~150-155 VHF Base Antenna Medium-Duty / Semi-Compact (Commercial, MURS, Marine)

[chiwititsara]

Posting this in 'commercial' (and am looking at such categories on AntennaFarm and elsewhere) as I am looking for like a VHF-only base antenna that is of decent quality (though, this will not be mounted on a mountain or inaccessible tower - rather a backyard tower).

I'd like to receive marine transmissions, scan local commercial/public safety VHF, and transmit (2w, I know) on MURS. Wider bandwidth would be nice but not critical.

I'm currently using a 1/4 wave emwave whip with ground plane kit and having decent results. It's compact, wide-bandwidth, and well worth the sub-$150 in components. But it isn't very durable. And I suspect there are better options out there.

Are there good medium-duty antennas for 150-155 MHz in the ~$100 - $250 range? I would prefer something under 5-6' and don't need much gain.

Some ideas I've seen...

-Diamond BC103 (super wide bandwidth, what's the catch?)
-Browning BR-6051 (unclear what this is - a 1/4 wave no-ground-plane? would it out/underperform my current 1/4 wave setup w/ ground plane?)
-Diamond X50C2 (getting a little long)
-Laird CRS150 (good experiences w/ Laird but can't figure out what a 'rugged ringo' actually is)
-Laird FG1500 (again, like Laird, though having trouble finding this in stock)

 

[cbehr91]

If it were me and price were no consideration I'd pick the Shakespeare 2774. If you insist on something shorter perhaps the Comet GP-1?

 

[prcguy]

If it were me and price were no consideration I'd pick the Shakespeare 2774. If you insist on something shorter perhaps the Comet GP-1?

I have a few of the HS2774s and they are great for their size, problem is they are pricy new. I picked up three on eBay over the years cheap and the last one was NIB in the $35 range.

 

[kny2xb]

Maybe not commercial quality, but there's a ham who makes & sells j-pole & slim jim antennas for various bands, ham, commercial, GMRS, MURS

MURS 151-154 MHz Land-Mobile J-Pole Antenna - KB9VBR Antennas

This antenna covers the lower end of the 150-160 MHz band, perfect for the Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS), public safety, and business band communications. If you are on a search and rescue team, volunteer firefighter, or monitor public safety bands, this antenna would be a great complement to...

www.jpole-antenna.com

VHF Public Safety, MURS, Marine, & Scanner Slim Jim Antenna - KB9VBR Antennas

Our extremely popular Slim Jim Antenna is now available for the VHF 150 - 160 MHz band. This means our Slim Jm is optimized for VHF Public Safety, MURS, Marine band, and Business frequencies. The Slim Jim is an end fed folded dipole antenna that gives you approximately 5.5db of gain. Plus the...

www.jpole-antenna.com

I have no experience with slim jims, but I use his j-pole for GMRS, it acts as a decent scanner antenna also
I monitor civil air, mil-air, & rail

 

[jeepsandradios]

I run thew Laird for all my SAR stuff. Its a great antenna. The 1520 and 1523 are my go to antennas for control stations.

 

[K6GBW]

Arrow Antennas makes relatively heavy duty quarter waves and will cut them to any frequency you want. Another option is Kreco antennas. They make a quarter waves designed to handle the nuclear apocalypse, but they are expensive.

 

[rescue161]

I second the Kreco antennas.

 

[nd5y]

-Laird CRS150 (good experiences w/ Laird but can't figure out what a 'rugged ringo' actually is)

It's an end fed 1/2 wave similar to a Cushcraft Ringo Ranger.

 

[chiwititsara]

I run thew Laird for all my SAR stuff. Its a great antenna. The 1520 and 1523 are my go to antennas for control stations.

Are there benefits - aside from survivability - of the fiberglass-enclosed radial-less antennas (e.g., your Laird FG1520, pre-tuned, unity-gain) over the "Ringo" style recommended elsewhere in this thread (e.g., the Laird CRS-150, tune-able, shorter overall length, claims gain)?

I don't need gain, just a reliable antenna with a few mhz of bandwidth. Minimal tuning-distortion from tree branches (a wavelength or so away) could be helpful for possible future applications. And we do have snowy, wet winters here, which could also favor the enclosed design.

I'm inclined to put more faith in Laird's fiberglass designs, particularly the unity-gain 1520....but then again, this will not be installed on top a distant mountain or tower that I can't service easily...nor is this a mission-critical application.

 

[mmckenna]

I don't need gain, just a reliable antenna with a few mhz of bandwidth. Minimal tuning-distortion from tree branches (a wavelength or so away) could be helpful for possible future applications. And we do have snowy, wet winters here, which could also favor the enclosed design.

Folded dipoles are a common choice where supreme durability and wide bandwidth are required. I'm using some Telewave ANT450D's at some locations that see hurricane force winds at times. Location doesn't need gain, and the wider beamwidth is helpful.
Might be outside your budget new, but you can often find them on the used market.

 

[jeepsandradios]

The reason I run the laird for SAR is light and easy to mount. Most are control stations at members houses or other station based antenna. On our towers we run folded dipoles. I like the 1520 becasue its simple. No parts to fall off, drops in a compartment when not needed and again KISS method. SAR folks are great at what they do but radio stuff is not one of those

 

[ind224]

If you can get around the compact qualifier a real StationMaster fed with 400 or better will exceed your expectations.