Excellent and versatile HF Antenna for sailboats.

Last December I bought the Alpha Antenna 6-160 HF J-Pole primarily for working from my sailboat. This past weekend was the first time I gave it a try. While anchored in a quiet bay I raised the coax end of the antenna to the masthead and ran the antenna first to the tack on the bow and then aft through the folded mainsail and into the cockpit. It took less than 2 minutes and it was ready to work. I do not yet own a small tuner but I thought I would give it a try. I then attached my antenna analyzer and saw that the 20m band SWR was 1.5. I glanced at the convenient manual that came with the antenna and noticed an swr chart that shows that 40, 20, 15, 10 and 6 meter bands do not need a tuner. I was pleased to say the least since I was in the middle of nowhere and wanted to play radio for the first time on the boat.

WOW. I made 25 contacts that evening and was very pleased with the 57, 58, 59, 59+10, 59+20 from stations in Canada, USA, New Zealand and French Polynesia. A couple of stations were QRP with as little as .5watt and I was able to qso with them with my 100w.

This Antenna exceeded my expectations. It is so quiet, light, easy to raise, convenient to have and versatile as it can be deployed in any configuration that you can imagine. Next time I will connect the antenna from the masthead of the boat to the masthead of the dinghy which will be in an inverted L or sloper configuration. I can’t wait to try it again and use it every time I go sailing or on nature treks.

I am very pleased with the results thanks to this antenna and my Yaesu 857d. I like it so much I am considering becoming a representative for this antenna in the Winnipeg area. Thank you Steve and congratulations to you and your team for developing this gem of an antenna. It made my weekend on the boat very, very enjoyable because now I can combine two of my favorite hobbies.

Get one, you won’t be disappointed.

VE4DXR

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