| AG4YO |
Rating:     |
2006-04-11 | |
| Good Antenna- Quality Control Slipping |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
This antenna worked so well for me that when I moved, I donated the old antenna to a local ham who uses it now and bought a new one. My only complaint is the insulators between the 20 and 10 meter wires were slid on backwards at one end. Meaning that I had to unhook the factory connection at the 80m coil and slide them off, then slide them back on in the right order. Pain in the butt for an antenna that is supposed to be ready to hang out of the bag.
You'll find the 75/80m portion loads up to the CW portion of the bands. To fix this, loosten the wire at the end insulators and take up the wire length about the length of your hand from middle finger to first wrist line. Don't cut it. Just wrap the excess back around the wire as it was when you started (just more wire to wrap).
That will take it to somewhere cenetred around 3.940 mHz. If you want a lower center, use half a hand.
Anyway, I now have my new one installed in my attic in a rhombic shape with the bends in the 40m portion of the wire. Works good!! |
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| KG4-CXA |
Rating:     |
2005-09-08 | |
| good starter antenna! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| i really like the dx-cc with no problems other than needing a 1:1 balun for tvi on certain bands.u do need a tuner with this for the edge of the bands.ive worked the world with it at 20'ft.highly suggest this for a new ham and anyone who likes a resanant antenna under 1kw.itd be worth it to build ur own. |
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| WA3IRJ |
Rating:     |
2005-04-26 | |
| as advertised ! |
Time Owned: N.A. |
Purchased my DXcc in December of 2004. I use it at 40 feet, with an inverted V configuration. running a Swan 500cx, and at times a Ft767/fl7000 amp..I must say, it is no slouch. 75 meter phone is a bit narrow..but I have worked Hawaii with the swan on 75 meter phone!.Mine did require a little shortening of the wire on 80. And 15 is a little high 2.5:1 ( no tuner). But on 20 and 40 it is super. Have worked all over europe, and Asia with 100-200 wattts. Not a beam..but if space is a consideration..I will do it again !I plan on getting it up to 60 feet, that may help tuning a bit. As it is only 15 feet away from a stucco framed house.
73
JohnB
KB3LXY |
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| N4VBV |
Rating:      |
2005-03-03 | |
| Great antenna, good coverage and great price. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Let's see - bought an antenna for a little over 100 bucks. It's made of wire, built for multiple bands, needs supports, and it's not a beam. Knew all that when I bought it. Picked it up at HRO in Phoenix, and the folks there were happy to answer questions and let me look at it out of the bag, so I knew what I was getting (thanks, HRO!).
Put it up here in South Carolina, it's about 20' of the ground and about 8' above my roof (restrictive covenants). Fed it with Times Microwave LMR-400 for QRP/CW work, but use it up to what the Drake TR-4 will put out.
Works great - am on the air with good reports on 20-10 (haven't tried 6m/30m yet), and really works good in NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Skywave) mode on 40/80. QRP on the low bands is a blast. Have worked at least across the country on 40m QRP/CW. True it could be higher, but the low profile fits the neighborhood with zero complaints.
So why the 5? Did some pre-planning and knew what I wanted an antenna to do. Got an antenna that covers quite a few bands and works well on them all. Went up quick and easy with great instructions. Not sure how customer service is because I haven't needed them yet, due to the quality construction and great instructions. Just put it up and it worked, does evertyhing I planned on using it for, and does it very well with zero problems. Did I mention that it only cost a little over $100? So it gets a 5 because it does exactly what I bought it to do (work) with zero hassle.
No financial connection with Alpha-Delta, just a very satisfied customer. |
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| K5TUE |
Rating:     |
2005-01-27 | |
| decent performer |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Two years and still going! Works way better than the vertical I used to have. (duh)
With my antenna tuner I get good performance on 40 thru 10 meters. 80 meters, only marginal. But the surprise is 60 meters! I can tune the DX-CC to a flat SWR on 5.3 Mhz, and, keeping in mind the 50 watt limit, getting great reports!
If mine ever gets damaged due to storms or whatever, I'd replace it with another identical antenna.
N5RNY |
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| K6RSG |
Rating:      |
2004-10-04 | |
| Still Going Strong |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
First bought this 82' antenna after using a borrowed G5RV Jr. What a difference!
Fed with 100' of high quality low loss RG-213U this antenna tuned up to 1:1 on all bands 6-80 meters, with the exception of 12 and 17 meters. The internal antenna coupling circuitry of my Kenwood TS-480SAT was initially unable to find a satisfactory match on 12 meters. 17 meters became tunable at 1:1 with several loops of the coax coiled on the floor below the radio.
For months I enjoyed contacts from North and South America, Asia, Oceania, and occassionally Europe. This was all while the antenna was sloping from 45' down to 26' strung up with Synthetic Textiles dacron antenna rope tied to the end insulators. The upper end insulator was positioned just a few feet beyond the needle canopy of a large pine tree on my gracious neighbor's yard. And, the lower end insulator was tied off with another section of dacron rope to a Radio Shack push up mast secured to the chimney at the other end of my property. The entire span measured approximately 120' so there was a fair amount of droop in the span, but the antenna was positioned to the higher 2/3 portion of the span. The center point was unsupported and the antenna's wire axis was oriented NE to SW, which unfortunately happens to be directly above the peak ridge of my roof by only about 15'. My best signal reports were with Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Coast, Texas, and South America, which was not surprising given the orientation of the antenna and my Southern California Los Angeles vicinity QTH.
Since then the antenna has been repositioned into an inverted V, still running NE to SW, with the center point supported at 50' and the end insulators each at about 40'. The center point is now at the tower position about 35' farther away from my home and the most of the antenna is much higher and farther away from the roof. Consequently, the TS-480SAT Kenwood's tuning is now 1:1 on all the bands including 12 and 17 meters.
The improvement has been dramatically increased signal strength reports by several S units into the already stong locations with improved TX and RX reach to the East Coast of The United States, Asia, Oceania, Europe, and more.
For me, I believe the significant difference was increasing the elevation of the antenna system and moving it away from the roof and the house. Moreover, RFI into the phone, intercom, terrestrial TV and audio systems in my house has been reduced almost entirely.
The packaging and instructions with the product are great and so is there phone support. I did opt to slightly shorten, by about 6" on each end, the 80 meter segment of the antenna by folding the wire back upon itself and twisting the extra portion around the wires which improved center band position for me. As has been mentioned by others: "DO NOT CUT THE WIRES!!". Simply bend and twist them to shorten.
I found straightening and re-straightening the wires during original unpacking, installation, positioning, and then upon repositioning the antenna to be the single and only issue with the product. The durability of the insulated 12ga. copper wire, end insulators, center connector assembly, coils and hardware is exceptional. I expect that it will last for many many years. One note of comment is to be cautious and avoid gouging the thin wire wrapped around and externally exposed on the 80 meter coils. There is a thin coating applied to the wire, but it could be easily scratched off or worse.
This is a great product and is very, very durable. Alpha Delta's customer support and President were very helpful, both, before and after I purchased the antenna and they've furnished excellent technical information on the phone, on their website, and with the product.
I have also recently installed a Lightning Bolt 2 Element 5 Band Quad onto the tower and the two antennas are very happily coexisting nearby each other. The Alpha Delta is working better now that it's higher and farther away from the house and roof, and the Quad is operable on 40 and 80 meters. Best of all, I've not yet encountered any negative interaction problems with either Antenna.
Best '73
Rob
K6RSG |
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| WN4DEM |
Rating:      |
2004-05-26 | |
| GREAT ANTENNA |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I purchased this antenna and had it up the same evening that it arrived. I installed a rope and pulley assy. for easy access. I use it at 35 feet and mainly use it on 40 mtr phone.The only problem was getting out some of the bends in the wire after shipping. I use it with a tuner and swr is very low, I would recomend this antenna highly..73 Don |
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| VA3UP |
Rating:      |
2003-12-29 | |
| Wrked the world over 11 years and still going strong |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I installed a DXcc 11 years ago - 30 feet, flat top and a little messing around tuning it but nothing that basic antenna math couldn't solve. Every installation is a little different. Be sure to use lots of black silicone to keep out the moisture - black resist UV. About four years ago the thin plastic coating on the copper wire started peeling - I went up and there is another coating over the copper which looks new - no bare wire - I have worked both poles, all continents - current rig is 756 PRO. I highly recommend for an all purpose cheap (but ugly) antenna |
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| K3MEB |
Rating:     |
2003-09-06 | |
| Great w/minor issues |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I agree with the reviews that the antenna doesn't look pretty. The wire is hard to straighten out. I put it up temporarily, at only about 20 feet, and I'm getting great results on 80,40 and especially 20. I can't wait to put it up higher, and move it away from the trees and pool. I did have to tune it, especially for 80. My only bad thing to say about it is that I've had limited sucess with it on 15 and 10, the SWR is high, and I can't seem to make the Kenwood work well on those two bands (even though the antenna tuner can actually tune it to 6m!) |
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| NB5Z |
Rating:      |
2003-07-19 | |
| It Works! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I've had mine up for 2 years now and no problems. The previous posters with high SWR need to learn how to tune an antenna. I have the antenna installed in a sloper configuration and get good signal reports. |
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