mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
My first external base antenna was a J-pole. Back when I first got my ham ticket, one of the local ham clubs would produce them en-mass and sell them at the local hamster meetup for around $35 back in the late 1980's/early 1990's, if I recall correctly.
Aluminum parts and pretty well built. I was happy with it since all I had at the time was a hand held radio and that didn't work well inside the house.
So, anything outside, even connected with cheap coax, worked much better than the stock rubber duckie on top of the radio. In my very limited experience at the time, the J-pole was the greatest thing ever since it really opened up the capability of that little radio.
As time went on, I moved up to a 50 watt mobile in the house and got a better antenna, better coax, increased height. Realized that while the J-pole worked well, it wasn't all that great an antenna.
When looking at reviews on the internet, you have got to consider what the reviewer is actually comparing the antenna to. Most of the ham reviews I see look a lot like this is the only external antenna they have ever owned and their glowing reviews are only compared to a rubber duckie on top of a $15 CCR from inside their basement.
Aluminum parts and pretty well built. I was happy with it since all I had at the time was a hand held radio and that didn't work well inside the house.
So, anything outside, even connected with cheap coax, worked much better than the stock rubber duckie on top of the radio. In my very limited experience at the time, the J-pole was the greatest thing ever since it really opened up the capability of that little radio.
As time went on, I moved up to a 50 watt mobile in the house and got a better antenna, better coax, increased height. Realized that while the J-pole worked well, it wasn't all that great an antenna.
When looking at reviews on the internet, you have got to consider what the reviewer is actually comparing the antenna to. Most of the ham reviews I see look a lot like this is the only external antenna they have ever owned and their glowing reviews are only compared to a rubber duckie on top of a $15 CCR from inside their basement.
