Question about Laird antenna FG821/18503

[venom6733]

I just bought a FG821/18503 Laird antenna used at a pretty good price. According to the specs, its suppose to be good for 821-896/1850-1990 MHz. I planned on using it with my DSDPlus w/ Fastlane for P25, NXDN and other things within the 800mhz range. Ill probably use quad shield RG6 between it and my sdrplay's. It'll be roughly 25' off the ground. Im in central Indiana with plenty of sites to listen to but I was wondering if anybody has had good luck with this antenna or not. I did a search on RR about it and only seen where someone has suggested it but not really a review/opinion on it.

Thanks

 

[mmckenna]

That antenna is designed for cellular use, but it should give you some good performance on the 800MHz band. I've used similar antennas and Laird makes a good budget friendly antenna.

 

[venom6733]

That antenna is designed for cellular use, but it should give you some good performance on the 800MHz band. I've used similar antennas and Laird makes a good budget friendly antenna.

I cant find the site now but every site did say it was for cellular service and a couple sites said for Public Service (I assumed like NXDN or P25 systems). Also seen them upwards of $300. A couple of people selling them used stated they were from Public radio systems that were upgraded to 700mhz systems using newer antennas. Ill give it a try because the one I use now is ok but I think this might do better (I hope anyway). I put up a D-130J Diamond about 15 years ago and it does great but at the time I used RG-8X coax and it doesnt handle 800 mhz and up very well. Appreciate the reply MM. Ill throw it on my VNA using a short piece of 50 ohm coax and see what kind of SWR I get out of it.

PS...I found the site that said other uses for it here... FG821/18503 - Antenex Dual-Band Cellular/PCS Fiberglass Base Station Antenna.

If you dont want to click the link, the uses are "Laird FG821/18503 is a dual band fiberglass omnidirectional antenna operating in the 806-896/1850-1990 MHz frequency range. Typical applications include land based and marine radio and data transmissions for public safety agencies, commercial organizations, and the military."

 

[mmckenna]

I cant find the site now but every site did say it was for cellular service and a couple sites said for Public Service (I assumed like NXDN or P25 systems).

You are correct, the specs were wrong on the sheet I was looking at. Here's the correct one:

https://files.theantennafarm.com/specs/j50/410651_410651-fg821.pdf

Also seen them upwards of $300.

Laird TE Connectivity FG821/18503

Manufacturer TE Connectivity Model # FG821/18503 Product Description Cell/ PCS Dual Band Antenna Product Narrative Convenient and highly durable solution for base station or micro base station applications. Superior quality design, gold anodized aluminum mounting sleeve and a highly polished...

theantennafarm.com

I put up a D-130J Diamond about 15 years ago and it does great but at the time I used RG-8X coax and it doesnt handle 800 mhz and up very well.

This should be an improvement over a discone, considerably due to the much improved radiation pattern compared to that discone.

 

[venom6733]

You are correct, the specs were wrong on the sheet I was looking at. Here's the correct one:

https://files.theantennafarm.com/specs/j50/410651_410651-fg821.pdf

Laird TE Connectivity FG821/18503

Manufacturer TE Connectivity Model # FG821/18503 Product Description Cell/ PCS Dual Band Antenna Product Narrative Convenient and highly durable solution for base station or micro base station applications. Superior quality design, gold anodized aluminum mounting sleeve and a highly polished...

theantennafarm.com

This should be an improvement over a discone, considerably due to the much improved radiation pattern compared to that discone.

Plus most of the ones I seen online didnt come with the 2 FM2 pole mounting brackets and the one I got has them so that help too

Laird FM2 Fiberglass Antenna Mounting Kit

The Laird FM2 is a mounting bracket for mounting fiberglass base antennas. This kit includes two (2) U-bolts and mounting plate. The fiberglass antenna mount will handle a mast from 2 in. – 2.5 in. diameter.

www.buytwowayradios.com

 

[mmckenna]

Plus most of the ones I seen online didnt come with the 2 FM2 pole mounting brackets and the one I got has them so that help too

Laird FM2 Fiberglass Antenna Mounting Kit

The Laird FM2 is a mounting bracket for mounting fiberglass base antennas. This kit includes two (2) U-bolts and mounting plate. The fiberglass antenna mount will handle a mast from 2 in. – 2.5 in. diameter.

www.buytwowayradios.com

Right, those are an option.
I've used a few of those Laird base antennas for budget installs at work. Good antennas for the price

 

[prcguy]

The Laird FG821/18503 antenna has ZERO dB gain at 800MHz, waste of time and $$ and you will never make use of the other band it has. Unless of course you have one lined up for $10 or so. An L-Com HGV-906U is a much better choice and what I use for various 800/900MHz monitoring with about 6dBi gain. I've picked up at least six of them off eBay for less than $40 over the years and they still show up for good prices.

 

[devicelab]

The Laird FG821/18503 antenna has ZERO dB gain at 800MHz, waste of time and $$ and you will never make use of the other band it has. An L-Com HGV-906U is a much better choice and what I use for various 800/900MHz monitoring with about 6dBi gain.

And be sure to feed it with LMR-400 at the very least or any gain will be wasted in coax loss.

 

[venom6733]

Well I paid only $20 for it so I took a shot. I didn’t pay the $240 price that the above link for antenna farm has it for. If I ever see the hgv-906u at a decent price on eBay or wherever, I’ll pick it up. If the laird doesn’t do well, I can always put it on eBay also and I’m sure I can get at least my $20 back.