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Motorola 8505241U04 900MHz 1/2 wave - not all created equal

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n1das

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I recently ordered replacement 900MHz 1/2 wave antennas for my fleet of DTR650 radios and found not all 8505241U04 900MHz 1/2 wave antennas are created equal. My original set of antennas was getting beat up and I ordered a bunch of new ones from a different seller on Amazon this time around. The antennas were advertised as OEM Motorola 8505241U04 antennas and that's exactly what I got. They are the real deal from Motorola. What I noticed is they are slightly different from my original set of 8505241U04 antennas.

Check out the pics below. (DTR650 box used for the background in the pics.)

IMG_20190812_011034.jpg
IMG_20190812_011123.jpg
IMG_20190812_011202.jpg

The OEM Motorola 8505241U04 antenna is slightly shorter than the other antenna and the dielectric in the connector is blue instead of red. The OEM Motorola 8505241U04 antenna also has /\/\ Motorola 900 molded on it. Both antennas were ordered under part number 8505241U04.

Could the longer red colored antenna actually be tuned for 800MHz instead of 900MHz? The OEM Motorola 8505241U04 antenna specifically lists 896-941MHz coverage on the packaging and is exactly what I want for my DTR radios. I recall a discussion in a thread a while back about Motorola's color coding on these antennas where red was for 800MHz and blue was for 900MHz. Anyhow, my new set of antennas for my fleet of DTR650 radios are the real OEM Motorola 8505241U04 900MHz antennas. I wanted to give a heads up that not all antennas ordered under the 8505241U04 part number are the same. Be careful with who you order them from.
 
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mmckenna

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I seem to remember the 800MHz MTS-2000's had red base antennas.
I suspect you are right.

I took an old dead radio many years ago, I think it was a Kenwood TK-290. I stripped it out so it was just the frame, case and the antenna jack. I soldered on some coaxial cable. I use it for testing portable radio antennas. If you've got an old radio and an antenna analyzer, it can be a good way to check them.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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I found years ago that Motorola changedthe part number for the 450 MHz Helical antenna for the Saber radio. The old antennas radiated more efficiently than the new. I complained and was put on the phone with the vendor of the new antenna who claimed they were made the same. I asked about the test procedure and he mentioned they were tested at 414 MHz which did not give me a warm and fuzzy about the antennas. He insisted that was what the spec was and sent me a few more, also bad.
 

GTR8000

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The whip antennas specs and color codes are as follows:

8505241U11700/800 MHz764-870Green
8505241U03800 MHz806-870Red
8505241U04900 MHz896-941Blue

I have a couple of the U03 and U11 antennas, and they are identical in length, exactly 7" from the base of the rubber skirt to the tip of the ball.

I'm not sure why you are so convinced that you received "real deal" Motorola antennas. :unsure: It has no logo molded into it, the SMA connector looks inferior to an OEM antenna, and the color coding doesn't jive up. Also, you ordered them on Amazon, which is always a roll of the dice. You probably would've had just as much of a 50/50 shot to get either a real antenna or a knockoff if you had purchased them on eBay.
 
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n1das

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The whip antennas specs and color codes are as follows:

8505241U11700/800 MHz764-870Green
8505241U03800 MHz806-870Red
8505241U04900 MHz896-941Blue

I have a couple of the U03 and U11 antennas, and they are identical in length, exactly 7" from the base of the rubber skirt to the tip of the ball.

I'm not sure why you are so convinced that you received "real deal" Motorola antennas. :unsure: It has no logo molded into it, the SMA connector looks inferior to an OEM antenna, and the color coding doesn't jive up. Also, you ordered them on Amazon, which is always a roll of the dice. You probably would've had just as much of a 50/50 shot to get either a real antenna or a knockoff if you had purchased them on eBay.

Thanks for the info on the whip antenna specs and color codes.

My OLD antennas that I am replacing are the slightly longer antenna with the red color coded inferior SMA connector and no Motorola logo and texture molded into it. It would not surprise me if these are in fact a knockoff.

My NEW antennas that I just received are the slightly shorter antenna with the high quality blue color coded SMA connector and Motorola logo and texture molded into it. They are identical to the 8505241U04 antenna I ordered on MOL several years ago for my MTX9250 portable.
 
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GTR8000

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Thanks for the info on the whip antenna specs and color codes.

My OLD antennas that I am replacing are the slightly longer antenna with the red color coded inferior SMA connector and no Motorola logo and texture molded into it. It would not surprise me if these are in fact a knockoff.

My NEW antennas that I just received are the slightly shorter antenna with the blue color coded SMA connector and Motorola logo and texture molded into it. They are identical to the 8505241U04 antenna I ordered on MOL several years ago for my MTX9250 portable.
Ahhh okay, it seemed from your post like it was the other way around, and that you had the original antennas on the radios as they came from Motorola, and received the batch of sketchy antennas this time around.

Out of curiosity, what is the length of those real U04 antennas, measured from the base of the skirt to the tip (excluding the SMA connector)?
 
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