Kind of a rant, I guess...

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

Before I got an amateur license, I ran a GMRS radio in my truck with a Nagoya HDG antenna. This thing is a beast about 48" long and with a fiberglass shell almost an inch in diameter. It allegedly has 6.5 dB gain, and although I didn't have any way to formally test it, it would definitely blast out a signal. SWRs throughout the GMRS band were spectacular -- 1.00 to 1.01:1 all the way up and down. Naturally, when I put a dual-band radio in the truck, I bought the HDA which is the dual-band amateur version of the same antenna. SWRs were terrible -- no better than 5.0 and up to 8.4 throughout the 2m and 70cm bands. I tried it with three different radios on two different NMO mounts and it didn't improve. Figuring I just got a lemon, I sent it back to Amazon in exchange for another one which came today. Same craptastic results. I tested it on a magnetic NMO mount on a steel pizza pan, as I usually do initially when I get a new antenna. Just to be sure, I screwed the HDG onto the same mount and it was once again about perfect as SWR readings get, so it wasn't the radio or the cable or the mount causing the problem. I'm just baffled about how they could get one so right and the other so wrong. Pretty disappointed, to say the least.

 

[hill]

Both antennas are way to big and most likely Chinese junk. Plus would most likely stress the mounts, plus if you hit anything the antenna won't flex and can damage the vehicle body

For GMRS all you need is UHF quarter wave antenna and they are only around 6 inches.

Either of these two linked below and Larsen is used in public safety. These antennas will outlast you vehicle and many more after that one.

PulseLarsen NMO2/70SH

Short 144 / 440 MHz Dual Band Mobile Antenna - NMO Base - Requires Mount & Cable

www.hamradio.com

PulseLarsen NMO2/70C

144 / 440 MHz Dual Band Chrome Whip with Black Coil - NMO Base - Requires Mount & Cable

www.hamradio.com

 

[prcguy]

It takes about 8ft of antenna to reach 6dBd gain on UHF and a 5dBd gain Station master is about 7ft tall. Not going to get any more than about 3dBd gain with a 48" antenna.

 

[hill]

The reviews for the ham antenna show a lot of issues with it on the Amazon website.

 

[EAFrizzle]

Not surprising at all that you got two lemons in a row from Amazon. If you insist on that same antenna, try a completely different retailer. If you want to  enjoy an antenna that will do the job better than you expect, kill the antenna-collecting bug right now and buy the stylish, functional, and durable Larsen of your choice.

(HT antennas are exempt. You should fill a drawer full of them.)

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

"Curiouser and curiouser," as Alice said to the White Rabbit. I remembered that I had a Nagoya mag mount and wondered if perhaps the two items of the same brand would work better together. I screwed the antenna onto the Nagoya mount, put it on the pizza pan, hooked it up...and SWRs were excellent throughout the 2m and 70cm bands. I took the pizza pan from under the mount, set the mount on the floor, and SWRs hardly budged -- still very good. I took the antenna off the Nagoya mount, put it on another mag mount and SWRs sucked. I transferred it back to the Nagoya mount...and SWRs sucked. Despite removing and replacing it several times, I could never replicate the success. I suspect there's something about it that doesn't make good contact, and I just got lucky that one time. It's definitely a design flaw of some sort. The fact that the GMRS antenna had no problems probably means it's hit or miss. So, back to square one. It seemed reasonable to stick with what had worked well before, but obviously this isn't the answer.

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

Both antennas are way to big and most likely Chinese junk. Plus would most likely stress the mounts, plus if you hit anything the antenna won't flex and can damage the vehicle body

For GMRS all you need is UHF quarter wave antenna and they are only around 6 inches.

One thing you can always count on with Ham radio forums is the guys who will immediately tell you that whatever you have is junk, you installed it wrong, and it's going to damage your vehicle, despite the fact that they never saw the installation or how you used it. Good job! You kept up the tradition. Does that automatically come with the AE license, or is there a separate course for it? Curmudgeon 101 or something?

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

The reviews for the ham antenna show a lot of issues with it on the Amazon website.

Yeah, I saw that today, but having had a very good experience with an almost identical product, I didn't bother to read them before.

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

It takes about 8ft of antenna to reach 6dBd gain on UHF and a 5dBd gain Station master is about 7ft tall. Not going to get any more than about 3dBd gain with a 48" antenna.

I did say "allegedly", but the point is that it worked really well.

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

Not surprising at all that you got two lemons in a row from Amazon. If you insist on that same antenna, try a completely different retailer. If you want to  enjoy an antenna that will do the job better than you expect, kill the antenna-collecting bug right now and buy the stylish, functional, and durable Larsen of your choice.

(HT antennas are exempt. You should fill a drawer full of them.)

Well, the second one was a replacement for the first one, so I didn't pay for it. The second one is going back for a refund. I have no emotional attachment to that particular antenna, it just seemed reasonable to go with had worked well before. I have a Comet SBB-1 and an SBB-2 and they're both pretty good. I'll probably just stick one of them on when I get the permanent NMO mount installed. Since the GMRS antenna worked well on a bed rail mount without a ground plane -- which they are supposed to do -- I hoped to avoid doing that. No such luck, I guess.

As for HT antennas, I do have a drawer full of them and often switch them according to what band I'm planning to use, although the 2m/70cm dual-band gets the most use just for the convenience.

 

[hill]

One thing you can always count on with Ham radio forums is the guys who will immediately tell you that whatever you have is junk, you installed it wrong, and it's going to damage your vehicle, despite the fact that they never saw the installation or how you used it. Good job! You kept up the tradition. Does that automatically come with the AE license, or is there a separate course for it? Curmudgeon 101 or something?

Sorry to upset you.

Unfortunately, a lot stuff sold on Amazon and it's retailers aren't really the best quality items, but many times it looks good with low prices.

It best to stick with buying antennas from sources like Antenna Farm, HRO, Gigaparts, or DX Engineering.

In the end we are really trying to help you get more out ham radio. We have all seen pictures of vehicles with major damage by hitting stuff like tree branches with these type of none flexing antennas and ripping out the mounts.

Going forward I am really more of a fan a just using quarter wave antennas for vehicle installs. The VHF is only around 19 inches and UHF 6 inches. They are cheap work well and kind of blend in and hard to tell you even got a antenna on it. Plus the VHF quarter wave will work as dual band antenna with the UHF being a 3/4 wave, but the UHF pattern will kind of funky.

 

[OkieBoyKJ5JFG]

Sorry to upset you.

Unfortunately, a lot stuff sold on Amazon and it's retailers aren't really the best quality items, but many times it looks good with low prices.

It best to stick with buying antennas from sources like Antenna Farm, HRO, Gigaparts, or DX Engineering.

In the end we are really trying to help you get more out ham radio. We have all seen pictures of vehicles with major damage by hitting stuff like tree branches with these type of none flexing antennas and ripping out the mounts.

Going forward I am really more of a fan a just using quarter wave antennas for vehicle installs. The VHF is only around 19 inches and UHF 6 inches. They are cheap work well and kind of blend in and hard to tell you even got a antenna on it. Plus the VHF quarter wave will work as dual band antenna with the UHF being a 3/4 wave, but the UHF pattern will kind of funky.

See? Wasn't that a much more informative way to pass along that information?

I'm more amused than upset, but it does get kind of old.

 

[mmckenna]

There's a very good reason you don't see these hobby/ham market antennas used in the LMR/Public Safety industry.

There's nothing magical about antennas, they are all governed by the laws of physics. Unfortunately that doesn't stop sellers from making exaggerated claims, like inflated gain figures. To make matters worse, the average person buying these antennas do not have the proper tools to test them (there's other measurements than SWR you need to pay attention to) , and often they don't have the real world experience to compare them to other brands.
To sell antennas like this, sellers will go to all kinds of lengths to make their antennas stick out from the others (no pun intended). The gain figures, mentioned above, designs to make them look more durable, more complex, or make them more unique looking are all often steps taken to make the sale.

I was fortunate when I first got my ham ticket, I had a neighbor that was in the two way industry and he gave me my first Larsen VHF 5/8's wave antenna. That was an excellent performing antenna. On a whim, I tried one of the ham branded antennas and quickly realized there was a big difference. I pretty much stopped buying the ham/hobby grade antennas after that.

After 30 years in the industry, I've installed a lot of antennas. I really do stick with either Larsen or EM Wave for all of them. I've not had them let me down.

It really is a fun part of the hobby to experiment with antennas, and I won't discourage you from that. But pay attention to what others are saying about the different brands. You can spend a lot of money, but eventually you will want a good, reliable antenna. When it comes down to it, the antenna is the most important part of your installation, and it really does make a difference. Being able to install an antenna and know it'll work, be reliable, and perform well is worth a lot.