DX Commander: Best HF Antenna For Your?

The DX Commander is one of the most popular vertical HF ham radio antennas available and it is also one of the most affordable. Does it live up to the hype? In this video, I give my experience with the DX Commander Classic and try and answer that question.

[darrellcollins]

I must say your presentation is top notch ! No rambling, make valid points, give out easy to understand information, very very nice experience here ! I will be back for more

[josephwallace]

I build all of my antennas, or at least attempt them. Let's face it, you can have the best station, but without a good antenna, you might as well hookup straight to a dummy load. Dipoles were my starting place in the hobby, then OCF dipoles, then fans. I was lucky enough to have the OMs in our area who designed the original Carolina Windom, and that is when antennas got interesting. After a solid 6 months of working on an 80M version of the Windom I had something that worked well. My last antenna project was something for 30M to take advantage of some digital modes on a band with nice openings for my tiny station (5-10W on average). The end product was a 30M vertical elevated at 20ft, with 3 radials suspended at 10 ft. The best I could do with the conditions we had to work with at the time. That antenna still works incredibly well on 30M. The DX Commander is something that always had my interest, but I never really appreciated the simplicity. As you noted in your video Bob, you hit a few points not covered in the other YouTubes shorts. Nice job! Working a little PVC in, well that was a bonus. Good luck with your vertical endeavors... I am sure you'll have great fun with that antenna. Most importantly, thanks for being an active contributor to the hobby and keep 'em coming! de K4EIT.

[georged]

thank u 4 the video - i am working with the dx commander for more than a year and i am very glad to have it

[The_Electronic_Beard]

Great to see another content creator! Keep the videos coming!

[KXUL]

Very good look at the DX Commander! I second everything 'Darrell Collins' said in his comment. Great job!

[JulietNovember]

been looking at the DXC also because of space and this was a great overview! Thank you for a great unbiased review, 73

[sergeyt]

Thank you so much for an interesting video with greetings from Russia 73

[AlvinMcManus]

Great video. I love the tip about the ground plate as I have a pole for my DX Commander base as well it's just about a foot short of the first section end in height above ground and anchored in a screw-in post/umbrella base and is very sturdy. What did you use for the ground guy rope anchors? Anyway good presentation. I would be interested to see you do a build video on this antenna. 73 KN6ZVI

[johnk]

I think the DX Commander is an excellent antenna for the price. I went with a "Gap Challenger" antenna (about $500.) because of lack of space for the radial field. It is a all aluminum, ground mounted vertical dipole that requires three 25' radials for the 40 meter band. No traps. It works outstanding on 20 and 40 meters and darn good from 6 to 40 meters. 80 meters like may other verticals is a compromise. I wish I had the space for the DX Commander. The Gap is an antenna that stands up to wind and weather with just one set of short guy ropes. Great review of a great antenna.

[donalfinn]

Great presentation. A lot more channels could take a lesson from you. The DX Commander concept itself is a great antenna, EXCEPT, it is much too light. There shouldn’t be any need to take it down in a blow. I made my own using a 12 meter Spiderbeam pole that I NEVER, have to take down. My elevation is 500 feet above sea level. 20 meters for me is 1.5 at the CW end. Flat as a pancake on 30 and 40.I’m subbed.👍☘️

[SteelWolf]

Rewatching this vid with the idea of a seperate long wire for 80. I wonder if this antenna would do better mounted up higher on a pole? Some other videos are doing that.

[gfvt]

Pretty happy with mine, I opted for 80m not 30m, though the integral tuners in my Yaesus will allow operation on 30m and 60m.

[chrisf]

Love the video! I have the classic and I have no problem leaving it up and we have some really severe winds here. I was ill this past fall and a storm came though that I would have taken it down for if I could have, and it did just fine. Sustained 50 MPH+ with gusts over 90.

[REKlaus]

please let us know how the DX Commander stands up over the next year if you can, particularly with wind.

[johnbauman]

Thank you very much!

What do you use to generate, graph and capture the SWR data?

73,
John/KK7JBZ

[rayhill]

Does that solar system interfere with RF noise with the DX Commander?

[pgrundle]

Awesome and very informative video. I am currently building the same antenna. Any chance you could share how you laid out your radials as this is a minor issue for me due to where I wish to locate the antenna. Many thanks, Patrick VE7PJG.

[davidc]

So, what other antenna can do all the bands and without a tuner? A Full wave loop antenna, and no radials needed (Loops are resonant at every harmonic unlike verticals). The problem? Finding a place to hang the wire with enough height. Overcome those 2 obstacles, and potentially will not cost any more than the wire. Fan vertical antennas are nothing new as they have been around for decades, but give it to Calum for making this antenna popular with his "antenna university & salesmanship" right here on Youtube. I think it is a fine antenna and is very attractive for the price. However, consider just building your own and have the added satisfaction of doing it yourself.

[DKONV]

Lord Callum is a true Genius. 💯👍👍🙋‍♂️

[alzeNL]

One of my first antennas was the DX Commander classic, like yourself, found the performance very good. Ended up getting the Nebula being an 80m fan. From that went to the 6btv, whilst narrow on 80, does the data (WSPR and FT8/4) sections no problem. Final antenna is an 80m multiband endfed, that needs a lot of space, but the DX Commander masts are used to hold it up, which they do a very good job of (no collapsing, ok in the wind, not 6BTV levels tho). I think your summary is right tho, the only delta now is here in the UK from October we have to take into account EMF, I wonder how the DX Commander will hold up to the new rules in the UK ???