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Reviews For: Alpha Antenna 6-160 HF J-Pole

Category: Antennas: HF: Verticals; Wire; Loop

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Review Summary For : Alpha Antenna 6-160 HF J-Pole
Reviews: 44MSRP: 199
Description:
The Alpha J-Pole Jr & Sr Antenna systems achieve resonance on nearly all of the HF bands and presents an SWR on the remaining bands that are low enough for external tuners to achieve a perfect match.
Product is in production
More Info: http://AlphaAntenna.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00444.9
W8TRC Rating: 2011-11-03
Excellent Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased the Alpha 6-160 HF J-Pole and wanted to comment on the antenna. I put it up last weekend, placing the center on a 30' mast and each end about 8' off the ground. Using the internal tuner in an IC-7410, I am easily able to tune all bands, and had no problems making contacts all over North America and Europe, especially on 10/12/15 meters. 80 and 160 meters worked like a charm, doing 80 meter nets and was very surprised how well 160 sent and received, making a 160 contact from MI to Texas, quite a trick, having experimented with long random wires. I am totally pleased with the antenna, for a general coverage wire at 75' length it works so well I thought I was dreaming. The 200 watt transmit limitation is not an issue for me, this allows me to be on all bands in a a very compact package, a very innovative product that should be well received by the ham community. 73's from W8TRC
VK4NSP Rating: 2011-10-12
quite amazed with the performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I received the antenna very quickly down here in VK, I haven't had a chance to put the antenna up quite the way I would like it, but put it up to a tree as a sloping wire and was quite amazed with the performance with such a short wire antenna, and will do a great job for the portable work I would like to do with it.

Nice portable antenna Alpha Antennas.

Shaun VK4NSP
KF5HBU Rating: 2011-09-09
Better than expected performance & build quality! A+ Service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Alpha Antenna is listening to their customers. They even have a toll free number that that I must have called three times before deciding to purchase the Alpha 6160. Nearly every time I called, a live and licensed person answered the phone. On one occasion, I left a voice mail and Steve, the owner of Alpha Antenna, was the person who called me back. After I bought my antenna, I found out that there are gutter/shingle clips that are optionally available for the Alpha 6160. Steve was kind enough to ship me these for just the cost of the shipping. The clips came in about 3 days and I was worried that I would have to get up on a ladder to install them. I could not have been more pleased or surprised, as the clips I received had a place for the screw side of my broom handle to screw in and I simply placed the wire in the clip and lifted it up with the broom handle where I clipped it to the gutters. Steve recommended putting the clips on the shingles because I have aluminum gutters and he stated this would affect the SWR. I did not mind using a tuner, but as it turns out, I don't have to...except on 80 and 160 meters. I have been checking into the different nets to test out the antenna and am getting S7 to S9 reports every day for the last two weeks. I have been experimenting with QRP and have found that the antenna works a lot better than my G5RV, which was installed along the peak of my roof at 25 feet. It is a lot of fun working DX on this antenna, mainly because it is very quiet. The UNUN has a place where the SO239 is on one side then it has two twist down lugs that cinch down on the wires. I worry about these becoming loose, but that's me...a worrier. The wiring is very flexible and is rated for outdoor use, so I am sure I will get many years of use out of my new antenna. At $119 just buy one, even if it's just for you field kit, which by the way the carrier added to this antenna is simply ingenious!
JP1HIS Rating: 2011-08-31
Here's the bad and the good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Here are the facts about this antenna as I see them:

The good:
1) Handles every bit of 100 watts that I throw at it.
2) Uses end type egg insulators that won't break when dropped.
3) The antenna uses wiring that was designed to be installed outdoors.

The bad:
1) Only handles 200 watts
2) Uses plastic end type egg type insulators rather than ceramic ones.
3) SWR is actually effected by surrounding objects...this is a real antenna, so be diligent and follow the User Guide that's provided.

I always use a tuner so variances in SWR, that are caused by surrounding structures being within 1/4 wave-length in distance from the antenna, get corrected. Keep in mind that this antenna comes pre-tuned, so unless you install it as directed, you will experience higher SWR's than are documented. Speaking of documentation, this thing actually comes with a user guide that's more than one page! The guide is six pages and covers more than enough information to install the antenna correctly. I have used my Alpha 6160 for MARS and on my sail boat in an Inverted L configuration with pretty impressive results on ALL of the HF bands.

I give this antenna a "5 - Great!" rating because the manual is very well-written and truthful. Additionally because the 6160 is so simple to deploy and wind up when I'm done. I have already bought two more for permanent installations and would recommend that you buy this antenna.