I bought this antenna in August, and it has been great for getting out of the shack and going portable! I found the Alpha DX Sr antenna while looking for an antenna system to use portable with my FT-857D.

I wanted something that was easy to use, self-contained, covers 80-10 meters, durable, and can handle higher power if I ever want to use it with an amp. If you’re looking for the same thing, that’s exactly what you will get with the Alpha DX. The design has been updated over the last few years to incorporate a more durable bastion coil, as well as the more durable and easier to use mil-sticks, so Alpha Antennas is obviously listening to user feedback and improving their designs.

When I got my antenna, it was packaged very securely, and the included nylon bag has plenty of room for extras. I am able to pack the full antenna system, 25 feet of RG-8X, some para cord guy lines that I made, and a padded bag for the bastion, all without splitting the zipper, so the generous sized bag is much appreciated. When I set up the antenna, I quickly got the SWR below 1.5 using the recommended coil setting and started working 20m SSB.

Even with the antenna under a large set of trees in my front yard in California, I was easily able to make contacts in Washington, Colorado, Kansas, and Georgia while only using 65 watts. I know that’s not very impressive to a seasoned pro, but this was my first time trying any kind of HF, so I’m sure you can imagine how happy I was that day! Since that first day I have added a MFJ tuner (MFJ-939Y) and am now able to tune 80-6 meters with the push of a button.

Just this past weekend I made several contacts in Canada, as well as Midwestern and East coast states, while operating off of my truck tailgate! I’m looking forward to some better propagation and the contesting season so I can finally see what this antenna is really capable of!

Needless to say this is a purchase that I’m very happy with. It makes operating portable easy so you can enjoy being outside without sacrificing performance!

73,

Dean,

KK6PTS