Low profile 2m/70cm antenna

[miserytom]

Has anyone seen or heard of a dual band 2m/70cm low profile antenna like the picture ? Or would it even be use able?

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[iMONITOR]

I've used similar antennas and found they work quite well for local 850MHz band reception, believe it or not. UHF works well too. VHF, not so much.

 

[miserytom]

I've had them on 800-900 also work great , I'm just wondering if anyone makes one for the ham bands for tx/rx

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[mmckenna]

Never seen one.
There are VHF antennas like this and UHF antennas like that, but not a VHF/UHF I've ever seen.

The UHF ones work OK. Not great performers, but since 1/4 wave on 460MHz is close to 6 inches, it isn't hard to squeeze that into a 4 inch tall can.

VHF, on the other hand, is trying to squeeze a 19" tall antenna into something 4 inches tall, just a no-go all around. There are companies that make these in VHF, but they are about 6 inches tall and about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. They have -very- limited bandwidth, like 1MHz at the most, and can't handle a lot of power.

People that I know who have tried the VHF versions have been very disappointed. In fact, everyone I know who has tried one has replaced it. I could have had a few of these for free, but just don't want the headache.

19 inches is about as short as you can go on a VHF or even a VHF/UHF antenna and get any sort of reasonable performance. Larsen makes a 19" tall dual bander. I used one for a few years, pretty good antenna.

 

[miserytom]

I've got a browning dual band that's 37" now lol

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[teufler]

your browning antenna is about as good as you will get. Convenience will be a shorter antenna. Less gain, less range, more frequency specific. Your present antenna, not as convenient if mounted on a roof, and if you go in parking garages, trunk mount usually no problem. You will have gain, 3db or better, and a wider band width or not as frequency specific. 3db is double your power , so effectively you will deliver a more robust signal. Now the 1/4 wave or 18-19" wires have a higher angle of radiation. I was in Las Vegas for awhile. Many locals use a 1/4 for a higher angle so to access the repeaters that are on buildings or the neighboring mountains. So if you live in an area that the buildings are tall, maybe a 1/4 wave is what you want.

 

[WatnNY]

Comet makes a couple that are only 12 or 13 inches tall. unity gain on VHF and 2.5 or so gain on UHF. They really are great performers. i think it's the SSB-1 and SSB-5, or something like that.

Mike

 

[mmckenna]

Comet B10NMO
Dual-Band | Comet Antenna

My dad was using one on his car for a while (permanent NMO mount, center of trunk lid) and it was less than a stellar performer. It worked, but no where near as good as a 1/4 VHF on 2 meters.

 

[popnokick]

The Comet SBB-1 is only 16 inches long and flexible. It's dual-band with 1.5dBi gain on 2M and 2.15dBi on 70cm. It is rated at 60 watts max power, and receives very well throughout a broad range of VHF/UHF frequencies. If the antenna strikes a low hanging garage opening or other obstacle it simply flexes... no damage done. If one of the low-profile "soup can" antennas hits something.... if you're lucky, it smashes the antenna can to bits. Not so lucky and it rips open the roof of your vehicle. I have the SBB-1 NMO version, pictured on my vehicle here -

 

[N1GJB]

I'm using the same Comet antenna- picked it up from HRO last month and just started using it yesterday but I'm hitting some pretty distant repeaters using a mag mount on the roof of my Accord. Would definitely reccomend based on what I've experienced so far.

 

[mrweather]

Larsen also makes a NMO270 "shorty" antenna that's about 17" tall. I have it and it's acceptable for VHF but not good on UHF.

 

[N4KVE]

Wow, I use that exact same antenna in the OP on my car for UHF. It works great, but they are commercial low profile antennas normally seen on "detective" cars where "dual band" is not needed. I also have one for 900 MHZ. I don't believe anyone makes them for 146/440. Back in the day, many of my friends just used a simple 19" whip that was cut for 146 MHZ. It worked quite well on 440 also. So if it gets smashed by a garage ceiling, it's only a few bucks to replace.

 

[prcguy]

I have a low profile Laird VHF only version and it is grim on performance. Full quieting signals with a 1/4 wave whip get scratchy when I put on the Larid in the same spot. The band width is also extremely narrow, about 2MHz max if I remember.

I cut one apart and was appalled at the design and construction. I thought it might be a very short monopole with capacity hat but found its basically a flat chunk of circuit board with a flat coil of wire around it. What a piece of crap. If my picture files weren't maxed out I would post a pic of this stupid thing.
prcguy

 

[miserytom]

Well I don't have to worry much about buildings , I'm out of the city type area in long Island NY, I was just curious lol I'll probly stick with the 37" browning I have now , seem to work great putting 50/40 watts into it

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[N4KVE]

So since you don't have to worry about buildings, let me suggest the BEST antenna to get. The Larsen dual band antenna. I've been using mine since 1992, & am still using it right now. The Browning, & Tram lines are cheap Chinese junk that people buy because decades ago Browning & Tram were quality made American CB radios, so people think that because an importer buys the rights to those names, & labels them on cheap antennas, they will live up to the quality they remembered. My friend who owned a ham radio store before he passed away used to sell them, as well as the Larsen line. Many bought them to save $, but many came back, & the customers spent the money for the Larsen, & were pleased with the results. So if you want to improve the performance of the radio in your vehicle, get the Larsen. If however you are happy with what you have now, then stay with what you are using.
http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/lsn-nmo2-70b?seid=dxese1&gclid=CM-W98_Tx8kCFcMRHwodc3YAww

 

[safetypro79]

Mine works perfect on VHF UHF and 700 mhz

Here in Boise works better than the 1/4 wave VHF whip I was using

Mine is the UHF model

 

[safetypro79]

Second view

Great antenna

 

[SCPD]

Like McKenna said, I don't think they make a dual band antenna like that.
A couple options is to simply use a 19" VHF whip as a dual band antenna. I know people who've done it, the match is all right on 440, and you'll hit machines 20-30 miles away.
Second option is to go with something like this, it's also 19", I personally used one of these for a couple of years, and it seem to have good range.:

OPEK DB-2 - VHF / UHF Dual-Band Mobile Ham Radio Antenna - NMO Mount

 

[DisasterGuy]

The Laird Phantom 2 VHF has a wider bandwidth but as others have mentioned, you can't cheat physics. I have a couple in service and they do the job for the way I am using them but if you are used to a unity gain antenna you will be disappointed. For multiband, I have one vehicle in the fleet that uses one along with the Laird UHF and Laird 700/800 feeding a triplexer into a Harris Unity mobile radio.

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[Stephen]

I used a Maxrad BMLPV430, low profile black. It covers 430-480, been a great performer on my UHF XPR5550, for Ham, GMRS, and other commercial band channels. I have hit many repeaters in all 3 services 40 miles, some even a little more away. I highly recommend it especially if you use a UHF radio for more than just ham.