Which Antenna for PR1500 VHF

M4Gunner · Post by **M4Gunner** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:12 am

Hey all, Just picked up my NIB PR1500. Love it, but it was shipped with the VHF stubby antenna. I would like to pick up the full size, since I've read that the stubby doesn't lead to the best performance.

My question is: Do I get the standard 6" VHF antenna for my freq range? Or would I get better performance from the wideband?

Wideband: 8505518V01

Standard: 8505644V02

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:53 am

Well, if all your frequencies fall within the range of one of the 3 helical antenna's that's a good way to go. But if you venture beyond the limits (especially for Tx) the wideband is a good way to go. Downside of the wideband is that it's a tad longer and the bottom half is very rigid (there's actually a metal sleeve in the lower portion) so side pressure on the antenna will put torque on the radios antenna connector more so than the helical. Up side of the wideband dipole is that it's an excellent performer.
Personally I like the Visar style antenna but it does drop off a little in the far fringes if that is of concern.

M4Gunner · Post by **M4Gunner** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:57 am

My dealer has some of the visar antennas. $10 cheaper than the Wideband mentioned above...

Should I go with this?

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:52 am

If one of the 3 ranges of the Visar style antenna's will cover all your frequencies and you operate in areas of good signal strength my opinion would be to go that route. With this choice you do give up a little performance but the antenna is a couple inches shorter and has more flex to it, reasonable trade-off long as the 2 conditions above are met.