| M0IYE |
Rating:      |
2020-01-15 | |
| Great product great price. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I purchased the DX Commander expedition model shortly before Christmas with an expected delivery date after Christmas. (This is the ultra portable but still full sized model that works 4 bands of your choice on the day.)
The Kit arrived early before Christmas very well packaged with clear instructions.
The kit was very easy to build up and following Callum’s instructions the antenna tuned fantastically well just from the supplied measurements. If I had not been over cautious and cut a little long I would not have needed to cut it down at all his measurements are spot on.
I chose to make elements for all the bands 6m - 80m then I decide what bands to Run on the antenna on the day of use. ( it takes 5 mins to drop the antenna and change an element if you wish to for example add 80m after dark)
I had a small problem with a part that Callum sorted out for me straight away, great customer service.
This antenna is very portable and I am able to get the radio, the battery, it’s charger, the coax, the laptop, and the antenna including the telescopic pole into a sports bag to take on holiday.
Despite the pole extending to 9.5m it still fits into the sports bag easily with the ground plate and driven plate still attached to the pole.
The way the antenna preformed was a huge surprise working into the USA with ease, several portable to portable contacts and recently getting my First VK ( I have only been licensed just over a year )
I wish I had gone down the DX commander route earlier.
Yes you can build something sort of the same but it’s not going to save you much money.
The DX commander looks good is fast to set up all the parts you need turn up in one kit and it’s great value for money.
On testing against a good quality fan dipole that requires three 10m aluminium masts to be erected, lots of guy ropes and space, a good hours work and lots of patience :) the DX commander was every bit as good if not better on the day getting great signal reports and receiving very nicely.
I have now been out with it half a dozen times with no issues. Fast to set up and more importantly fast to get down in the dark.
It will be a long while before we lug our aluminium masts into the field again.
73 Andy M0IYE |
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| G1WHP |
Rating:      |
2019-07-16 | |
| Great All band vertical |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| After searching the web for a solution for a multi band vertical antenna at an affordable price I came across the DX COMMANDER made and supplied by Callum M0MCX. After delivery I followed the concise instructions and began the build. I chose to take things slowly and completed the build over two days which included the laying of the ground radials. I found the kit comprised of quality components the results of many years of design and development to perfect the product. The build was pleasurable and satisfying resulting in a quality all band vertical 80m through to 6m without the need of an ATU able to handle full legal limit 1500w (USA) with ease. This is a quality product that will be an attribute to anyone’s station at a realistic affordable price. Manufactured by a dedicated Ham for the benefit of others. I am one happy customer. Paul |
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| AI7MG |
Rating:      |
2019-06-28 | |
| Pleasant Field Day Surprise |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I just wanted to leave you a review of the great success your (my new) antenna was at Field Day for the K.A.R.S. club in Rathdrum Idaho.
The DX Commander was of GREAT interest to both new comers and veterans alike,
in fact the gent sitting next to me with his very pretty Elecraft K3 ran A/B testing with mine against his antenna.
His was a 43 ft wire in a collapsable mast with auto tuner at the base, the fence was his ground.
It proved to be superior in all but the highest tested (15m) band where they were equals.
The signal was the same strength, but the NOISE was nearly non-existent in the lowest bands, then successively rose to be equal at 15m.
All the hams in attendance were impressed with that (and scratching their heads as to why, but the facts were there),
I suspect it was related to the ground field vs. fence ground.
Even at home, the noise level using the DX Commander is often 4-5 S units lower
with the same or only slightly less signal strength than my dipole at 35ft.
Go figure. So much for “Verticals are noisier." NOT ALL Verticals are anyway.
I did a 20 minute Field adjustment to the antenna… I added 80m by running a wire up to the top (eye) spreader
and slung it to a tree in an inverted L configuration.
Cut it to the right length 1st try, no trimming afterwards.
We were up on 80 as it opened and swept the band for new contacts,
many were logged in about 10 minutes, then back to chatting with visitors to our event.
Others were then just hunting for any leftovers over the next few hours and apparently I’d gotten so many
they were happily mad at me for such good coverage in such a short time.
I think I gave about 18 tours to all the antenna setups and all the other antennas were ‘Uh huh…. (blank stare)”,
then with the DX Commander many questions… lots of possibilities discussed
and it would NOT surprise me that you get several orders to the Pacific North West area of the US from those conversations.
1 additional note: I was told that seeing the lengths of the different wires labeled
“6m”, “17m”, “20m”, “30m”, “40m” (didn’t label the 80m, but it was obvious at that point)
I was told that it made so many puzzle pieces fit together in their understanding of
RF wavelength vs. naming of the bands vs. physical characteristics,
and other Antenna magic finally making more sense to them.
I was thanked several times by different people for that contribution to their understanding of the hobby.
A great side effect.
SO… THANK YOU for coming up with such a great idea, kitting it, putting up with us customers and bringing it to market.
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| W7RPE |
Rating:      |
2019-04-27 | |
| Inexpensive, High Performance and Great Fun! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Every once in a while you come across a new product that really stands out from the crowd. The DxCommander is one of those products. Sure, its just a quarter wave vertical but what makes it unique is the head slappingly(not a word) simple design, the excellent performance, the price and certainly not least a high fun factor.
Basically, the DxCommander is a vertical fan dipole. I've set up the DxCommander for 80m-10m but you have several options as to the bands you may want to use. I untilize the DxCommander for 80m and 40m mostly and my hexbeam for the upper bands.
Initial set up and tuning took me a relaxed Saturday. Tuning in particular can be a little more challenging than the basic dipole or vertical because each band tuning can impact the other bands. If you make your changes in small increments you'll do fine.
I plan on ordering a second one soon to use portable this summer. You won't go wrong buying this antenna! |
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| KZ4CW |
Rating:      |
2019-01-30 | |
| Very versatile antenna |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
After trying one of these DX Commander antennas at a special event that I was participating in, I ordered the bare bones kit from England.
Not only was it very easy to assemble, but it was as much fun as I've had in a long time with putting together a new antenna! It was easy, quick and simple to do and I used a more permanent arrangement than the portable version, using a 1 1/4" pipe to mount the antenna.
Here are the SWR readings from the first time I set up the antenna,
3.900 kHz 1.07 , 7.300 kHz 1.5 , 14.300 kHz 1.21 , 18.140 kHz 1.26 , 21.325 kHz 1.3 and these were made with my Rig Expert Analyzer.
I have since adjusted a few of the wire lengths to get the SWR to below 1.25 on the higher readings.
I have worked several countries in Europe, South Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Russia, and Japan from my station.
The rig that I've been using is an Icom 7600, an Ameritron ALS-500 solid state amp, set at 300 watts and this DX Commander antenna. As many will know these solid state amps do not like high SWR readings, so this antenna works perfectly with this setup. I can switch switch from band to band with no problems, no other adjustments, don't even have to use the ATU built in the Icom 7600. It has become my go to antenna instead of a beam or dipole. I highly recommend this antenna to anyone that is limited in space, or whats an antenna that is easy to setup and to use. Anyone that has any questions can drop me a note at my QRZ listing!
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| G8AJM |
Rating:      |
2018-03-15 | |
| An excellent go-anywhere antenna |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My main interest is chasing DX on the HF bands but my very small garden in the middle of town means I have a high noise level and no chance to erect a tower or beam and I have to rely on a single wire OCFD dipole to do what it can on all bands. Consequently, whenever there is a DXpedition active for a DXCC entity I need I find a location where I can erect a “real” antenna, has a low noise floor and has a good take-off. I’ve tried different configurations and have now settled on a 5-band Spiderbeam atop a 12m SCAM mast and a DX Commander. The main benefit of this combination is that I can cover all bands from 40m to 10m. The mast is mounted on a trailer and gives superb results but takes a few hours to erect with the beam. If I am using my small caravan as the shack rather than operating from the car it also means I have to make two trips to the site. That’s OK when I intend to stay for a couple of weeks but if I only have a few days to get the job done it can seem like too much effort, so for short trips I just take the DX Commander giving me capability on 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m and 15m and it can be assembled and erected in no time.
As I write this, the DXpedition to Rotuma 3D2EA is still active and I have just returned from spending a few days with just the DX Commander at a nice quiet location where I hoped to bag them. I first heard them on 30m and within half an hour I was in their log. Just over half an hour later I had them again on 20m and then had them once more the next morning on 40m. Mission accomplished, but I was aware of other active DXpeditions which although not ATNOs for me would certainly be fun to catch. During my short stay I worked Hawaii 20m SSB, Spratly Islands 40m CW, Easter Island 40m and 30m CW along with many others including VK, ZL.
Whilst I was delighted with the results of the trip I was not surprised. I have had my DX Commander for nearly two years and it has consistently given excellent performance on those five bands. It stays in the car always as it takes up almost no room at all and another major benefit is that while I try to find quiet, open spaces from which to operate, the DX Commander’s footprint is so small it can be used in a normal campsite staying within the bounds of a single pitch. For me it’s a keeper! |
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| MW0BRO |
Rating:      |
2017-10-20 | |
| Versatile & Great |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I've had this antenna for a few months now.
I bought it after watching Callum's extensive videos and speaking with him personally.
I found him to be a very personable character, very generous with his time and also very knowledgeable about his creation.
Sorry to use a cliche but, "it does what it says on the tin".
As Callum explains in his videos, you'll need a little bit of time for faffing around with it, burying the radials and cutting the elements to length etc.
Once this has been done, you're good to go.
An antenna analyser is a distinct advantage (I didn't have one) to save a lot of jogging back and fore to the shack. But it can be achieved without one, it's just a bit frustrating.
I've ended up with a 4 element versions, 40m, 30m, 20m & 17m quarter waves. The 40m element of course works as a 5/8 wave on 15m.
I did try it with 10m and 12m elements also but I failed to get those to resonate.
However, with my onboard tuner on my old Icom 746 it selects one of the wires to work quite effectively on 12m, 10m & 6m.
I have used a SOTABeams guying ring over the third from top pole section to guy the pole at a top level also. This guying ring is effectively an inch square piece of plastic with 4 holes drilled in it, very lightweight.
However, using this antenna as a permanent fixture will require some monitoring of the weather forecast here in the UK as in high winds there is going to be some pole damage over time.
But Callum's simple design means that this antenna is very simple to lay down prior to a storm arriving; You simply unhook the 3 carabiners from the lower spreader, disconnect the red wire from SO239 to element plate and lay the pole down.
I have quite long paracord guy ropes for the top guying system which allows me to just slacken off so they don't even have to be disconnected.
Notwithstanding these limitations during high winds, the only negative I've had to deal with is to give the elements a bit of a shake when they've become snagged on the jubilee clips on occasion of twisted together during a bit of wind but this is only very occasional and not a hinderance to operating at all.
I'd previously had only a balanced fed doublet to use on all bands 80-6 and this antenna has been MUCH better. I regularly work into ZL on 40m and getting through to DX is a hell of a lot easier. Even allowing for the fact that it's a vertical with the associated noise level, I can hear stations on the DX Commander that I cannot hear at all when I switch back to the doublet.
All in all, this is a great antenna, for a great price. The quality of the engineered parts is excellent. The time and knowledge put into this project by Callum is exceptional.
I've enjoyed every element of learning about, purchasing, erecting and using this antenna. It's a fantastic concept, quite simple in it's design and best of all, it gets results.
I'm looking at buying another for /P use although it wouldn't take long to just disconnect the radials from the radial plate, slacken off the jubilee clips and just retract the antenna intact ready for re-erection in the field with a second set of radials.
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| 2E0EZG |
Rating:      |
2017-02-13 | |
| Brilliant & Versatile |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I bought 1 having watch all the videos. Being new and enthusiastic to Amateur radio I was inspired by some of the ideas shown on the site and plan to use during various camping trips this year.
I put it up a few times to experience what it was like and instantly saw the quality and thought that had been put into it. So much so I went and bought another.
The first is now in my garden, temporarily acting as a mid span support for my 80m doublet. The second I use weekly on a baseplate I had made which gives a solid support so I can use it /p. I use it with either a homebrew slimjim, a 2Mtr Halo or even a Diamond 5ele beam about 7 mtr up.
This product fills you with confidence that although it may wave around in the wind it feels robust and quality. |
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| G3VDS |
Rating:      |
2017-02-12 | |
| Good quality product |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I bought the 10m telescoping fibreglass pole from Callum in autumn 2015. Despite my rough treatment of it it has refused to break and handling 30 feet of whippy tubing can be tricky. Follow the instructions on his website. They are the voice of experience!
I'm now assembling all the bits to erect the multi band vertical. Not done it yet but it's all reassuringly well made and going to work out to be a very reasonably priced antenna. There is plenty of scope for experimentation with this design. |
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| 2E0SDV |
Rating:      |
2017-02-10 | |
| Amazing |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I bought one of these on a deal a few years ago at a rally and come rain or shine, the thing is still standing. No matter what I have done, It hasn't broke. Up to 70 mph winds at the top of the hill where i live, and no signs of damage. I am very impressed. I even went and bought another one from Callum last year with his "all-band" assemblies and have made all sorts of brilliant antennas. Great fun making them from scratch and working the DX.
Amazingly Callum replies to queries very quickly and he always has something new up his sleeve to try. A genuine keen professional hobbyist.
and I'm pleased to see that he has branched out to selling them world wide using Ebay's world-wide shipping program. I'm sure people are going to love them!
Thoroughly recommended and a very satisfied customer.. Top Notch
73
Jamie 2E0SDV |
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