Does anyone have any experience with this company? One of my friends has a coworker that is making some outrageous claims about the quality and improved range of this antenna. We work in a geographically very challenging area, and any noticable improvement is welcomed, but this sounds too good to be true.
http://www.smileyantenna.com/product_in ... ucts_id=61
Smiley Antenna Questions
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Smiley Antenna Questions
Semper Fidelis
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Tom in D.C.
- Posts: 3859
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: Progreso soup can with CRT
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
Years ago, when all HTs had BNC antenna connections, the Smiley units were
favored by hams IF you absolutely had to use a stubby VHF antenna. In other
words they all stank but the Smiley version worked somewhat better than others.
There is no free lunch when it comes to the physics and electronics of antennas,
so the longer your VHF antenna is the better it's going to work. Personally if I
were facing a challenging VHF situation I'd never, ever, opt for a stubby antenna.
Unless Smiley is willing to part with some polar graphs showing the gain figures of
their antennas vs. a dipole in free space I would take their claims with a grain of
salt.
favored by hams IF you absolutely had to use a stubby VHF antenna. In other
words they all stank but the Smiley version worked somewhat better than others.
There is no free lunch when it comes to the physics and electronics of antennas,
so the longer your VHF antenna is the better it's going to work. Personally if I
were facing a challenging VHF situation I'd never, ever, opt for a stubby antenna.
Unless Smiley is willing to part with some polar graphs showing the gain figures of
their antennas vs. a dipole in free space I would take their claims with a grain of
salt.
Tom in D.C.
In 1920, the U.S. Post Office Department ruled
that children may not be sent by parcel post.
In 1920, the U.S. Post Office Department ruled
that children may not be sent by parcel post.
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
Semper Fidelis
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
Hello :
I cant speak for the Smiley brand but i have had an antenae made by MX Com that made some pretty wild claims and it was in the 460 mhz band.
Im going to have to side with Tom in D.C.
It wasnt cracked up to be what the claims were made to be as far as i was concerned.
Did it work better ? MMM maybe darn hard to say and it certainly wasnt worth the extra length ect.
I went back to the 6 inch whip and decided id had enough of the wild claims ect.
Did nt happen for me and i seriously doubt it will happen for you.
As Tom stated antenae physics are pretty much the length of the antenae for gain ect.
So if you want serious portable antenae performance with claims you can back up = STRAP A 22 FT DB PRODUCTS 705 BASE STATION COMANDER ANTENAE TO YOUR BACK AND HOOK IT UP TO YOUR PORTABLE
Satelite
I cant speak for the Smiley brand but i have had an antenae made by MX Com that made some pretty wild claims and it was in the 460 mhz band.
Im going to have to side with Tom in D.C.
It wasnt cracked up to be what the claims were made to be as far as i was concerned.
Did it work better ? MMM maybe darn hard to say and it certainly wasnt worth the extra length ect.
I went back to the 6 inch whip and decided id had enough of the wild claims ect.
Did nt happen for me and i seriously doubt it will happen for you.
As Tom stated antenae physics are pretty much the length of the antenae for gain ect.
So if you want serious portable antenae performance with claims you can back up = STRAP A 22 FT DB PRODUCTS 705 BASE STATION COMANDER ANTENAE TO YOUR BACK AND HOOK IT UP TO YOUR PORTABLE
Satelite
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
Should I drag some metal grounding braid as well? I emailed Smiley and asked for some graphs, waiting for a response. The wild claims were made by a user of the antenna, but he also thought you could buy a 15watt XTS2500. I am going to try and sell him a bridge in a little while.
Semper Fidelis
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
Hello :
Yes i have customers on my mobile phone/repeater towers that will brag that they talked 150 miles and fail to mention that conditions were perfect that time for LDX range.
And never once even though they darn well know they cant do it day to day they will never tell you that.
And youll find that guy that has a 223 in a ruger that will say it can shoot say 300 yards but get the military m14 i think it is in the very same 223 cal and it will shoot 1000 yds.
******** !!!
Just because its in print doesnt make it true.
But thats what makes life funny at times.
PS : Forget the grounding strap = Tripping hazard !
Satelite
Yes i have customers on my mobile phone/repeater towers that will brag that they talked 150 miles and fail to mention that conditions were perfect that time for LDX range.
And never once even though they darn well know they cant do it day to day they will never tell you that.
And youll find that guy that has a 223 in a ruger that will say it can shoot say 300 yards but get the military m14 i think it is in the very same 223 cal and it will shoot 1000 yds.
******** !!!
Just because its in print doesnt make it true.
But thats what makes life funny at times.
PS : Forget the grounding strap = Tripping hazard !
Satelite
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
I've got a few Smiley antennas at Dayton in the mid 90's. They worked fine, but not a magic antenna by any means.WCHija wrote:Does anyone have any experience with this company? One of my friends has a coworker that is making some outrageous claims about the quality and improved range of this antenna. We work in a geographically very challenging area, and any noticable improvement is welcomed, but this sounds too good to be true.
http://www.smileyantenna.com/product_in ... ucts_id=61
Your best bet is to make sure your using the proper OEM Motorola antennas.
VHF Wide Band Helical (8.1"): Red (NAD6563)
VHF Helical 136-151 (7.8"): Yellow (NAD6566)
VHF Helical 151-162 (7.3"): Black (NAD6567)
VHF Helical 162-178 (6.9"): Blue (NAD6568)
UHF Helical 403-435 (3.3"): Red (NAE6546)
UHF Helical 435-470 (3.2"): Green (NAE6547)
UHF Helical 470-520 (3.2"): Black (NAE6548)
UHF Wide Band Whip (5.2"): Grey (NAE6549)
800 Whip (7"): Red (NAF5037)
800 1/4 Wave Stubby (3.3"): White (NAF5042)
800 Dipole (8"): Red (NAF5039).
^-------See all the different antannas available.
I've seen many radios come and go that came with the wrong antennas . VHF on UHF radios. Even seen a board member here try using a XTS5000 series antenna on his Waris HT1550
From what I can tell Smiley antennas are still all BNC, and you must use an adapter on Motorolas. Bad idea. BNC's are not suitable for professional HT's - they break too easly when stressed.
If your looking for OEM antennas, escomm here can get you the right antenna for the freqs your using.
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Tom in D.C.
- Posts: 3859
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: Progreso soup can with CRT
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
Just to avoid the spreading of incorrect information, the Smiley URL that was
posted contains clear information about the availability of connectors (SMA
etc.) other than BNCs on their antennas.
Most of the Smiley HT antennas work by screwing the antenna itself into the
correct plug-in base, so the antenna can be used with several different types
of base connectors. They sell the Motorola XTS SMA female base as a separate
item for $6.00 each.
posted contains clear information about the availability of connectors (SMA
etc.) other than BNCs on their antennas.
Most of the Smiley HT antennas work by screwing the antenna itself into the
correct plug-in base, so the antenna can be used with several different types
of base connectors. They sell the Motorola XTS SMA female base as a separate
item for $6.00 each.
Tom in D.C.
In 1920, the U.S. Post Office Department ruled
that children may not be sent by parcel post.
In 1920, the U.S. Post Office Department ruled
that children may not be sent by parcel post.
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
They responded to my emails and told me they did not have any graphs for me, but offered a money back guarantee. They can be ordered with any number of connectors, including M's sma. I am going to try one and let you know how it goes. I suspect that if they work any better it would be the tuning. We currently use a the M dipole VHF wide band, Smiley sells antennas tuned to 700khz of our primary tx freq, so we shall see.
Semper Fidelis
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
I have used various Smiley 220, 146 and 440 1/4 wave and even the telescoping 5/8 wave that he has on some of my yaesu and GE HT's back in the late 80's and early 90s with very good results.
Mainly in regards to the ham specific replacements that he makes, Smiley has access to a HP network analyzer and when I used to talk with him about 10 years ago at the Flagstaff hamfest he informed me that was using old radio cases with his antennas attached to tune and perform field strength measurements on.
Years ago, during one slow weekend, I used my works HP8753 NWA to measure some of his antennas VSWR and all of them provided very good matches in the bands just as he claimed.
If your looking for a Motorola replacment, then I'd look at the OEM full size versions for XTS and sabers in the VHF band.
As for use on motorola UHF XTS series radios, I use a smiley UHF 1/4 on an XTS2500 which works better than the stock XTS whip of the same length.
One of these days, if I ever find the time, I plan on doing some field strength test between the standard XTS UHF 1/4 wave and the smiley UHF 1/4 wave in our antenna screen room at work to see why the smiley works better than the Motorola
BTW I also use a smiley 220 1/4 wave on my GE 220MHz hamflashed MPA HT and it works fine.
As for the 220 MPA antenna, since GE never made one, I have nothing to compare it to but it works fine compared with ham manufactured HTs of the same power level using similar 1/4 antennas.
Mike
Mainly in regards to the ham specific replacements that he makes, Smiley has access to a HP network analyzer and when I used to talk with him about 10 years ago at the Flagstaff hamfest he informed me that was using old radio cases with his antennas attached to tune and perform field strength measurements on.
Years ago, during one slow weekend, I used my works HP8753 NWA to measure some of his antennas VSWR and all of them provided very good matches in the bands just as he claimed.
If your looking for a Motorola replacment, then I'd look at the OEM full size versions for XTS and sabers in the VHF band.
As for use on motorola UHF XTS series radios, I use a smiley UHF 1/4 on an XTS2500 which works better than the stock XTS whip of the same length.
One of these days, if I ever find the time, I plan on doing some field strength test between the standard XTS UHF 1/4 wave and the smiley UHF 1/4 wave in our antenna screen room at work to see why the smiley works better than the Motorola
BTW I also use a smiley 220 1/4 wave on my GE 220MHz hamflashed MPA HT and it works fine.
As for the 220 MPA antenna, since GE never made one, I have nothing to compare it to but it works fine compared with ham manufactured HTs of the same power level using similar 1/4 antennas.
Mike
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Tom in D.C.
- Posts: 3859
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: Progreso soup can with CRT
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
Mike,
I plan to do the same kind of FS tests using my two XTS radios when the Smiley
SMA bases arrive. The top antenna units, VHF and UHF, that I'll be using haven't
been used in about thirty years! Now I'm glad I didn't throw them out.
Regards,
I plan to do the same kind of FS tests using my two XTS radios when the Smiley
SMA bases arrive. The top antenna units, VHF and UHF, that I'll be using haven't
been used in about thirty years! Now I'm glad I didn't throw them out.
Regards,
Tom in D.C.
In 1920, the U.S. Post Office Department ruled
that children may not be sent by parcel post.
In 1920, the U.S. Post Office Department ruled
that children may not be sent by parcel post.
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
Mine are due in late this coming week, I will update when I get them. I have no test equipment, so my results will be subjective.
Semper Fidelis
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
I used and still have some short ones VHF(3-3/4") and one VHF 5/8 wave from them that i used years ago on a few VHF Relm WHS150s. They are some real good antenna's. The short ones did better than standard length ones. They are prety tough too. The Relm used a TNC. ive put them on some Sabers with the MX connector worked good, but not sure if they worked as well as they did on the Relm.
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
I recieved the antennas last week, but have not had time to really put them through their paces. They seem well constructed and just in the minimal testing I have done they seem to work better than the stock antenna. My only complaint would be that the connector they come with leaves part of the antenna threads exposed, where the M antenna has a skirt on it. If anyone has any suggestions on testing the antennas without using a service monitor (because I dont have one) let me know. I have pics and will post them shortly.
Semper Fidelis
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N4DES
- was KS4VT
- Posts: 1234
- Joined: Thu Dec 25, 2003 7:59 am
- What radios do you own?: APX,XTS2500,XTL2500,XTL1500
Re: Smiley Antenna Questions
To add to the above list:Hightower wrote:WCHija wrote:
Your best bet is to make sure your using the proper OEM Motorola antennas.
VHF Wide Band Helical (8.1"): Red (NAD6563)
VHF Helical 136-151 (7.8"): Yellow (NAD6566)
VHF Helical 151-162 (7.3"): Black (NAD6567)
VHF Helical 162-178 (6.9"): Blue (NAD6568)
UHF Helical 403-435 (3.3"): Red (NAE6546)
UHF Helical 435-470 (3.2"): Green (NAE6547)
UHF Helical 470-520 (3.2"): Black (NAE6548)
UHF Wide Band Whip (5.2"): Grey (NAE6549)
800 Whip (7"): Red (NAF5037)
800 1/4 Wave Stubby (3.3"): White (NAF5042)
800 Dipole (8"): Red (NAF5039).
^-------See all the different antannas available.
700/800 Whip (7") :Green (8505241U11)