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Reviews For: Greyline Performance DXF Flagpole Verticals

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Greyline Performance DXF Flagpole Verticals
Reviews: 23MSRP: 800 - 1,000
Description:
Greyline's DX Flagpole Antenna for 160-6M. No Radials, No guy wires. This HF vertical is HOA and XYL approved. Low angle for Real DX. Low loss and Low noise is high-performance. Sizes: 12-16-20-24-28 foot and taller available. Wind rated up to 155+ MPH without Flag, 95+MPH with Flag. Ham Radio is fun again
Product is in production
More Info: http://Greylineperformance.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
24234.1
AF1RO Rating: 2021-06-22
It just works! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Installed the 20' flagpole vertical dipole with an MFJ-988RT tuner attached to a Yaesu FT-991A. First night on air i worked Slovenia and Italy from Melbourne Florida.

This antenna is no joke and Jon at Greyline has been great! If you're on the fence about the purchase, go ahead and dive in. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

73!
Drew
AF1RO
AA5DV Rating: 2021-06-07
It Works AND Greyline Warranty Is For Real - AA5DV Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I ordered Greyline’ 28’ OCF Vertical Dipole October 25,2018 (Order #FP-55221014) I erected antenna in Happy Valley, Oregon (there is pix on their website). I am an 82-year-old Retired Episcopal Priest and did assembly myself which is good for this Extra Class ‘appliance operator’. This year we had a strange wind/ice storm which brought down some trees and large tree limbs, including all my antennas. It was a unique happening for ice formed very quickly and I could not lower flag which turned into a hugh block of ice contributing to taking down my vertical flagpole antenna. I contacted Greyline about purchasing several sections and hardware for an attempted repair. Before getting any specific answer concerning needed parts, I got e-mail that package had been sent from Greyline. I was confused until a thirty-pound carton appeared on my front porch. Greyline had replaced my 28’ Flagpole Antenna, no questions asked. I never thought about this on Greyline’s first page of advertising for 28' DX Flagpole Antenna, Stealth HOA Vertical Antenna No Radials 160-6M
• Industry-leading 4-year warranty
Just wanted you to know --- Greyline replaced my Vertical Antenna --- No Questions asked!
KJ7EHQ Rating: 2021-05-15
20 foot Greyline flagpole antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was hoping to be able to give you a review of my new sparkling 20 foot flagpole antenna that I ordered on 12 Feb 2021 and have yet to have received as of 26 March 2021. To date I have only six aluminum poles and a kit consisting of a pulley, some screws and nuts, rope, current balun, etc. I can't believe that I dug a 3 foot hole in mid March.

To date, I am missing the following:
SGC 239 remote antenna tuner
The 'ball' that sits on top of the antenna above the flag
The operating, assembly and users manuals or a link at least to them.
Other stuff I don't know about because I don't have and can't find any manuals online.

Hey, I know that things in many businesses have been delayed but since I was billed over $1000 in early Feb Greyline has had a 'float' of 73 days (free use of my money for this period). I need to change my business model to be able to get paid up front 73 days; I'm net 30 or net 60 here after I bill.

Recently, I did receive a link to the build instructions as well as a direct call from Jon KL2A the owner and we discussed in detail my complaint about not receiving all of the components of my order (SGC tuner). In my experience it is rare to receive such communication from customer support let alone the owner in this case.

Note: Recently, I had done a fair amount of calling around in an attempt to locate a tuner that I could afford to use with the antenna but was not able to find any SGC tuner units available new or used. I was now beginning to understand Jon's sourcing problem.

I was able to order and did receive the anodized aluminum flagpole ball ornament that sits atop the flagpole so that I could complete the mechanical portion of the antenna. I will be able test the flagpole in the next couple of days so stay tuned.

Speaking of tuning; until my SGC 230 comes in I will move my LDG RC-600 tuner/controller from the pole and antenna it currently is attached to and add to the feed/mount point of the Flagpole. I should be able to directly compare with the Zero5 vertical that it replaces as it will be mounted in the exact same hole as the Zero5 43 footer and I will test it in as close to the same conditions as the Zero5. Will the Greyline Flagpole (only passively connected to my 64 element radial field) perform better than the Zero5 that had to use all of those radials to perform?

We shall find out...very soon. If it performs as well as I expect, then my rating of it will be updated accordingly as I will be able to add the most important component, performance.
W4WEW Rating: 2020-12-04
Great antenna and working DX with great success Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am very happy with the 20 ft flagpole antenna. It is working really great. Paired with my IC 7300 I have worked several DX locations including one yesterday to India 8.6k miles. Many others to Europe and South of CONUS.

Jon at Greyline worked with me to help me get setup and answered my many questions. I am new to Ham Radio and his help was instrumental to my success to getting on the air.

I live in a very restrictive HOA and many neighbors have complemented me on my new flagpole. Getting the coax buried at midnight on my knees has been the most difficult task I have had. lol

I would highly recommend to anyone needing a very effective antenna that works in an HOA to get the Flagpole antenna from Greyline.

KO4IOE
Semper Fi
Bill Whittaker
KJ7CWQ Rating: 2020-11-13
Excellent solution for HOA community Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the 16’ flagpole antenna which is of very good quality and was easy to assemble. I chose to do a concrete foundation and when that was done it was up in no time. Propagation has not been good, but I have made contacts on 40 meters to the Pacific Northwest with my longest to Hawaii (I live near Phoenix, AZ). I am looking forward to better performance when the bands open this winter.

The antenna is 30’ from my shack and I am feeding it with LMR-400 in to a SG-237 coupler at the base of the antenna. My rig is a Yaesu FT-991a.

SWR’s are: 160m 2.0, 80m 1.75, 40m 1.5, 30m 1.25, 20m HIGH, 17m 1.10, 15m 1.25, 12m 1.0, 10m 1.5, 6m 1.5. I could not tune on 20m which I believe is a tuner problem and plan to try a different tuner.

In my community we are restricted to flagpoles no taller than the peak of your house and they must be 10’ from the property lines. Other than that no permission required to install it. Now that it is up I had our community manager check it out and he thinks I can go a few feet taller. I ordered the 4’ extension kit from Greyline Performance so we will see if that increases performance a bit. Too bad we can’t post pictures here.
Roy

***UPDATE*** 11/2/20
I ordered their 4’ extension kit and installed it today. What a difference going from 16’ to 20’! I immediately heard stations clearly that were barely audible before. I have not made a contact yet, but I monitored the Northern Utah SDR and heard my signal loud and clear.

SWR’s with the 20’ antenna are: 160m 1.0, 80m 1.2, 40m 1.2, 30m 1.0, 20m 1.0, 17m 1.2, 15m 1.1, 12m 1.1, 10m 1.1, 6m 1.7 and 60m 1.2 to 2.2.

I was impressed before, but going up another 4’ is well worth it.
Roy (check out my pictures on QRZ)
NN3W Rating: 2020-11-01
Good antenna for those in compromised situations Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've known KL2A for quite a number of years and we're pretty close. I've never had business dealings with John. He is pretty active in radio and was originally at Force 12 and was there until it was sold off to JK. He then got into the flag pole antenna business two or three years ago.

I can't speak to his customer service acumen other than to note that he mentioned that last year there were significant supply issues with 1) remote tuners, and 2) aluminum tubing. The former owing to switching suppliers and having one supplier be very lax in supply chains, and the latter owing to the Section 232 duties on aluminum which caused everyone in the market to scramble for available aluminum supply.

Despite all the issues noted above, after having read some of the reviews of his product on eHam and on 3830scores.com, I opted to obtain a 28-foot flag pole for use in the QTH here. I'm working on converting my current station to a capable SO2R station and I wanted a second antenna that was simple, covered a broad range of bands, and wasn't a piece of junk. So, the 28-foot version it was.

I ordered a 28-foot version in late July and it arrived via UPS around the 8th or 10th of September. So about 40 days wait. I don't know if this is long or short. By comparison, when I was investigating a Mosley MP33, I was told about 3 months' wait time back this past summer.

About two weeks later, a kit of antenna parts arrived: RF power choke, PL 259 assembly, ladder line, shrink wrap, rope for a U.S. flag, and some other parts.

The assembly took about an hour. I had to run to Home Depot for noalox which was used as an anti-oxidizer and lubricant for the aluminum sections. The product itself was up and running in about 90 minutes from the time I started assembling.

For those who care, this is NOT a tribander. It is NOT a monoband yagi. It's a shortened vertical. So, do NOT expect to break the pileup first call on P51 when it comes on the air. That being said, interestingly, it does work.

The first night it was up I ran about 800 watts through it and worked 1) a G4 on 160 meters, 2) TZ4 on 20 meters, 3) KP4, 9K, KH6, CE, LZ, and a couple other Europeans on 40 meters. I used my MFJ shack tuner and a Drake L7 to serve as the antenna match and the linear, respectively.

Since I have an interest in WARC bands, I have been focusing on 17 meters. Here is my DXCC tally on 17 since early October: LA, CT, S5, 9A, TF, K, KP4, FM, DL, ON, HB9, HV0, I, 9Y, TK, YU, EA, OK, XE, FO, V7, and 5Z. The HV was HV0A and I busted that pileup. The FO and the V7 were BOTH pileups in the Pacfici - busted both of them.

Finally, one morning, the station was used for the CWT Wednesday morning contest (1300z). In 15 minutes, 31 contacts were made on 40 meter CW. Some signals were weak; others were quite strong.

But, again, it does work. If you want a totally unconnected opinion, read the comments of K3WA who lives in a compromised area in North Carolina. In the 2020 ARRL DX and WPX CW contests, Bill made 1,000+ QSOs in each contest using a flag from Greyline.
N4KXO Rating: 2020-10-26
A very good antenna once you get it. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Don't be in a hurry to receive your flagpole antenna once you pay for it and your credit card is charged. It was close to 60 days before the first box (antenna tubs) arrived by UPS. The second shipment, a box of nuts and bolts, ladder line, a balun, flagpole rope etc . By the way you have to purchase your own flagpole topper, that gold ball on the top. And the listed Noalox was missing.

After following all the instructions, the antenna was put to the test. The SWR was flat on 20 meters, perfect in fact, and the other bands finally get smart and (after about 4 days) the tuner kept all the bands below 2.0 SWR. Again the SWR on 12, 20, and 30 meters is flat. I have the 16 foot version and it will tune 6 to 40 meters on a good day. It will not do 80 meters.
This version of antenna I have can really talk. pretty much if you can hear the other station you can talk to them.
Greyline says that their shipping issues are because of Covid 19. They sent me a UPS tracking number for the second box of parts. A week later I questioned if UPS ever picked it up. The next day UPS tracking indicated they picked it up. Shipping is not one of Greylines finer points.
K7CWC Rating: 2020-09-18
Stealth Flagpole Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered the Greyline 24-foot DX flagpole Antenna plus LDG RT-600 Remote Antenna Tuner Bundle. The order was processed on the Greyline Webpage. I received an order confirmation and links to the system documentation.

Greyline isn’t Amazon, so it did take somewhat longer to receive my antenna and related equipment than I’d have preferred. When the antenna was ready for shipment, I received an E-Mail with tracking information. Within a few days I was able to track the antenna on the UPS site. The antenna arrived in good order. The feed and flag components arrived on a separate shipment, as did the remote tuner.

The instructions were clear, and the packing list is arranged in the order of assembly. I was very impressed with the quality of the parts, and that each antenna section was individually wrapped and labeled. The pre-drilled holes matched perfectly with the corresponding holes in the inter-section connection splices.

The antenna has fiberglass insulating splices between the ground mounting section and the lower (short active) section. Another fiberglass section is to electrically isolate the lower active section from the longer top section. The balance of the antenna has aluminum connection splices.

The feedline from the shack connects to a choke and a short jumper connects to the radio side of the remote tuner. Another short coax jumper goes from the tuner to the coax to ladder line adapter. I decided to not use the supplied 3d printed adapter, instead using the Palomar coax-ladder line adapter. The short jumpers are customer supplied. I used 1 Ft MPD-400 Superflex.

Ladder line is mounted within the lower active section and isolated from the inner sides of the tubing by a set of spacers that fit nicely in the tubing. The ladder line is split at the upper fiberglass splice with one wire connected to the lower section and the other to the longer upper sections. Hint: Mark one side of the ladder line so you can be sure you are matching the main conductor to the upper section.

I choose to use a tilt mount that I had from a prior installation. I shortened the supplied inground section to adapt it to the tilt mount. The lower fiberglass insulator isolates the antenna from being grounded by the mount.

Before mounting, I assembled the top truck, halyard and cleat for the flagpole. I added a gold colored Flagpole topper to add to the aesthetics and enhance the hiding in plain site stealth of the flagpole antenna. I covered the base and tuner with a large plastic flower pot that I had drilled and slipped onto the antenna before I attached it to the mount.


With the initial issues resolved, I am pleased with the operation of the antenna system. My rig measured SWR values are 10M 1.5, 12M 1.8, 15M 1.6, 17M 1.3, 20M 1.0, 30M 1.0, 40M 1.1, 60M 1.1, and 80M 1.6

It’s early with my operation with the flagpole antenna, but so far, I am pleased. I’ve made contacts from my Western Washington location to both European and far East stations using different different bands. The antenna looks great and the neighbors are just seeing an attractive flagpole as a nice addition to my property.

Hints: Wear gloves when handling the fiberglass insulating splices. Mark one of the conductors on the ladderline so you can be sure you have the top (long) section of the antenna connected to the center conductor from your radio. DO not use a balun but use the supplied adapter (requires some do it yourself) or the Palomar or similar.
NA5AA Rating: 2020-09-10
Great Antenna for ham's living in HOA areas. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased a 24-foot DX Flagpole bundle with an LDG RT-600 remote tuner near the end of June. Within about 2 weeks I had received everything I needed to complete the installation of my DX Flagpole antenna.

The most difficult part of the installation was digging a 36-inch hole in our dry Texas clay soil in near 100-degree temperatures. After digging the hole, I added about 4 inches of gravel to the hole, filled the rest of the hole with concrete, inserted the base tube and one section of the antenna into the concrete, and made sure the antenna base was plumb. The assembly of the antenna was straight forward and took me under an hour. All the parts were present and in clearly labeled packages.

Now that I have completed the installation, I'm very satisfied with the antenna's construction and performance. I found the antenna easy to assemble and had no issue installing it myself in our HOA controlled back yard. Several neighbors have commented on our new flagpole and flag. The best part is nobody knows it's a functional ham radio antenna.

I've already completed WAS on 20 meters using FT8. I'm now working on WAS on 40 meters and only need Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont to finish WAS on 40 meters.

My 24 foot DX Flagpole is not a big tower and beam setup, but it works very well, and I can work pretty much anything I can hear. I'm very satisfied with the product and it allows me to get on HF again after several years of living in HOA controlled developments.
WC0R Rating: 2020-09-03
Looks great, first-look performance seems as hoped. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Although I got my initial license in the 60’s I have been out of ham radio for decades. Retired in January ‘20 and have been anxious to get back on the air. We live in a CCR and HOA neighborhood, with great neighbors but restrictions on antennas except satellite dishes. I did some research on stealthy antennas. Few had the potential to meet our requirements.

I happened on Greyline Performance and took a hard look at the DXF Flagpole Antenna. The no-radial OCF dipole design seemed to be a perfect match for what I needed to get back on the air, and XYL was anxious to display a flag as her folks had done during her childhood. I downloaded some photos from the website, selected a site in front of our home, and submitted a request to the board to approve my flagpole.

There are LOTS of restrictions in the neighborhood, but no mention of flag poles. Moreover, there is another property with a flagpole, so my 20’ flagpole plan was was approved.

I placed the order just after the COVID lockdowns began, so it took quite a while to receive the antenna. When the antenna arrived it was well packaged, the parts list was complete, and the parts were clearly marked with part numbers that matched the assembly drawing. The instructions recommend a 36” deep hole and 18” diameter, with propper drainage in the bottom and concrete. The concrete is poured around the PVC base. We prepared the foundation and base taking care to ensure the flagpole would be vertical.

With care and preparation, it took about half a day to assemble the flagpole. The kit includes the ladder-line feed and transition from a PL-259 connector. Everything went together with no problems. One person can lift, carry and place the 20’ version. I might have needed some help with a larger antenna.

The final steps included mounting the LDG 100 remote tuner I bought, and running the RG-213 coax from the shack to the antenna.

So far I have been exploring the capability of my Lafayette, CO station copying 20 meter beacons from Hawaii, South America and the Atlantic coast of Africa. When I tried FT8 on 20 meters I was taken aback by the stream of DX stations from all over Europe, North and South America.

Next I will be working 20M phone and expect to have my first non-net QSOs since the 60s! Then FT8 and CW (once my rusty skills are honed).

Bottom line: I ran a defense antenna company for the 7 years. I can tell you I was impressed with thek machining and part fit. Went together well with no surprises, looks great, many compliments from neighbors. Only another ham that carefully inspects the feed area might suspect the real mission of the flagpole. XYL happy to have a flag flying. I will submit another review once I get a few QSOs under my belt, and maybe some DX when propagation gets a little better.