#159 - Tuning the DX Commander Expedition

Went down yesterday to the local park to get the new DX Commander Expedition multi-band vertical fan-dipole antenna all tuned up and ready for the ARRL Winter Field Day contest this weekend.

This is always the nerve-racking part of building a new antenna. I hate it when it comes to trimming the elements for tuning. I'm always afraid of trimming off too much and ruining the element.

The DX Commander Expedition stands approximately 30 feet tall when it is set up, but collapses down to just under 2 feet long so it can be carried inside the same backpack that my Chameleon MPAS 2.0 antenna and the Chameleon EmComm III portable antenna are stored inside so I have plenty of antenna options to choose from when I deploy depending on location, band propagation, deployment time constraints, etc.

I have opted instead of using the black paracord that is included with the DX Commander antennas to make the guy lines with to use my own bright orange paracord so that the guy lines are highly visible to prevent people from running into them. This is something I started doing a while back with all of my antennas. When you are deploying multiple antennas it really helps to keep track of exactly where all the guy lines are.

I will be doing a full review of this antenna, as well as several other antennas that I have shortly, including the 18 meter tall DX Commander Nebula xTreme that just shipped out to me from the UK today and the Go2 Antenna which is a "shunt-fed vertical" type antenna.

Until Next Time,

Aloha & 73

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