I first used the Alpha HF Antenna on field day with my FT-897 and leisurely made over 800 contacts from Australia to Japan and all over the US plus other DX locales. Flat SWRs were easily achieved by using the methods in the most excellently written user guide. The horizontal elements are actually radiating elements and when you add the length of all the elements together you have a 40 meter ¼ wave antenna. It’s no wonder this thing really outperforms my buddipole, which is fragile when compared to the Alpha DX Antenna.

One of the cool things about the arrangement of the elements is that it’s like having three L antenna systems, each pointing in a separate direction. I’ve found that the L antenna gives me the best combination for a take-off angle and performance for NVIS (horizontal elements) as well as DX (vertical element). The last note that I’ll make is that the coil is located at the center of the antenna system, which if you know your antenna design and performance standards, it is either best to have the coil in the center or at the top of an antenna; never at the base!

KD6LSJ