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Reviews For: Alpha Gold 6-80M portable antenna system

Category: Antennas: HF Portable (not mobile)

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Review Summary For : Alpha Gold 6-80M portable antenna system
Reviews: 1MSRP: 399
Description:
(From the manufacturer)

Have you ever wished for one antenna you could use in mobile, base camp, & field ops? Wish Granted! Introducing the all-in-one Alpha Gold edition.

We have combined the perfect mix of components to provide you with an all-in-one Alpha Antenna package, the Alpha Gold edition. Where the placement of one nut allows you to easily move the Alpha Match from one system to another.

When in use as a base or field system, this antenna will provide you with the easiest deployable and most effective antenna system to get you on the air fast! Designed for any situation where you need to be on the air rather than antenna tinkering.

While mobile, this antenna will allow you to transmit and receive on 6- 40 meters while driving down the highway or parked in your favorite spot for HF operations. An added bonus for this antenna is that your can on tune 60 & 80 Meters, which means you can listen in on your favorite nets or just pass the time listening to QSOs. If your mount doesn't provide a solid ground and similar placement as the Alpha Jam Mount does, you may buy it by scrolling to the bottom of this page.

Included with Alpha Antenna's Gold edition:
1 - 13 foot long MilStick element with built-in 24 x 3/8 ferrule, for Base & Field
1 - 5 foot long mobile element with ferrule
1 - Alpha Match Sr and stainless steel spring
1 - 6 1/2 foot tripod with built in mast section
1 - Jaw mount
1 - Tripod mount adapter
3 - Counterpoise wires with spikes also provides a guying system to secure your antenna system
1 - NVIS wire with spike inserted through insulator, provides multiple mounting options
1 - Heavy duty padded field bag with external pocket
You might also consider adding the NVIS Kit, some coax, or the Alpha Jam Mount if you don't already have a mobile mount, all of which is at the bottom of this page.
Product is in production
More Info: http://amateurradiostore.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
WA7SGS Rating: 2015-09-01
When easy portabiity is #1, this antenna will do the job Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Being involved with ARES/RACES I had a desire to set up a portable HF station here on what will be the front line of the Cascadia Subduction Zone quake, the southern Oregon coast. There is no telling where I will be and where I will set up due to the projected magnitude of the disaster. That means the focal point is portability for the entire system.

Alpha's Gold package had everything I needed and even a couple of goodies that may prove worthwhile. 4 counterpoise radials and an NVIS wire ($20 extra) are held onto the ground with solid iron pegs. The tripod is on the light side and the Oregon coast is known for wind, so I added four 5 pound wrist/ankle weights to give the antenna system a solid base. You place the radials on the bottom of the Alpha Match before mounting it to the tripod and the NVIS wire on top, then add in the folding antenna.

When it comes to longer thin masts, the usual thought is one of a telescopic type. Alpha uses sections that are held together with what appears to be a heavier duty kind of elastic. The sections slide into each other as you unfold them and the elastic holds them in place very securely. Taking down the mast is every bit as easy as extending it. Considering the entire system is 19 feet long, to have a mast fold up so nicely into a few feet of length makes sure that the portability factor is high.

Everything that comes with the antenna other than the mobile mast fits in the included bag. Weight-wise it will be an easy tote. A person can wear the ankle/wrist weights to keep their hands free for handling more gear.

Testing the antenna with a Kenwood TS-50 and LDG's automatic tuner made to work with Kenwoods was limited due to QTH layout and needing a "wire guard" (person) to make sure no one drove up and over the radials. I was able to use a local operator to see if the entire system worked. It did to some extent. On 20M he heard me fine but I could not hear him although he was using an 80M dipole with a tuner so his ERP could have been very low. Going to 40M showed he had a high noise floor at his QTH while mine was rather subdued so I heard him at 5x7 while he had to work hard to hear me due to the static.

Listening across the 20M and 40M bands showed strong stations came in clearly while weaker ones came in weakly so no surprises there when compared to my base station setup. I wish I had more time to experiment but that factor was limited today.

Tech support from Alpha via email is quick. I was not sure how to hook up the counterpoise radials and NVIS wire since the manual provided no clear picture or description. The owner sent along the requested information and pictures that made clear how I was to correctly set the antenna system up in short order, less than two hours.

As the joke goes, a vertical is an antenna that radiates equally poorly in all directions...LOL! If you expect this antenna to make you a Contester Supreme, it won't be filling that role. However if you need something that can fill the bill in an emcomm setting where setup conditions are an unknown or if you are an operator who does SOTA, Field Day or other outdoor radio work, this is the kind of antenna that will get you on the air from anywhere.

With all that said, I'll give it a 5-star rating for handling the role for which this antenna was assigned by me.