Seeking recommendations for a "house-mounted" GMRS antenna...

[N1SAK]

Looking to put a GMRS antenna on the roof or soffit of my house. Will run about 30+ feet of coax to a Wouxan 905G handheld 5W unit for now, but will upgrade to a better higher-wattage base unit later. Can anyone recommend a suitable antenna and coax type to maximize performance and minimize loss?

 

[jeepsandradios]

Laird FG4500 is a unity gain antenna. Use LMR 400 and you should be happy.

 

[prcguy]

Is this only to reach a repeater or will it be used for point to point in one direction or many directions? For repeater use you can get away with less antenna but for simplex use I would recommend going as big as you can afford. The difference between a unity gain omni antenna and a 6dB is huge in actual use.

I recently played with different antennas on an actual repeater going from a 24ft monster to a 17ft to a unity gain ground plane and the results were interesting. I live in an area with lots of hills and the largest antenna had incredible range, like out to 60mi or more in one direction and comfortable range out to the horizon. It also had a lot of flutter and some dead spots in local canyons and behind close by hills. The 17ft lost a tiny bit of signal at extreme distance and filled in the close by canyons a little better. The unity ground plane was much better in the canyons but its range out at the horizon was maybe 1/4 that of the larger antennas. When you would drive away from the repeater it would fade out way too soon and in the direction where I was getting upwards of 60mi I could only go about 10mi.

With that consider something like the Comet CA-712EFC or one of the larger Lairds like the FG4505 or FG4507. For use with just one repeater and no simplex you could go with a small Yagi but whatever you do go big.

 

[chief21]

Lots of commercial 450-470MHz omnidirectional base antennas available. If you live in an area with relatively flat topography, you may want to consider an antenna with some gain. If your house is single-story, two sections of chain-link fence top rail fastened to the soffit (with appropriate bracket) will get your antenna up about twenty feet without much drama. As mentioned, LMR400 is a good coax for UHF. Also, suggest a jumper of smaller diameter coax from the inside end of LMR400 to your handheld.

 

[WA0CBW]

Don't forget about the required NEC grounding and bonding when you install an outside antenna.
BB

 

[russbrill]

Looking to put a GMRS antenna on the roof or soffit of my house. Will run about 30+ feet of coax to a Wouxan 905G handheld 5W unit for now, but will upgrade to a better higher-wattage base unit later. Can anyone recommend a suitable antenna and coax type to maximize performance and minimize loss?

Hustler G-6 (GMRS Version), see here HUSTLER G6-450-3 Antenna Commercial, G64503 (hamradio.com)

 

[N1SAK]

Thanks Russbrill.