low profile antenna

[david diehl]

Has anyone ever used the low-profile antennas?
I was thinking about getting some for my vehicle , but have heard some mixed reviews about them, can anyone give any feed-back?
Thanks

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

Hi David.
I'm assuming that you're talking on 2m/440?
I'm researching antennas right now for my 160-10m Ham station; but I'll look into it for ya and get back here soon...

 

[Chris Lott]

Here's a 42 inch vertical for 2m/440. I bought mine from Texas Towers, but I can't remember which brand it was. My antenna is a 2m/440 antenna as well, but I just have a 2 meter rig in my truck. I believe mine is 36 inches, and it cost me around 40 bucks. It's a pretty good one because I can usually hit repeaters about 50 miles away.

http://www.texastowers.com/diamond_sg7500.htm

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

Having done some research, It really goes back to what I have presently. The Diamond 770 gets good marks but not cheap. Additionally, what kind of mount are you considering? Magnet mounts with high winds and high vehicle speed combined = trouble/destruction. I have a mag mount, because I don't want to drill into a brand new (2008) car, and I know that it is a bit of a risk. If it was a 5-10 year old vehicle - I might not sweat it as much.
What do you have to work with?
What were you expecting from the antenna? 6db?
I'd go with the Diamond...

 

[John Erwin]

David, you're not too specific about what you mean by "low profile"; for what band/application?

Check out these guys: http://www.antenex.com/index051206.htm they are supplying a lot of police forces out there with some very very low profile antennas. I have one of their wi-fi antennas and have found it to be of excellent quality.

 

[Jesse Risley]

I've sold the Antenex and Maxrad low-profile antennas to several public safety agencies and hams. I assume you mean low-profile antennas similar to those sold by Antenex in John's link?

For the two-meter band, these low-profile antennas will not work any better than a standard 1/4-wave antenna. On 70cm, the low-profile antennas will outperform a 1/4-wave antenna, but not a 5/8-wave antenna. These low-profile antennas are most effective on the 700/800 MHz and 1.2 GHz bands, as they can offer gains of 3 dB+.

One additional thing to remember is that these low-profile antennas may have transmit radiation patters that differ from traditional 1/4-wave or 5/8-wave antennas, which can affect your simplex and repeater ranges.

 

[david diehl]

the antenna that I am rfearing to is the ones that antenex sells, not yet ready to put a HF in my vehicle, I have too many detailes to work out before I can do that sence my van is a fiberglass body. Thanks for the information all