Quick antenna question

[GreggInFL]

How close to 462/467 must an antenna be to function? I have access to the antenna shown nearby. A friend ran into it and says, "Worthless label. 154/430Mhz. Made in China. About 6 feet tall. 58 cable with a BNC connector. Free to a good home."

I'd use it (if it can work with GMRS) on a 15-20' mast with a DB25-G (25W) in a flat, wooded area. I'm not talking 5 x 9 perfection, just adequate to be heard and understood over a short distance, say < three miles. I know, I know, "Try it and find out."

I hesitate to try it because 1) it might not work for GMRS and 2) as an apparent dual-band it might lure me into becoming a ham. 

What say the crowd?

[mb523]

You want your antenna to match the frequencies you're transmitting on as closely as possible. 154/430Mhz is the common VHF/UHF split for a dual band HAM antenna. It won't have good SWR on GMRS since it isn't tuned for the 462/467 range needed for GMRS. It may work, but it won't work well. 

You want to look for a GMRS specific antenna like this one:

 

 

[OffRoaderX]

43 minutes ago, GreggInFL said:

How close to 462/467 must an antenna be to function? I have access to the antenna shown nearby. A friend ran into it and says, "Worthless label. 154/430Mhz.

The only way to know for sure is to put a meter or portable antenna analyzer on it and test it.. 
But, like the @mb523 said, its not going to work very well.

[Lscott]

1 hour ago, GreggInFL said:

How close to 462/467 must an antenna be to function? I have access to the antenna shown nearby. A friend ran into it and says, "Worthless label. 154/430Mhz. Made in China. About 6 feet tall. 58 cable with a BNC connector. Free to a good home."

I'd use it (if it can work with GMRS) on a 15-20' mast with a DB25-G (25W) in a flat, wooded area. I'm not talking 5 x 9 perfection, just adequate to be heard and understood over a short distance, say < three miles. I know, I know, "Try it and find out."

I hesitate to try it because 1) it might not work for GMRS and 2) as an apparent dual-band it might lure me into becoming a ham. 

What say the crowd?

Only quick way to find out is test it with an SWR meter. Some of these multi band antennas show oscillation in the SWR across a range of frequencies. You might get lucky where the GMRS frequencies falls into one of the low SWR valley.

The link below is a test I did of a favorite wide band mobile antenna. Usable.

https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/268-ca-2x4sr/?context=new

And this link is for a test on a Ham dual band mobile antenna to see if it was usable. Doesn't look good.

https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/283-sg7500a-swr-scans-2jpg/