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Impressed with Gmrs J-pole antenna

B

Bootyhunter

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2013
Messages
50
prcguy said:
We never heard what "commercial" repeater antenna was compared to the J-pole. It could have been a little 2ft high job housed in PVC water pipe off eBay for all we know. I've tested countless antennas on one of the repeaters at my house and range can vary from maybe 15mi to 75mi by just swapping out antennas, same repeater and duplexer, same exact location, same feedline. I can say the 75mi antenna is big and not cheap, you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...
It was a Tram GMRS base station antenna. I don't recall the model number, but it was "supposed" to be a really good antenna. But as in all things, you can get a bad one. The J-pole definetely outperformed, as the Tram didn't perform at all. 2 miles and it was dead. Are there likely better antennas than the little J pole I switched to? Sure, no doubt. But, for my needs this works great, I think performance would be nominally better with any other antenna as it is only up 20' in a residential neighboorhood with hills all around.
 
prcguy

prcguy

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Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
16,765
Location
So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
Bootyhunter said:
It was a Tram GMRS base station antenna. I don't recall the model number, but it was "supposed" to be a really good antenna. But as in all things, you can get a bad one. The J-pole definetely outperformed, as the Tram didn't perform at all. 2 miles and it was dead. Are there likely better antennas than the little J pole I switched to? Sure, no doubt. But, for my needs this works great, I think performance would be nominally better with any other antenna as it is only up 20' in a residential neighboorhood with hills all around.
Click to expand...
Was it a fiberglass BR6140 about 26" tall?
 
K6GBW

K6GBW

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Joined
May 29, 2016
Messages
724
Location
Montebello, CA
Tram has a habit of making copies of other well-established antennas. I'm betting it's a copy of either a Comet or a Diamond antenna. There's nothing wrong with that. Antennas are antennas as long as they're built right. The problem with Tram is that they are made really cheaply by people that don't really care about the quality control. Sometimes you get lucky and get one that is perfectly to spec and well made, other times....not. That said, I had a Diamond base antenna that came out of the package missing the connector ferrule for the copper wires inside the fiberglass tube, so I had to send it back. It can happen to any manufacturer.
 
B

Bootyhunter

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2013
Messages
50
K6GBW said:
Tram has a habit of making copies of other well-established antennas. I'm betting it's a copy of either a Comet or a Diamond antenna. There's nothing wrong with that. Antennas are antennas as long as they're built right. The problem with Tram is that they are made really cheaply by people that don't really care about the quality control. Sometimes you get lucky and get one that is perfectly to spec and well made, other times....not. That said, I had a Diamond base antenna that came out of the package missing the connector ferrule for the copper wires inside the fiberglass tube, so I had to send it back. It can happen to any manufacturer.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, can get a bad one of anything, and if theres a bad one, thats the one I end up with 🤣
 
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