Looking at two antennas

[Jaybee]

Hey - relatively new to GMRS, but been on other bands for a while. We've just gotten a new repeater in the area, that make this much more accessible, so i getting set up.

 

I'm looking to add a base antenna to the house. I'm mostly going for height (it will be about 20 feet), and not spending megabucks$$. Since I can pretty much it it from my HT, huge power is not the primary concern. but I'd like to not make any big mistakes. I do start running into issues if the antenna gets too big.

 

I'm looking at two antennas at the moment. If anyone has any direct experience with either of these, I'd welcome the insight.

 

1) An open stub jpole - either bought or built like this one (I have the a 2 meter/70 centimetre jpole like this and it has served me well)::

http://www.arrowantennas.com/inst/OSJ152-462.pdf

 

2) a BR6157 omni like this one.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00L8G1O7S/?coliid=I10E2OE6JBA4IO&colid=3OC9EBOLYZLC3&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

Costs would be comparable (I'll spend as much on feedline as the antenna).

 

#2 has a slightly smaller footprint. Arguably a better radiation pattern. an "N" connector. Honestly - it is something a bit different for me which is a plus.

 

#1 is more of a know quantity for me, and is a common type of antenna. I lean towards DIY anyway. It is a bit bigger or more noticeable.  It is dual band, on the off chance i ever want to mess with MURS (I don't really see it).

 

Welcome thoughts - or other obvious choices in a similar price range/footprint size. I am kinda looking to narrow things down rather than open them up.

 

Thanks for any insights.

 

Jim

 

 

 

 

[berkinet]

If you can already hit the repeater from the handheld, I would go as low-cost as possible for the external antenna. A simple quarter wave with ground plane should do just fine and cost very little. In fact, with a little bit of searching you can probably find several sites with plans for making one of your own.

[Jaybee]

There are three I'd like to be able to hit. from the HT I can get one solid, one sporadically, and miss one altogether. Based on chatter, it should not take much more to reach it. Presumably either a better antenna, or more height might do it - both would be icing on the cake.

[tweiss3]

The nice thing about a Jpole is you don't have to worry about a ground plane. That being said, if you are familiar with other HAM bands, it's not much different from 70cm. Both a quarter wave whip 6" and the Jpole will work well.

 

In both instances, you will likely spend more on grounding than for the antenna. I have an EDfong in my attic right now that is full quiet into a VHF repeater 17.5 miles away from the house at 7w, and has no issues into a UHF repeater 11 miles away at 5W (I had a PS failure and am stuck with my HT to the antenna until Wednesday).

 

Height is king, get to the top of your roof with either option and good feed line, and you should be ok.

[kd4ysh]

The copper J Pole antenna is hard to beat I have several that have been in the air for 8 years and still do a great job. I have J Poles for different bands and all perform great and you can buy one already built and shipped for about 30.00 on Ebay or build your own for about 15.00, its easy to do.

 

Good Luck

[jec6613]

If you're looking at enough space to stick up a JPole, then I'd go for something like a Diamond X50C2.  The lack of needing a ground plane is pretty meh for a permanent install, though your point about an N connector is actually a fairly big deal on UHF - I use N over UHF whenever possible.  Also, yeah, LMR400 will cost way more ... heck, decent terminations for it are $15 each, and I think I spend about $1.50/foot for bulk from TMS.

[AdmiralCochrane]

If you're looking at enough space to stick up a JPole, then I'd go for something like a Diamond X50C2.  The lack of needing a ground plane is pretty meh for a permanent install, though your point about an N connector is actually a fairly big deal on UHF - I use N over UHF whenever possible.  Also, yeah, LMR400 will cost way more ... heck, decent terminations for it are $15 each, and I think I spend about $1.50/foot for bulk from TMS

 

 

TerraWave TWS-400 has the same rated db loss and moisture resistance for about 80 cents per foot from The Antenna Farm.  They cut custom lengths and will put whatever connectors you want (or none) on either or both ends at a reasonalbe price. 

[jec6613]

 

TerraWave TWS-400 has the same rated db loss and moisture resistance for about 80 cents per foot from The Antenna Farm.  They cut custom lengths and will put whatever connectors you want (or none) on either or both ends at a reasonalbe price. 

 

 

TMS is right up the road from me - the competitors are good, but consistency and availability on LMR400 and LMR600 is second to none.  I also get the pricier DB stuff for anything outdoors, which doesn't help the situation.

 

Funny fact, the fact that TMS can no longer sell to Huawei the largest single factor slowing their rollouts - nobody else makes coax suitable for 5G installations, so they buy tens of thousands of feet to throw out 95% of it for the installations they can get going.