I typically will use hamsticks (40m, 20m, 10m) for POTA activations. Until now, I have been using a large aluminum roof tripod and a 5ft steel pole to mount the antennas. This has been rather cumbersome to transport out into parks.
My idea to solve this problem was to adapt the 3/8-24 mount to work with a standard collapsible camera tripod. These tripods typically have a 1/4-20 stud. To make this, I used a short section of aluminum angle, approximately 8″ long.
First, I drilled and tapped a hole for 1/4-20 in the center. Then, I drilled a 1/2″ hole on one end for the 3/8-24 to SO-239 coupling. Finally, I drilled and tapped another 1/4-20 hole on the other end for a counterpoIse.
This tripod does not elevate the antenna as high, however, it should still be effective when out in the open (the old tripod had the feedpoint of the antenna about 18″ higher). However, this adapter plate can be used with any standard camera tripod, so the height can be raised if I find a taller tripod that still collapses down small enough to fit in a backpack.