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write your own review of the DK9SQ Portable Tower.
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M5TAW
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Rating: 3/5
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Mar 24, 2009 00:36
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There are better alternatives
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought mine as part of a quad loop kit a few years ago. At that time it was the only 10m mast available that I could find.
I like the fact that it is matt black, it makes a good stealth installation. However I would describe the construction as being too lightweight - it is possisble to deform the larger tubes just by lightly pressing them in. Mine collapsed in moderate winds..
I have since replaced with a spiderbeam 12m mast - which is in a completely different league. It's considerably more robust and the top section is much thicker- unlike a fishing rod.
The DK9SQ was good in its day - but there are now far better alternatives available.
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NY4D
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 14, 2008 12:37
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Years of Use From The DK9SQ Mast
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had this it seems like forever (2001 I think) and it has done everything I asked of it and more. And I have to admit I've asked too much of it a time or two.
I've used it as a support for many wire antennas, and it is generally always in use for antenna experiments, so despite the fact that it is sold as a portable mast, mine has endured years of permanent use in Florida and south Georgia.
Right now it is supporting a 67 foor ocf up temporarily for evaluation purposes.
The mast is NOT conductive, I've run twin lead, ladder line, and zip cord feeds tied right to the mast with no problems and no swr difference compared to bringing them out a couple feet from the mast.
A semi-permanent support can be rigged up with a 5 gallon bucket, pvc pipe, and some sack-crete.
Right now I'm using a base support rigged from a cast iron patio umbrella stand weighed down by a couple of half concrete blocks. But I've deployed this lashed to fence posts, leaned up against trees, vehicles, whatever is handy.
Don't expect to hang some out of the box heavy balun containing center insulator off the top of this mast. Right now I'm using a Ten-Tec Acrobat but I generally use a pvc tee with the top drilled out just enough to allow the tee to slip down over the mast a bit below the top, and use unzipped zip cord for my antenna elements. Most of the time I use twin lead or ladder line for feeds but I've gotten away with RG6 and RG8x a time or two.
With this pole, an antenna book or two, a roll of wire, and some imagination you can have a lot of fun with antennas. I'd have to say this has been one of my most useful ham radio purchases ever.
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HB9KL
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 6, 2008 23:29
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Not conductive!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I fully agree with the comments of TF3DX. I have measured the conductivity of the DK9SQ Portable Tower with a Resistance Meter with a range of over 1000 Megohms. The measuring distance was 1cm. Both measurements with black paint untouched and the surface a little roughened up showed infinite resistance.
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K6SDW
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 23, 2007 07:50
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Great design!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Use the mast fully extended to hold up G5RV while RV camping and it has never let me down (pun intended!)
Great design!!
Cheers All...
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ON4CCU
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 23, 2007 06:52
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Great for verticals
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I've used this tower to build a vertical antenna. Just taped some 10-odd meters of wire to it and mounted it elevated on a metal pipe 3 meters above the ground. I'm feeding it with a CG3000 tuner, with three random length radials attached to the ground screw of the tuner. This set-up is performing really well, it tunes on all bands from 160 to 10, and it consistently outperforms my R7.
Just like some other reviewers, I was a bit concerned about potential conductivity, but I haven't noticed any. I initially checked it by putting it very close to another (resonant) vertical, but the SWR didn't change at all. Also with the current construction where the wire is taped to the tubing itself I haven't had any indications that it's influencing radiation.
It has survived some high winds, in which it tends to bend quite a bit, but it doesn't seem to suffer. You do have to secure the joints though (duct tape), if not the telescoping elements will slide into each other.
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TF3DX
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 5, 2007 17:02
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Not RF conductive!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought a DK9SQ 10 m telescopic pole in September 2005. A bit suspicious of the alleged RF conductivity I ran a test as follows. I had an aluminum tube homemade half-wave vertical for 20 m standing guyed on an insulator. It was fed at the base via L-matching network against elevated radials cut for 40 m ground-plane operation as well. The test was run on the 20 m band, with both ends at high potential and high current in the middle. Also, it would be closest to the natural resonant frequency of the DK9SQ pole in case it was conductive, resulting in maximum interaction.
I monitored the SWR through the L-tuner as I moved the DK9SQ pole closer and closer to the vertical. No change was noticed in the SWR until the pole was only several cm away from the vertical. Taping the two together, touching for about 2/3 of the length, produced a measurable reduction in resonant frequency, but only as would be expected from the dielectric property of the fiberglass. The SWR at resonance was still 1:1, indicating no perceptible change in the resistive part and thus no introduction of noticeable loss.
The question may arise if the orignal vertical and its matching were normally efficient during the test. A malfunctioning or unduly lossy set-up could mask the potential influence of the pole. In lieu of more scientific testing I can only offer the following observations: The lower end of the vertical (upper out of reach!) was sensitive to hand capacity and touching it sent the SWR sky high. This is indicative of high Q and good efficiency. I used this vertical for several years, before and after, with good results as such antennas go. It yielded 20 m skeds to ZL (near antipode) on 100 W CW twice a week with practically 100% reliability for extended periods, outperforming other simple antennas of several local hams that occasionally participated in the skeds, as well as various wire antennas at my QTH.
Conclusion: Apart from the slight reduction in resonant frequency, easily compensated for, I could not detect any change in the properties of a normally good vertical with the DK9SQ pole touching it. I am quite confident that my pole has no noticeable conductivity.
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N7DKK
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Rating: 3/5
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Nov 10, 2003 18:39
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Quite nice but......
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought two of these I liked them so much and I would have given it a 5 except for what they didn't tell you.....
They are RF CONDUCTIVE!.
Apparently, the black color comes from either carbon fiber or a carbon product.
I put up a 140 loop using two of these. The vertical parts were taped to the fiberglass masts. Talk about RF in the shack and some crazy SWR readings! Whooo!
Untaped the vertical loop from the masts and suspended it away from the tower 2 feet and the problem went away! Found out later that someone else had tried to use these as a vertical support and had the same problem.
How the previous poster successfully acheived taping the wire to the mast eludes me except perhaps they just started using this form of carbon additive for strength and UV protection.
GREAT tower, though, just be aware that it may be conductive.
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K8DXX
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 3, 2003 22:43
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Really Cool!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Got this for Christmas in '02 and just tried it out. I got the mast and loop set up. Had no problem with assembly. Used a manual MFJ tuner to match. Made a lot of contacts with my FT 817, even during these lousy band conditions.
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N1OLO
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 6, 2003 20:23
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Great Camper's Antenna Support
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I purchased the DK9SQ Mast and the matching 10-40m loop at Dayton in 2001. I've used the mast and antenna together and the mast alone to support various antennas.
The loop antenna is a little tricky to get up in the air but it is a great performer.
I've used the mast to support a 40' (approx 13m)wire vertical. The wire was attached at the top section by tying a knot. I then raised the mast and loosely wound the wire around the mast. The antenna was fed about 3'(1m) from the bottom with coax. I use a counterpoise wire for a ground.
I have also used the mast to support a half size G5RV using the the 3rd section from the top to attach the center support of the antenna.
I have found that the mast can be mounted by drive a fence pole into the ground , sliding a 3' piece of 2" PVC pipe over the pole and then placing the DK9SQ mast over the pipe.
I have found the mast to be well constructed and reasonably rigid. It is well worth the few extra bucks you'll spend on it. Don't bother with the knock-off from you-know-who.
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KA4KYI
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 3, 2003 18:51
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Good for ARES use
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought the DK9SQ Portable Tower with the 10-40 meter loop antenna at Dayton last year. This is kept in my ARES group emergency van. We have used it at the past 2 years field days without a problem. Had a problem once with it coming down but found that if I gave each section a good twist as it was being extended that it would stay up without a problem. This a good tool to have when you need to get an antenna up fast.
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