New antenna for F350

[CaptDan]

well after 10 years the antenna needs to be replaced, so while cost isn't the final deciding factor, money is always a consideration.

Recommended antenna - combination uhf/vhf for top of truck

 

[CaptDan]

Truck currently has a NMO mount in center of roof - just need a new antenna to attach to the NMO

 

[tweiss3]

GMRS or ham as primary use? Ig GMRS, Larsen 150/450/758 does a great job on GMRS and is acceptable on ham 2m/70cm. If GMRS is secondary to ham, Larsen 2/70sh. These two antennas have a spring and hold up to major abuse.

 

[CaptDan]

GMRS or ham as primary use? Ig GMRS, Larsen 150/450/758 does a great job on GMRS and is acceptable on ham 2m/70cm. If GMRS is secondary to ham, Larsen 2/70sh. These two antennas have a spring and hold up to major abuse.

Primary use will be GMRS, secondary use will be some VHF business frequencies near MURS.

* * * PLEASE - not interested in a debate about legal equipment from Licensed business and GMRS frequencies * * * only operate on frequencies licensed to use * * *

 

[tweiss3]

Primary use will be GMRS, secondary use will be some VHF business frequencies near MURS.

* * * PLEASE - not interested in a debate about legal equipment from Licensed business and GMRS frequencies * * * only operate on frequencies licensed to use * * *

The Larsen 150/450/758 is ideal for both of those frequencies.

 

[jeepsandradios]

Go with the Larsen multiband as suggested. Run 4 of them on my work truck. Good in V and U.

 

[bharvey2]

I'm usually a Laird/Larsen guy but I bought one of these and I've been happy with it.

Amazon.com

I've whacked it on garage doors/ceilings a few times and it still seems to be holding up.

 

[K6GBW]

You can't go wrong with a Larsen. That said, if you want a slightly smaller antenna that also works well then I've used the Comet B10NMO. It is only 12" tall and stopped most of the hitting stuff. If you do primarily repeaters its a good antenna.

 

[CaptDan]

Just to follow up, this what the Antenna Farm people recommended

Laird Technologies WPD136M6C-001

Any reason I should not follow their recommendation ?

Please and Thank You

 

[bharvey2]

It looks like that covers MURS, ham and GMRS. Laird makes good stuff so I wouldn't be ashamed using that one.

 

[mmckenna]

Any reason I should not follow their recommendation ?

Please and Thank You

Yeah, the bottom half of that monstrosity is solid. If you hit a low tree branch or a low parking garage, it's going to make a huge mess. It'll damage the antenna, and may rip the NMO mount out of the roof.

And the photos don't do it justice, the base on that thing is huge.

I rarely see them being used any more. There are better options. I suspect antenna farm is trying to unload their stock.

StiCo and Larsen make antennas that will do the same job and will not risk damaging your roof.

Your truck, your money, your choice, but there is no way I'd install one of those antennas on any vehicle, except maybe on the trunk lid where the base was protected.

 

[mmckenna]

Recommended antenna - combination uhf/vhf for top of truck

There are a lot of good options...

A 1/4 wave VHF antenna will be 3/4 wave on UHF. It'll cover a lot of the band with low SWR. It's cheap and easy, and it'll last forever. Radiation pattern is less than ideal on UHF, but it worked fine for me for many years on GMRS and 70cm band.

The Larsen NMO-150/450/758 (as well as the NMO-150/450/800is a lot more flexible and will cover those bands very well. I did some antenna analyzer sweeps of them on the roof of an F350, you can find them if you search on that model number on this site.

Laird makes their A150/450c if you don't need ham band coverage, but they'll probably do fine on the ham bands.


I'm running the new Larsen antennas on my work truck right now, and I'm happy with them. Lots of low branches and parking garages. No issues.

 

[bharvey2]

Yeah, the bottom half of that monstrosity is solid. If you hit a low tree branch or a low parking garage, it's going to make a huge mess. It'll damage the antenna, and may rip the NMO mount out of the roof.

And the photos don't do it justice, the base on that thing is huge.

I rarely see them being used any more. There are better options. I suspect antenna farm is trying to unload their stock.

StiCo and Larsen make antennas that will do the same job and will not risk damaging your roof.

Your truck, your money, your choice, but there is no way I'd install one of those antennas on any vehicle, except maybe on the trunk lid where the base was protected.

Man, I though S.O.P. what to NOT run your truck into stuff? Maybe I'm setting the bar too high. All needling aside, if that is a concern, then the antenna I mentioned above (or a Nagoya counterpart) would do fine. So would the others mmckenna mentioned. When I bought mine ( I have a couple for spares) I wasn't confident in what kind of performance I would get so I went on the cheap side. As mmckenna pointed out, they're 1/4 wave at 140mhz and so run pretty wide while still maintaining a usable SWR. There are no loading coils so if you were to run into something the whip will just bend or break off at the NMO base ( hypothetically speaking of course) They don't have any gain but you can't have it all. For repeater work or close distance simplex activity, they work fine.

 

[mmckenna]

Man, I though S.O.P. what to NOT run your truck into stuff?

Usually. But like your spouses birthday, forget just once….

 

[alcahuete]

Eh...the base is definitely big, but it isn't super huge. My beef with the WPD136M6C-001 is the performance. It is outperformed by every single one of my antennas, including 1/4 waves. Their gain figures just don't really add up.

 

[bharvey2]

Usually. But like your spouses birthday, forget just once….

Forget your spouse's birthday? I can't believe you'd even mention such a thing and the hair on the back of my neck is raised just by repeating it. That being said, you learn by your mistakes or by others, the latter being easier and cheaper.

Eh...the base is definitely big, but it isn't super huge. My beef with the WPD136M6C-001 is the performance. It is outperformed by every single one of my antennas, including 1/4 waves. Their gain figures just don't really add up.

The OP is trying to cover a lot of ground with one antenna. Sacrifices will be necessary.

 

[dwhit29689]

I really like my 40" broadband Comet CA-2X4SRNMO on cab of my F-350...replaced Nagoya 19" UT-72 for excessive picket fencing
Impressive performance upgrade. Check the specs. Might consider the spring option.

Dual-Band | Comet Antenna

Dualband, dual-band mobile ham radio antenna, high gain mobile 2M/440 antenna

cometantenna.com

 

[CaptDan]

Forget your spouse's birthday? I can't believe you'd even mention such a thing and the hair on the back of my neck is raised just by repeating it. That being said, you learn by your mistakes or by others, the latter being easier and cheaper.



The OP is trying to cover a lot of ground with one antenna. Sacrifices will be necessary.

Basically want to cover GMRS and MURS, occasionally a couple of business frequencies, (legal & licensed), including marine band.

Nothing is super long range communications, pretty much just communications to coordinate a small group of people/equipment.

 

[mmckenna]

Basically want to cover GMRS and MURS, occasionally a couple of business frequencies, (legal & licensed), including marine band.

Nothing is super long range communications, pretty much just communications to coordinate a small group of people/equipment.

1/4 wave VHF whip is the inexpensive option. They are also very broad banded on VHF, and will easily give you 2.0:1 or less from 144MHz all the way to 174MHz. Low profile, and flexible. They look a lot more professional than the hammy/hobby grade antennas.

I've been running Larsen antennas like these at work for 20 years, never had a failure. The base seals well and it'll probably outlast your truck: https://www.theantennafarm.com/cata...roduct_info&cPath=191_192_206&products_id=767

On my own vehicles, I've recently been trying out the EM Wave brand antennas, and I really like them. A bit more expensive, but look nice, and work well. I specifically swept one of these for VHF and UHF use:

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_192_206&products_id=9247

Here's the VHF band sweep from the above antenna permanently mounted dead center on the roof of a 2018 F-350 crew cab. Mine is centered on 156MHz for work stuff, but I also use it for 2 meter ham band. Like I said, 2.0:1 or less across the band. With the nice big ground plane of the truck roof, radiation pattern will be nice and even.


Here's the exact same antenna on the exact same truck swept for UHF. Yeah, the radiation pattern is going to angle up a bit more than on VHF, but they still work very well. 2.0:1 or less across any part of the UHF band you'll be transmitting on, and nice and low on GMRS:

 

[alcahuete]

The OP is trying to cover a lot of ground with one antenna. Sacrifices will be necessary.

No, I understand that. That's the same reason I bought mine. Just saying not to believe their gain numbers on any of the bands it covers. I did not have good performance with mine at all.