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Reviews For: DX Commander antannas

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : DX Commander antannas
Reviews: 20MSRP: 45
Description:
10m Telescopic Vertical antenna supports and complete
multi-band antennas
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.m0mcx.co.uk/dx-commander-pre-production-testing-all-band-vertical/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
25205
VE4GV Rating: 2023-03-23
DX Commander Dxpedition is a terrific product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased a DX commander expedition antenna for use during my recent trip to Jamaica. I had been to Jamaica over three dozen times before and had used various different antennas such as a Cushcraft R5 and fan dipoles with my 100 w transceiver. I know many amateurs have had excellent experiences with vertical antennas when they are placed close to salt water and I looked forward to seeing how this antenna performed.

The DX commander support pole is extremely compact and fits easily inside your baggage. This is a big advantage over a lot of different antennas which have to be shipped in large cases, such as a fishing pole case. I attempted assembly at home first to familiarize myself with the parts and construction. Another big advantage are the many YouTube videos put out by Callum, the creator of the DX Commander, and other amateurs, who show you how they assembled the antenna. Instructions included with the antenna and detailed and easy to understand. I pre-cut the element lengths and radials, which made it easy to pack and use at my destination.
Once I reached Jamaica, it was a simple matter to mount the radial plate and element plate and extend the pole to full length. I did not anchor the pole at the base, as the 3 guys easily kept it erect. The pole itself is incredibly lightweight (2 lbs?) which easily allows one person to assemble and erect the antenna. I selected 10, 15, 20 and 40 meters as my bands of choice, because I was going to enter the ARRL DX CW contest.
I was astonished at how well the antenna performed. Only a minor amount of tuning was required to optimize SWR at the low end of The CW bands. All parts fit well and the support from DX commander and Callum was absolutely first rate. I must echo the sentiments of those who rave about this antenna. I had some initial skepticism as to how well it would work but that disappeared with the 1660 contacts I made during my weekend of operating the CW contest with 100 w and several hundred others QSOs, (including some fairly rare DX from all around the world) during my casual time away from the beach.
As a ham of over 50 years experience, it is rare that you find the combination of (1) ease of use and assembly, (2) high quality and (3) superb performance (4) at a reasonable price. This is such an antenna. There is no question I will be taking it with me again next year during my trip and looking forward to possibly adding an 80 meter inverted L to the configuration. Special thanks to Callum, who is not only a great guy, but is very entertaining to watch in his many You Tube videos. It gets my highest recommendation.
AJ4MY Rating: 2023-03-12
Fantastically designed antenna! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've recently purchased and tested a DX Commander antenna. I straightaway decided to use it for Parks on the Air this past weekend and will use it into next week on some work trips as well.

The build quality was fantastic...just be sure not to over clamp the antenna while putting the plates on and crack it. The wire provided was nice and flexible and easy to work with. The customer service is top notch. I had a slight mix up with what model I received vs what plate set it arrived with. Cal had it shipped out the next Monday and it arrived in 3 days from the UK just like the original antenna order did. Whatever shipping he uses must be magic.

I received loads of fantastic signal reports from all around the US, Europe, and Mexico on my first go using just 40 watts! Already having used many verticals and understanding they can be noisier for receive sometimes, I took along an LDG 4:1 balun a random 20ft piece of wire and hooked that to my receive port on my trusty Icom 756 Pro II.

I would recommend this dual antenna setup to anyone looking to dx in all directions at once. Absolutely fantastic transmit reports and although it receives just fine for a vertical, the tiny loop on the ground was just what the Dr. ordered to complete this package with some dead quiet receiving as well.
W9OQI Rating: 2022-05-16
Love the new Signature 12.4 antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I had a DX Commander Classic and recently upgraded to the Signature because I wanted better 80 meter reception and wanted a pole that could stand up to wind. This antenna has surpassed my expectations. I have only had it running for two weeks but I have made calls in excess of 10,000 miles away with it. Absolutely would recommend!
KO4DXF Rating: 2021-09-17
What an awesome antenna! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Alright Cal, what kind of sorcery is this? I have had this antenna up twice with my Xiegu G90 and both times I have worked DX stations on 20w. Last weekend I worked Poland and today I worked Italy and Sicily from my home in Winter Haven, Florida. I think you should change you name to Gandolf. Lol.

Look I have had other rigs and antenna's. I've had an FT-891 and a Buddipole set up as a vertical and with 100w the closest I got to DX was Canada unless I was running mobile with my screwdriver antenna.

All I can say is thank you Cal. This antenna is a game changer for me and I'm sure when the IC-7300 I ordered comes in, it's going to be an even bigger blast.
G4YTK Rating: 2021-04-06
So pleased I got this great antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It was time to replace my R5 vertical but what with ? was the question. A cobweb or Gap titan or what's this DX Commander all about. After many hours reading reviews and watching YouTube I decided on the Dx Commander Classic. I watch lots of Cullum's YouTube videos which were very informative. I did have worries about the radial system but after an e-mail from Cal my mind was put at ease how simple it would be. The antenna arrived early and I took my time setting it up. I have made it permanent by concreating a small pole in the ground, sitting the DXC over the top of it. I also concreated 3 large storm camping peg into the ground to guy it approximately the 1 meter point. I have run tests using WSPR running 5 watts. The results are very pleasing with my UK signal easily being equal if not stronger than other UK signals. My signal is normally up by 5 to 10 db compared with other UK stations over 5 to 10,000 miles. What fun I am having and to have a dx pileup busting signal on 40m cw is amazing. Looking forward to band improvements so I can try it on 10,12 m. Thanks Callum for a great product and for saving me £300 compared with other antennas. Another great thing with this antenna you can understand it and if something ever goes wrong what could be simpler than replacing a wire element. I have had some 35mph gusts of wind, yes it sways but thats all. If we were due some 40mph gusts of wind or a thunderstorm may be I would lower it by slackening 3 jubilee clips reducing the height by 3 meters.
MM0DVZ Rating: 2020-12-21
Simply works Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have always had where possible resonant antennas and this has been a really good and simple design that works great. My one has 80m,40m,30m,20m,17m,15m,12, and 10m. All bands are resonant and I already had a ground radial system installed which consists of 120 radials of around 5-10 m long wires. No noise levels but that could be the location. As this is a permanent installation I did make some changes to the kit to make it last in the tough Highland weather and it has done well in over 65mph winds. Constantly performs well vswr below 1.2 all bands. No issues and very happy.
KG6TR Rating: 2020-12-21
seriously fun antenna that works Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am in an HOA and despite having a decent sized lot, no towers and yagis are in the cards. Have been using an end-fed half wave for the last couple of years which is a good choice for stealth deployment. But I wanted to try and get a bit better take-off angle for DX at the new QTH. I actually have space in the back yard for radials and a vertical blends into the trees behind us so figured I'd do the experiment with the DX Commander Lite.

While waiting for the kit to make it over the pond I watched most every build video on youtube - of course including a bunch on Callum's channel. When it showed up as others have noted everything was well packed and fully intact. People usually recommend taking a day or two but I was on a mission so FedEx dropped it off around 1:30pm and I had it up for testing before dark. I built it originally for 40-20-17, with the 40m being linear loaded. 40 and 20 were close out of the gate, 20 being low and flat across the band. I couldn't get 17m to behave so I cut it shorter and went with 15m instead which I was able to tune without issue.

Set about benchmarking against my end fed, which is a 40m long wire with balun (HyEnd). Receive was a wash - signals were better on or the other depending on where the station was. Once I started working stations though, every contact where I swapped antennas indicated the DXC was 2-5 S units stronger than the efhw.

I just ordered the full size one as I want to have more bands on a single coax and I'll use this Lite either as a portable setup as-is or reconfigure for WARC with 17-12-10. That is the fun part of this antenna, it basically begs for experimentation. I ended up cutting a yogurt container lid to make an ultralight spreader for the top which helps 40m get a bit wider. Then did some other tweaks. At the end of the day, it's a canvas for you to mess around and then make contacts. After redoing 40m to include tensioning loops (and trying a longer run to see if I could get 17 or 10 to come into resonance), I buttoned it back up and promptly worked Chile and Hawaii on 20m. ZS on 40m the night before, ZL on 15m as well. I have about 30 radials, mix of 3.5m and 5m lengths, just laid them on the iceplant/sand (terrible soil conditions here).

Fun to build, modify and works for DX. What else can you ask for?
M0JSX Rating: 2020-10-26
Simply stunning! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
What can I say? After using the antenna for only a few months I am blown away by the quality of the parts and the level of service and dedication Callum offers to his customers. I had a small issue that I consulted Callum and a new spare part was on its way to me the next day. Can’t get better than that I’d say!
N1URE Rating: 2020-05-03
Very good, affordable Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Very well thought out kit. M0XXT has designed and markets the DX Commander. The very first assembly took me about a day. But once the wires are made up and the radials are put together in packages, take down and set up is less than a half hour. Essentially, you have a number of quarter wave verticals. You then tune each to the center frequency you want. I favored the phone parts. Bandwith at 40 m and 20 is very good. The antenna at 80 is fairly high Q. So unless you have a frequency that you use a lot, on 80 you will need a built-in tuner. On mine 80 is an inverted L. The only reason I did not give it five stars is that it is not robust enough out of the box for New England winters and storms. But it is sold as a portable experimental antenna. So if you want a permanent installation which is what I have, use the low and middle guy points and an extra set of guys at the very bottom where the radials are flush to the ground. The latter will prevent the bottom ground plane and feeder Plate from kicking out during a powerful storm. Also, mine snapped at the top 40 m section joint. I repaired it by inserting a piece of fiberglass fishing pole on the inside portion of the tube. And filled the open end with epoxy . Clamped the broken part with a small piece of fiberglass tubing on the outside. So far so good, will see if it survives thunderstorms in the summer. The antenna works very well and I’ve had worldwide contacts on ssb. Callum, is very responsive and will be the first to tell you that this is designed for experimentation. It’s fun. As a sidenote he also has some very good how to tutorials on a wide range of amateur topics. You can even model this antenna on software and he will show you how.
KK6YO Rating: 2020-02-20
WoW! What a great antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was looking for a antenna to work on all bands and easy to put up and down,
The DX Commander fit the bill. This vertical works on 40 - 6 meter with out using a antenna tuner. I found this All Band Vertical (ABV) on YouTube. So here it goes. 10 meter (Very heavy push-up pole to mount the wire elements to. The antenna comes in kit form so be ready to spend some time putting it together.
This beauty after the initial construction takes 10-20 minutes to put up and another 10 to bring down ad put away.
Very compact and VERY easy to work. Ground radials are easy to lay out as well.
A "Fan Dipole" in design makes for a NO TUNER NEEDED when operating.
Really cool and if you miss building stuff, this antenna is for you.
VERY COOL
73
Jerry - KK6YO