end caps of each spreader. Rotate the end cap to orient as shown.

    Figure 4: Spreader end cap cords. Illustration of spreader end caps with tensioning cords attached, showing the orientation of the end cap.

  5. Grasp the toggle end of one of the support cords and attach it to the upper hub of the central support as shown. After inserting the toggle through the hole, twist the toggle into a vertical position so that it locks in place.

    Figure 5: Inserting toggle into upper hub. Diagram depicting the attachment of a support cord toggle to the upper hub of the central support.

  6. Walk to the end of the spreader diametrically opposite to the one you have just added and connect the cord on that spreader to the upper hub to balance the load on the central support as shown.

    Figure 6: Add support cords to upper hub. Illustration showing a support cord being attached to the upper hub, opposite a previously attached cord, for balance.

  7. Repeat the same process for the remaining four spreader arms.

    Figure 7: All support cords attached to spreaders. Diagram showing all support cords attached to the spreaders and the central hub.

  8. Attach the outer peripheral cords at the outer end of the spreader arms between each of the spreader arms. Start by taking the free end of a peripheral cord and pass the toggle at the end of the cord through the left-hand hole in the adjacent spreader to the right. Walk in a counterclockwise direction, attaching the next cord to the adjacent spreader arm to the right until all spreaders are connected.

    Figure 8: Peripheral cords connect each spreader. Illustration demonstrating how peripheral cords connect between the outer ends of adjacent spreader arms.

The HX6 support structure is now complete and ready to accept the antenna wires.

Installing Antenna Wires

The BuddiHEX is a six-band antenna comprised of six nested antennas driven from a single feed-point located at the top of the vertical feed-point assembly. Each of these separate antennas consists of a two-element beam using a driven element and a parasitic reflector arranged to form a modified Moxon beam antenna.

Figure 9: Top view of element arrangement. Top view schematic of the antenna element arrangement, illustrating the driven element and parasitic reflector forming a modified Moxon beam.

The vertical feed point assembly (VFA) has a dedicated pair of connections indicated by the color-coded screw terminals.

Figure 10: Vertical feed-point assembly (VFA). Image of the Vertical Feed-Point Assembly (VFA) with color-coded screw terminals for different bands (20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m).

The antenna for each band is pre-tuned for the band and consists of a driven and reflector assembly which is supported by color-coded wire clips attached to the spreader arms.

It is recommended that wire installation begins with the 20m band, which is mounted on the outside end of the spreader arms. This allows better access to the vertical feed-point assembly as you add each antenna element.

  1. Loosely connect the BNC feed-point adapter to the 20m feed point at the upper end of the vertical feed assembly. This will be tightened when the 20m antenna wires are connected.
  2. Unwind the 20m antenna and lay it out on the ground.
  3. Take one of the antenna terminal hooks and attach it to the top right-hand terminal (blue). Tighten, ensuring that the BNC terminal leads are also tightened.
  4. Connect the 20m driven element, starting with the right-hand side of the feed point first.
  5. Walk around the antenna, attaching the 20m antenna to the blue wire clip on each spreader and proceed in a counterclockwise direction until all wire clips are attached.

    Figure 11: 20m antenna installed (support cords not shown). Diagram showing the 20m antenna wire installed on the spreaders, with support cords not visible.

  6. Connect the end of the element to the left-hand (blue) terminal.
  7. Check that the BNC adapter is connected tightly on both sides of the antenna before installing the next wire assembly.
  8. Proceed with installing the wires for the remaining 5 bands, starting from 17m to 6m.
  9. Tensioning cord: The driven elements form a Vee shape at the point where they connect to the vertical feed point. To maintain constant tension around the antenna, an additional tension cord is added at the 10m wire clips (grey). Wrap each end of the inner spreader tensioning cord around the outboard end of the wire clips as shown.

    Figure 12: Positioning of the tensioning cord (peripheral and support cords not shown). Illustration showing the placement of an additional tensioning cord on the 10m wire clips to maintain tension.

Mounting the Antenna

Setup is best accomplished as a two-man effort because care must be taken, particularly with tensioning the guy lines on a telescopic mast.

The lower hub of the BuddiHEX has a built-in adapter for use with the MastWerks series of masts. The MastWerks mast has a non-circular profile; if you intend to use the antenna with a circular mast, an adapter will be required.

If the top of the mast is fitted with a spring button, remove the button before installing the BuddiHEX. Keep the button in a safe place in case you need it for some other antenna type.

  1. Setup and level the tripod.
  2. Insert the un-extended mast into the tripod and attach the guy rings.
  3. Fully open the collar lock on the bottom of the BuddiHEX lower hub.
  4. Carefully lift the complete antenna assembly and fully secure it into the top of the mast. Lock the antenna in place by closing the BuddiHEX adapter collar lock.
  5. Attach the feedline to the feed-point and use a Velcro strap to the mast to take the weight of the feedline.
  6. Attach guy lines to the upper and lower guy rings and place ground anchors around the tripod to secure the bottom end of the lines.
  7. Push up the mast slowly, beginning with Section B (do not fully extend Section A).
  8. When the mast is fully extended (except Section A) and the guy lines are properly secured, the antenna is ready for use.

Antenna Disassembly

The antenna should be disassembled in the reverse procedure to assembly.

  1. Remove the antenna element wires, starting with the innermost (6m) wires and moving towards the center.
  2. After removing each element, wrap the wire as instructed in the next section, ready for storage.
  3. Disconnect the peripheral cord at the end of each of the spreaders (leave the cord attached to the end of the spreader).
  4. Carefully release the end of the support cords from the central hub to the end of each spreader (leave the cord attached to the end of the spreader). After disconnecting the first support cord, remove the cord from the spreader diametrically opposite to keep the tension on the vertical support assembly as symmetrical as possible.

Packing the Antenna

The complete antenna consists of the following parts:

All these parts can be stowed in the soft carry case. Careful packing of the antenna will be well rewarded when you come to deploy it next time. Please follow these instructions carefully.

Wire winders

The wire assemblies are stored on three different sizes of wire winder. The 20m and 17m are stored on the largest winder, 15m and 12m stored on the medium-sized winder, while 10m and 6m are stored on the smallest winder. Each of the wire assemblies should be wound onto the specific wire winder using a "figure of eight" winding technique. This avoids putting twists and kinks into the wire.

Spreader arms

Each of the six spreader arms consists of three sections connected by shock cord. Pull the sections apart and fold them as shown, taking note of the position of the colored wire clips.

Figure 13: Spreader assemblies folded for storage. Image of folded spreader arms, showing sections pulled apart and folded, with attention to colored wire clip positions.

Failure to position the wire clips as shown in Figure 13 could damage the spreader tubes when they are clipped into the VFA.

When the spreader assembly is ready for storage, position it as shown in Figure 14 and clip it into the vertical feed point assembly in one of the six available positions.

Figure 14: Clipping folded spreader into VFA. Diagram illustrating how folded spreader assemblies are clipped into the VFA for storage.

When the spreader arm is secured on the VFA, wrap the peripheral cord around the bobbins located at the end of each hub as shown in Figure 15.

Figure 15: Storing cord onto VFA bobbins. Image showing peripheral cords being wrapped around bobbins located at the end of each hub.

Repeat this process for the remaining arms. The assembly is now ready to be placed into the carrying case.

Models: BuddiHEX, 6 Band High Performance Hexbeam, BuddiHEX 6 Band High Performance Hexbeam, High Performance Hexbeam, Hexbeam
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