Category: DX Commander

🎃 Get a Signature 9 with FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING this Halloween!
👉 Claim the deal here: https://dxcommander.com/product/free-shipping-signature-9/

You MUST use the special link above to get free shipping — the offer won’t apply through the normal Signature 9 listing.

Want a proper HF antenna without guy ropes taking over the garden? The DX Commander Signature 9 is a freestanding, multiband vertical covering 40–10 metres, with a tune available on 6 metres too.

Fancy working 80 metres? Replace the 30-metre element with a longer wire, run it up the pole and out towards a tree or suitable support. It doesn’t need to be a perfect inverted L — I’ve had great fun running 80-metre pile-ups with a similar arrangement in Cornwall.

✅ No guy ropes required
✅ Ground-post mounting
✅ Lift it off the post when you need to take it down
✅ Supplied with our latest grey spreader plates
✅ FREE shipping worldwide through the Halloween link

International orders may still attract import taxes, tariffs and courier handling fees. Free shipping covers delivery, not those charges.

Grab your Signature 9 here: https://dxcommander.com/product/free-shipping-signature-9/

See you on the bands!
Callum, M0MCX

Come for a wander around the antenna field after 50 mph winds. We’ll check the DX Commanders, find out why the 15m beam is pointing the wrong way and get the main tower back in the air – with a little winch trouble along the way!

There’s also a look at my plans to turn the tower into a 160m vertical for some winter Top Band DX. A bit of fettling, a few lessons learned and the usual ramble.

73, Callum, M0MCX

The first radio has made it upstairs… and I’d forgotten how heavy a TS-990S is! Welcome to the new shack. There’s a desk, a view of the antenna field and rather a lot still to work out. Where do the radios go? How high do the monitors need to be? And how am I going to get an ACOM 2000A up the stairs?

In this video I show you around the new work area, explain the proposed cable route back to the antennas and ponder what equipment I actually need to keep. Three TS-990s is probably pushing it… but keeping a separate 12V station for backup does have its attractions.

Nothing is set in stone, so your thoughts are welcome. What would you keep, what would you sell, and how would you arrange it all?

There’s also a little Project X update. Progress is being made, although getting the new shack operational might have to wait its turn!

Another instalment of moving upstairs, simplifying things and hopefully getting back to enjoying the radio.

Hey, you can win a Classic here: https://youtu.be/uyJq4vQBvek

73, Callum, M0XXT
DX Commander

Down comes the tower before the storm, giving me a chance to investigate the next little project: turning it into a 160m vertical.

There’s an insulator below the rotator, but the beam mounting and coax provide a route around it. A bit of tinkering is needed before we can add the big extension and have a play on Top Band.

A quick wander around the lowered antennas, a plan for the next job, and the usual waffle!

Enjoy your radio.
73, Callum, M0XXT

Win a DX Commander Classic with elements I’ve personally built and tested—and help us get more young people on the air. 🎟️ ENTER THE RAFFLE: https://raffall.com/431680/enter-raffle-to-win-the-dx-commander-classic-kit-hosted-by-dxcommander

Over the last couple of years, we’ve sent antennas to young radio amateurs and supported the occasional DXpedition. We’ve now given away more than the original pot covered, so it’s time to top it up!

The prize includes my ready-made elements, a pole, plates, a fresh reel of DX10 wire and the remaining kit components.

Tickets are around £1 each. The money raised goes into our antenna support pot, managed by Wendy, so we can keep sending antennas to people who could use a helping hand.

📻 10% OFF THE CLASSIC: https://dxcommander.com/product/classic-kit/
Use code: CLASSIC-COUPON

Overseas winners: local import taxes, duties and handling charges may apply and will be your responsibility. Please check the raffle page for entry details, eligibility and the closing date.

I remember being broke. Getting an antenna you couldn’t otherwise afford can mean a lot. Thanks for helping us pass that feeling on.

73,
Callum, M0XXT/M0MCX
DX Commander

I built my dream ham radio station—and realised I’d made life far too complicated.

So I’m moving the shack upstairs and dropping the plans for paid remote access. Supporting other operators would become another job, largely to pay for the room I was sitting in. Somewhere along the way, I’d lost sight of what I actually wanted.

The antenna field is staying. I’m simplifying the shack, moving upstairs with Wendy and the dogs, and making room for radio, antenna projects and writing my books.

Sometimes you have to put the brakes on and change the plan.

73, Callum, M0MCX
DX Commander

The final lift after mast was destroyed.

Project X has officially started… although I’m not telling you what it is just yet! First job: make some room. In this video I head out into the field to dismantle an experimental 15/12/10m vertical antenna that’s been standing here for the last couple of years. It was a surprisingly effective little system, using three vertical elements and a shared radial/guy arrangement, so before taking it apart I give you a closer look at how it worked.

I also show you a very simple and inexpensive way of adding guy points to a pole.

Then we move over to another experiment: can I turn the centre mast of my 40m four-square system into a serious 160m vertical?

A bit of detective work with a multimeter reveals exactly where the unwanted short circuit is coming from – and fortunately, it looks like the solution could be relatively straightforward.

With around 700 metres of radial wire already underneath it, plus a planned 9m extension, that 160m project could become quite an antenna.

And finally… the space is cleared.

Next job: digging a hole for Project X.

I’ll reveal what Project X actually is once I know it works!

Enjoy your radio.

73
Callum – DX Commander

A proper October Shack Chat this time. I’ve been a bit quiet on YouTube over the last month, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been doing nothing. Quite the opposite really – I’ve probably had too much going on.

Radio Commander has become a bit of an obsession and I’m now starting to see how it could develop into something much bigger, particularly with Station 2 and the idea of letting a small number of operators remotely access a complete high-power station with antennas, rotator control, amplifier, cameras and everything else tied together properly.

Project X also hit a bit of a snag when I discovered one of the important components I’d originally planned to use was no longer realistically available. That’s now moving again, though, and I’ve ordered an alternative so hopefully I can finally start prototyping it properly.

I’ve also got a couple of videos sitting there waiting to be finished, including a full Ham Radio Deluxe / DM780 digital modes video and the antenna build with Craig from the DXFest raffle.

Then there’s the writing…

Callum’s Practical Antenna Handbook is still progressing, Charity and the Destiny Machine is in the editing stage, Esmeralda is still sitting there waiting for me, and I’ve somehow decided that several of the other stories rattling around inside my head might work better as short stories instead.

On top of all that, I’ve been rebuilding the deck at home, replacing bits of mast rope, looking at new bits of test gear, thinking about antennas and generally finding new ways of giving myself more things to do.

So this one is really just me sitting in the shack with a coffee, bringing you up to date with what’s happening, what’s coming next, and why my head is permanently full of projects.

Hopefully you enjoy the waffle.

73
Callum, M0MCX
DX Commander

I’ve been slightly consumed with building Radio Commander recently, so I thought I’d show you how I’ve been using AI to create my own small ham radio and shack tools.

We look at some of the little programs that eventually led to Radio Commander — including a simple CAT console, RigMirror, HamChat and Snapshot — and I demonstrate how you can start with a very small idea and use an AI assistant to help turn it into a working program.

You don’t need to be an expert programmer, but you DO need to know what you’re trying to achieve.

My biggest tip? Don’t try to build the Rolls-Royce on day one. Build the bicycle, ride it, test it — and then start adding the bells!

We also build a simple CAT control program and talk about prompting, testing, versioning, roadmaps and what to do when the AI gets something wrong.

If you’ve ever thought, "I wish I had a little program that did THIS in my shack…" — perhaps now you can build it.

73, Callum.
M0XXT / DX Commander