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It's all the wicked Wick's fault.

I paid close to $100 for mine at the Hamvention. Who knows, might have been due to the tariff crap then. R and L Electronics, which seemed to have the best price, was out of stock when I looked a while back. Plus they didn't have a booth at the Hamvention, which I though was sort of strange since they are one of the better known Ham gear vendors. This is a link to a photo I just added to my album with the testing results and a photo of the antenna in it's protective sleeve. Note the antenna is clearly marked as a NR240CA. I've seen the NR240C being sold. Not sure if the are the same or not. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/613-nr240ca-roof-rack-mount-swr-and-photojpg/?context=new

That's a good price. And it is only 10-20 dollars more than the 2x4SR. The Antenna Farm has the best price I found for the 2x4SR at $62 and DX Engineering was $70

Thanks. I'm going to order it. I don't have a true "no ground plane" situation, just a hood-fender mount, so it's an incomplete ground plane. And I've found that the CA2X4SR has too high of an SWR in the 462-467 range. It's even pretty high in the upper 420-450 range, on this vehicle. It really does like a good ground plane.

The antenna is a 5/8 wave design, and really does need some kind of ground plane to work. For whatever reason it seems to work rather well on my roof rack mount. I suspect there is some coupling, capacitive, through the mounting strap to the rail plus the metal roof on the vehical. A close up photo of what the mount looks like with an antenna installed on it. Note I use the UHF type mounts whereas most people like the NMO type. You can clearly see the electrical tape on the base of my old antenna since the fold over spring is worn out. I've been driving around like this for years. The mount is on the driver's side so I can reach it and unscrew the antenna when necessary. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/473-close-up-of-mobile-mount/?context=new

https://www2.randl.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_1240&products_id=76310 I got mine at the Hamvention last May from a vendor. I forget who it was, but the source in the above link has them.

The Diamond antenna is a bit different. There is a locking collar you have to unscrew to lift up the antenna to fold over. No spring to wear out like on the Comet design. Another reason to go with the Diamond antenna for those interested in it.

I hear the same here in mid Missouri all of the time. And some are even using GMRS mobile radios in their farm trucks. And like you, I never hear them use any call signs. That is part of the reason why we don't allow businesses and farms to use our GMRS repeater.

I've been looking for days for a source for the NR240CA. I have a CA2X4SR-NMO but it's not quite right for the ground plane I have under it. Instead, I'm using a Laird TE B4505CN for GMRS, and a 2m/70cm no ground plane antenna when working in amateur bands. But it's got a higher SWR (>2.4:1) at 462-468. One antenna that is a no-ground-plane antenna that covers the range advertised for the NR240CA would be ideal. Nobody's got it advertised for sale, that I can find.

This is very true. Some antenna designs are worse than others about the SWR changing in rainy weather. I deal with this all the time with my 6m-20m cobweb antenna. The cobweb design is more susceptible to SWR changes during rain than other antenna designs. The SWR changes are normally within what the radio's builtin tuner can handle. I would love to run a longer antenna such as the 2x4SR on my Ford Escape full time but adding 38-40 inches to the top is a no go since I park the Escape in the garage with 7ft tall doors. I know they fold. but as you mentioned, the fold over will wear out if used all of the time. And I am also afraid that I will forget to fold the antenna and mess it or the vehicle up. The Comet SBB1 just barely clears the garage door as is.

Good idea for anybody who is going to routinely use this antenna mounted up high. I picked one up at the Hamvention last May for mine for future use. I would install it if I planed on using the antenna at some point. Right now I have my old CA-2x4MB on the ride. That monster is about 60 inches tall. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/471-mobile-mount-with-antenna-rear-view/?context=new The match on it is something else. This was done when I had it on my old Jeep. It looked better than the newer CA-2x4SR. The one on the ride the fold over string is shot, that's the black electrical tape you see, the antenna is at least 20 years old. I do have a new one still in the green plastic sleeve, never been outside of the house. I purchased both at the same time. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/223-ca-2x4mb-jeep/?context=new https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/282-ca-2x4mb-scansjpg/?context=new I've been looking around for a possible replacement for it. After testing the CA-2x4SR and N240CA, on my roof rack mount, either one might be a good replacement, and they are only 40 inches tall. I might go for the NR240CA, yeah it's more expensive, but the SWR match looks a bit better over the ranges I'm interested in. One thing people don't talk about here, or elsewhere for that matter, what the match looks like in crummy weather, like moderate to heavy rain or fog. It's going to get worse to some degree. If you start out with a really low SWR it likely won't deteriorate nearly as bad in less than ideal weather. Modern radios are designed to tolerate SWR's up to 2:1 at full power. After that the radios, with SWR protection circuits, will start to fold back power to protect the output power stage.

I picked up a no-name one at a local swap a long while back just for fun, it was really cheap. Tested it and I wasn't impressed with this sample. Likely better ones out there. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/428-stealth-dual-band-with-swr-scanjpg/?context=new

I think it just comes out the other way. But full disclosure — I am a member of RR. What I really refer to is the people on there who see a forum post marked HALP MEH! and they chime in with "do your own research" instead of just helping a new amateur. It's like with Linux forums... mostly unhelpful jerks who pretend that they were born with what they know so others shouldn't ask for help if they weren't

Sometimes you can mess something that works well by pursuing perfection. "Good enough" is a valid concept.

Your assumption about 5-watt HT's being used without a license is probably correct. I hear farm workers on the radio (simplex) that I very much doubt, based on their conversation, are within FRS range. They never ID themselves. I'm not sure they know the difference between FRS and GMRS radios, and if they do, I doubt they care. To them, it is just another radio that works a little better.

I would think the 5 watt HTs are used quite a bit unlicensed. But the owners of the repeaters will want you to have a license to use their equipment. At least if I wanted people using it I wouldn't want unlicensed persons on it. Need to have some basic understanding of radio or at least know how to read, follow instructions so you can program it. That would exclude my wife LOL