HF UHF Base antenna
The HOA Buster uses your largest antenna, which are your gutters, that is already installed to operate on 10 to 80 Meters and 440 & 900 MHz.
Specifications
Frequency: 10M to 80M (29.7MHz to 3.5MHz) + 440 & 900 MHz
Max Power (Watts): 250 PEP SSB, 125 CW, or 25 watts for digital modes.
RF Connection: SO-239
Included
- 1 HOA Matching network,
- 1 Spike Mount, and
- 1 Eight-foot jumper wire;
- The jumper wire can be made shorter or longer upon request. Just enter a note in the Comment field when you CHECK OUT for the length you want.
- 8 feet is the optimum length to not degrade performance.
- 12 feet is the maximum length to keep the wire from touching the ground.
- 5 feet is the length to keep performance at an acceptable level.
- 18 inches is the minimum length to function with degraded performance.
- The jumper wire can be made shorter or longer upon request. Just enter a note in the Comment field when you CHECK OUT for the length you want.
Analysis
Deployment
- Push the included Mounting Spike into the ground,
- Install the included jumper wire by fully extending it between the HOA Buster Match and downspout, so that it does not touch the ground. Then simply use the included clip at the end of the jumper wire to secure it into place,
- Then attach your coax to the connector on the bottom of the AutoMatch and run the coax to your equipment.
More Information
Never Loosen any of the Bolts, Washers, Nuts, or Caps on the HOA Buster’s match. Otherwise, you’ll need an impact wrench to tighten them.
Operationally, the HOA Buster is a matching network that uses gutters as the antenna element for 10-80 Meters + 440 & 900 MHz frequencies. The matching network then has a metal Mounting Spike under it, which is used to complete the circuit and provide a static drain. Please note that this system is built to order in a PVC Housing that is customizable in many colors so please be patient with us after you place your order.
This is a permanent outdoor system that weathers well.
There’s no maximum size for the gutter that can be used, and a minimum combined length of the gutter and downspouts should be at least 25 feet. Make sure that your gutter, downspout, or flashing isn’t grounded or touching the ground. Then just feed the gutter from one end as if it were an end-fed antenna.
There are no feed-line minimums/maximums.
What detracts from gutters performing well as an antenna, are often if it is either steel/aluminum or stucco siding/roof. Whether your siding is stucco, there may be chicken wire under it. There may also be Mesh Fiberglass Stucco Netting, which has no negative impact. So, check for that to ensure that metallic wire does not exist under your stucco siding, which is present will have an absorption rate for the RF that makes it difficult to either receive or transmit. Again, this is also true whether your siding or roof is aluminum or if the insulation under your siding/roof has aluminum/foil under it.
The 440 MHz and 900MHz band is a part of the UHF (Ultra High Frequency) radio spectrum. The most common polarization used in this band is vertical polarization. However, gutters are polarized horizontally. This horizontal or vertical polarization of the antenna is the orientation of the electric field generated by the antenna. The polarization of the transmitting and receiving antennas must match for efficient communication. You will then experience far less performance when communicating between vertically and horizontally polarized antennas vs two antennas are similarly polarized.
Options
An optional 60-foot EmComm element activates 2 through 80 Meters and is used instead of a gutter. This is very useful if you are deployed on a beach, mountain, or in a park. This element is most affective when installed as a sloping antenna after the Mounting Spike is simply pushed into the ground at your operating position.
An optional non-resonant length of coax that is 18 or 50 foot long ensures high efficiency transmission from the antenna.
The optional padded 600D field bag will hold all of the antenna’s components and more!
Customer Feedback
All of the following SWR readings are without a tuner.
“Received the HOA buster a week or so ago. What a game changer!!! I have it hooked to about 75’ of gutter on the north side of the house. I am getting great reports from 20, 30, 40 and 80 meters. This is so awesome that I have ordered another one to load the west side gutter system so I can work more. W5CVT”
80M SWR = 2.5:1 | 40M SWR = 1.33:1 | 20M SWR = 1.21:1 |
17M SWR = 1.35:1 | 15M SWR = 1.62:1 | 12M SWR = 1.80:1 |
Read more from customers! Gutter Talk – Rain Gutter Antenna – KC5GFD – Amateur Radio
Reviews
We are dedicated to improving all of our antennas. Specifications and descriptions are subject to change without notice.
This would be an ideal antenna if you lived in a Nursing Home or high rise building and had limited space to erect a wire antenna. I am 800 kms from Sydney and 320 kms from Melbourne so in a very isolated area.
My residence was constructed in 1980 so the spouting is not as good as it could be however, I have made many contacts with the HOA Buster and it is easy to erect and tune.
It would be much more effective in more closely settled areas however I have spoken to New Zealand and other places quite a distance away.
Lack of picture instructions especially on the output feed line to the gutter and conflicting info on the best length of same coupled with picture of coiled feed lying on top of the gutter in the pic shown above for this review makes for confusing set up.
This unit works surprising well on my gutter on 80 and 40 meters! 40 ft vertical-72 foot horizontal-40 foot downspout.
I used 5 radial wires random length and grounded one of them to copper spike house ground.
WB6RUC