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Reviews For: Alpha Antenna DX, 10-80 Meter, 250 watts PEP SSB

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : Alpha Antenna DX, 10-80 Meter, 250 watts PEP SSB
Reviews: 16MSRP: 799
Description:
The Alpha Antenna DX line of systems are 250 watt PEP SSB antennas that automatically achieve the published SWR results on 10-80 Meters. .
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.AlphaAntenna.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
25165
W2WIR Rating: 2013-05-14
I just got my Alpha DX QRP/1KW antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Based on my great experience with my Alpha ProMaster I ordered a DX QRP/1KW for field day. It arrived very quickly. Again, great materials and workmanship. It set up even more easily than my ProMaster. I got on 40 meters with my Icom 706MKIIG running 100W. Band conditions were poor but I was able to work Europe with 54 and 55 reports. Unfortunately I did not guy the antenna and a gust of wind blew it over and bent one of the side whips. I called Steve (the owner) and he is getting me out a replacement whip. I have to say A.R.S. has great customer service. As soon as I get the new whip I’ll post an update about me experience. I can’t wait to try 20 meters
W0JAW Rating: 2013-04-09
Excellent for portable QRP use. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Received my Alpha DX antenna a week after placing my order and was happy to see it was packed very well for shipping. I was first impressed to see the quality of the optional carry bag was better than I was expecting and had enough extra room to pack 50' of coax I wanted to carry for portable operations. I assembled the antenna in about 10 minutes taking my time and was on the air 10 minutes later on 20 meters and found the signal receive and signal reports to be very good considering I was in my backyard. I am using a portable tuner and had no problems finding good swr. I decided on this model because of the coil design allowing you to work QRP. The overall quality of materials and attention to detail from the heavy duty tripod to the elements is a good value for the money. I had one small issue with one of the elements and called and was sent a replacement that arrived in 3 days. A good antenna is one thing but a company you can get a hold of when needed is just as important to me. Looking forward to trying out some other antennas from Alpha Antennas!
KF5MQ Rating: 2013-02-11
It's a real performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It's not perfect but it's about as close as you'll find. Where to start? Well the tripod is as heavy as it is heavy duty. I guess it's perfect for the size of antenna it supports. The antenna has alot of load to it, especially after all four whips are extended. Those are some strong whips. I'd definitely guy the thing with some nylon ropes and secure the ropes very well.

The performance is as big as the antenna and I'd put money on the fact that there isn't anything portable that can touch it. No matter what band I chose, this thing impressed the receivers at both ends. In other words, it transmits as well as it receives, which I'll tell you has always been between an S7 and S9. So I turned the power down to 5 watts and still got great reports on all of the bands. It's been alot of fun using this antenna and it'll be my go to antenna for true emergencies and daily communications.

One of the things that some people remark about it that they don't want to have to change the clip on a coil. That's not a bad thing, because having the coil gives the antenna a higher Q. A higher Q basically means that more of the power get's put out into the air. So if you have a QRP rig, this antenna will give you maximum performance. It's pretty awesome that there is a single vertical radiating element centered above three horizontal radiating elements. On EZNEC this gives the radiations pattern of three L antennas.

So what's next? I guess I need to order the bag that is made for this antenna. I've heard good things about the quality of the bags from Alpha Antenna, and truthfully there are too many parts to not have some type of bag.

By the way, I see that the Radio Society of Great Britian's review on the Alpha DX Antenna is now available at www.AlphaAntenna.com
KA6UTD Rating: 2012-11-24
Great performance & well built Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I received the Alpha DX Antenna and it was protected very well in its' package during shipping. The antenna came with three radiating elements and a single vertical element, all of which are heavy duty stainless steel telescopic whips. Next to come out of the box was a well suited tripod with a standard mount that included an SO239 and 24x3/2 stud. As for the tuning bastion, it is an ingenious peice of hardware that sits on top of the mount and into which all of the whips screw into seperate 24x3/8 studs. Included in the tuning bastion is a High Q coil that can be tapped with the clip for 6-40 meter operations. After taking about 5 minutes to setup the antenna system, the first thing I did was hook up my antenna analyzer and use the included quick reference chart in the manual to tune the antenna, at the same time I placed a black or red magic marker tic mark on the coil for each band. Now to hook up the radio! Immediately I heard DX on 20 meters, made a couple of QSO's to Japan and New Zealand, then to Alabama and New Mexico. So, I switched over to 40 meters after I moved the clip and heard QSOs up and down the band like it was field day. I got response to every CQ I placed on 40 meters with signal reports never less than 5-7. I of course had to try this thing on 6 meters, which gave me 4 QSO's before I had to call it a night. What fun this antenna is, and easy to setup & use! I'd definitely recommend this to a friend.
KC5ALK Rating: 2012-10-15
Well Built! - Performs Great! - Easy Setup! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
5 months ago I saw my ‘Elmer’ set up his Alpha DX in less than 5 minutes and then witnessed how well it works! What also impressed me when I first saw it was how well the entire tripod, tuning bastion, and whips are built. Since buying mine in June, I can tell you that my Alpha DX has top quality build, it's easy to setup, and I work the world on my home-brew QRP CW Rig. My Elmer still says that after using at least six different portable antennas over the last 30 years, this one beats them all. I'd definitely recommend it to a friend!
KD6LSJ Rating: 2012-08-22
Real Performer with Robust Construction! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I first used the Alpha DX Antenna on field day with my FT-897 and leisurely made over 800 contacts from Australia to Japan and all over the US plus other DX locales. Flat SWRs were easily achieved by using the methods in the most excellently written user guide. The horizontal elements are actually radiating elements and when you add the length of all the elements together you have a 40 meter ¼ wave antenna. It’s no wonder this thing really outperforms my buddipole, which is fragile when compared to the Alpha DX Antenna. One of the cool things about the arrangement of the elements is that it’s like having three L antenna systems, each pointing in a separate direction. I’ve found that the L antenna gives me the best combination for a take-off angle and performance for NVIS (horizontal elements) as well as DX (vertical element). The last note that I’ll make is that the coil is located at the center of the antenna system, which if you know your antenna design and performance standards, it is either best to have the coil in the center or at the top of an antenna; never at the base!