Fine Tuning the DX Commander Classic | Preventive Maintenance | Troubleshooting 75/80m Element
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Today my plane was to fine tune my DX Commander HF Antenna. I ran into problems and had to replace fork connectors, cut/add lengths of wires, preventive maintenance on the antenna, and measure the SWRs with my Rig Expert AA-35. Eventually, I ran out of time...
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Thank you for watching!
Thanks for this. I am planning to disassemble and reassemble my 12.4 soon 1 wire at a time to understand how each affects the other. Great antenna.
Thanks Capt Darren. I'm getting ready to assembly my DX Commander 12.4 and will use the information from this video to fine tune my antenna.
I have a DX Commander 12.4 Signature too but haven't gotten the time to build it. Good luck!
Damn man. Coax ok? Wish I lived closer. We’d fix that in a few hours. Hehe. Maybe corrosion inside of the wire itself. Tarnishing from moisture.
Excellent Videos Captain Darren! Your tutorials are great. I am a retired USAF KC-10 F/E and a former Amerijet International B727-200 Zero-G PFE (A&P Flight Engineer). Princearthur, KB4MIT.
Thank you Darren. I learn a lot from your trials and tribulations. Please keep making videos. Best, Dave K7CI
Good day Dave! Thanks for watching and leaving feedback. I do read them. I'll continue making videos. 73's de Capt Darren N4VFR
Hi Darren I would go back to basics. Rebuild the elements from scratch. Using the Calum cut charts to the letter. Use a new length of coax that has not been out in the weather. Replace the so239 socket replace the pl295 plug. It could be resistive connections are not helping. Make sure all the elements are in the correct order on the driven plate as all elements interact with each other. Ie read the installation manual for the DX Commander to ensure it’s exactly the same as instructed. With all that done you should be back to where you were when you first purchased the antenna. Oh have you checked the radials are still effective? If unsure resolder the connections. It’s a bind but it will be worth it in the end. Hope you get to the bottom of your problem. Enjoy your radio Darren. Best regards Steve G7LJL
Wee tip,,,never take antenba test sweeps from the tx shack side,,take rhe antenba out to antenna and use use short 10ft length of coax at antenna end,,,this eliminates any common mode currents on coax feed giving you false swr readings,,i woyld nightly recommend a common mode choke on the feeder about a 1/4 wave away from the antenna to keep common mode currents out of the shack and to give you truer swr readings in the shack,,,the end result wilk be a better more efficient antenna and you not smashing your head on a table in frustration,,,swr and feeder theory is a mind boggling science with some really heavy duty physics involved.
Wow! Okay and thank you for the recommendation on where to test and the use of a CMC.
Man you did a lot of work. Seems like the best spot is away from that powerline going to that other house. Nice video. K4RNA
Your best bet is to message Callum. Something is seriously out there. The measurements Cal gives you in the charts usually involve very little adjustment
Thank you for the suggestion.
Darren, i have spotted a trick you can use, go to your local big box store of your choice and buy a 1 metre length of standard kitchen sink waste pipe, that is slightly larger diameter than the pipe where your dx engineering plate is, slide it over the top of it, and as long as it si smaller enough to fit inside the dx commander, and does not reach to the FIRST joint you can slide your dx over the top and take advantage of your dxe plate setup, works a treat in high wind areas mine never failed in 3 years and i live a quarter mile from the sea with lots of high alternating winds virtually all year 73s Darren Kevin G2KS
Thank you for the idea, I was thinking of doing that but needed to get the exact diameter to let the DXC to slide over the top. Many Thanks!
I used an 1-1/4" Sched 40 PVC pipe and it fit nicely into the pole.@@DarrenN4VFR
If you ZOOM OUT on the RigExpert, you will see exactly where your dips are. Staying zoomed in so close on the band, you do not get a true reflection of each lowest dip. When I start tuning, I zoom out completely to display from 6500 up to 55000 to see multiple dips. From there, I start to zoom in on each lowest dip, closest to each band. If your tuning is out, your lowest dip might be well outside your band. I hope this helps. All of the best with your tuning. Wish I could post pictures in comment to show you exactly what I mean. 73
Man, I never saw a dx commander perform that bad 😮
Hopefully by the time I’m seeing and reading all the posts you have found the issue. It’s possible you might have to replace your feed line. In time, water could possibly find its way under the jacket. I’ve had that happen here in Louisiana and my solution was new connectors on new coax and that fixed a bunch of issues on an 11 element Yahoo up 60 feet. Since then Hurricane Ida decided it didn’t like my
Yagi or Tower and it all came crashing down along with the 2,000 foot commercial broadcast tower about 1.5 miles from my QTH. Not a good day for Towers. I’m still off the air but getting closer to getting back on the air.
It seems as if ground moisture helps the radials on the vertical. Have you ran a test on this? After a good rain I can both receive and get out better. Thanks for the interesting and educational videos. Tom W4Tuc in Newberry Florida
Hi Tom, no I havent tested if a good rain fall provided me goo receive. 73's
I found this stressful for you Darren,
Those tent pegs used on the plate i use for around a tent they do them in green, orange, white and are glow in the dark (though not well if at all) but the properties are Zinc Sulfide and Strontium Aluminate strontium aluminates are semiconductors with electrical conductivities could be short to ground with some resisted conductivity. Could you maybe try removing them. Or maybe your soil could be tainted with some type metals/iron etc.
Throwing maybes your way as can see this is very frustrating
Ok, ill have them remove and use something else. Thank you.
Capt Darren Thank you for this video, lots of great information here!
California. KN6BZG
TY
Why did the SWR’s change from when yo first installed it? Looks to me that your antenna was never correct.
This isn't exactly good press for the DX Commander. I want one of these DX Commander Signature 9 HF antennas but now I'm wondering if I should just get a Comet or Hustler verticle antenna - and be done with it.
Waaay too much work for me, I've 43ft vertical and remote tuner, work the world.. setup in 30 minutes.,
Great job Darren brother de 2e0ree
do you like this better than your zero five?
Yes, my go to HF Vertical Antenna is the DX Commander.
@@DarrenN4VFR Im thinking of selling my zerofive and getting the dx commander, looks like you really dont need a tuner
@@thomashenderson603 I still use a HF Auto Tuner from Palstar. I may use my Zero Five antenna for DIversity Reception for my Anan 7000DLE Mk3.