DX Commander
| DX Commander | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private family-run company |
| Founder | Callum McCormick, M0MCX |
| Headquarters | English Midlands, United Kingdom |
| North American distributor | DX Engineering (since about 2023) |
| Amateur radio | |
| Known for | Multiband wire verticals supported on telescoping fiberglass poles |
| Status | Active |
DX Commander is a small British maker of multiband vertical antennas for HF and 6 meters. The family-run business is based in the English Midlands and was founded by Callum McCormick, M0MCX, who designs its antennas and is its director. Its kits use a telescoping fiberglass pole to hold up a set of wire radiators, one for each band, with no traps or switching. In North America the products are sold through DX Engineering.
History
Callum McCormick became widely known in the hobby through YouTube videos and live streams about antennas and DXing, and by late 2018 he was already appearing on air and online as "the DX Commander". Owners of the antennas often share build notes and results online. Sources reached for this article do not give a founding year for the business.
Around 2023 DX Engineering of Tallmadge, Ohio, became the exclusive North American distributor of DX Commander kits and parts. DX Engineering showed the Signature 9 model at the Dayton Hamvention in 2023. The company is active as of 2026.
How the antenna works
A DX Commander vertical is a group of quarter-wave wire radiators, one cut for each band, all hanging from the same support. At the base every radiator connects to a common aluminum "driven plate", so they are all fed in parallel from one coaxial feed line. On any given frequency the wire that is close to resonance takes most of the current, while the others present a high impedance and have little effect. This lets one antenna cover several bands without traps, coils or a remote switch.
The fiberglass pole carries no RF; it only holds the wires up. Plastic spreader plates keep the radiators apart along the pole, and guy ropes steady the whole assembly. A separate aluminum ground plate takes the radials. The design guidance stresses laying out many evenly spaced radials rather than cutting each one to an exact length.
Each kit includes the pole, the driven, ground and spreader plates, stainless hardware, a clamp kit for holding the pole sections in place, antenna wire, guy rope and shock cord. The owner cuts and tunes the wires, often with an antenna analyzer.
Products
Models listed by DX Engineering include:
- Classic: about 33 feet (10 meters) tall, sold in 80-to-2-meter and 40-to-2-meter versions for home stations.
- Expedition: a 30-foot portable model for 40 through 6 meters that collapses to about 2 feet for transport, suited to portable operating.
- Rapide: a 23-foot version for 40 through 6 meters, aimed at small lots and places with antenna restrictions.
- Signature 9: a sturdier 29.5-foot self-supporting all-band vertical.
Larger Signature models have also been described in hobby press, and spare parts such as spreaders and plates are sold separately.