Now I have to ask

[SpugEddy]

I myself have wondered in the past and just last week
my brother asked me and I could not give him an answer.

The question: Can an Antron 99 or Solarcon A99 antenna
be used with a GMRS radio?

Right now, he is using a homemade DIY 1/2 wave antenna
for his GMRS radio and it works pretty darn good for a DIY.
But he wants to know if he can use his old Antron. My answer
was "I don't really know, but I don't think so". But I really
don't know the reason(s) why

 

[kma371]

No.

 

[KB0VWG]

Nope sure cant gmrs is a totally different band/Frequency. Antron is for 10/11 Meters which is 26.965 to 29.xxx and Gmrs is in the 462 Mhz area. So if you tried it the swr's would be sky high and burn out the gmrs radio.
kb0vwg
wqoi992

 

[WA0CBW]

The why is because the Antron 99/Solarcon A99 is designed for the 10/11 meter band and GMRS is the 70 centimeter band.
BB

 

[Skypilot007]

Over 400 MHz difference between the two bands. It absolutely positively will not work. Even a 440MHz ham antenna will have border line SWR on 467MHz, some will be lower but most are a bit high from what I've tested with. If better performance is needed and your brother is handy he could make a simple J-pole or a collinear type if you have some extra coax laying around. If he has some money to spend I've had good results with the TRAM 1486 and the Comet CA-712EFC. There are many to choose from: http://www.theantennafarm.com/catal...f-antennas-250/uhf-omni-directional-ant-1096/

 

[SpugEddy]

Thank you guys. I think I "knew" the answer was no,
but I was unable to explain my answer. I wish I knew
more about antennas and the theory of antennas to be
able to understand the "why"
I certainly understand the whole 10/11 meter vs. the 70cm thing.
But sometimes I wonder to myself, "what is the difference
between that 11 meter antenna and a GMRS antenna? Why cant
I just take an old 11 meter antenna and cut it down to the same size
as the GMRS antenna and get the same results?"
With some further research, I may one day understand. Thank you all

 

[mmckenna]

Would it work? Yes.
Would it work well? Probably not.
Would your radio explode in a huge fireball due to high SWR? No.
Is it a good idea? Not really.

The CB antenna would work for receiving, but not as well as a properly tuned antenna.
It would certainly radiate some signal on transmit, but again, not well.
Most antennas can be resonate on more than one frequency. As other stated, the frequency difference probably isn't going to work out well.

On a similar note... A 1/4 wave antenna tuned for the 2 meter amateur radio band will work quite well as a 3/4 wave antenna on the 70 centimeter amateur band. I used one for years with a Kenwood dual band radio. When put on an antenna analyzer the return loss (similar to SWR) was better on 70cm than it was for 2 meters. 5/8th's wave VHF antennas tuned for the 2 meter band work pretty well as 1/4 wave antennas on the 6 meter band.

And, radios don't immediately implode when the SWR gets too high (which is what you'd see). Modern radios will throttle back the power to prevent damage. The final amplifier stage would heat up. Eventually, maybe after quite a while, it -might- fail. It's not the mushroom cloud of death that some people think. I've had 100 watt VHF repeaters where a coax connection at the top of the tower failed. Eventually the RF amplifier gave out, but we were still getting a few watts out of the exciter, enough to make it work "good enough" until repaired.

 

[rfradioconsult]

It may exhibit an acceptable SWR at GMRS frequencies but the major radiation lobe would be toward the end of the antenna instead of off the sides. Some of the antenna modeling software would better show it.