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Reviews For: Alpha Delta DX-LB (shorty) dipole for 160-80-4

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Alpha Delta DX-LB (shorty) dipole for 160-80-4
Reviews: 23MSRP: $119.95
Description:
100 ft long dipole for 160-80-40M
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.antenna-info@alphadeltacom.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00234
K0KVR Rating: 2008-02-28
Performs well - replace end isnulators Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my DX-LB for almost a year now. I use it more than any other antenna on 40, 80 and 160 meters. I have almost worked DXCC on 160. this was not easy and am definitely not competetive in a pileup. Last night, I had the same experience as the next operator in these reviews. It was snowing and all of a sudden when I turned on my amp, the SQR went thru the roof. I looked outside and half the dipole was on the ground. Upon inspection this morning, one end insulator was almost carbonized, and partially melted. It actually melted the rope attached at the other end. I then installed a cheap plastic egg inslator which lasted about 10 seconds, and now have a ceramic insulator installed. The beef I have on this is that I called the company when I put up the antenna, because I had read these reviews and asked if they were aware of the problem, and they stated they were, and that it had been fixed, and supposedly I had the new improved insulators. Not so! Anyway, the antenna works for me on 160, 80, and 40 meters since I am very limited in space and do not have high trees far apart.
WB2WIK Rating: 2007-02-05
Misunderstandings? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had one of these for a year or so and after reading some of the reviews, it seems some users misunderstand the antenna...

First, it is not intended to work or even load up on any bands other than 1.8 - 3.5 - 7.0 MHz. Not on 20 meters, not on 30 meters, not on 15 meters, not on 6 meters. If yours loads up on some other band, that's a coincidental conjugate match you've struck with your particular length of coax, but the antenna doesn't work these other bands.

Second, the arc suppressor cartridge *must* be removed from the center insulator if you intend to ever operate off-resonance, which means basically if you ever intend to use the antenna on 160m at all; or if you intend to use it over more than about 50 kHz of 75/80 meters. If you leave the arc suppressor cartridge in place (it's factory installed), it *will* short out when you transmit...

Next, the only weak link I've found with the DX-LB is the end insulators, which are molded from some sort of thermoplastic resin that is definitely NOT up to this task. I had one fail the first time it rained and I transmitted with a kW on 160m; I replaced that one, and then later, the other one failed the same way. I replaced them both with ceramic insulators, but the original failures were a bit scary in that the insulators caught fire and melted. I found one melted, charred remains in my yard...

The ceramic replacements are fine and have been doing well, even in the rain. :-)

"Performance" on 40m is identical to a conventional 1/2-wave dipole, and on 80m is very, very similar to a full-sized 1/2-wave dipole as well, based on hundreds and hundreds of reports I get on the air ("Steve, you're very strong, and stronger than your neighbor Joe there who's in your neighborhood" is a common report received from stations 2000-3000-4000 miles away. I only make such comparisons if I can find a literal neighbor on the air at the same time -- another ham within a mile or two of me, similarly equipped. There are dozens of those to choose from, here in Los Angeles!)

Now, on 160m it's obviously a compromise and has narrow operating bandwidth. Despite that, it accounts reasonably well for itself. In the ARRL 160 contest (which is all CW, so usually doesn't cover more than about 50 kHz of the band), I have no problem making 30-40 contacts an hour, for as many hours as I stay up (zzzzzzzzzzz). I've worked a lot of the Caribbean, South America and the Pacific but have serious trouble getting into Europe on 160. However, most other guys in southern CA also don't do well into Europe unless they have very good antennas, so I don't feel so bad.

In all, I'd give the antenna a "5" except for the weak end insulators. If A-D would use ceramic or glass instead, I'd probably give it a "5" then.

WB2WIK/6
W4AEW Rating: 2007-02-04
Ok antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought one recently and it performs well on 40 and 20M without a tuner. It is too narrow on 80 and 160 meters therefore a tuner is needed. For a trap multiband dipole I think it performs ok but definitively it is not worth the money.
K3ICH Rating: 2006-12-22
Expensive for what you get. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had one up for a couple years and agree that it's performance on 40 is typical of a full size dipole, but 80 and 160 were disappointing. The useable bandwidth on 160 was more like a mobile whip, about +/- 8 kHz. The antenna DID work marginally on 80/160, but you can do a lot better for $120. I replaced it with a two wire per leg dipole, one wire with 80 meter traps for 80/160 and the other leg with 40 meter traps for 60/40 coverage. I used the Unadila traps. The shape is that of a lazy "Z" extending the 160 meter wires where ever they fit. This works like a full size dipole on all four bands. It is possible to tune the DX-LB lower in frequency if you happen to trim too much off, by adding a short piece of stiff wire from the ends of the "traps". I was able to get the center frequency of the DX-LB dead on where I wanted it with that method.

A much more reasonable alternative is a Lew McCoy special....a dipole as long as you can make it, fed with open wire line and a tuner. Most local's suggest 190 feet total as a good compromise, but I wanted to try the trap approach first
K3LL Rating: 2006-12-21
Good SWL Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm not impressed with the DX-LB.

I bought a DX-LB as an experiment and installed it as an inverted vee, replacing my 40m inverted vee, to see how things would go on 80 and 160.

Bottom line that I took it down and used the wire to make a trapped 80/40 inverted vee. The DX-LB coils are now in my scrap bin.

1. Performance on 40 compared to inv vee is fine as expected since it is full size on 40m.

2. 80/160 2:1 SWR Bandwidth is narrow as expected, but not easy (if at all possible) to move the reasonance point. I gave up on it thinking it would have been better to install it as a flat top than an inv vee.

3. Two emails to AlphaDelta remain unanswered, even after complying with their spam filter.

For much less money I bought two 40m unadilla traps and went for an 80/40 trapped inv vee. Plus the antenna can be easily trimmed to where you want to operate. I can use the tuner on 160 and basically get the same performance that I did from the DX-LB. I do think the DX-LB would make a great SWL antenna though or it will be fine if you are happy using a tuner to fool your transmitter all the time.
KB0LSG Rating: 2006-11-21
40 good 80 OK and 160 :-( Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I can't give this antenna a great review or a poor review. Lets face the facts here. I had a SWL friend who owned one that used it to listen on low bands. He had the antenna a couple of years before passing away and said that it always worked well for him. I got the antenna along with some other radios from his wife and decided to give the DXLB a try. Sure the antenna is not a trapped antenna but it is still very narrow band width on 80 and 160 meters because of the loading coils for those bands. The 40 meter portion performs as a full size dipole. Initially I fed the antenna with RG213 and it worked well at 600 watts on 40 and 80. If you were not within the 20KC bandwidth on 160 you can forget running the amp. My arched 2060A Heathkit Tuner would tell you the story. The voltage and feed line loss was very high on 160 with SWR in excess of 3 to 1.

My recommendations are simple. If you have a 120 bucks plus burning a hole in your pocket, and live on a small lot, and you are going to use this without an amp on 160... go for it. If you get an amp later and want to use it on 160 feed the antenna with 450ohm ladder line. You will gain much more band width with the ladder line and your tuner will thank you for it.

For the about the same amount of room and much less money I recommend you build yourself a stagger tuned dipole antenna with the top element for 160. The 160 dipole can be linier loaded or bent around to get the full 130' needed to fit your lot. Feel free to contact me for details on the ones I have built. They can be fed with good quality 50 ohm coax and will run full legal limit with good bandwidth. For much less money, and about the same amount of space, the stagger tuned antenna will outperform the DXLB any day. Put the extra cash in you pocket and take the wife and kids out for dinner. You will be much happier while at the helm and the wife and kids will thank you for the meal. Please look me up in QRZ. I will be glad to share my antenna design with you for FREE. 73 OM DE KB0LSG Trent
KN7T Rating: 2006-09-26
Good Choice For Small Properties Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned my DX-LB for a number of years and it has always performed fine. No issues, not even with the traps although I did notice that the clearcoat on the trap cores is starting to peel off but that's no big deal - easy enough to re-apply and I consider that part of normal antenna maintenance anyway. My biggest problem is that I just couldn't get it mounted high enough to let it really perform - with the center at 30 feet and the ends at around 12 feet. The 2:1 SWR bandwidth on 160 is very small so be aware of that. The heavy duty construction of this antenna is one of it's strongpoints and the center insulator assembly is very durable. When I first bought this antenna, the center insulator had a small crack in the plastic near the SO-239 connector and even after being exposed to the elements for a number of years, the crack hadn't grown. The outer coating on the wire insulation is starting to come off due to UV exposure but the underlying jacket is not cracked or otherwise damaged.
WA8EBM Rating: 2006-09-06
Works as Advertised Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Live on a small city lot. Have been running 102 foot dipole with open wire feeders. Wanted to get on 160. Hung the LB at 40 foot apex with ends at 25 feet. Fed it with 213 coax. Per the specs, out of the box it resonated fine 1800 to 1825khz. Tried using the autotuner in the PW-1 KW amp and it would tune for about 50 khz with full output. 80 and 40 also resonated per the specs. Tried using the Heath 2060 tuner and it arc'd at about 500 watts when leaving the cut frequency range. Since I wanted more flexibility I Removed the arc-plug in the center insulator and feed it with 450 ohm open wire feeders. Using my Heath tuner or my new Palstar AT5K I can now run a KW on all bands 160-10 meters as long as the SWR is flat- without arc's.
The height is not optimum and I am sure the pattern is strange on 160 but I get extremely good signal reports throughout the Midwest.
I looked at all the options and this, to me, was the most efficient. Until I can talk the wife into moving to the country, this is probably the best you can do for low bands on a small lot.
It is a little expensive but copper wire prices have become outrageous.
Also, sent emails to customer support ref my options and received immediate responses.
If the coating holds up on the loading coils, I would say this is a very well built antenna and easy way to get on top band for the winter months.
N2DWS Rating: 2006-09-06
nice alternative Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
SWMBO has made it quite clear that multiple wires hanging in her back yard are no longer allowed (we just got a new house) so, a bit of negotiation got me permission to run one wire. I have a tower for 10,15 & 20 so a trapped dipole seemed like an option for the low bands.
The alpha delta went up easy, hides well coming off the tower and loads like a dream. 40 mtrs resonates most of the band without a tuner. Most of my operating on 75 is near the top of the band and I can load up with just the auto tuner in the IC-746. 160 almost always seems to need a tuner and that holds true with this wire also.
By and large,despite the price, this is a good value. Solid construction and open traps that won't collect bugs and water make me very pleased with this unit. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 was the cost. It just seems pricey for the components involved.
N8BHB Rating: 2006-04-30
Worth the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was skeptical about shelling out more than $100 bucks on a wire antenna, but it's well worth the price. I was impressed with heavy-duty construction and quality parts.

80 & 40 meters tune up effortlessly with my LDG 200 auto tuner giving full band coverage. 160 meter bandwidth is somewhat restricted, even with tuner, but not unexpected considering short length.

Maximum height above ground and a good grounding system are essential for proper operation. Mine's currently at 30', but I'm trying to raise it another 10' in hopes of even better performance. I've been able to work most of North America and Carribbean with 100w or less.

When I called for advice about tuning 160m and use of a current balun, I was referred to the antenna's designer, Don, who was extremely helpful. No overseas call centers with reps you can't understand!!