XPR 7550 Antennas are cheap! Why?

[Doug_M]

Not a serious thread, just wondering why when most other OEM parts are expensive, OEM antennas for the 7550 (non-"e" model) from American vendors are so cheap? They run about 8 to 10 bucks.

I recently bought 7550 and while it works well it is on the well used side. This is just a hobby radio (ham) but I want it looking good as its a keeper I intend to make my primary HT. So I'm going to refurbish it piece by piece. To that end I've been checking out all the bits and pieces and was quite surprised by how cheap the antennas were. I mean, they're cheaper than no-name Chinese antennas you find for ham radio on Amazon and Aliexpress!

I have a theory. I suspect Motorola lowered the prices at some point in order to prevent people from buying no-name Chinese antennas that often have high SWR and can damage radios.

Thoughts?

 

[N4KVE]

Pure speculation on my part, but 30 years in the auto parts business taught me this. Here’s 2 scenarios. Joe wants to restore a 69 Z-28, & needs a camshaft. He’s playing the numbers matching game, & wants the original 69 OEM cam from the 69 Chevy parts catalog. Seeing it’s been around for 55 years, it’s had numerous price bumps since 1969, & costs hundreds of dollars. Mike also needs a 69 Z cam, but his engine isn’t original to the car, so matching numbers doesn’t matter to him. He goes to the GM performance catalog, & finds a similar spec’d “retro” cam GM came out with last year. Since it’s only been around for a year, it hasn‘t had any price increases, & is under $100. I saw this every day at work. The longer a part exists, the more price increases it’s seen vs a new part number. So the 7550 antennas are still pretty new vs the factory UHF whip that came out with the Jedi, & seen numerous price bumps. Again, only speculation.

 

[Doug_M]

Yeah I suppose it could be. Kind of like RAM. Starts out expensive, then drops as it commoditizes, then eventually starts to climb back up in price as newer types of RAM replace it and it becomes less common.

 

[FKimble]

Or they(Moto) found a gazillion of these antennas in the warehouse and want to recoup some $ before there is no longer a market.

Frank

 

[Doug_M]

lol, yeah that's just as plausible

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Antennas are a consumable item. The second generation XPR antennas are mainly based (not exactly the same) on antenna designs Motorola introduced 50 years ago with the MX series. The R&D costs for the development of the antenna have long since paid themselves off thus the OE antennas can be cheap. Also, I believe the antenna interface has also changed on the newer R series which means, new cost.

 

[Doug_M]

I suppose I was thinking more negatively, as in why isn't Motorola behaving like Apple where every little accessory is overpriced. But it is nice to know that isn't the case.

 

[KD9RTX]

Don't give them any ideas...

 

[asd6845]

I believe the antenna interface has also changed on the newer R series which means, new cost.

The antenna for my XPR 3500e is the same antenna for my R7. Both radios are UHF (403-512 Mhz)

 

[FFPM571]

Antennas are a consumable item. The second generation XPR antennas are mainly based (not exactly the same) on antenna designs Motorola introduced 50 years ago with the MX series. The R&D costs for the development of the antenna have long since paid themselves off thus the OE antennas can be cheap. Also, I believe the antenna interface has also changed on the newer R series which means, new cost.

the R series uses the same antenna as the XPR3000 -7000