Diamond or comet

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gonefishn1

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Diamond antennas tend to be built better than Comet but neither are built for rough service.
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Ham grade antennas are mostly just colorful packaging, fake gain figures, and flimsy build quality and Diamond and Comet are no exception.
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And since the antenna is in fact the one component that will make or break the entire system, you are always better off buying commercial grade antennas from Tessco.

Rough service -??? What the ---- are you doing with your antennas?

I have used Comet and Diamond for years in NORMAL service and they last a long time.
 

ladn

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You can go to just about any radio dealer, even some of the amateur radio dealers, and buy a Larsen NMO 2/70. This is a half wave antenna on 2m and half over half on 440 designed by a commercial antenna manufacturer for amateur radio. It has an NMO mount. It works very well and is very reliable, in my experience.

I'll second that on the Larsen NMO 2/70. Mine is about 25 years old and is still in good shape. One thing to watch out for on the newer version is the open coil (mine has a closed coil). The open coils tend to get hung up on branches and garage doors.

I also use a Maxrad dual bander that I've had for about 10 years. It, too, is holding up well.
 

jwt873

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The OP was asking about antennas for handhelds..

... Primary usage would be HT ..

In my opinion, the ducky antennas on the big three Japanese handhelds are generally equal to most of the aftermarket fare. Swapping a Comet ducky for an Icom antenna won't make that much of a difference. You might see tests showing a couple of dB improvement or a point or so better SWR, but practically speaking there's no real advantage.

On the other hand, some cheap Chinese radios might benefit. A Comet or Diamond ducky might show a noticeable improvement on the Anytone or PooFlung fares.

Be careful buying Diamond or Comet HT antennas. Many are counterfeit. Only get one from a reputable, established dealer. Avoid the bargains on eBay and Amazon.

Unless you're going to be exclusively outside and on foot, consider getting an external mobile style antenna with the proper (SMA) adapter. For instance, in a car, a quarter wave mag mount on the roof will greatly outperform any ducky antenna used inside the car. Same goes for a house.. Something on the roof will be many times better.
 

N4GIX

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The OP was asking about antennas for handhelds..

Noticed that too did you? I have two genuine Nagoya 771 ducks, and frankly they were a waste of money.

They do however make excellent backscratchers! :roll:
 

N4KVE

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The problem is many of these antennas are tuned for ham freq’s of foreign countries. Not US bandsplits. You also have to ask yourself why do commercial users like police, fire rescue, utility companies buy Larsen, Laird, Antennex, etc. Diamond /Comet May be fine for applications in Fantasy Land where hams treat their equipment like gold, but in the real world where users don’t give a crap about their equipment, these antennas wouldnt last a day. That being said, I own a Larsen dual band that’s 25+ years old. And my Dad has a Diamond 7500 that’s also 25+ years old. But we both are now using Laird low profile antennas so we can get our cars into the parking garage.
 

Peerlessk

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Lima NY
I prefer comet . As a matter of fact the comet do-150s receives better than the diamond j series discone I had . Same pole same height the comet receives better in my location . I wouldn’t use neighther for transmitting . But for a scanner antenna either diamond or comet will work . For some reason the comet just receives better for me .
 
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