ULTIMATE Portable /P Amateur Radio Antenna DX Commander EXPEDITION System

The DX Commander Expedition model is a small package, delivering big results. The pole itself measures just 65 cms long (just over 2 feet) in its portable format and extends to a huge 9.5m in length.

The weight is around 1kg. To extend the pole, take off the top cap and firmly extend each section, with a twist-lock friction fit for the last couple of millimetres.

The whole kit will drop into a small day-pack, ideal for DX-Peditions, /P work, Holidays, camping etc. By using DX Commander components, the Expedition pole can be made to work as a multi-band antenna without ATU utilising a number of ¼ wavelength elements. The picture gallery shows my own DX Commander Expedition. It has three elements for 40m (and 15m), 20m and 17m, all with a perfect natural tune with SWR well under 1.2:1 for every band. Using my inbuilt ATU, I also had this tuned for 30m, 12m and 10m. And the 6m band had a healthy 1.5:1 SWR. The tune on 6m depends on final length of the 40m element and were driving this as a 1 & ¾ wavelength element which still has a small lobe down low for sporadic E, ideal for FT8 and other digital modes. The 15m band is actually a pseudo 5/8.

Since we fold over the top of the 40m element, reducing its physical length. This makes no difference to the 40m band, however the procedure forces the main lobe on 15m down towards the horizon, giving an extra 3db kick for the 15m band. The kit comes complete with all components required including 100m of DX10 wire, laser cut aluminium plates and waterjet cut 8mm UHMWPE nylon plates, plenty of fork connectors, stainless nuts, washers and wing nuts, 2 x hose clamps and some tubing just like the pictures. You also get Paracord, 4mm shock cord and plastic carabiners along with a couple of sections of glue-lined heat shrink all in the kit. All you need do is unwind the DX10 wire, cut your elements to a sizing chart, make a loop and apply some heat shrink.

Cut the remainder of the wire for your radials and you are good to go. You will need to supply some camping guy stakes to suit the ground you intend using it for. In the picture gallery, I have used all five radial points and I fitted 6 radials per connector to the fork connectors.

The radials are just over 2.6m in length. So thats about 80m of wire, using up most of the spare wire in the kit. I loafed along on all bands, having a ball changing bands at will without any need for ATU or worrying about any external tuner. Alternatives to my build might be 40m (& 15m), 20m and 10m (portable contest antenna) or a mix of WARC bands and 40m.

DX Commander has a large YouTube following and the technique of multi-element ¼ wave results is well documented on YouTube. This is not smoke and mirrors but a superb practical solution in achieving fabulous results in just a few minutes. There is a full user guide on my website, just do a google search for dx commander user guide and the page will come up showing guides for the Lite 7m pole, this one and also the Classic, a heavier pole, more suited to semi-permanent and inverted Ls for 80m.

Used as described, you should get many years of service from the pole, however any sort of abuse including standing on it using it in severe weather, the likelihood of breakage will go up, just like any antenna. Please play fair with me since theres a difference between a factory fault and an accident. Saying that, you should be able to use this for a couple of weeks by the coast in a stiff breeze without fail.

That way you can keep the old pole as spares / repairs and have another one for your armoury. This is a tracked system and once it's been delivered to the local processing pplant in the UK, it's out of my hands. This is a hand-assembled kit. The item "ULTIMATE Portable /P Amateur Radio Antenna DX Commander EXPEDITION System" is in sale since Sunday, July 7, 2019. This item is in the category "Mobile Phones & Communication\Radio Communication Equipment\Antennas\Ham/Amateur Radio Antennas".

The seller is "m0mcx" and is located in Solihull. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Antigua and barbuda, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, China, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Indonesia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Barbados, Brunei darussalam, Cayman islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Grenada, French guiana, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Saint kitts and nevis, Saint lucia, Liechtenstein, Sri lanka, Macao, Monaco, Maldives, Montserrat, Martinique, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Paraguay, Reunion, Turks and caicos islands, Aruba, Saudi arabia, South africa, United arab emirates, Ukraine, Chile.

Model: DXC-EXPEDITION
To Fit: Portable/Handheld Radio
Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
Compatible Brand: Universal
Directivity: Omni-Directional
Manufacturer warranty: 1 year
MPN: Does Not Apply
Brand: DX Commander