DX Commander Antenna Build

[@alanjames4526]

Thanks for doing this video with the very detailed narrative. I am thinking of buying a DX Commander antenna and your video has inspired me to possibly buying and assembling one. 73 Alan KZ6B

[@quantumradio]

Best of luck!

[@alexalonso2093]

just stumbled on your site.. have thought about buying .. now that I have seen your steps in a teaching approach. I have confidence I can do it 7 3

[@quantumradio]

Alex, you can do it. It's a good project to put together on a sunny afternoon, possibly two afternoons if one takes it easy. I'll tell you what, it's worth it. I've had great luck with the DX Commander Classic antenna. Made contacts with Argentina (59 SSB), Japan, & New Zealand (FT8), etc. Good luck & 73!

[@ifpo238]

Just finished a 6-el with a Jackite pole that is very much M0MCX/DX Commander inspired (Callum's videos and website are great!). Used it for Field Day for the first time. It worked very well!

[@quantumradio]

Great to hear! Callum's antenna modeling and his approach to DX using low elevation angles are spot on. 73!

[@hamradiotube]

Hey you finally got one, congratulations!!

[@quantumradio]

Thank you! It's been working great for DX. I've been making quite a few DX contacts into Texas, including Japan on FT8 @ 35W!

[@prestonshute7243]

Nicely done, looking forward to future updates with your new antenna. 73 wd4dda

[@quantumradio]

Thank you. I am hoping to take the DXCC out to Field Day next month. 73!

[@frankwc0o]

Oh, one more thing, how long were you radials? Were they 3.2 meters or 4.5 meters? thx.

[@quantumradio]

The radials were each 11ft in length if I remember correctly. 11ft=3.35m.

[@frankwc0o]

@@quantumradio Super, thx.

[@mrcoog3k832]

How has it held up to high winds/storms? Excellent video!

[@quantumradio]

Thank you for the comment. My antenna is nestled amongst oak, elm, & crepe myrtle trees and when strong fronts come through SE Texas, one of the three paracord tie-downs "gives way". This has happened many times & could very well be due to the swaying of the crepe myrtles pushing laterally against the 30ft fiberglass pole. The tie-down's weak point are the two teeth (dogs) that clamp out into the black plastic barrel that hold the paracord itself. So after storms it's a matter of re engaging the teeth inside the barrel and you're good to go. Hope that helps & 73!

[@mrcoog3k832]

@@quantumradio Thanks for the reply and info. I grew up in SE Texas on the Galveston mainland, now in Louisiana. Hurricanes are my concern. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out some kind of tilt mechanism that would be easy to make, and trying to decide between the Nebula and the new Signature models, keeping the hurricane threat in mind. 73!

[@Oregun]

Very nice, thanks!

[@quantumradio]

Thanks for the comment. 73!

[@indiana146]

This year im taking my foundation licence i listen and watch calum a lot hes a top bloke who will help anyone What power can u use on usa ham beginners licence In uk foundation its 10 watts

[@quantumradio]

Best of luck on your foundation license. Per FCC (US regulatory agency) rules, Technician licensed amateurs can transmit with a max of 200W and only in parts of the bands: 10m (RTTY, data, phone, & CW), 15m (CW only), 40m (CW only), 80m (CW only). Also, specific restrictions apply to the 6m, 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, 33cm, & 23cm bands, though there you're probably limited by the equipment's max power output. The ARRL site has the detailed band plan in their website "www.arrl.org" but this is a quick summary. 73!

[@K1DTC]

Great video

[@quantumradio]

Thank you for the comment. Hope the video helps out! 73.

[@K1DTC]

Unfortunately i can’t get 15m to tune at all. 40 is a little high but 15 is around 23.400 and i cut it 2’ longer than cal recommended. Totally confused and he’s useless to get in touch with

[@quantumradio]

@@K1DTC It makes sense that the 40 and the 15m bands are both showing anomalies since those two bands are harmonics, or integer multiples, of the element lengths. I suggested the following to another ham in this thread so hopefully it helps: "For the 40m element the wire does a 180degree fold at the very top. I then fastened it to the highest point on the fiberglass pole by inserting the folded wire element through a small transparent rubber hose that's included. I then wedged that hose, with the wire through it, onto the top of the pole. I have a bit of the 40 element wire dangling from the top of the pole, but it works fine." Thanks for the comment and 73.

[@K1DTC]

@@quantumradio thank you for the comment, i essentially did the same. He is very clear in the manual that the element going up though the hole must be 180 degrees “across”’coming down. I even max a “bow” like he said. I cut the Element exactly like he said and here are my readings 15m-19.450 40m- 6.940 I’m almost renewed the remove 30m and make that 15 only. Not sure if that would work though. I really appreciate the help. You can email me K1DTC i just didn’t think there would be such a huge discrepancy

[@frankwc0o]

For the 40 meter element, the wire folds on itself? I'm guessing it's not tied?

[@quantumradio]

Hey Frank, yes that's correct. For the 40m element the wire does a 180degree fold at the very top. I then fastened it to the highest point on the fiberglass pole by inserting the folded wire element through a small transparent rubber hose that's included. I then wedged that hose, with the wire through it, onto the top of the pole. I have a bit of the 40 element wire dangling from the top of the pole, but it works fine! 73!

[@frankwc0o]

@@quantumradio Super. You would remember how much wire there is after it does the 180? Thx.

[@quantumradio]

Frank, I just looked and it seems to be ~3ft of wire element coming from the top of the fiberglass pole down the side of it. The antenna wire element is fastened to the pole at about 1ft down and 2ft down by threading the wire element through the other transparent rubber hoses. The last foot or 1.5 ft of wire element is loose but doesn't stick out much. Hope that helps, 73!

[@frankwc0o]

@@quantumradio Super, thanks for the info. Have a great day. -73

[@paulhastings3109]

Tnxs

[@robhawkins2492]

Did you use radials, as I don't see any fitted to the radial plate?

[@quantumradio]

Yes, the radials were connected to the baseplate after the raising of the antenna. The SWR reports close to the end of the video were with radials in place: 16 radials in bundles of 4. 73.

[@robhawkins2492]

Thanks for the info. 73