You may also use an external antenna tuner if either 1 the ProMaster is installed over a poor ground, 2 parallels a metal structure, 3 installed on a roof without adequate grounding, or 4 or not placed in a clear area. To be clear, losses on an OCF Dipole exist, which has a 4:1 Balun that begins to heat up as its transformer becomes saturated, where then too losses increase as the frequency is decreased. Similarly, the transformer in the ProMaster will also work to enable a SWR of 2.5:1 or less on the bands it is designed for. Yes, even a single band Dipole in free space will have loss as well due to resistance of the wire elements and due in part from a Balun that will be needed (unless ladder line is used) to change the naturally occurring (approximate) 72 ohms to 50 ohms, for which there will there will still not as much loss on lower bands as an OCF Dipole might experience due to the transformer that enables multi-band performance. And Yes, you should install a 10 Meter Dipole antenna 5 meters high to minimize losses, 10 meters high for a 20 Meter Dipole, and 20 meters high for a 40 Meter Dipole, but you get the idea.
The most popular way to get positive gain over a dipole is to install a beam on a tower, where like a Dipole, the beam would also need to be mounted in free space to minimize losses, yet would still have a Balun unless fed with ladder line. Speaking of ladder line, albeit less loss than coax (especially for longer runs), you will eventually need to use a tuner/Balun to convert it to 50 ohms, because that is what a modern day rigs input/output requires. What about a straight up Vertical, where of course you need to have real-estate to run the necessary radials? Well, Verticals usually work ok for DX, if you do not have obstructions around it. Although a Vertical is traditionally noisier, which causes it to suffer from higher RFI (Radio Frequency Interference), which can hide a weak signal...
And you often lose NVIS capabilities. The bottom line is that aerials built upon basic antenna construction techniques, like the ProMaster, will work. But what antenna should you choose? Alpha Antenna recommends that you might consider choosing an antenna based upon your band requirements, as well as your physical, personal, and your surrounding environment or restrictions.
If you simply want a 10-80 meter antenna that is pretty forgiving on how it is installed and works well for others, then the ProMaster may very well be the obvious choice for you. The ProMaster can be mounted on a tripod with a mast between 1 1/4 to 1 3/8 inches O. The base of the antennas Mount should not be installed below a height of 5 feet.
For example, it can be mounted on a galvanized top rail from a chain link fence or stainless steel mast, or the included 2 foot long aluminum mount can be bolted to a wooden fence post, optimally between 5 to 7 feet off the ground. Alternatively, the ProMaster can be roof mounted if you have a mast between 1 1/4 to 1 5/8 inches O. When mounting on a roof, the 25 NVIS Element can be tied off at an angle to a PVC vent pipe using an extra length of outdoor rated rope to the included green insulator after the aluminum stake is pulled from it. Then the ground wire can be tied off (with additional wire if needed) to your aluminum gutter or flashing at the edge of the shingles, either of which should provide enough of a ground plain.
We are dedicated to improving all of our antennas. Specifications and descriptions are subject to change without notice. The item "10-80 Meter ProMaster HF amateur ham radio base antenna" is in sale since Sunday, February 19, 2017. This item is in the category "Consumer Electronics\Radio Communication\Antennas\Ham, Amateur Radio Antennas".The seller is "alphaantenna" and is located in Pleasant Hill, Missouri. This item can be shipped worldwide.