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Reviews For: Fox Delta Kits

Category: Ham Radio Kits

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Review Summary For : Fox Delta Kits
Reviews: 14MSRP:
Description:
A variety of low cost kits for the ham.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.foxdelta.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00144.4
KO4NR Rating: 2021-02-27
Great Value!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased the AAZ-0713A antenna analyzer, GCPU-0613, SWM3 Power Meter, and the Dual Scale HF Bridge. As of recently all kits but the Dual Scale Bridge can be purchased assembled. The web site provides a secure online purchase and the communications after the sale were professional and timely. I have quite an array of test instruments now and spent a little of $200.00 for all four!!

I have put the AAZ-0713A antenna analyzer and the GCPU to work in the shack with good results. I've used the antenna analyzer to check my antenna and to adjust my tuner. In both cases it worked great with the GCPU and my computer. It can be used either with your computer utilizing the free software or with the GCPU for remote operations. Either way it has been a very useful tool for me.

The Fox Delta web site provides a wealth of user information and requires you to read carefully and thoroughly. Some of the information may be dated so if in doubt just send an email to the Fox Delta Yahoo Group and an answer will be sent soon. In fact the Fox Delta support is outstanding in my opinion. My questions were answered timely and in a very friendly manner even though all I really had to do was read the instructions on the web site. I am impressed and grateful to the Fox Delta team for the time they invest in developing the kits and maintaining the web site. This is just their hobby and not a big business venture. When considering the time they have to invest in providing the kits and support they obviously love the hobby!!

I was pleasantly surprised by the free software provided for the antenna analyzer. It is a professional product that really adds great functionality to the antenna analyzer.


I'll update the review after I assemble the HF Dual Scale bridge and get more time under my belt with all the instruments.
73,
Bill Smith
KO4NR

I have used my Antenna analyzer and power meter for several years now. Great additions to the shack!! The software provided for my kits is very handy and works as well or better than some of the professional software packages for devices that I have. Surprising the software is provided free with the kits considering how inexpensive the kits are.

Understand that the Fox Delta gang are Ham radio operators that are providing the kits as a service for the Ham community. They are not a big commercial operation so don't expect hands on customer service or an online Help Desk. Instead the Fox Delta documentation provided for the kits is written to give you most of what you need. You can expect to have to figure out a few things for yourself if there are problems. I have had a few questions answered over the years but again they do not have a Customer Service staff on call for you. There are only 3 of them.

Note- Some of the kits can be purchased assembled. It's free for Seniors or an extra $5.00.


Good Luck and 73,
Bill KO4NR
KF7SWC Rating: 2020-05-19
Save your money Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the pre-assembled antenna analyzer kit and it does not work. I contacted the builder and he won't help fix the issue when he was the one that built it and tested it before shipping to me. Buyer beware their product and customer service is terrible.
VE2DIV Rating: 2019-10-02
my god what a pleasant surprised !!!!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
this product is great the assembly is PERFECT..... this device is in many way way better than the ERC-M i also have from VIBROPLEX go see the review !!! customer service from FOX DELTA is 5 stars !!!!!

all questions i had were answered quickly and with precision !!! if i have to say one thing to improve is the documentation !!! it is not as easy to locate but for the rest this product is worth every penny !!!! total cost here in Canada all expense 120.00 CDN almost 200 dollars less than the ERC-M and i have a digital readout and a very nice metal casing versus the one i had to buy from vibroplex !!!!!! GO FOX DELTA you wont regret it !!!!!!!
KK4CF Rating: 2018-12-09
ST2 great buy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered pre-assembled 1 ST2 USB and 1 ST2 RS232. Both arrived in about 10 days in perfect condition. Used G-5500 pigtail from nonworking LVB Tracker, attached wires under the screws on the ST2, and tracking in about 15 minutes with SatPC32.
K9UR Rating: 2017-02-13
Low Cost Kit and Works ! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Got this HF SWR Analyzer kit and assembled it in one evening. Works great. Requires a Windows based PC, not a big deal. SWR plotting software is very handy, as is the ability to run multiple plots (to see what changes from adjustment to adjustment). Works 0.5 Mhz to around 35 Mhz making it perfect for HF. The software seems very versatile and likely many upgrades to come in terms of functionality. I have a few other portable antenna analyzers that do more, but they cost 4x to 5x what this thing cost...and this one is very handy to have in the shack...connect to your tuner, amplifier input, etc, to see what the SWR looks like to the radio. Simple and effective.
VE3MIC Rating: 2015-07-03
A must have for multi-band HF antennas Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you are looking for an expensive antenna analyzer for HF, look no further. This is my first Fox Delta kit, and it won't be my last.
Good quality PCB, easy to assemble with good documentation. Mine came with an aluminium enclosure. I only wish that they made one that would cover VHF & UHF. Easy to use, and after analyzing my G5RV, I could not understand how this antenna manages to work on anything but 20m ;) The kit is very easy to assemble, and I would rate this kit somewhere in between a beginner to average builder skill level. No surface mounted components to contend with as the DDS module is pre-assembled.

A $50 antenna analyzer with free software. It's a real bargain.
73 de Mike VE3MIC
KJ4FGI Rating: 2014-12-03
Impressed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was impressed when my 50MHZ Antenna Analyzer: AAZ-0914A: arrived. Less than 10 days from India, all parts were individually placed in it's own zip-lock bag and the bags were labeled what part it contained. I sent an email at 0300 EST, I had a reply in less than 1 hour. The circuit board was high quality, I did not have to use flux.
I will most definitely buy more kits from Fox Delta, I'm looking now.

I saw the antenna analyzer in CQ, I love it, on a graph from 160 to 35mhz it will show you where the lowest swr points are. No using the MFJ 259B going to each band and turning the tune button, this scans the whole hf ham bands and show you all the swr readings.
N4WGY Rating: 2014-01-02
Excellent Value Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered a FoxDelta AAZ-0713A antenna analyzer kit from the vendor in India. Arrived is less than 10 days.

The AAZ-0713A is a basic antenna SWR analyzer operating from 1 thru 30 MHz. Analysis functions and data acquisition are performed thru a Windows software tool and a USB or Serial interface to the analyzer. If using USB, the analyzer is powered by the USB +5.

The kit packaging quality was very good, all components labeled in individual little ziploc bags.

All SMD components come pre-soldered, no cost savings option to buy the kit with the SMD components unattached.

PCB trace and pad quality appeared fair to good, silk screening is OK, no errors. It's not a top grade PCB, but its absolutely not junk either.

Sub component quality appeared very good, measured the caps and coils with my LC and they were all very well within their tolerances. The DDS circuit is one of the 9850's so popular from China. The controller is a PIC.

Assembly instructions I grade as poor to fair at best. I had no problems finishing the assembly by cross referencing the good quality schematic, BOM and finished circuit card assembly pictures. However for someone who has little technical circuit design or assembly experience this kit could be a frustration. There are NO step by step assembly instructions a-la Heathkit.

Completing the circuit card assembly and conducting some pre-powerup checks took about 2 hours.

The free Windows software from FoxDelta for interfacing to the analyzer seems to work quite well thru the USB interface. Had no problems whatsoever installing the tool or interfacing/recognizing the device (Win7).

The software has a calibration routine which the utility asks to be run each time the utility is opened. Cal routine takes approximately 10 seconds to complete.

There are a number of analysis options in the utility: sweep resolution, spectrum sweep limits, multiple sweep plots, plot presentation types and some others. I finished building the thing one night before writing this review and have spent a total of 30 minutes playing with the functions so have not come close to wiggling all of the knobs yet. Did run some sweeps on my home brewed hexbeam and 40/80 meter trapped dipole, very good data which jives with plots taken with MUCH more expensive analyzer instruments.
For $35 shipped from India I think the kit is a genuinely fantastic bang for the buck. Tis a Shame the unit cannot readily accommodate 6 and 2 meters as I'd happily pay double the $35 for that!
AD6KA Rating: 2013-10-04
Could Better Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I built Th Fox Delta 100w HF PIC/LCD SWR Bridge/Power Meter. It took a long time to arrive. The parts and PC boards are decent quality but the kit requires 5 different styles of PC Board Male & Female headers, which arrived *unmarked* in my kit. (Usually not a problem, BUT the kit has three PC boards and the spacing between boards, which of course is dependent on the headers, is critical. ALSO, the headers were not cut to size, nor was that having to cut them to size evenmentioned in the "instructions"(i.e. a 10 pin header cut into 2 4-pin headers, with 2 pins to throw away)
I say "Instructions" in quotes because there ARE NO INSTRUCTIONS LIKE A KIT. Just a few schematics
and drawings, maybe 4 photos of completed project.
ZL3DW Rating: 2013-06-29
3kits Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I built the 200W/2kW power meter, basic soundcard interface and the antenna analyzer. Excellent support and service from Fox Delta, one fault with an unsoldered pin on a SMD device (meant to be pre-soldered by FD) also a wierd fault on a pre-made cable (not Fox Delta's fault I expect)it had one open circuit wire causing no backlight on the power meter display, I expect FD purchased it that way. It was crimped and looked ok but was oc. Cases are pretty poor quality everything else, documentation, kit quality and support is excellent.