Nil-jon Super M base antenna review

[nycrich]

I recently bought this antenna from Grove after doing a lot of research and wanted something that will blend into my apartment complex. It claimed wideband performance 25-1300Mhz with 6dbi on the intructions.
When I opened the packaged after paying $95.00 + tax the disappointments started. The instructions came in only 1/3 of a regular letter size sheet. I was puzzled because there was two bags of hardware. One bag was labelled PC TEL MAXRAD which showed 136-800Mhz with unity gain. This contradicted the small piece of paper that said Nil-jon nominal gain 6 dbi. It was a standard 1/4 wave ground plane. The other bag was also labelled PC TEL MAXRAD and contained the top half of the antenna. I guess the Nil-jon part that was suppose to make it better than the competition. That was 3 short whips 11-14 in. The ground plane consist of 4 whips that will bend easily in the wind. There are small set screws that hold the whips together that could easily strip or corrode.
Performance wise was also a dissapointment. Low bands 25-100Mhz was terrible. I used LMR-400 cable. Again the elements was not designed for low band VHF. It did do better on the aviation band 108-140Mhz & VHF high. Basically it did good on VHF bands. Signal was stronger, less fade as advertised. I compared results with a Radio Shack 20-176, Dressler ARA 1500 active antenna, and a generic discone with an Icom R-7000 and a Standard CCR708 with spectrum readout. I am not using S-units for signal because even though the Super M had lower S-units on VHF the signal had less fading or dropouts.
On the UHF mil band 225-400Mhz was also a dissapointment. All other antennas was better better on the mil-band. On the UHF business bad 460-470 signals was much better than other antennas. On 800-900 Mhz as other reviews also confirmed as disapponted.
Conclusion is that it is an overprices 1/4 wave antenna. It seems to work specifically for the ham bands. If you bought it for scanning it is a dissappointment. It even list on the Nil-jon specs that it operates on the VHF/UHF ham bands. I can extend the vertical element of my Radio shack 20-176 and get better performance on 118-140Mhz and 225-500 Mhz and 800-900 Mhz.and only pay $25.99

 

[ka3jjz]

That's quite a shame, considering all the other very positive comments I've heard from other users. I'd pack it back up and return it.

73s Mike

 

[DPD1]

The only way to improve a ground plane is to add elements that are of different lengths, so that it at least tunes better on various bands. As you discovered, most companies use preexisting models that are tuned for hams bands. But in the end, you still have a ground plane. It's not 6 dbi and never will be. Next up is dipole design... Same thing with that though... The best improvement you can make is adding multiple length elements to tune different bands. But it's still a dipole in the end. Most of the time, the best you can do in the omni world is to have tuned verticals for each band you're interested in. Band for band, that's actually not a bad cost to performance ratio, because verticals are pretty simplistic. Plus, they're narrow band, which will often cut down a lot of noise from adjoining bands, and that will improve perceived reception. The next step up is a stacked (collinear) type of vertical, where you have two or three elements in one vertical. That's where you start hitting 6 dbi.

That's really the basic four choices you have in terms of an omni... From lowest performance to highest... Ground plane, dipole, vertical, stacked vertical. Discone is really a form of ground plane. No matter what something is called or how different it looks, it's basically one of those designs, and you'll get similar performance among each model. This is VHF/UHF of course... HF is a different story.

The only way to really start moving up in performance is a directional. Which a lot of people don't like for some reason, but you will get the most for your money with that. Often times you'll still have plenty of omni ability. But bouncing from basic omni model to omni model will never really show a huge improvement.

Dave
www.DPDProductions.com
Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist

 

[trooperdude]

LOL.

Physics.

It's the law.

You can only bend it so much.

 

[KBZed]

Greetings and sorry to hear of your findings with the Nil-jon Super M base antenna. I put one in services about 3 ½ years ago and never looked back. It replaced an Austin Spectra base and an Antenna Specialist multiband ground plane and it consistently out performs both on most bands. The Nil-jon is roof mounted atop a 10 foot mast, with Davis-RF 9914F Bury-Flex running about 60 feet to a Stridsberg active 4 port splitter.

A few of my findings from Maryland …
Despite it’s limited size, on VHF-Low, I consistently monitor 8 jurisdictions of the Maryland State Police in the 39 Mhz band and (IMHO) although not as hot in this band as the AS multiband, it doesn’t do a bad job. On VHF Air, it performs well with fairly consistent reception of the BWI tower operations which is about 19 miles line-of-sight, with weather being the only reception factor. On 2 Mtr Amateur and Comm VHF it does a super job. As you pointed out, less fade/flutter on distant reception. I monitor FD/PD and all else from all over Maryland, DC and north to Harrisburg PA. The NJ provides solid copy on distant signals that were so far down in the noise with the Austin and the AS that they typically would not break my squelch settings. On UHF MilAir, it does well. I do monitor MilAir on a number of 780’s so I do pay very close attention to the signal levels and quality of the signal. On UHF Comm, same thing excellent copy outperforming the Austin and the AS. As you mentioned, on 800 and above poor performance and in my case, attributed to the long coax run and antenna tuning. 800 typically need a dedicated setup for max performance.

I agree that when I received it, I also was disappointed with the physical thickness of the elements, mounting method and confusing instructions, to the point that I almost sent it back. However, I gave it a shot and it’s been on-the-air for about 3 ½ years and shows no signs of breakage, corrosion or oxidation. I am extremely happy with the product and the reception that it provides.

If you’re not happy with it, I strongly agree with Mike … send that puppy back !

 

[nycrich]

I just don't think that the antenna should be $95.00 given the quality of the components and documentation. Like all the scanning stuff that I bought in the past 25 years it is a learning experience and something I will always have a use for as a scanner hobbiest. I live in an apartment complex with no antennas allowed, and I have it mounted outside that it is not noticeable.
I will keet it for the aviation band and another scanner that I put in my living room, so once again I found a use for it.

 

[E-Man]

Several years ago I purchased the Niljon Base Ant. after reading the positive reviews from Bob Grove, Rich Wells and others. Unfortunately I did not have the same results.

IMO, the Niljon is over rated and over priced.