| W0RDX |
Rating:  |
2018-04-03 | |
| Great for the Price! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Okay, since one cannot edit a review, thought I would add some detail to mine from actual experience rather than, I like it, etc.
I measured the antenna on 160-80 and 40 with an analyzer but honestly, I prefer to use the amplifier SWR meter and radio since they are the end users and will provide a more accurate picture (yes the Analyzer values will differ (MFJ-249C).
First, let me say, my initial experience was with the W9INN sloper that a friend gave me which got me on 160 meters. Without that initial sloper, I would never have been able from a city lot.
Now living in 5 land, I have a 50 ft Glen Martin Tower with an A3 above the top of the Hazer/Antenna, with a WARC antenna above that and a 6 meter yagi at the top. Sloper is attached at the bottom of the Hazer, so that makes it around 45 feet high. Tower is aluminum.
Freq 1.8 SWR 1.5
1.84 SWR 1.2
1.86 SWR 1.4
1.88 SWR 1.8
3.50 SWR 3.1
3.60 SWR 2.9
3.70 SWR 1.9
3.80 SWR 1.7
3.90 SWR 2.4
7.00 SWR 1.5
7.10 SWR 1.3/1.5
7.20 SWR 1.4/1.5
7.30 SWR 1.7
The SWR as measured on the amp meter and radio meter are pretty close to each other. The Analyzer reads higher for some reason.
Is it a great great antenna? It is a compromise antenna for sure, but I Have worked Asia, EU, AF, etc. on 160, but to be clear. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A RECEIVE ANTENNA. The sloper as is any vertical is noisy. W/O a receive antenna, you can get out but likely may not hear what may be coming back to your CQ.
Antenna is well built, with the exception of the antenna to tower mounting, which you might want to beef up.
I wrap the coils with electrical tape to protect them from the elements.
Maintenance? What wire antenna will NEVER require maintenance? Minimal at best, perhaps a solder touch up, a broken wire, whatever.
I have had good results with mine and cannot complain. Easy to erect (since I only have one support) with 40-50 foot high support.
Bonus: It also loads well on 30 meters!
Anyway, the Impednace on 160 (per the analyer) ranges from 80 ohms to 50 ohms, 80 meters from 90 ohms to 60 ohms, 40 meters - 25 ohms to 75 ohms.
All in all, for the price/cost, I think it is a well worth investment.
|
|
| K4TK |
Rating: |
2017-12-11 | |
| over my 30 years of being a Ham, I've had 3 of these... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
The first one lasted me a little over 20 years. And it worked GREAT. i have it mounted 32 feet up my tower....and I've worked LOTS of DX....especially on 80.
The second one ....I bought while stationed in South Korea with the Air Force. I attached it to a 10 foot water pipe...mounted on top of a 3 story Officer's Dorm building at Osan Air Base. My 10 foot water pipe was attached to a vent pipe with hose clamps....and I had parachute chord stretched out to 3 concrete blocks to hold up the water pipe, a lightweight rotator, and a 3 element beam. Off of that pipe, i had the DXA mounted as inverted V. I only ran 100 watts. Go look at my HL9TK log on QRZ.com to see the results on 80, 40 and 30 (loaded 30 with my tuner). I worked lots of DX, especially on 40 and 80....with that limited configuration. It was surprising JUST HOW WELL IT WORKED!
I'm on my 3rd one now (sold the 2nd one before i left Korea). Original one at the house lasted as I said just over 20 years. Had this one about 10 years now.
So, the only issues i know of are:
1. 160 meters, as to be expected, is kind of narrow bw. I have worked SOME DX, but it is NOT a great antenna on 160 for me in this config.
2. 80 is also a bit narrow bw, but of course much better than 160. My configuration has one leg of the inverted V config going right over the roof of my house....and it does cause me some interference on my TV and wireless router when running any power. Don't think that's caused by the antenna, but rather...my configuration.
3. on 40, my rotatable dipole at 50 ft out performs it. Again, to be expected!
I'll say this, I've constantly been able to bust pileups on 80....especially on CW....running this antenna and 1200 watts. Granted, I'm not going to compete with this setup with the "big guns"...who have yagis and better antenna. But it out performs any dipole. In fact, i have a full size 80 meter inverted V HIGHER up the tower....at about 42 feet....and the DXA out performs it every time I make a comparison. |
|
| VE7NZ |
Rating: |
2014-11-16 | |
| Works best on 17 Meters - Go figure! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
OK, so I couldn't install the antenna as specified and I will not suggest anything bad about the antenna as without the proper installation it would be an unfair review. I put the centre up my tower at around 35 feet. The offset angle is too tight and the line with the trap does a 90 degree turn at one place and runs horizontal after that (!).
Three observations: 1. Antenna worked much better after i installed a dedicated ground wire to the base of the tower where i have a ground rod for my tower ground. This was much better than just clamping against the tower; 2. Made contacts on 160/80/40 ...40m performance was not quite as good as my Cushcraft A3S add-on kit (shortened dipole) but see note above- unfair comparison.
3. What amazes me is it matches well on 18MHz and I am on my way to earning DXCC on that band! It must be my whacky install layout but the thing is amazing. I am used to a 3 el yagi on 10/15/20 and this thing is working with great performance on 17 meters. Crazy!
73. |
|
| W5RHR |
Rating: |
2012-04-03 | |
| little disappointed |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I echo the comment about the coax bracket being a little less substantial, it has already bent on me.
Let me preface my review by stating I do NOT have a fixed tower to mount the antenna on. I have a metal 30' pole with a ground wire running from the coax plate to a ground and counterpoise.I can resonate on 160 meters
I cannot seem to find resonance on 40, and even with a tuner have RF on 40 setting off my burglar alarm. I have no rf issues with other wire antennas.
On 80 I can find resonance but the VSWR at resonance is about 2:1.
I have tried various angles and mounting configurations, and directions, and I cannot get this antenna to perform any better than my delta loop.
I know this antenna must work from reading other positive reviews, just not for me. |
|
| K4TM |
Rating: |
2012-02-25 | |
| Poor |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I purchased the DX-A after reading good reviews here. My experience was anything but! I mounted the antenna at 37' on my 40' tower, added several ground rods to insure the tower was grounded and added a ground line from the antenna mount to the ground rods. I had a terrible time tuning the antenna on 80 and 160, even emailed Alpha Delta for tech support and got a prompt reply: add 3-30' ground radials. I did that, it didn't have any appreciable effect. Emailed the result and Alpha Delta contact said he'd check with engineering and I never heard back. I have taken the DX-A down and reworked it to a 80-40 meter inverted-V fed with a W2DU balun (I'll forego 160, of course). So, al least I salvaged the wire so the DX-A is not a total loss. Don't waste your money!
73, Cary, K4TM |
|
| FORMER_W3AMF |
Rating: |
2010-11-23 | |
| Great antenna for the money and space required. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have one at my home station mounted at 35' on a grounded tower and another at my vacation station mounted on a grounded mast at 20'. Both look like inverted vees, and the ends are about 8' above ground. It is possible to use them on some bands without a tuner, but I always use a tuner. They work well on 160-80-40-30-17-12 meters and produce lots of DX. The one on the tower performs better than the one on the mast. Both have been up for about five years in lots of rough weather. I recommend it if space and money matter to you. |
|
| KF4DSS |
Rating: |
2010-01-13 | |
| IT WORKS |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| THIS Antennas WORKS AND WORKS WELL BUT YOU MAY HAVE TO TRIM IT TO YOUR BAND BUT ITS. A GOOD Antennas FOR SMALL LOTS |
|
| CT1HZU |
Rating: |
2009-03-02 | |
| Outstanding !! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Installed this antenna primarily because I didn’t have 160 and 80 bands and also because I have very limited space available. I live on a 10 floor story building and even for this antenna I had to install it in a non-conventional way. I received the antenna on the last weekend of K5D operation and a good test specially on 160 was to contact the team. I could do it on CW with very noticeable signals. I also could do some SWL on the CQ WW 160M contest, and again could ear some US stations getting through the huge QRN.
About the installation, the metal plate of where the coaxial is being attached is @ 7meter high (23 feet) above the top of the building. The 160M leg of this antenna has 60 feet or 18 meter. The 80M leg can be totally slopped, however the 160M/40M leg had to be folded, since I had no available space for it, so about 3 meter (10 feet) had to be folded sideways. I had on both legs to decrease it’s lengths, due in fact to the proximity of “ground” (top of the building), but after done that I had an SWR of 1:3:1 on 160CW and about 1:9:1 on 160SSB. On 80M I had initially a good match on 80CW, in fact a little to good, so I had to bring the resonance a bit up, so that I could get a reasonable behaviour on 80SSB. On 40M I did notice I had a good performance on all band, but really didn’t give to much attention to it, since I have a 3 element yagi on this band.
Bottom line is, I’m delighted with this antenna and will recommend it to anyone having very limited available space.
73’s de
Pedro-CT1HZU |
|
| NZ0T |
Rating: |
2008-12-02 | |
| 15 months later... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| After 15 months of use I wanted to update my review of the DX-A. I am very happy with this antenna. It works very well for me on all three bands and 80M SWR, which had been 1.7-1 at best has now come down to about 1.2-1 at resonance after I removed my G5RV and the ladder line that ran along (spaced out 6 inches) the tower leg. Does it work as well as a full size dipole? Probably not but if you have a small lot like I do and a tower with some sort of beam to serve as "top loading" and want to get on 160M then this antenna is for you. If those conditions are met, as Alpha-Delta says in their literature/manual, then the antenna will work well. Be aware that some "fiddling" may be needed and that other antennas/feedline like my G5RV may affect the sloper. I did replace the G5RV with a coax fed 60M inverted vee that does not affect the sloper. |
|
| K2DC |
Rating: |
2008-11-14 | |
| Absolutely Love It! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
In 30 years, I had never had a workable antenna for 160M. So I took down my homebrew 40/80M inverted vee pair and replaced it with the DX-A, hanging from the tower at 58' with a down lead grounded at the base of the tower.
For DX, I see absolutely no difference between the DX-A and the inverted vees it replaced, and I have DXCC on both bands. On 160M I have 58 worked and 19 confirmed in only two months.
I realize that DX worked is not an entirely objective measure of the performance of the antenna, without comparative or measured data (I'm an Antenna Engineer by trade). But I'm having a ball.
73 All,
Don, K2DC
|
|
