Just getting started

[Guest Tyke]

Hi all, please forgive me I’m just starting out with this GMRS, I applied to the FCC for a license. I purchased (2) Midland MXT 400 radios one for the house and other for my vehicle. Can you tell me what is the best antenna to use for the base station I’m thinking about a tower or pole or roof mounted. I want to get it up high. Also if this works out I’d like to install a repeater for all to use, I don’t know much about all of this but willing to learn. I remember cb’s years ago, we recently bought some side by sides and I installed cbs in them and our vehicles it was really fun talking between our friends on the ride up and on the trails. 

Thanks Tyke

[AdmiralCochrane]

In the 65centimeter GMRS band, height means more than anything else for your antenna as long as your coax length is less than 50 ft, then coax quality begins to inch in, but height is still the prime consideration.  

If your area isn't generally flat, even a well elevated antenna will not propagate well in the obscured directions; a repeater does not overcome this unless it is located at a centrally located high ground location.   The advantage of a repeater is to generally double the range of 2 mobile radios.  If the repeater antenna can be located on a tower over 150ft high and the tower itself is on a locally high elevation the range between the repeater and regular stations can be 20 miles under perfect conditions. At 50 ft elevation the range of a repeater is more likely to be less than 10 miles, probably 5, sometimes even less with buildings and trees around. 

Good brands of antenna are Diamond, Comet, Browning, Tram, Ed Fong.  There are many to choose from among these brands. 

[PACNWComms]

Get good and knowledgeable with the Midland radios first. Then move on to the repeater if you still want to. There is a great thread already on here that talks about that. For a house antenna, +1 from me for Tram/Browning and Ed Fong. Dr. Fong has sold antennas for a very long time, having his students cut them to length for specific frequencies, and were a mainstay for emergency management use in a former life. They ship with: wire, connector and two PVC pipe end caps,  you then supply the PVC tube and brackets. Get a quality antenna, as it will make even a mediocre radio work better than the reverse. Many people spend a lot on the radio and then wonder why it does not work well. Stay below a 100 foot coax run and LMR-400 and RG-58 will work, but the RG-58 will have more loss. Online reviews of antennas and coax can be useful. Good luck with your radios and installation. 

[DownEastNC]

I'm relatively new also but with advice gathered here I settled on a Comet CA-712EFC fed with 75' of LMR400 flex. I got the antenna about 25' off the ground for the moment until I can get a more permanent and higher mounting situation. The other day I was picking up repeater traffic from 50 miles away. I'm pushing a little over 18 watts with a SWR of 1.25. I live in a coastal area so we have a lot of flat ground which makes a big difference.

I'm also looking at installing a repeater at some point. I'm looking at the Retevis RT97 which is an easy and cheap way to get started until I can afford a more professional grade unit. Anyway, as suggested above, get acquainted with your radios before you take too many steps and get overwhelmed. I'm glad that I've taken my time before spending gobs of money.

[gortex2]

I wouldn't put a Rt97 on that much cable. Thats close to 2 DB of cable loss. On a Low Power repeater about half of your power will be gone on 75' of LMR. I wouldn't run much more than 25' of cable for a RT97.  YMMV but the shorter the cable the better for low power. 

[Guest Tyke]

Thank you all for the help and kind information as I’m new to all this and I will consider all you have mentioned.

Tyke

[axorlov]

I'm the one who does not like Ed Fong antenna. There are much better options for about the same or little higher price. You can search this forum for "Ed Fong" to get for- and against- opinions.

[Radioguy7268]

There are 2 "Ed Fong" antennas that are often used in GMRS. 1 of them is his 5 dB "Non ground plane" intended for 460-470 MHz. That's a decent antenna for the price.

There's also the Dual band VHF/UHF that is built out of ladder line. That antenna can be ordered to split VHF commercial & GMRS 460. That antenna is not so great for GMRS - but it's a decent scanner antenna. It will also work for a base station/control station uplink to a Repeater. For the price, there are better options in single band.

I consider Comet/Diamond/Tram to be the lowest end of antennas you can buy. Building your own antenna out of lightweight PVC (like Ed Fong's) might be as good as some of those.

Single band Commercial antennas by Laird or PCTel aren't that much higher priced than any of the previous, but they are better built and will probably hold up well for a decade or more in service.

[PACNWComms]

I used to run a Comet CA-712EFC 460-470MHz antenna, mounted to the edge of my roof for GMRS/commercial UHF. However, last summer I had my roof replaced, so right now, I am using a Laird NMO magnetic base mounted B4505CN half wave antenna (about 32 inches long) on top of a six foot wooden fence. I mounted a metal bracket to the fence to have my VHF, UHF, and 800 MHz antennas mounted somewhere besides the roof or to brackets mounted to the roof. Even with the lower height, lower gain antenna, and shorter cable run.....I only lost a few miles range in UHF. This is most likely due to the wet weather and the numerous pine trees/needles that wreck havoc on UHF anyways. Seeing that most of my local repeaters are still in range, and VHF and 800 MHz is still usable, I may leave my old mast/brackets off, as this setup is a lot more discrete. Glad the Comet antenna is working for you, SWR of 1.25 and hitting what you need to is a good thing, and what works for you is what matters.