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Reviews For: Alpha ProMaster Antenna

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Alpha ProMaster Antenna
Reviews: 27MSRP: 299
Description:
The Alpha ProMaster is a balanced base & transportable HF antennas for Amateur Radio, Military, and Marine HF frequencies; which includes a Grounded Counterpoise element, Vertical DX element, and NVIS element that all attach to the Alpha Match that is mounted on a Heavy Duty Mount
Product is in production
More Info: http://alphaantenna.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00274.7
KC6NRE Rating: 2017-11-17
Works great Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
My SWRs are all well below 2.5:1, with some as low as 1.4:1 on several bands. I moved the NVIS elements to the bottom bolt, and indeed, SWRs were higher and performance wasn’t near as good. So make sure your NVIS elements aren’t installed as radials as the last reviewer did. Simply put, the previous reviewer used what are supposed to be 4 NVIS elements as “4 radials”. There are NOT 4 radials and a counterpoise. Rather, there are 4 NVIS elements, which need to be installed on top bolt of what is called the Alpha Match, but never installed as radials. The counterpoise/ground wire, then goes on the ground (bottom) side of the matching unit.

My advice is to everyone is to contact Alpha if you are having any issues. Their support is outstanding! I called them about the garden variety wire, and found out that had been replaced. I then had Alpha send me the new wiring, and it’s some of the best antenna wire I’ve ever seen.
DM3BC Rating: 2017-11-16
Too expensive for an underperfomring product Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am reviewing the Alpha Promaster Sr, 6 to 160 meters, 500 watts. I bought this antenna in January, 2016, a half a year after I got my first license in Germany. It consists of an approximately18 ft vertical element made from telescoping aluminum tubing held in place by simple hose clamps. There are 4 radials of different lengths and a counterpoise that all attach to a matching unit. The antenna is meant for temporary base station applications. It deploys on a tripod. The feedpoint stands about 6ft off the ground. The wires are staked to, but insulated from the ground.

It is not as easy and quick to set up as the advert would make you believe. Little nuts and washers of different sizes make carrying a small toolbox and replacement nuts and washers necessary. You do not want to set this up in the dark or in adverse weather conditions. There are no markings on the aluminum tubes to indicate where the must be pulled out.
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I bought the heavy duty steel tripod. Its nuts and bolts began to rust after the first outing. Not stainless steel. Other writers have criticized the wire used, claiming it was garden variety stuff that was pulled apart. i can confirm that it looks pulled apart.

The manufacture claims that no tuner is necessary. If one is happy with SWR values of 3, 4 or 5, well I guess that is a true statement. A tuner is definitely necessary.

An antenna whose manufacturer claime is resonant from 6 meters to 160 meters should be considered with a healthy amount of skepticism.

My homebrew random wire antenna was at least 2-3 S-units louder than the Alpha antenna. I managed to have QSO's on 160 meters with it. I had none with the Alpha antenna. Normally, antennas made for 160 metes are very much larger.

In fact, the only halfway good results were on 20 and 40 meters. For that I don't need a cumbersome and heavy "portable" antenna.

In the meantime I have gained much more experience with and knowledge about antennas. My personal choice for portable use is either a monoband endfed half wave antenna or a multiband endfed halfwave antenna. The monoband antennas for 10, 15 and 20 meters can simply be hung vertically from a tree or from a fiberglass (not metal!) telecsope mast, or configured as a sloper or inverted V. I have both 12 and 15 meter masts.
The antennas need no extra tuner, and setup time is quick, even with a mast.

These antennas, even including the telescope masts, are much cheaper than what I paid for the Alpha antenna. They are quite portable, and depending on one's rig and power supply even suitable for hiking. I usually drive to some open field away from all the QRN in my neighborhood.

Sadly, I must chock this purchase up to experience and write it off. I can use the tripod (replaced screws and nuts with stainless steel ones), the tent stakes and the aluminum elements for other projects. I don't know what i will do with the matchbox.

Be wary of manufacturers'slogans like "NVIS" "military" "rugged". We all had to study hard to get our licenses. With that knowledge we should be better able to separate the wheat from the chaff in the adverts and not be blinded by slick advertising. If you have an Elmer, listen to him or her. Building one's own antenna is cheap and a fulfilling project. A good antenna is what makes a station stand out among the crowd.

73!
David DM3BC
W9FTV Rating: 2017-04-30
ProMaster Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had this antenna for about a month and have been quite impressed. Setup is fast and painless.
Although the it's currently propped up on our back deck at about 3 meters, I've had some great QSO's with AS Russia, Oceania, most of Europe and South America.

It does require some slight tuning, but nothing a an ATU can't handle. Max SWR is limited to approximately 1.7:1 on covered bands. SWR on 6 meters is approximately 2.1:1
All in all, I highly recommend it for those with restricted space.
The guys at Alpha Antenna a great to work with
and very helpful.
W1JC Rating: 2017-02-10
Pro Master Jr. Withstands 02/2017 blizzard Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Well the blizzard of Feb. 2017 has passed. Rockland MA had 12” of snow officially with drifts of up to 20”.

Wind gusts topped out at 46 mph.

There was no icing up on the ProMasterJr and this morning the reception is extremely good (possibly due to snow?) . I would say the Pro Master Jr withstood an extreme New England Nor’easter without any issues.

NOTE: the 60’ EMCOMM withstood the storm just as well. Great job AlphaAntenna!

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by K1JLC on 2017-02-09

New to the hobby in 2016, I purchased a alpha antenna military whip to get on the air.
Realizing a new england winter was coming i needed a sturdy antenna so I purchased Pro Master Jr 10-80m vertical.
It took 20 minutes to assemble, tune, and get in the air at 30'.
What a difference in reception and transmitting.
Love AlphAntenna company, they are extremely supportive, even responded to a support email on a Sunday morning. Thanks Steve!
KN6Q Rating: 2016-10-23
Not much of a compromise Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was asked to operate at an event that I knew there were no trees I could sling a dipole into. I had been wanting to get a new portable antenna anyway and wanted one that I could erect and tear down myself in a short period of time. I quickly settled on the Alpha Promaster and haven't regretted it.

I'm not a backpacker operator, but I like to operate portable. This isn't a backpacking antenna, it's a car camping antenna. It's lightweight and has a great carrying bag, with a tripod it's about the size and weight of a light camping cot. I goes perfectly with the rest of my camping gear.

I have the regular Promaster (there are also Jr. and Sr. versions) that does 10-80 without a tuner. I bought it in October 2016, and this version has a single horizontal 24' wire element that attaches to the matching unit where the 17' aluminum vertical element also attaches. This, along with the ground wire also helps guy it. The aluminum elements are held together with hose clamps and slide into each other when put away. Even though I've only done it twice, I can get it up in less than 15 minutes, its very simple to put up.

I've used it twice now, once for a JOTA event at a scout camp and once for a NPOTA activation. It sang both times. Particularly the NPOTA activation, I operated on 20 meters from Waco Texas at 100 Watts and was working stations all over the US, 25 different states in one hour from East Coast to West Cost and everything in between, including other portables and Park to Park. Sure, the band conditions were decent, but it exceeded anything I could have expected.

So to sum it up, it's well built, easy to deploy, and performs great. I highly recommend it.

73,

Tom KN6Q



WQ0Z Rating: 2015-07-18
I liked it so much I use it as a permanent antenna. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Verticals are always an interesting subject. Some love them and some condemn them. I have had very good luck with this model. I first used it portable on a tripod but a few weeks ago I installed it as one of my permanent antennas. My lot is 6000 feet above sea level and that helps but I also used this antenna in Texas at a few hundred feet and it worked very well. I have logged many stateside QSOs and over 24 countries since setting it up in the current configuration. Another very positive thing is that the company, Alpha Antennas is great to deal with. They answer questions, return calls and offer suggestions on setup that makes a good antenna even better. I have used other verticals costing much more that did not perform as well as this one. It is extremely sturdy—we get gusts here in the foothills of Colorado-they are often strong and sudden. After a few weeks of that type of weather, the antenna is still perfect vertical and still performing well. I don't think you'll be disappointed with this antenna or any other product from this company.
K4BAD Rating: 2014-02-04
It Works! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After being inactive for 20 years,I was looking for a simple,effective antenna to go with my new Icom 7000 radio This antenna met those criteria. I've worked USA east coast and west coast,2 provinces of Canada,Bahamas,and northern Italy in the last few weeks. Now that I have one reliable antenna,I can experiment with other antenna types.Alpha is coming out with a beam antenna in April. Anxious to see what they come up with. A tripod mounted beam would be interesting.I have no connection with this company. Thanks for reading....73
KJ7FX Rating: 2013-11-09
Excellent Antenna and Customer Service from the Mfg. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this antenna three weeks ago after doing extensive research on portable HF antenna's. I wanted a portable HF antenna to support RACES / ARES activities. This antenna meets the need perfectly.
The ordering process was easy, shipment quick, and quality of the antenna is great. I had one minor problem with the tripod which the Amateur Radio Store took care of immediately, shipping out the replacement part.
I have a Yaesu Ft-897D connected to the antenna. Worked 10 - 80 meters with great results, SWR on all bands using Yaesu FC-30 Tuner is below 2.0. I highly recommend the antenna and the Amateur Radio Store.
VE4DXR Rating: 2013-09-02
Excellent Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I had the opportunity to try the Alpha Pro Master on a recent mini sailing dxpedition to activate George Island Light station Can 845 which is located on Lake Winnipeg, MB (VE4 land). I set up the Alpha Pro Master on the dock at George Island Harbour. The four radiating /guy wires could not be extended in four quadrant directions but I managed to separate them as much as possible considering the restrictions of the dock. The antenna worked excellent on HF bringing in stations from Europe, Australia, South Cook Island, New Caledonia and many destinations in Canada and the USA. George Island is so far north the VHF marine radio did not copy any WX broadcasts. This antenna proved to be a real asset to have along. I called on hams on HF who read me the WX forecasts for Lake Winnipeg North Basin from a link I had on my qrz.com page. It allowed me to be safe by deciding when to stay put and when to leave the Island. Back in Winnipeg, a local net gets together on 3.747 Mhz every evening. I was able to have qso with stations 110 nautical miles away and pass traffic to my wife so she knew I was safe since there was no cellphone service. The omni directional radiation of this antenna performed better than the onboard home brew delta loop in some situations. The delta loop has broad side lobes and it did not work over the North Pole when the boat was docked facing North-South yet the Alppha Pro Master performed reliably and went the distance in all directions. There was no reason to use the Buddy Pole system my friend Peter, VE4TTH, lent me even once on the entire 23 day adventure.
This is my third Alpha Antenna purchase and like the others it has not disappointed. I like the shoulder bag and tripod that comes with it. I plan to take it for land based portable operations in the near and distant future. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
73 and good DX.
KD0SLC Rating: 2013-07-15
Great Portable Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this at Dayton this year from the guys at Alpha. They manufacture their stuff in Greenwood, MO, and they are a terrific bunch of people to work with. They answered my questions and they provided me with lots of additional information when requested.
Here is what I've learned about the antenna. Compared to a Comet 255B mounted at 20 feet, it does not have the range to permit much in the way of DX. Hooked to my Kenwood TS-590, the Alpha was noisier on 40 meters than the Comet, although it had the same SWR. I live in Jefferson City, MO. I was listening to a station in Eugene Oregon who was booming in at +10 and when I switched to the Alpha, that dropped to about a 7. The signal was not nearly as strong, but still heard very easily. I did not engage a tuner and go to 160 meters, but stuck in the 10, 20 and 40 meter bands to give this antenna a run through. I thought it was a good choice for Field Day, or for those who want to work portable from locations with good elevation above terrain.
It is not a good bet for a stealth antenna because it has four guy wires that are actually part of the antenna system and that must be connected for the antenna to radiate. But for what it was designed for (portable antenna for QRP operation) it sings. I like the antenna, and I especially like the people I deal with at Alpha. The only reason I would not give this a 5 is that it was noisy on 40 meters. Otherwise, as others here have noted, you can't get a simpler or easier antenna to set up and use in a hurry. This is perfect for Field Day or disaster drills.