We are very pleased with our 20' flagpole with the 9' whip. We are able to FT8 all over the world with it. I love that we didn't have to put in radials. I haven't done a lot of voice contacting but have been able to reach over 1300 miles into Oklahoma, NW Montana, and Washington state from Arizona. I'm sure I will be able to reach farther than that with a little more time doing it.
Thank you for the report — and congratulations on the contacts. Arizona to Oklahoma, Montana, and Washington on the 20' DXF with the 9' whip is exactly the kind of all-band performance the system is built for, and FT8 worldwide is the proof of concept. The no-radials part isn't a shortcut — it's the design choice that lets the antenna work where most verticals can't. More time on the bands and you'll see the DX windows open up. Welcome to the Greyline community.
73,
Jon KL2A
Greyline Performance
First I would start by thanking Greyline for excellent communication and support. Any questions I had were promptly answered and addressed.
The antenna assembly went quick and was pretty easy to follow. I can tune <1.5:1 for 10m to 40m. 80m is hit or miss but is probably due to my older antenna tuner as it tunes 80m some of the time. WSPR tests show good propagation with some contacts in Australia and South America from California (QTH). Made some FT8 contacts with East Coast US. Ran some high power SSB tests and all good. Overall very happy with the antenna. It is well manufactured.
Hi Phillip, thank you for sharing your detailed experience! We're thrilled to hear you're happy with the antenna's performance and our support. Enjoy your amateur radio adventures! Thank you — and that's a strong report. California to Australia and South America on WSPR is the kind of low-power-out, real-propagation evidence that tells you the system is working as designed. East Coast on FT8 and clean high-power SSB rounds out the picture. On 80M: you're right to suspect the tuner. The DXF is non-resonant by design and asks more of the ATU on the lowest bands; a tuner with a wider impedance range will close that gap. Worth a conversation if you want to chase it. Welcome to the Greyline community. Ham Radio is fun again!
73,
Jon KL2A
Greyline
Recieved the antenna in good shape. Checked out the video and manual for assemble. Worked on where the best place to install it. In the process of Ordering support items. ladder antenna and then I got sick. Currently I am on the mend and will keep you updated.
I do have a question regarding in ground laterals that many verticle antenna need. I did not see instructions for ground laterals?
Probably a few more questions, however both the video and manual are great.
Thank You
Roger Lutz [****]. [****]
I'm very happy with this antenna. It looks great as a flagpole. Easy to setup and get on the air. Works and performs very well.
I am not your normal Flagpole user. I was running an Icom 7610 when I bought it, 24' + 4' extension with LDG tuner, and it was the best vertical I have used. I then went digital and upgraded to a Flex 8600 with an Antenna Genius and a Tuner Genius. I was having a lot of trouble getting the LDG to work consistently with the 8600 system. In desperation I removed the LDG from the equation and installed a Balun Design 4115T 4:1 Balun to the ladder wire from the Flagpole. I was amazed that I could tune most bands to less than 1.5 to 1, but I could not tune 160m, 12m, and 10m. I then added the extension. I took the kit apart and used galvonic grease on all of the connections. I then set the length to 138 7/16 inches and use shrink wrap on all of the connectors. I had to rent a lift truck to get the extension on the Flagpole and used galvonic grease on the connection. The extension made the Flagpole not tune on 6m, but everything else was great. I do not believe in a perfect world so having a 160m to 6m antenna that did not do well on all bands in-between was not a surprise. When I cranked up the new system with the Flagpole feeding the 8600 I was stunned. I know that you might think that that is just marketing talk, but it is true. I run WSJT-X and JTAlert. Yesterday, a Thursday, I started a session around 3:00 Pensacola, FL time. I started on 30m with the Tuner Genius giving me a 1.19 to 1. I was able to get a QSO from every contact In my JTAlert list. Anyone I could see I could receive. I then tuned to 20m. For whatever reason the pattern was full. I started making contacts and was able to make 20 straight QSO's in a row, all from outside of the USA. The average distance from Pensacola to the QSO's was around 4,000 miles. They spanned from South Africa to Australia to Finland. That is a coverage area of around 18,000 thousand miles. Do atmospheric conditions work that way? If they do I have never experienced it before. You should be the judge on just how good this Antenna - Radio combination is.
73
Bill - NO4ON
