Batboard

Hi gang,
No doubt you have heard me yahooing about my new cdm's 1550's(i
m as happy as hell) now it's time to buy NEW mobile antennas.... gonna use 2 seperate antennas not gonna do the duplexer thing any ideas? just looking for gain on uhf for Hammin and such and gain on vhf too... probabally(5/8) and of course monitoring the local stuff... I have a AS catolog i'm just wondering if any of you folks have had any luck with this company.. I used to use the "uni gain" type moto mount and a single rod.. you know the type but i want to try something new..
thanks
Gig
n2jhs

There stuff is fine, 1/4 wave spikes work well long as you're roof mounting them. VHF your choice is 1/4 wave or 5/8 (about 3') in UHF
you can go spike, a base loaded 3dB gain (about a foot) or 5dB gain
center loaded (about 3'). Gain antenna's are usually more narrow banded
than 1/4 waves and face more detuning at highway speeds. But if you operate on the fringe areas of a repeater the gain antenna could make
the difference between getting in or not but there are tradeoffs. I like the 1/4 waves and think they're the way to go in the majority of applications.

I will take your suggestion into consideration...I do want gain on both bands...most of the rptrs that i will be working...are not in fringe areas but i do want to do a nice job... The "spikes" you mention are what i call "uni gain" I want to steer clear of those- yes they work but i was looking into something better..... I went to the AS page they have a lot of choices....but when it comes to gain it's limited-better for me....
thanks for all the help..
Gig

...so I'm assuming your CDM's are in the area of 45w TX, so in this case it's a toss up.

Do you need "DX" coverage of fringe-area weak signals? If so, get gain antenna's.

If you in a high/moderate signal area and rarely work in "DX" fringe areas, then go with 1/4 wave antenna's.

More importantly, do you need to TX into fringe-area systems, or into high-coverage systems? For the average radio user, 1/4 wave antenna's are the proper choice. If you have 110w TX, then size really doesn't matter...you'll have a signal with either gain or unity.

well,
I rarely talk from one end of the county to the other -or for that matter from one county to another.. so i guess the gain is not that much of an issue... but i needed to be sure... the gain would be nice though, but as always there is added cost.... "uni gain or unity gain" are much cheaper and easy to replace.. if needed... still looking at the antenna specialist catolog now..
thanks...
Gig

Antenna Specialists, which is really Andrew now, makes some good stuff. I really prefer the Antenex brand though. They are very high quality and I've sold thousands and thousands with few complaints. I would tend to stay away from Maxrad; their stuff is ok, but not as good as Antenex or Andrew.

If you're looking for inexpensive, I would go with some chrome quarter waves for $6.50. You can also get black for $11.45. You can find the VHF here and the UHF here

If you want something with higher gain, I would get a 3dB 5/8 wave for the VHF for $28.15. For UHF, you can get a 3dB 5/8 wave for $24.50, or a 5dB collinear for $30.50.

For mounts, a good NMO mount runs $12.00 plus connector and installation if you need them.

Let me know if you have any questions. I can also get Antenna Specialists if you decide that you want to go with them.

Thanks,
Jeff

I think i'm going to stick with andrew or AS or whatever they are called nowadays.. I just have to find the model numbers and such... I was on the phone with them today .. I have a catolog coming from them shortly ,but since the 2 companies have merged it won't be accurate But i'm going to stick with gain.... 3DB On VHF and 5DB on UHF
thanks for the help....
you ship fast?
Gig

Sounds good. You'll be pleased with the Andrew I'm sure.

I can email you a catalog if you want something to look at before you get your hardcopy. It's the Antenna Specialists catalog, but everything is the same pretty much since they were bought.

As far as shipping, I don't stock a whole lot of AS stuff, but it only takes about 3 days for me to get stuff in, and we can usually turn it around the same day. Just let me know what you are looking for or if you need any help with anything. I have a solid reputation on the board if you want some references.

Thanks,
Jeff

hello,
thanks again... I will be using a duplexer until i make up my mind my local 2 way shop is giving me the run around.. but i will let you know what my decision will be..
thanks. gig

We just have one question .

What frequency range are you using on vhf
and uhf?

This is very important on the antenna
that you want to buy.

Hey..
I using the cdm's for hammin... so just in the reg 2M and 440 tx/rx and the rest is just for monitoring the local stuff...PD, local FD some GMRS...
Gig

I didn't look to see where you're from but something to think about is terrain. If you're in flat country, gain is OK. (Not always great but, OK.) If you're anywhere where you'll be driving up/down hills (or mountains), you don't want gain. If you need to ask why, and you're a HAM, please surrender your license to your local PD and ask them to mail it to the FCC with a note that says, "you shouldn't have dumbed down the tests!"

Seriously though... Gain antennas cause more problems than they're worth if you're in non-flat terrain.

John

you are using a narrow tx field
so high gain will work very well for you.

Here most guys go all over the band with their
radio tx so most high gain antennas will not work.

WE found in canada that sinclair base antennas for high gain
and full wide band are the 210c/310c class units for vhf/uhf
210c4 9db 136-174 mhz/310c4 full uhf band

Well where I am it pretty flat... but i do travel but flat is mostly on the order... I'm looking through the AS catolog now so i'll see what i can come up with..
thanks again..