WRQC527

Defective radio. Send it back. Get a replacement. Preferably before your return window closes.

My guess is that it was the wheelchair comment and the resulting exchange of, shall we say, unpleasantries.

At least you didn't start a fight with your response.

There is this option, which for some people might be a solution. This one happens to be a BNC-style, but they are also made for SMA-mount HT antennas. the idea is to put your HT's dual-band rubber duck antenna on the mount and attach it to the roof. I've never tried one, so I can't comment on how well they work, but it would certainly fit your requirement of "super-short" and "dual-band 2m/70cm". https://www.amazon.com/Anteenna-TW-35B-Magnetic-Mount-Female/dp/B07H8GNG33/ref=asc_df_B07H8GNG33?mcid=ab23b401e2ad3497b1bacdfeb7124d0c&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693297383718&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11318577053321875493&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9198055&hvtargid=pla-2069911870245&psc=1

An inordinate amount of his content is uncalled for. He's probably on more ignored user lists than most.

Mine sits in a radio junk box in the garage. Terrible transmit audio is the biggest issue. It also reads low voltage until I turn it off and on a few times. I really like the concept, but sadly, this radio completely missed the mark.

What kind of traffic are you expecting to hear? How do you know you are transmitting just fine through the repeater? Are you hearing your transmission on another radio? Maybe there's just no one listening to the repeater.

OK, well the first thing to do is to scratch the Amazon antenna, and any other HF antenna, off the list. The second thing to do is to solicit recommendations for handheld radio antenna upgrades for both amateur and GMRS handheld transceivers. Personally, I tend not to mess with trying to upgrade the antennas that come with the radios, because for what I use HTs for, the additional length of aftermarket antennas starts to become bothersome without much real-world improvement. But that's just me. There's no doubt that a good aftermarket antenna can improve the performance of an HT. Also, there are no ARES or SKYWARN-specific antennas. Any antenna you select needs to match the frequency range of the radio.

I'm more interested in why this young man pulled three antennas from three different radio services and is seeking the wisdom of others concerning them. Especially since he makes no reference to any radios in any one of those three radio services.

The Amazon antenna is an HF antenna. If you've purchased an HF radio, it might be a good choice for portable operation. This antenna has become more popular recently because it breaks down small and it can be tuned for several different HF bands by assembling it in various ways, adjusting the length of the telescoping section and adjusting the coil. I have one on my wish list. The DX Engineeering Comet dual-band GMRS/MURS antenna can apparently be used on either GMRS or MURS radios, although I don't know of any FCC-certified dual-band GMRS/MURS radios. I'd say there's no such thing, but someone here would spend the next several days trying to prove me wrong. There are, however, lots of us scofflaws who use unlocked Baofengs and MARS/CAP-modified Yaesus and such on GMRS and MURS that might benefit from such an antenna. The Etsy roll-up J-pole, according to the description, is a dual-band amateur radio antenna for 2 meters and 70 CM, not for GMRS. There's lots of them out there. If you need one for GMRS, search specifically for that. Unless you like to roll the dice and build your own, I would get an assembled one. What radio(s) do you need antennas for? Share with us.

True. I gave up on mag mounts in favor of lip mounts. Too many pinched coax and water leak problems and I'm no fan of coax draped across the roof. Ultimately a lip mount would be my recommendation.

The SBB2 is my favorite mobile dual band antenna. But after me snapping one off on the garage door and my wife snapping one off when she raised the tailgate of my van when I had the thing laid down, I didn't want to throw down for a third one. I run this one now, which has a spring. I've been happy with it. https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dmn-az504sp?seid=dxese1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIh6jprOKWigMV5CpECB0VjS8uEAQYASABEgKQNfD_BwE

No I think that's a deep-fake AI-generated image by a sad ham who was trying to get everyone to believe in the explosive force of an overheated final transistor. Or it could have been from a movie idk.

Normally you'll be fine if you accidentally press the PTT without an antenna. But in rare cases...