GMRS Antenna location

[srbecker58]

Pretty straight forward. This is the spot I picked to install my antenna for many reasons, but before I do, is this tree going to screw me signal wise?

Info.
GMRS
Kenwood 8180
Ed Fong GMRS Antenna
25 feet to top of Antenna
40 foot of LMR-400
Eave mount on garage

Design


Pictures of peak and trees in question

 

[mmckenna]

No, you're OK with that location. The leaves will essentially be invisible to the antenna.

 

[srbecker58]

Sorry, I know you told me that in PM and I do trust your input, but figured I'd ask anyways. Once i do the install, I want it to stay lol

 

[mmckenna]

Sorry, I know you told me that in PM and I do trust your input, but figured I'd ask anyways. Once i do the install, I want it to stay lol

It's always good to get second opinions. Someone else will chime in and share their input.

 

[CanesFan95]

I actually happened to have a very similar setup with a gable end mount on a dual-band vertical antenna. The antenna works great and SWRs are pretty low with tree branches about 15 feet from the antenna.

A little more to the story. I later had the tree cut down (it was a hurricane risk) and got better performance on VHF, but UHF is still about the same.

 

[srbecker58]

Wow! Perfect! I actually had to double take lol. Thought you pbotoshopped one of my photos lol. That is very similar and I'm happy to hear it works well. How high is it? Thank you for sharing!

 

[CanesFan95]

Base of the antenna is almost 30 feet up.

 

[srbecker58]

Oh dang. I won't be that high mine will only be 22 at the base to 25 at top. Only other option was on my house but that increases my coax length more than double from 40 feet to about 80-90 is my guess. On top of my chimney was my first choice.

 

[prcguy]

Why do people by Ed Fong antennas for GMRS? Your antenna and its height determines how far you can talk and a J-pole is near the bottom of the list. Please consider something with a bit more gain.

 

[srbecker58]

I can answer that many ways.

1. I am new to gmrs and don't have a 100+ budget for an antenna that I know very little about.

2. I have yet to read anything bad about Ed fong. Every person I have seen post or make a video about them seem to love them. Have yet to see a poor review.

3. They are affordable.

4. I need to start somewhere, why not affordable and good reviews?

5. It supports his students, or at least he says it does.

6. He has a doctorate in his field and teaches this stuff, so I figure he knows a thing or two (or many) more than me.

7. Other than the tram 1486 I think it is, I have not really seen the same antenna mentioned multiple times (maybe comet?)

My point is, I have been researching and reading for weeks. I was unable to clearly find an antenna that met my needs and budget other than maybe the tram. I'm new to the hobby and my install is going to be less than ideal for now until I figure out my grounding issues. Why spend 2-3 times the cost of an Ed Fong to just install it improperly? The absolute worst thing I have hear about Ed Fong antennas was that they are OK and that he exaggerates his gains.

I by no means mean to come off snarky or anything, I'm too green to do that. I was honestly answering your question based on why I purchased an Ed Fong for GMRS. If you have additional information to teach me or broaden my knowledge as to what is wrong with an Ed Fong, I am all ears and ready to learn.

 

[mmckenna]

The absolute worst thing I have hear about Ed Fong antennas was that they are OK and that he exaggerates his gains.

Antennas can be an overwhelming subject for the newcomer.

He does over inflate the gain on his antennas, and makes some pretty wild claims. The gain numbers he quotes are no rooted in reality.

I think the good reviews you see are from people that don't really understand antennas and buy them based off price and his claims. Since they don't have any other antennas to compare them to, they think they are great and will reflect that in their reviews.

But, yes, good antennas are expensive. Not uncommon to spend $2000 or more on a good antenna for commercial/public safety use. For hobby use, that's not reasonable, but there are some good low cost antennas.

The Ed Fong will get you started, but I suspect that you'll eventually upgrade to something better.

 

[srbecker58]

Thanks! I also suspect that. Once I understand more and know what I want/need, I'll look for an upgrade. But if it works and gets me my repeaters, I'm set for now. If it doesn't work when I know my HT does to hit my local repeaters, then, i guess you guys can say I told you so lol

 

[bill4long]

Keep in mind, J-Poles have nulls. If you put one up, make sure the nulls are pointing in directions you don't care about.

You can Google the radiation pattern.

 

[srbecker58]

I'll have to read up on that. First I have heard of it. Is the PVC tube by Ed Fong considered a j-pole antenna? It's just straight pvc. I thought the j-poles had that H or J look to it? Still learning, so I absolutely could be wrong

 

[mmckenna]

You can make them pretty narrow.
Common to make 'roll up J poles' out of old TV twin lead, and stick it in a PVC pipe for rigidity:

The Twinlead J-Pole Antenna

A short article describing the construction of an emergency j-pole antenna made from 300 ohm TV twin lead.

www.qsl.net

 

[Cameron314]

Ditch the LMR

 

[srbecker58]

Ditch the LMR

For what reason? I dont even have it in my possession yet, why would I ditch it? What would you use instead?

 

[Cameron314]

Use 1/2" Heliax. That LMR will cause you issues at some point with duplex operation.

 

[gatekeep]

For what reason? I dont even have it in my possession yet, why would I ditch it? What would you use instead?

Depending on length it will introduce losses; I haven't read the entire post, are you just running a base with this or a repeater?

 

[srbecker58]

Sorry, misunderstood the comment myself. He said LMR and not LMR-400, so I honestly thought he was talking about the radio lol. Land Mobile Radio....

Anyways, I am using LMR-400 per the recommendation of numerous people and it is only 40' worth for a base station. I will be hitting repeaters, but I am NOT using it for a repeater physically.