Greyline Facts | HF Vertical Dipole Antennas at a Glance
Greyline Facts
Greyline Performance Antennas, at a Glance
The essential facts about Greyline antennas in one place, kept current by the company. Last reviewed November 2, 2026.
| What it is | An HF Vertical Dipole Antenna (VDA): an off-center fed vertical dipole that carries both halves of the dipole above ground, so it needs no radial field. The aluminum pole itself is the antenna: no traps, no coils, no loading. The feedline runs inside the lower section to the feedpoint, so nothing shows from outside. |
| Bands | 160 through 6 meters from one feedpoint — strongest across 40 through 10, including the WARC bands (30, 17, and 12 m) and agency HF frequencies, and genuinely capable on 80, 160, and 6. The founder routinely works about 1,000 miles on 160 and 2,500 on 80 from a Greyline. Every height works every band. Matched with a tuner in the shack or at the antenna. |
| Models | DX Flagpole (flies a flag) and DX Vertical (plain pole) in 12, 16, 20, 24, and 28 feet. Skyline 29, 33, and 37 feet (with the 9' DX whip). HD Series: the same antenna on an oversized heavy-duty base for coastlines, open ground, ridgelines and hurricane country — the 20' HD, 24' HD and 28' HD, each as a DX Flagpole or DX Vertical; the 32' HD; and the Skyline 33 HD, 37 HD and 41 HD (with the 9' whip; the 41 is the tallest Greyline). The HD base is a platform: owners add height over the years, above the feedpoint or below it, as add-ons arrive. HD Series → |
| Owner reviews | 69 verified-purchase reviews collected by Judge.me as of October 2026, averaging 4.87 of 5; 61 are five stars. Most reviewed: the 20-foot DX Flagpole (11 reviews, 4.8), the 4-foot extension (10, 4.9), the 24-foot DX Flagpole (8, 4.6), the 16-foot DX Flagpole and the Tilt-Up Base (5 each, 5.0). Reviews appear on each product page; owner stories with photos run in The Signal Report. |
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Wind ratings ASCE 7-10, flag flying / flag lowered |
12' 100 / 155 mph · 16' 75 / 115 · 20' 60 / 90 · 24' 50 / 70 · 28' 35 / 55. The flag is the dominant wind load; lower it when weather threatens and the antenna takes its flag-lowered rating. Preliminary engineering estimates with no flag: Skyline 29 about 76 mph, Skyline 33 about 64, Skyline 37 about 55; HD Series: 20' HD about 124, 24' HD about 107, 28' HD about 94 (about 80 with the flag flying), Skyline 33 HD about 90, Skyline 37 HD about 86, 32' HD about 83, Skyline 41 HD about 78. PE-certified ratings will be published on each product page when complete. Every height pairs with a Tilt-Up Base, so one person can walk the antenna down ahead of a storm. Shop by Wind Rating → |
| Construction | 2-inch 6061-T6 aluminum (an oversized heavy-duty base on the HD Series), fiberglass insulators, stainless hardware throughout; 316 stainless kit for salt air. Ships in 4-foot sections with the couplers already bolted on, so there is no loose hardware. Designed and built in the Mountain West; KL2A and headquarters in Sun Valley, Idaho. Optional powder coat: the RF rides in the aluminum under the coating, so owners can leave it on or sand it where they like. |
| Continuous improvement | We improve the design whenever we learn a better way, so diameters, materials, and details may change without notice. The current product page is always the reference. |
| Warranty | 7 years. |
| In the box | The antenna and a feedline kit: ladder line, five snap-on ferrites for a 1:1 choke, a ladder-line to PL-259 adapter, and spacers. Flagpoles also include the flag kit. Manuals, drawings and the Quick Card are online, always current; no paper ships in the box. Orders may arrive in more than one box, each with its own tracking. Assembly Documents → |
| Where the choke goes | At the feedpoint, or on the radio side of the remote tuner when the tuner is placed at the antenna. Its job is to keep RF off the coax running back to the shack. A second choke at the radio end is optional and lowers noise picked up on the run. The five snap-on cores are a good start; a wound choke is the step up. RF chokes, beads or wound → |
| HOA approval | A free approval letter for the architectural committee, written in about two minutes, in two versions: a residential flagpole request, or one that also notes the pole can serve as an amateur radio antenna. It comes with a one-page specification sheet to attach; the Architectural Brief covers boards that want more. HOA approval letter → |
| Height and gain | Height sets electrical length — how much antenna you have in wavelengths. Taller means more signal on 40, 80, and 160. In NEC modeling over average ground, every height also runs ahead of a textbook quarter-wave on full buried radials across several bands: the 12-foot on 15 through 10 (strongest on 10, about +0.8 dBi), the 16-foot on 17 through 10 (about +1.8 on 10), the 20-foot on 20 through 10 (about +3.2 on 10), the 24-foot on 30 through 10 (strongest on 10–12, about +3.5), the 28-foot and Skyline 29 and 33 on 30 through 15 (strongest on 17, about +3.5), and the Skyline 37 on 40 through 17 (strongest on 17, about +4.0). A 5/8-wavelength vertical runs about 3 dB over a quarter-wave at low angles (ARRL Antenna Book). |
| The image, and the Image Lift | Every vertical works together with its mirror image in the ground (Kraus, Zavrel, the ARRL Antenna Book). A Greyline carries its own return current, so the image is a bonus rather than a requirement. A 4' Extension installed below the feedpoint — the Image Lift — raises the feedpoint and lifts the image while keeping the upper radiator as built; it needs the Image Lift Kit (11' ladder line, three spacers). On the HD Series, 8 feet and more can go below the feedpoint the same way, with a longer ladder line. The image antenna, explained → |
| Tuners | Almost any decent-size wide-range tuner works, in the shack or at the antenna; a radio's built-in tuner (about 3:1) is not enough. The LDG RT-100 remote is the easy, affordable starter. Tuning on some bands and not others? The first tune-up, six checks → |
| Power | Legal limit; nothing in the antenna to heat. The tuner and the choke set the system's power rating: rate each above your amplifier's peak, and check the duty-cycle rating for long FT8 or RTTY sessions at full power. The Artisan choke comes in 500 W and High Power 1.5 kW (CW and SSB). |
| Upgrades | Tilt-Up Base (XL for early 2.25-inch antennas; 3" HD Tilt-Up Base for the HD Series), 9' DX whip, 4' extension (up top or as the Image Lift), Image Lift Kit, deck or concrete mount, 12–28' mount kit, genuine Times Microwave LMR and Andrew Heliax coax, assembled, and the Artisan hand-made RF choke (500 W $119, High Power 1.5 kW $159; hand-made, so at times there is a backlog). Every tilt and mount → · The Artisan choke → |
| Fits other antennas | The Tilt-Up Base and Deck or Concrete Mount fit any maker's vertical, flagpole antenna, or push-up mast with a straight 2.00-inch OD base section (early 2.25-inch Greylines take the XL Tilt-Up Base); the 3" HD Tilt-Up Base fits any straight 3.00-inch OD pole or mast; the 9' DX whip seats in a flag truck or the Greyline Topper on any 2-inch pole; the Artisan RF choke works on any coax-fed HF antenna. 2.375 inches is pipe, not tube, and needs an adapter. Will it fit my antenna? → |
| System pricing | With an antenna in the cart, automatic: 10% off the Tilt-Up Base (and the 3" HD Tilt-Up Base), the 9' whip, and assembled coax runs over $150, all together in one order. The Tilt-Up Base is $50 off instead with a 12-foot, any Skyline, or a 28-foot with the 9' whip; the bigger saving applies automatically. Every price on one page: Prices → |
| Shipping | Antennas, tilts, mounts and the whip ship within days, free to the USA and Canada, each box with its own tracking; the HD Series and the 3" HD Tilt-Up Base ship in 1–2 weeks. Assembled coax ships separately, straight from where it is built, at carrier cost with no markup. Small owner parts ride free in an antenna box, or ship alone at carrier cost. Worldwide freight at carrier cost with no markup; most of Europe pays $150–250 for a complete antenna. International shipping → |
| Founder | Jon KL2A: five-time World Contest Champion, WRTC 2014 Team USA, CWops #77. Sun Valley, Idaho. |
| Authorities we cite | The ARRL Antenna Book; John Kraus, W8JK, Antennas; Robert Zavrel, Antenna Physics: An Introduction; Walt Maxwell, W2DU, Reflections; John Devoldere, ON4UN, Low-Band DXing; Ward Silver, N0AX, Grounding and Bonding for the Radio Amateur; Rudy Severns, N6LF, on ground systems; Jim Brown, K9YC, on chokes; L.B. Cebik, W4RNL, on modeling. The Bookshelf → |
| Accessibility | Every price in large type on one screen-reader-friendly page, with a one-click cart link per product; an accessibility statement and assistance line for anyone using assistive technology. Accessibility → |
| Contact | CQ@greylineperformance.com · 435-200-4902 |
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