"I’ve made contacts from my Western Washington location to both European and far East stations using different bands!"
CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT: Cliff near Seattle spotted worldwide!
Note: The spots noting "hrs" or "mins" are those stations reporting hearing Cliff.
Reference: www.pskreporter.info/pskmap.html - enter his call, your call, any callsign. It will also show signal strengths received for your entered station too.
By K7CWC, Cliff:
I ordered the Greyline 24-foot DX flagpole Antenna plus LDG RT-600 Remote Antenna Tuner Bundle. The order was processed on the Greyline Webpage. I received an order confirmation and links to the system documentation.
Greyline isn’t Amazon, so it did take somewhat longer to receive my antenna and related equipment than I’d have preferred. When the antenna was ready for shipment, I received an E-Mail with tracking information. Within a few days, I was able to track the antenna on the UPS site. The antenna arrived in good order. The feed and flag components arrived on a separate shipment, as did the remote tuner.
The instructions were clear, and the packing list is arranged in the order of assembly. I was very impressed with the quality of the parts, and that each antenna section was individually wrapped and labeled. The pre-drilled holes matched perfectly with the corresponding holes in the inter-section connection splices.
The antenna has fiberglass insulating splices between the ground mounting section and the lower (short active) section. Another fiberglass section is to electrically isolate the lower active section from the longer top section. The balance of the antenna has aluminum connection splices.
The feed line from the shack connects to a choke and a short jumper connects to the radio side of the remote tuner. Another short coax jumper goes from the tuner to the coax to the ladder line adapter. I decided to not use the supplied 3d printed adapter, instead of using the Palomar coax-ladder line adapter. The short jumpers are customer supplied. I used 1 Ft MPD-400 Superflex.
The ladder line is mounted within the lower active section and isolated from the inner sides of the tubing by a set of spacers that fit nicely in the tubing. The ladder line is split at the upper fiberglass splice with one wire connected to the lower section and the other to the longer upper sections. Hint: Mark one side of the ladder line so you can be sure you are matching the main conductor to the upper section.
I choose to use a tilt mount that I had from a prior installation. I shortened the supplied inground section to adapt it to the tilt mount. The lower fiberglass insulator isolates the antenna from being grounded by the mount.
Before mounting, I assembled the top truck, halyard, and cleat for the flagpole. I added a gold-colored Flagpole topper to add to the aesthetics and enhance the hiding in plain sight stealth of the flagpole antenna. I covered the base and tuner with a large plastic flower pot that I had drilled and slipped onto the antenna before I attached it to the mount.
With the initial issues resolved, I am pleased with the operation of the antenna system. My rig measured SWR values are 10M 1.5, 12M 1.8, 15M 1.6, 17M 1.3, 20M 1.0, 30M 1.0, 40M 1.1, 60M 1.1, and 80M 1.6
It’s early with my operation with the flagpole antenna, but so far, I am pleased. I’ve made contacts from my Western Washington location to both European and far East stations using different bands.
The antenna looks great and the neighbors are just seeing an attractive flagpole as a nice addition to my property.
Hints: Wear gloves when handling the fiberglass insulating splices. Mark one of the conductors on the ladder line so you can be sure you have the top (long) section of the antenna connected to the center conductor from your radio. DO not use a balun but use the supplied adapter (requires some do it yourself) or the Palomar or similar.
Greyline Performance writes: That's a beautiful install there Cliff. I bet the XYL loves the clean lines in the garden. Looked your signal up on PSK and wow, the entire planet. Way to go! Ham Radio is fun again... See you on all the bands, for certain. 73 de Greyline Performance.
How would you like to be heard 'round the world after installing a Greyline DX Antenna? Cliff is in Washington State (not known for being the best DX location!) If Cliff can do it, so can you. Have a happy home, be like Cliff.
WHAT CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING:
- "Real DX 160-6M at my HOA"
- "4 Band DXCC in 3-months at my HOA."
- "So pretty my XYL approves!"
- "If I can hear it, I can work it."
Let's get you and your friends back on the air. Ham Radio is fun again!
