Shark Antennas S-F40 Mono Band HF 40 Meter Mobile Vertical Antenna with 3/8x24 Threads, Handles 250W Max

I bought this mono band portable for 40 meters to replace my broadband mobile that didn’t radiate well.These Shark Hamsticks are great. They have a very low SWR and high Q. You will need a tuner if you want to use it across the entire band without adjusting the whip.The antenna radiates very well, and I started making contacts as soon as I set it up. I am running 20 watts and receive 59s on SSB and 599s on CW.I liked this antenna so much, that I purchased the 20 meter antenna. If you already have a SO-239 base, you will need to purchase a 3/8x24 to SO-239 and a PL-259 to PL-259 adapter.

I bought both the 20m and 40m versions. The 20m is an unbelievable antenna. I used it yesterday for the first time on a POTA (Parks on the Air) activation and it performed exceptionally. I only had it about 3' off the ground on a metal tripod and still made contacts as far away as 2500 miles (Massachusetts to the Azores). Unfortunately, the 40m version did not perform well at all. Even after adjusting it for a reasonable SWR (1.7:1) I was not able to make any contacts with it.

Difficult to tune. Once tuned it works decent. I took up to the mountains in an attempt for some good dx and didn’t see much difference with rx on the digital modes -still saw the same folks I see at my home station, same rx levels. Where this antenna shinned was on Ssb. I heard a few stations from South American and Asia but could have been the elevation and angle (vertical antenna) versus my horizontal at home.

Can't get it to tune below 2:1 even using an antenna analyzer.

Good packaging, sturdy build. This is like the higher power version of the MFJ type HamStick, which I have preferred, because it is not collapsable, but after tuning, you tighten and then disassemble. That gives it solid repeatability.