Batboard

Hello,

I'm considering getting a new dual-band antenna (VHF/UHF), and wondering what people would recommend? I would like to get NMO with magmount. What are some good recommendations for consideration (considering price, performance etc.). Thanks in advance!

I think a lot of people here on Batboard - myself included - have had a great deal of success with Comtelco.

I've also used Antenex, and haven't had any major problems. But I prefer Comtelco.

Gordon

Comtelco all the way.

Comtelco or Antenex is my choice- in that order.

If for ham bands, also check out the Larsen line of antennas.

For under $20 you can get a dualband antenna and the base which screws onto the NMO mount from Antenna World in Florida. I put one on my Outback last summer and it reads under 1.5:1 SWR on both 147 and 446 mHz. AW has a website from which you can place an order.

If you want a commercial antenna that's another story, but the AW unit I got can't be beat for the money, IMHO.

Tom, W2NJS
...in D.C.

Whatever kind of antenna you get - be sure and get a good duplexer. That can make all the difference in the world.


(By the way, is it "duplexer" or "duplexor" - I have seen it both ways)


Jack

I believe that it is correctly duplexer, however, because this is a dual-band application, it is technically a diplexer.


Mmmmmmm...... Picky technical semantics......

I have a lowband 50-54? comtelco. Its gets a SWR around 1.5:1 with my 100 watt x9000 from 33.82 to 53.2! Talk about nice...

jim wrote:Comtelco or Antenex is my choice- in that order.

If for ham bands, also check out the Larsen line of antennas.

Why is Larsen only for the ham bands? I have yet to figure out why Larsen isn't recommended here. Larsen is an excellent antenna, and very reasonably priced most of the time. I have Larsen mobile antennas that have been on one car after another for 20 years and they still work fine. They are rugged, durable, very well engineered, and work very well. I have not used any other manufacturer's antenna on the car - except for HF which Larsen doesn't have - in longer than I can remember. (Except one Motorola UHF collinear that I replaced with a Larsen after a few months.)

Good luck with whatever you choose.

I didn't say Larsen is only good for ham. I said the MY CHOICE IS COMTELCO OR ANTENEX. I said if it is ham, look at Larsen, since Larsen has many more ham antennas than the "commercial radio" suppliers. Larsen also concentrates on designing ham antennas from the ground up.

Larsen is a fine antenna for commercial use, but I don't use them. I just stated what my preference was.

I second Comtelco - Contact [email protected] - USPSS on the board - he is a master distributer and is an AWESOME guy to work with! Great prices, great service, and great shipping! Ive purchased from him twice with nothing but awesome experiences.

I never liked the performance of larsen dual band antennas

I tried them on my chevelle, blazer and pickup. They all exhibited piss poor performance.

I ended up using a 5/8 larsen on vhf and just a 1/4 wave on uhf.

I am veyr happy with the performance of the nmo150 I run on vhf. My only complaint is that is tends to be a little narrow banded. Right now It has less than a 1/10 of a watt reflected with 50 out at 147.795

I have beat the hell out of it in parking garages too, and it has held up fine.

I guess my next purchase will be a good uhf gain antenna.

oh-I am a firm believer in drilling holes. That made a big difference too.

Dualband antennas are a compromise by design, though a 19" whip - 1/4 wave on high band will work as a 3/4 wave on UHF and should be fairly efficient and provide a decent match if close to the third harmonic of its high band resonant frequency.

But the Larsen 2/70 (looks like a UHF collinear with a bigger than usual coil at the base) is not a great performing antenna. It's a compromise. It's a matter of deciding what is more important - performance or convenience. You can't usually have both without a crazy cost.

On-glass antennas all stink.

I personally had nothing but good experiences with Maxrad antennas. I had a Larsen and it didn't really seem to perform so good. I also tried a few other brands, Comtelco being one, and still never had a really good feeling about them. Switched to Maxrad and I won't go to anything else now. I've got nothing to do with Maxrad, but I -am- a happy customer/user.

Comtelco Comtelco Comtelco.

Well for base Loaded Comtelco as well as heavy duty 1/4 wave

They are built with metal not plastic like the larson

But low Band Antenna Specialist Big Ball And Springer and whip.

Signals are Junk