| W0CLC |
Rating:  |
2019-02-05 | |
| Amazing antenna for my conditions |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I purchased mine close to two years ago. I wanted something to take out to the field as well as something to try against my G5RV.
I have a seriously odd lot size/location/topography. (I am about 850 above sea level but sit halfway down a steep hillside)
The alpha has out performed my G5RV (set up in an L configuration) almost every time. It is amazingly quiet on the bands I work (10, 20, and 40)
I have an IC-7300 and have hit Croatia, Spain, Mexico, Africa, Curacao, France, Canada, and Italy on 20m easily. (as well as most of the east coast) (49 states and 23 countries and counting)
For me, and my conditions, I simply can not say enough good things about this antenna. The customer support is amazing as well! Over the last year when I have had a few questions, I give them a call and immediately someone assists me who is friendly, patient, understanding, and knowledgeable.
If you are looking for a mobile site antenna or something 18' tall to be stealthy at the QTH - I simply can not recommend this high enough. |
|
| AG6GD |
Rating: |
2016-07-02 | |
| Great Antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| The antenna itself works as advertised. Straight out of the box I had it setup and talking DX within 10 minutes. The match was flat on most bands. Best on 40 meters but with the tuner on my Kenwood I was able to transmit on all bands 6 thru 160 without any issues. Transmit & receive is outstanding with it only 6 feet off the ground. Gets great signal reports and has full legal limit transmit capability. It may not perform as well as some dipole wire antenna but it does not take up as much space and allows you to operate on multiple bands with very good performance.The price is right and the product is made very well. If you are looking for a base or portable for the RV this is a great choice. I recommend buying the tripod they offer with it if you are going to be using it for portable use or just want to setup and take down do to HOA's. Just makes for easier setup and take down. I am looking at putting one up permanent for home QTH use on 160 because it take up very little space and work so well.The people at Alpha are every helpful with any question and their response time is great. There maybe better antennas on the market but at what cost and space wise I have not found one that performs as well. For my needs this is the best deal out there.This antenna is hard to beat. |
|
| VE7DVF |
Rating: |
2015-11-20 | |
| A fine product, and yes, IMHO, it's military grade. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
REVIEW ALPHA ANTENNA MODEL
6-160 Promaster Senior Base
Let me first say that, given the large number of favourable technical reviews on the net, I feel anything that I could add would be superfluous. This company has serious “creds,” (i.e.: reviews by eham.net and others.) so I had no qualms about ordering from them. In fact, Steve actually realized that the initial order I put in was probably NOT the one I wanted. This is the antenna that he recommended for me, and he was correct!
The antenna arrived promptly. The box did have a small gash in the side, but the packing was such that there was no damage. Shipping time to me was less than a week.
As a vet (CANFOR) the “military grade” immediately got my attention. Is it? I sure think so. I’ve owned a Hi-Q, and I can honestly say the quality of this antenna would probably make Charlie smile.
Set up and take down are done tens of minutes.
As others have pointed out, ease of repair should damage occur. The antenna mast is barely visible!
The only problem I had was the paucity of photographs which show “real” installations, with the radials in use. I have to confess that the diagram that comes with the manual seems to indicate that they are spread out “horizontally.”
I now realize that is simply a problem of a 2D drawing trying to show a 3D reality.
My antenna is laid out on a patch of ground roughly 19’ x 21’ If you would like a photo, just send me an email. |
|
| VA3VID |
Rating: |
2015-04-18 | |
| Great for camping. |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I got this last year and have used it for about 8 months now, mostly QRP with a KX-3. Awesome antenna with too many contacts to count. I have it down to about 10 minutes setting it up and getting on the air. I had a buddipole which is good for what it is but nothing compared to this. I originally got this as I no longer have a shack in the new house and set up in various locations. Looking forward to more contacts with this in the great outdoors of Alberta and BC. |
|
| K0JUA |
Rating: |
2015-04-06 | |
| Accurate Advertising |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This antenna does exactly what the company says. My SWR readings on each band were exactly the same as their data sheet. I followed the furnished instructions and used a ten foot fence post. Setup took about one hour and I had three DX contacts and over 20 stateside on several bands. I applaud this company for accurate advertising and reasonable prices. |
|
| W1PDG |
Rating: |
2014-04-23 | |
| Impressed |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Resubmitted review with better description:
I have been using this vertical for a couple of months now. I have it on a 4' metal pipe sitting on top of a 3' wooden fence pole. My other antenna is a 270' ocf dipole and the promaster sr. does fair in comparison. Conditions and which band being used affect the performance of both antennas. Of course the dipole most often out performs the vertical, but some days on 40 meter nets it is hard to tell the difference switching between the two. I think 40 meters is the best band for the promaster. It works on 80 and 160 but of course the longer dipole has a big advantage here. Most of the time on 40-10 meters the dipole is 1-2 s units better receive than the promaster. At times it's the opposite though. I think with it up higher it would be easier to compare all bands. I will try to get it up higher this summer. Swr on all bands is good. For someone with limited space I do not believe you will find a vertical antenna that covers all bands and is easier to work with than this one. Would be a great rv or camping antenna with the tripod. Highly recommended! For what it is it performs very well.
|
|
| NU6Y |
Rating: |
2014-02-25 | |
| Excellent receiver, Very easy install |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I have been looking to increase my DX range and The Alpha Pro Master has done just that. Last weekend I finally installed the Antenna (I've had it for 3 months in the box) First off every component is solid 1st class and is well made. I have it installed off if a mast attached to my chimney at 26' up. The fan dipole wires are spread out and the tuning wire is just on the roof tiles. It took about 25 minutes to set up. Now I recognize this is compromise antenna, But it works better than some of my Dipoles, Propagation this last week was a poor but 5,000 mile contacts were frequent on 10, 12 17 & 20. So my initial report is a big positive. at least until I get the tower |
|
| KD0JLM |
Rating: |
2014-01-11 | |
| Great antenna! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
It took a little over a week for me to receive my ProMaster Sr. antenna from Alpha Antennas. I ordered it with the deployment kit that includes the tripod. Setup was surprisingly easy. The cables that act as the different active elements of the antenna also serve as guy lines for the antenna, making it very stable. The cables even include stakes to secure them to the ground. A screwdriver, a wrench, and a hammer are all the hand tools you will need to get the antenna up and ready to go.
I am very impressed with the build quality of the antenna. The whip is heavy tubing, the cables are heavy duty, and the tripod, though lightweight, looks like it could support a much heavier antenna. In fact all of the components appear to be designed and built to withstand harsh conditions and last a long time.
My backyard is pretty small, and long ago I gave up any notion of ever using 160 meters. In fact, I have been using a G5RV Jr. for several years, which gets me to 40 meters. Even 80 meters was hard to use on the G5RV Jr. But with the ProMaster Sr., I was able to easily tune 80 meters and 160 meters using my Yaesu FT-897D with an attached LDG AT-897 Plus tuner. Pretty amazing that the antenna is that versatile and takes up a place in my backyard that looks like it is roughly 20 feet by 20 feet.
So from the deployment, build quality, ease of use, and operational perspectives, this is antenna is remarkable. I like the fact that for field day or emergency use I can yank the stakes, lower the whip, fold up the tripod, and quickly move the antenna to another location for redeployment. Add to that some first class customer service, and I could not be more enthusiastic about my purchase.
|
|
| KC9VRZ |
Rating: |
2013-12-08 | |
| Fantastic |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| Being new to the hobby I did a lot of research on antennas and felt this would meet my needs. Product is very easy to install. I have gotten crystal clear communications from both coasts. Also have heard from Mexico and Venezuela as well as Newfoundland. I am very happy with what this product can do. I will in the Spring set this up so it is a few feet higher and a little further into a clearer area and then see what happens. |
|
| KB9HHI |
Rating: |
2013-10-21 | |
| High performance High durability All-Band antenna |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I needed an antenna that would operate on all bands. My first antenna, a fan dipole at 34 feet in the middle and about 20 to 25 feet on either end, provided me a system to compare the ProMaster Sr to. Problem with my first antenna is that it'd only perform on 15, 20, & 40 meters. The antenna is insulated from whatever a person decides to mount it to, so I simply dropped a 10 foot mast pipe into the ground about two feet deep beside an old wooden fence post that I braced it braced to.
Tuning? Well, it came pre-tuned! After verifying this with an MFJ analyzer and the SWR meter in my rig, I was satisfied it was time to take it for a test drive. Yes, it does need a tuner on 160 meters as well as 6 meters.
Performance...I placed an old AB switch to toggle between the two antennas and hopped onto 40 meters CW. First contact gave me an RST of 578 and was about 1200 miles ATCF (as the crow flies) on the antenna. Switched over to the fan dipole, and asked for a signal report and got a 466. Made sure to make another 20 or 30 contacts and each one gave similar reports. So...headed to 15 meters and sent CQ a few times from my ole trusty straight key, and got Croatia on my first try. The signal report was just a 455 on the new antenna, but they could hardly hear me at all on the dipole, which faces east west.
Time has past; so enough time has past that this antenna has weathered two storms, one which packed gusts of about 80 mph. No signs of any damage from either wind, rain, sun, or anything else.
Conclusion-This is a sturdy antenna that performs very well. |
|
