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Reviews For: DX Engineering Fiberglass Poles

Category: Antenna parts, accessories, incl. baluns, hardware, etc.

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Review Summary For : DX Engineering Fiberglass Poles
Reviews: 2MSRP: Varies, depending on diameter
Description:
Eight foot long, 1/8 inch wall fiberglass poles for antenna construction. Wide range of diameters designed to telescope with the next sizes. Can be ordered with one end slit.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.dxengineering.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0025
KF7UJM Rating: 2014-04-19
Flexible but Solid Mast Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently bought a DXE-FTK50A mast to raise my Alpha Delta DX-EE dipole up 40 feet in an inverted vee. My antenna's performance dramatically improved over my previous setup - my first QSO was with Russia with 100W on SSB from WA state. I also bought the DXE-GR-5P guy rings, which are basically mandatory, and the DXE-GUY1000-KIT guy kit.

This is technically a 50 foot mast but it's only really usable to about 40 feet, which is adequate for most dipoles anyway. I chose to fully construct mine on the ground and then raise it via a pulley on my eaves, because with a heavy coat of paint it no longer telescoped and I needed the camouflage. It's very wiggly until you get it guyed down (it's essentially a giant fishing rod), but despite being very flexible it's really quite sturdy when tied down. I used 1-1/2 foot of overlap between tubes, used only six feet of the second-smallest tube, and didn't extend the top section at all because it's just too flimsy.

I guyed mine on four sides on three levels. I just had my first blustery day and it stood up to the wind just great - only the part above the top guy ring even moved at all, though it flexed quite a bit. The guy ropes are essential - without them it would be a big spaghetti noodle. The thin 3/32" rope supplied with the DXE-GUY1000-KIT seems strong enough.

I'm very happy with the mast so far.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by KF7UJM on 2014-04-15

I recently raised my dipole up 40 feet on this mast (inverted vee) and its performance dramatically improved over my previous setup. My first QSO was with Russia with 100W on SSB from WA state. This is technically a 50 foot mast but it's only really usable to about 40 feet, which is adequate for most dipoles anyway. I chose to fully construct mine on the ground and then raise it, because with a heavy coat of paint it no longer telescoped. It's very wiggly until you get it guyed down (it's essentially a 40 foot fishing rod), but despite being very flexible it's really quite sturdy. I used 1-1/2 foot of overlap, used only five feet of the next-smallest tube, and didn't use the top section at all because it's just too thin. I love it so far but am anxiously awaiting the first big windstorm. A friend has one, though, and he says it takes the wind just fine.
W6MK Rating: 2012-06-05
High quality; fair price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered five poles for an antenna project. They were received in a few days by UPS, well-packed. Alternative fiberglass poles I considered were the military surplus type from eBay which typically come in four foot lengths all of the same diameter and in sets of twelve. The military pole costs including shipping vary in price from half that of the DXEngineering poles to just slightly lower. But the military poles are of varying and often dubious quality.

The DXEngineering poles are about half the weight of the surplus. Although I haven't been able to test the long-term reliability of these poles, they seem to be of the highest quality. I think they are well worth considering for many antenna projects.