tcp2525

I have to agree with that. My friend bought the same model Comet a day after I bought mine and his works perfectly. Sample variation sucks worse on cheap consumer goods than it does with the pro stuff.

I tried the comet CA-712EFC and it was a dud! I sadly had to send it back due it being defective. A side-by-side test against the Tram 1486 showed it failed miserably. This was a total let down as I really wanted that antenna to work. I am considering getting another when this batch is replaced with a new production run. I know I'm the only person on Earth that had a bad Comet.

Got it. I don't know how I missed that in the first place. Damn tunnel vision got me.

I think you answered my question. I definitely don't want to cut into the harness. This thing definitely has a certain degree of down tilt, which is killing performance to the south. My next question would be, do you have any recommendation for a good commercial antenna that doesn't have down tilt?

I have the same data sheet. What's the difference between "beam", which I assume is mechanical and electrical, which I am assuming is done with phasing. Did I misread the title on the data sheet? Just to add, a zero degree tilt would be optimal in this situation.

A question for all you gurus out here. I'm dealing with the antenna in the title that is up about 100' that performs perfectly in the northerly direction, but sucks going south. The hill I have to go over really isn't overly high, but high enough to attenuate an antenna with electrical down tilt. My question is do you guys have any ideas or a source of literature that can point me in the right direction? Thanks.

Kinda same strategy here. I used Ubuntu for years until they "F" it up with Unity. I then went with Manjaro, which I find really stable and reliable making it a joy to use. I do still carry a USB stick on my keyring with Ubuntu since it allows a persistent file. Oh, one thing I also like about using VMs is being able to run all that old Motorola software under Windows 97 (32-bit) that won't even install on a 64-bit platform.

I am a big fan of VirtualBox as well,used it for many years. I find using VMs makes things easier when it comes to drivers and overall performance. I used WINE many years ago and never felt it a reliable option. I'm thinking you might have something going on between Linux and the radio that causes it to hiccup.

As a Linux user myself, I use VMware for all my programming needs. Never a problem and can be moved to different machines if needed.

Yep! It's kinda foolish to not use conduit. It's inexpensive and you don't have to dig again if you have to replace the run or add another. Just because cable is rated direct burial doesn't mean you have to use it that way. I've seen too many direct burial cables get the jacket compromised by small sharp rocks. I won't do a job unless it's in conduit.

That was a good read. Thanks.

That's kinda my point, specs look better on the Heliax. Just trying to figure out why the raves for LMR600.

We have a local discussion here that a lot of pro installers prefer LMR600 over equivalent Heliax. Maybe it's just me, but I'm in the Heliax camp. If LMR600 really is better than Heliax, what are the benefits?

The F150 power is general pretty clean. If you are sure it's the injectors you might have an underlying problem that might leave you stranded one day. Generally you have a few choices for noise, alternator, ignition, and/or injectors. I would definitely go the way you are doing and clean the power up, but don't rule out finding the cause. Sometimes you just can't fix it and masking the issue is the only alternative. Good luck.

Definitely a grounding issue. My suggestion is to also ground the bases of the NMO trunk lip mount. I have a 2013 F150 with the EcoBoost lawnmower engine as well, but I punched holes in the roof, so no issues. The Lincoln had the NMO trunk lip mount on the front hood and I had all my wires and cable in the engine compartment and no noise. The strap will eliminate the noise.

What I found to be the best way to get around all these worries about virus and other nonsense, especially when it comes to loading Chinese software, is to load it all in a virtual machine. All my radio programming software from various manufacturers gets installed in a Windows 10 VM, whether from a legitimate company such as Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom, RT Systems, or any of the Chinese companies such as Anytone or TYT. I always take a Snapshot prior to installing any new software and can restore the VM to its prior state with a couple mouse clicks should I get bit. The best part is I can take a copy of that VM and run it on any other machine, even if the host is Linux or Windows. I use VMware, which works great. A very good free for personal use VM software is made by Oracle called VirtualBox. I have used both and have no complaints about either one. As for using anti-virus software such as Norton and McAfee, they are a virus within themselves and one has to manually remove all traces from the registry after using their "uninstall" program. Keep it simple and use Windows Defender.

Tell me about it! I have three FTM-400s that were made in Japan and have Chinese mic cords. All be damned, one of them frayed at the mic end and lost audio. Piss poor design putting a very stiff strain relief on the cord. So what did I do to resolve this? I ordered three more Chinese cords from Mr.Chung. After all, we live in a disposable society so what else can one do?

I thought about it, but I'm too damn lazy! Just the inherent design of the PL-259 it will never be as good as an N connector.

Agree. I'm not that anal were I'm going to change the connector on the radio.

I watched the video and yes, I agree with you. But.... If someone is using SO-239s at 460 Mhz they're really not too concerned about a fraction of a db loss. What did he say, 3db loss through 10 connectors? So, using two in your system is going to be minimal. I have loads of old silver plated Amphenol connectors and happy with them because they are just good connectors. Everything I do on UHF goes through an N-connector if I can help it. I know hooking up the spectrum analyzer to measure return loss on a duplexer I can see the loss change as I tighten the N connector until it's fully seated.. That said, the ones DXE is selling are nickel plated brass and probably aren't that much better than Mr. Chung's nickle plated brass ones. I'm not knocking Amphenol's US made connectors, but you can easily reach the point of diminishing returns for hobby radio. If I were budget limited, I would rather invest in good feedline and use a marginal connector. The most loss is in long lengths of cheap coax. Forgot to add, according to DXE specs the body of the connector is made of Zamac which is basically pot metal. The real question, does the Chinese adhere to the metallurgical formula for ZAMAK and does it really matter after it's nickel plated?

I'm not doubting your expertise, but at $47.00 for two nickel plated brass Amphenols from DXEngineering, I'll stick with a nickel plated brass one from the south side of China for a quarter of the price. I don't think either of us will be able to pick out the Amphenol 100% of the time in a double blind test.

Using the 1486 as well mounted to the side of the tower at the 30' level fed with 50' of 1/2" Heliax. I'm getting 5-7 miles usable range, which is good for the terrain I'm on. This covers all my fishing spots on the river using the HT. I would really like more range, but that's not going to happen until I get a better antenna and more height. So, no real complaints as I have realistic expectations for what I'm using.

Excellent advice! I was going to go that route myself a while back, but found a good deal on the Vertex VX-4207 on eBay. I picked up two of them for $75 each using the "Make Offer" feature. They are both type 90 and 95 FCC accepted, so they can legally be used on GMRS and 70cm ham band. Plenty of memory channels and features such as scan. Got all the repeater channels programmed into memory with every PL tone so I can scan and use repeaters that I normally wouldn't have in memory while traveling. So, if you feel comfortable programming a radio you'll find these great virtually indestructible radios at a bargain price. I've got a total of four of them now, two in the vehicles and made a repeater out of the other two. Here's a link to the eBay seller. He fully tests them before shipping and will send you the results as shown on his IFR 1200S service monitor. I have no relation to seller, just passing on a good deal for anyone that wants one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/175863411815?

Who gave the right to the Biden administration to raise the price of toilet paper? It's getting cost prohibitive to take my morning dump. I'm not going back to the good old days where corncobs were your first choice when you got to the last page of the Sears catalog. I have no problem with the FCC because I follow their rules and guidelines. I don't se an issue here.

Trust me, UPS isn't losing out delivering to "rural" areas as us shippers get slammed with a fuel surcharge to deliver to you guys. And that's on top of rates increasing each year.