I live in a high rise condominium on the 16th floor. I purchased the Alpha Base Loop almost 3 years ago and it has performed very well. I have had many QSOs on 40,20,15 and 10 meters. I have had good SWR readings on all the bands. It has survived 2 harsh winters and many storms with high winds. The worst storm was a derecho.

In case you are wondering what the heck is a derecho here is the definition.

A Derecho is a widespread long lived straight wind storm that is associated with a fast moving group of severe thunderstorms.

During this storm we had sustained winds of over 120 mph for about 4 minutes. All over town we had roofs destroyed, trees down everywhere and much of the city was without power for almost a week.

The Base Loop survived. I had it mounted to a steel pole which was strapped tightly to the balcony railing. I did have to go out and straighten up the coax and it did lose a support beam. But that was easy to replace, and the antenna still performed well even without the support beam.

The antenna has performed better than most verticals that I have used in the past. It’s not a multi element beam but it has gotten me on HF when I didn’t think it would be possible. I have worked all over the US and over 25 countries in Europe, South America, Hawaii and Alaska.

It is a high Q antenna so an antenna analyzer can be a big help in tuning the antenna. I have had no complaints from the HOA and no one has even noticed it. If you put it next a grill or potted plant they probably won’t realize it’s an antenna.

It is a great antenna and well worth the money.

N0CWQ