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Noob Dual Band Antenna question

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laythrom

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Okay, so I am new at this to a degree and I have a question that I think I might know the answer to, but wasn't sure.

Basically, my company uses both VHF and UHF commercial for on location communications. One group uses the VHF band while the other uses UHF band. I, however, now have a dual band radio to oversee both groups and my question really comes down to the antenna. I am wanting to run two Laird Phantom antennas on my production truck (since I couldn't find a dual band phantom in that freq range) and I want to run them both to my radio (one antenna tuned to VHF, the other to UHF).

I am assuming that I would need to use a duplexer for this configuration; is this the case?
 

SCPD

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Two for one

Okay, so I am new at this to a degree and I have a question that I think I might know the answer to, but wasn't sure.

Basically, my company uses both VHF and UHF commercial for on location communications. One group uses the VHF band while the other uses UHF band. I, however, now have a dual band radio to oversee both groups and my question really comes down to the antenna. I am wanting to run two Laird Phantom antennas on my production truck (since I couldn't find a dual band phantom in that freq range) and I want to run them both to my radio (one antenna tuned to VHF, the other to UHF).

I am assuming that I would need to use a duplexer for this configuration; is this the case?

Since I'm assuming the dual band radio you got has one antenna port, why not just use a dual band ham antenna? Even untrimmed, the match should be good for commercial. My favorite is the Larsen NMO-2/70BLACK. I'm sure others will chime in other brands that will do equally as well as the Larsen. If you're looking for something more low profile than what I'm suggesting, you should be able to find a 19" NMO dual band antenna that will look very similar to a cell phone antenna. Google OPEK DP-2 for an example of what I'm talking about.

And go ahead and use the radio you got for what you want to do with it.
I see your query as a possible invitation for unsolicited legal advice. Just ignore it.
 
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mmckenna

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You have two easy options:
1. get a commercial dual band antenna (they are available).
2. get a duplexer and run separate antennas.

A duplexer will have a non-trivial amount of loss unless you spend a lot of money. They'll allow you to connect one radio to two antennas. You'll need a duplexer that is specific to the bands you want (VHF/UHF) and you'll need a jumper between the radio and the duplexer.

Commercial dual band antennas are out there, but not low profile. They'll likely be some version of 1/4 wave on VHF, or larger.
"Phantom" antennas are notoriously poor antennas on VHF. They are big, ugly, very narrow bandwidth and limited in the amount of power you can push through them. On UHF they are smaller, slightly wider useable bandwidth, and not as ugly. If your range expectations are really short, it might be a workable solution, but EVERYONE I know who has used a VHF phantom antennas has dumped them. Probably half the people I know that have tried phantom UHF antennas have ditched them.
Unless you really -must- have phantom antennas, go with basic 1/4 wave whips. They are a lot lower profile, wider bandwidth, and will outperform the phantoms.
 

laythrom

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Thanks Wyandotte & mmckenna. I was originally looking at the Laird Phantoms because I liked the profile and I could get a small discount on them. But with everything that you've cleared up for me, it looks like I'm going dual band.
 

cmdrwill

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Comtelco Dual Band A1532A for commercial 150 450.
 

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