I own the "big stick", as MFJ calls its 18ft/5.45m loaded telescopic whip antenna. A while back I mentioned it in these posts. Slowly, I came to like this antenna; it takes a very limited space with its 4x16ft radials and I usually bent them as available space dictates.

The MFJ-2286 with included coil is a multiband 6m-40m antenna, the loading coil has simple provision to adjust the number of turns involved in the process, the lengh of the whip can be also adjusted as needed. It takes little time to install or take down and I used it succesfully in my portable setup.

Recently I acquired a loading coil (SB Platinum 1000 from Wolf River Coils) to replace the included MFJ coil, and tried the modified antenna on 80m.

I should mention that 80m band always been hard to work with my antennas, none of them actually designed to work on 80m. My solution so far been to use antenna tuner to match the radio output to the antenna on 80m, try and pray. It worked for both voice (SSB) and digital (FT8), but it never worked good. After 3 years of hamming I had 30+ contacts on 80m, mostly stateside and some DX.

I installed the antenna with the coil in our little patio, next to house, threaded radials along the fence, added one 68ft/21m long radial for 80m band (had to snake it into the bushes outside of the fence) and tuned the setup to 80m with the help of my RigExpert AA-54 antenna analyser (the installation is not ideal due to proximity to the house and placement of the radials, hence the SWR):

I tested this setup on the air and compared it to my other not-quite-80m-antennas; my verdict is that this antenna is usable as NVIS-like 80m solution; the DX use is limited to CW or digital (FT8 and other weak signal modes) as bandwith is very narrow and the signal is weak (there were strange instances of long skip into Europe though). FT8 is a good test because most of the stations have simple vertical or dipole antennas (not beams) for this band. Here is the map showing how the other stations hear my signal (the transceiver, Flex 6300, was around 90W at the time):

And here is the map of recent contacts made with the modified MFJ-2286:

I liked the setup and will be using it from now on. It is not the best 80m vertical antenna, not even close, but for my situation it is a winner.

I never been much into 6m until now; I have been told that one needs at least 3-el beam to make a QSO by means of E-skip propagation. I don't have a place to put a beam; I live in a condo unit and rules regarding antennas are very strict. My HF antennas are hidden in the attic or strung along the roof so they are invisible. But, somehow my MFJ-2286 17-ft wip sways between the trees which surround my patio, 24/7, unnoticed. Until recently, I used it for HF. Couple of weeks ago I tuned to 6 testing my Flex 6300 and noticed a bunch of FT8 signals at 50.313 MHz; since then I'm hooked into sporading E.

Now a few words on the necessity of a beam. Well, of course if one wants to challenge the limits of VHF propagation, be successful in VHF contests, shoot for the Moon and alike then yes, the beam is due. But as my experience in HF shows the beam is often present on the other side! And because beam antenna is so popular and easy to install for VHF, most of my VHF QSOs is between my antenna -- in this case, a vertical, and a multi-element beam on the other side!

As a proof, here is a map of my recent contacts on 6m:

...and here is how I was heard yesterday, during the CQ WW VHF Contest in which I participated and made some 28 QSOs:

So, if all you have is a simple vertical antenna, do not hesitate and try VHF during sporadic E season: it might surprise you!

73!

At my present QTH, the antennas are prohibited by the rules of my HOA. That is, "no permanent visible antennas allowed"On top of this grim issue, I also have very limited space for any HF antenna. I have 2 small patios and the attic, which is also very small, about 21ft/7 m wide and 18ft/6m deep, and the height is on low side, crawl space for the most part. Nevertheless, I managed to install several wire antennas in the attic (40-10m multiband doublet, 17m monoband moxon), and strung the similar doublet along the outer roof edge. I also installed a 35ft/10m Max-Gain fiberglass push-up pole in one of the patios and used it to bring up different light antennas, like "hamstick" dipoles or MFJ-17754 2 band (20/40m) dipole. It all worked somewhat, some better then the others, all depending on the propagation and the location of the distant station. DX-wise, I had most success with MFJ-2220 "hamstick" dipole at 35ft on the fiberglass pole.

Until recently, I had no vertical antennas and was determined to try them one day. Vertical antenna is a good idea if the space for the installation is very limited and it has to go up and down promptly and with little effort. At the same time, not all vertical antennas are very good radiators: first, they usually radiate equally in all directions, having no directivity without additional measures, like setting up a system of vertical antennas with special feeding arrangements, meaning the signal in the far field will be lower when compared to a beam antenna or even to a dipole; second, a good ground system or, for elevated installation, a system of radials required for better radiation efficiency (and I have little space for that). Nevertheless, in Dec 2017 I acquired and installed 2 vertical antennas:

• (1) MFJ-2286 "The Big Stick" portable 17ft/5m telecscopic, base-loaded whip for 10-20m;
• (2) Hy-Gain AV-12AVQ 3-band 10-15-20m vertical.

Here are my impressions after a short test, starting Dec 24th and until the last weekend: