Callum Fixes The Storm Damage at DX Commander

Peak wind at Holly Farm was 62MPH. That's a lot for UK but we fixed it all up. Callum.

[ham-radio]

There are a number of things that are evident in this video from The DX Commander. One is Callam's love of antennas. Two is his real world testing of the designs in his antenna farm. Third thing is the strength of the antennas to stand up to 60MPH wind which has a force of about 10 pounds per square foot. Fourth thing that I noted is Callam's willingness to share where things went wrong because a clamp was left off or a short cut was taken in the construction. And lastly, it shows how hard Callam works even on a wet, cold, windy day. 73 Callam from Jim W6LG in Rocklin California!

[Retired_Five-_WWAG]

Boy those DX Commanders do hold their own in strong winds.

It’s almost like the guy who designed them knew what he was doing! 😉👍

[jackKFIT]

I think I mentioned before that my Classic w/80m survived direct 102 mph winds last spring and held up fine. I had to tweak a couple of bands and tighten things back up but it still worked and was still standing. Perfect example of a quality product.

[bwillan]

The old saying (at least in North America) is "There is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution that works." 😁

[AdamSWL]

My Classic kit has arrived and I cannot wait to get it assembled and on the air!
Thanks to everyone at team DX Commander for the super quick order fulfilment and shipping! 😃
And to see the survival of the antenna at 60mph wind loading is very re-assuring.
Cheers Callum!

[brianfields]

My classic pole with guys been up 7 yrs now I think, a few 80mph storms. No problems at all. TIP, I always leave a slight bit of slack on the guys, when it was tightened right up, the old one broke. Great product, thanks.

[Dreamlgider]

You busting a move over those guy lines was "blooming funny" 🤣🤣😂
Thanks for the qso the other day. It was intense to say the least.

Hit the bell and Thumbs everyone.
73 de oy1r

[Rubedo]

Hello Callum I’m pleased you didn’t get wiped out, genuinely, I was thinking about everyone who had big antennas and yagi arrangements. Being a restart up Ive got a doublet around the gutter and a 35ft 6inch random wire and so far been quite unsuccessful in ‘proving’ my station, 🤨 😠 but some road I’ll get there. The wind in Wigan Lancashire was howlin bad…trees down, branches in the road and I followed the advice to stay in unless absolutely necessary as I’m sure most folks did. It was a hell of a storm and I hope everyone is ok. 😧
Re the vid… the trip made me smile 😊 🤣 I enjoy how you narrate and treat the camera as someone actually there with you… that is a talent in itself ✅… I look forward to your next video along with some others who I follow ( Mike m0msn + others ) which is about the total of my ham radio at present… but, it’s still ham radio innit. 🤔
Best wishes to everyone.73. 💙
G0uvl

[vincenzofidanza]

Calhoum, I always put tape at the junctions and my poles are up for many years on stacked military poles and only guyed at the base. Of course on top of each junction I use hose clamp, no problems, and my poles are 10 meters long.

[gmanbeavis]

Hey Cal, this is George (AF8K) we made a contact a month or two ago while you were live streaming. I just thought I'd let you know the 160m delta loop is still doing awesome! Just made my new farthest contact from my QTH to S79VU (Ravi) at a distance of 8, 869.5 miles on 20 meters with 100W and the ol' IC-706MKII. Great videos. Thanks again and I look forward to talking with you again, sir! 73s

[BlackCreek]

Callum, very glad you're getting the damage repaired; more importantly, this displays that the design of the DX Commander antennas show that they hold up very well. By the way, that day I had had a brief contact with one ham on the southwest coast of UK and he was getting gusts to 77...then went off the air. I know that an hour and half later a Emirates A380 gave up after 3 attempts at landing at LHR went on to Frankfurt. Funtimes~. AA7MO

[johnpopolo]

My DXCC has been up since April 2019 and still works great. Never taken down here in the snow belt of PA USA. I guyed it out not down and it has never moved.

[VPEIHonAnguillaIsland]

Glad your safe, antennas back up.. We've had our share of Hurricanes for this past 2024 Season.. #Caribbean 73 🎙Ira

[MrStanwyck]

Good evening Cal…. Your weather looks like what we are having in NY right now. Have a great weekend. Bill, KC2KNA

[robertmeyer]

Nice work .I saw storm damage in UK on my news in NY . Quite a mess . Grid down and cell network out in parts. This happens in NY as well. We getting back to back snow storms. I set up in deep snow and had fun on 10/11/12 meters. Them bands wide open. Getting Japan and Norway and many outher was fun portable with 5/8 wave and 4:1 UNUN just laying in the snow. I just put my 10 meter pole in deep snow. 300 watts and a wire got many world wide contacts. I just threw my ground radials in the snow, Ran coax into the car and had fun. That M & P Pota flex 7 coax really stands out in the snow. I had my own 200AH LiFePO4 battery so I don't kill car battery . I don't run car much. save on gas and it makes noise in my radio. My amp makes a nice hand warmer . FT8 is good for that . Snowy parks on the air was fun. The things we do to stay or get on the air ! It can be quite fun. I just hate cold wind. Cheers from NY !!!

[MXOM]

My Sig 9 was damaged in the recent storm, just a broken element (40M/15M). Easily repaired. The funny thing is that I now have a better tune across every band than before. Didn’t touch anything else. Weird and wonderful!

[keithgmjkz]

Yup ... mine stayed down on its cradles for 5 days up here in the Borders and all was well once returned to normal. Now to cut the new elements and fit the new grey plates received last week. By the way Cal, I do now identify the elements using the plastic number 'beads' as your recommendation a couple of years ago.👍

[markkoehler]

It is the tiny cracks that lead to trouble 😊

[MJCZ]

You survived it well. We had 95 mph winds here in North Shropshire, we lost power for 2 days with trees falling onto power lines.

[SunnybraeCroft]

Had to go out in the night to re ratchet strap some timber that was being a wind plaything, it was that strong that the pigs did not come out the sty and just looked at me as if I was some kind of mad fool. The walk back up the hill was a crawl face into wind, I was glad to make the top having had doubts I would make it back. Belt and braces are definitely a worthwhile solution when living in a windy nook.