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Reviews For: Alpha Delta DX-DD

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Alpha Delta DX-DD
Reviews: 23MSRP: 89.95
Description:
40/80 meter shortened dipole (82')
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.alphadeltacom.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00234.6
IZ2XMK Rating: 2013-06-16
Very satisfied Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I decided to install this dipole just to compare the performance in 40m with my Cuscraft R8.
The apex is at about 1m below the R8 radial umbrella (=around 15m above ground) and outperformed the vertical by 1 to 2 S points.
In my experience you better keep the arms with a corner of about 105 degrees pulling them straight as much as You can (dont worry the AD stuff will not be broken). You will cover the whole 40m and with radio tuner the 80m also (do not loose time in touching the wires lenght!).
With 500W I could cover from Italy everything between USA and Japan and never below 5/9 at continental level.
In 80m the take off will not be so greath but You are going to be present with honor.
All in all I really recommend this antenna; rugged construction and simple to install. If you are accurately installing this dipole You'll not be disappointed for sure!
73 Luigi.
AA4AJ Rating: 2013-01-10
Just Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My antenna is installed as a flat top. It is 15 feet high on one end and about 25 feet on the other. I feed it with RG-8X coax. The SWR on 40 is well within the range of my internal tuner and 2.0 or less across the band. The resonant bandwidth on 80 meters is about 50 khz. It is 1:1 for half of that and then rises quickly to either side of the curve. My internal tuner will expand this to about 90 khz. It works across all of 15 meters with my internal tuner.

I took out the static module and will use a wider range tuner to get further up the 80 meter band but, I usually work where the antenna is resonant and will not change the factory settings.

The DX-DD is very well made and could probably survive a lot of abuse - which I hope mine does not get. It took about an hour to install but I could have done it if 15 minutes if I was not picky. The people at Alpha Delta are helpful and interested in their products.

If you have lots of land, you can get something with wider band width and greater power. If not, this is one really fine compromise. It works just as advertised.
KR4J Rating: 2012-06-04
Great for Limited Space Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The antenna is up in the trees with the center around 30 feet, and the legs terminating about 10-15 feet off the ground. I am close to power lines, so I had to insure that there would no problems. Out of the package, the antenna produced a very high SWR. A little tuning cured this. My SWR on 40 ranges from 2:1 at the band edges to 1.2:1 at the center. 75 meters is tuned to about 1.2:1 at the best point in the Extra Class band, and I get about 100khz from each side before the SWR is 2:1. This is pretty good for a limited space antenna. The tuner on my FT950 tunes the rest of the 75-80 band fine. As I mentioned, the location is not optimum due to surrounding power lines in the front and back yards. As far as performance, I have no problem working what I can hear. Our signals are usually about the same. I only run 100 watts. This is a great antenna for space limitations.
PY2ONU Rating: 2011-07-10
GOOD ANTENNA Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Good antenna, i instaled this antenna (center) 15 meters above the ground in my TV tower. In 40 meters work great (the same a wire dipole) many DX in this band to the world. In 80 meters 40 khz (1.5:1 swr) in 3.510 khz (good contacts in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguai, ColĂ´mbia, Russia, Finland, Belarus, Ukraine, etc). Works very well in 80 meters for 27 meters wire dipole. I don't have space in my house, i'm happy, good job Alpha Delta!
KJ7CY Rating: 2010-03-28
Great mult-band antenna with 450 ohm ladder line Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this antenna for apx.10 years. It has held up really well. It is narrow banded on 80 meters when fed with coax. Mine antenna is resonant around 3.900mhz and below 1.5 swr across entire 40 meters. I now feed the antenna with 117ft. of 450 ohm ladder line though a 1:1 current balun made by Balun Designs(model 1115t)and then a short run of coax to my Ameritron tuner. This allows 10-80 meter coverage with very good results. The apex is at 36ft. and the ends are at 20ft. Most of the time I don't even use the tuner on 10,12,15,and 40 meters. But I do need to use the tuner on 17,20, and non resonant portions of 75/80 meters. The antenna is made of high quality materials and should last a long time. I also have a DX-EE but have not put it up in the air yet. I am very happy with this antenna and would highly recommend it.
WB4TJH Rating: 2009-11-10
perfect now modified Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This has always been a good, yet limited use antenna. So a couple of years ago, I decided to replace the center coaxial feedline connection with one designed for balanced feed line. NOW this antenna loads and radiates very, very well on all bands, 80-10 meters and with a broadbanded manual tuner, I can tune all bands/frequencies with very low loss. It's a very heavy duty antenna and can withstand a lot of wind and bad weather. Now with the modification of being able to use balanced feedline instead of coax, I have a fine, all band antenna only 82 feet long, that takes care of most of my HF operation. I use 300 ohm windowline from DX Engineering, but 450 ohm balanced line would work just just as well. The advantage of the 300 ohm is its lower wind and icing profile. Winters here in SW Missouri can be pretty harsh and ice storms are common. If you have one of these Alpha Delta antennas and would like to make it even more versatile, consider this modificiation.It turns a dual band antenna into a fine performing ALL bander.
5R8GQ Rating: 2008-12-05
Works Well for what it is Time Owned: more than 12 months.
First of all, the listed price at the top of this page is wayyy out of date. I just checked online and they currently sell at HRO for $130.95 as of December 2008.

I have had this antenna up for about 8 years. It is installed as an Inverted Vee with the apex at 35 feet and the ends about 9 feet off of the ground. It did not work well at all out of the box. High SWR and difficult to tune. A call to Alpha Delta told me to remove the worthless metal strip they call a "lightening/static protector" at the center connector. Everything was FB after that. Since I use it for RTTY & CW, it worked well at the bottom of the two bands without tuning at all, though the bandwidth on 80m is only about 75 kc (under 3:1 VSWR). Bandwidth on 40m is much wider, but since it is centered at 7.090 I can't fully measure it. Handles a kilowatt RTTY just fine and has stood up well to weather.

I gave this antenna 4 instead of a 5 because of the very high price for what you are getting. come on.....$130 for an 82' wire antenna?
HFSPOOK Rating: 2008-07-26
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The DX-DD replaced a home built 40M dipole. The DX-DD performs as well as the full length unit on 40M and now I have 80M as a bonus. Both bands work great and I get great reports using my home built 40M/80M QRP rig (2 watts).
Robust antenna like the other Alpha Delta antennas I have for ham and SWL.
KC5NWS Rating: 2008-07-25
very good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Put up the dx-dd today, one leg is up about 25feet,the other about 15 feet and the center is about 27 feet, runs south and north. Right now using coax and a outboard auto tuner on 75/80.No tuner needed on 40. Results are very good. Getting one leg up at 25ft got me over the ridge to my west and now I can also work 75/80, talked to a station in new mexico at 8;30am on 75 so thats great, talked to the old geezers on 40 this am and my signal is much improved so i am very happy.Later I may go to ladder line and try that.This ant replaces a 40m dipole.
k5jyd in texas
KY6R Rating: 2008-05-06
Great Antenna & Service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently converted my Alpha Delta DX-LB to a DX-DD so I could get the antenna up higher - as a 50' flat top. I emailed Don at Alpha Delta and he was most helpful, and I think very kind to support me in my conversion.

I learned a few things as well, and its really great to have an American company, owned by a ham, support their products the way Don does.