Sale on Midland Antenna MXTA26

[SteveShannon]

This appears to be a decent price for an antenna that some of you have spoken well about. The MXTA26 is on sale for $40 instead of the MSRP of $60 and if you order two and enter code “2SHIPSFREE” shipping is free. I ordered two.

https://midlandusa.com/products/micromobile-mxta26-6db-gain-whip-antenna?utm_medium=email&utm_source=attentive&externalId=NnCfu

[marcspaz]

That is a great price.

 

I have to say, out of the 2 dozen plus antennas I tested on my Jeep, the MXTA26 and the Tram 1/4 wave are the only 2 I kept. That Midland antenna has more measurable gain than another antenna I tried that advertised 9dB gain.

[OffRoaderX]

The MXTA26 is what I use on my Jeep.. It replaced a Tram.

[SteveShannon]

34 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

The MXTA26 is what I use on my Jeep.. It replaced a Tram.

Oh, great, now I have to get a Jeep…

[marcspaz]

1 minute ago, Sshannon said:

Oh, great, now I have to get a Jeep…

 

Wait a minute... you don't have a Jeep?  How the heck did that happen?  LOL

[SteveShannon]

Just now, marcspaz said:

 

Wait a minute... you don't have a Jeep?  How the heck did that happen?  LOL

Good question!  
I have a 98 Dodge pickup truck and a 2006 4Runner. They both just keep working and they run really quietly. . 

[cfa]

B&H photo also has it on sale but with free shipping if you spend 10 extra bux. Midland's website wanted $11 to ship it to my zipcode. 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1542037-REG/midland_micromobile_mxta26_6db_gain.html

[marcspaz]

26 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

Good question!  
I have a 98 Dodge pickup truck and a 2006 4Runner. They both just keep working and they run really quietly. . 

 

Both rock-stars!  I had a 98 2dr 1500 and currently have a 2020 1500 Rebel. 

[SteveShannon]

This might never end. I just ordered two Radioddity DB-20G mobile radios to accompany the antennas. Today is the last day of their 20% off pre Black Friday sale. 

[WRUH396]

If you can't find the Midland in stock, I  have found the Browning BR-182 spot on for the GMRS frequencies and frequently find them under 30 bucks.  It even works fairly well as a base antenna with the ground-plane kit, no it's not a 1486 or something but not too shabby for the money. 

[SteveShannon]

26 minutes ago, WRUH396 said:

If you can't find the Midland in stock, I  have found the Browning BR-182 spot on for the GMRS frequencies and frequently find them under 30 bucks.  It even works fairly well as a base antenna with the ground-plane kit, no it's not a 1486 or something but not too shabby for the money. 

Thanks!  The sale is still going on plus today they had a 15% off coupon. I already received the two I ordered though. I still need to get an NMO base/cable. 
Does anyone have a particular favorite that isn’t too lossy for GMRS frequencies?

[wayoverthere]

30 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

Thanks!  The sale is still going on plus today they had a 15% off coupon. I already received the two I ordered though. I still need to get an NMO base/cable. 
Does anyone have a particular favorite that isn’t too lossy for GMRS frequencies?

Through hole or mag?

This one is a hole mount, rg8x cable:

https://www.arcantenna.com/products/laird-antenex-mab8xp-3-8-thru-hole-nmo-mount-vehicular-nmo-antenna-roof-mount-17-ft-rg8x-cable-pl-259-connector-included

This one is a mag mount with rg8x cable:

https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/shop-all/mobile-antenna-mounts/nmo-mobile-antenna-mounts/265-magnetic-mounts/278-nmo-magnet-mounts-no-connector/7556-laird-connectivity-gb8x-detail

I have a Browning mag mount that's also rg8x cable, but I can't for the life of me remember where I got it...I thought antenna farm but I don't see it listed. Arcadian also has one listed with "low loss 195" cable, too.

[SteveShannon]

14 minutes ago, wayoverthere said:

Through hole or mag?

This one is a hole mount, rg8x cable:

https://www.arcantenna.com/products/laird-antenex-mab8xp-3-8-thru-hole-nmo-mount-vehicular-nmo-antenna-roof-mount-17-ft-rg8x-cable-pl-259-connector-included

This one is a mag mount with rg8x cable:

https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/shop-all/mobile-antenna-mounts/nmo-mobile-antenna-mounts/265-magnetic-mounts/278-nmo-magnet-mounts-no-connector/7556-laird-connectivity-gb8x-detail

I have a Browning mag mount that's also rg8x cable, but I can't for the life of me remember where I got it...I thought antenna farm but I don't see it listed. Arcadian also has one listed with "low loss 195" cable, too.

Thanks. The one for the 98 Ram will be magnetic. The one for my 4Runner probably will be, BT I kind of like the mount made for the fender/hood seam near the front pillar or the lip mount that attaches to the rear hatch. It just feels like the magnetic one for the roof would have slightly better performance but I have zero experience. 

[wayoverthere]

7 hours ago, Sshannon said:

Thanks. The one for the 98 Ram will be magnetic. The one for my 4Runner probably will be, BT I kind of like the mount made for the fender/hood seam near the front pillar or the lip mount that attaches to the rear hatch. It just feels like the magnetic one for the roof would have slightly better performance but I have zero experience. 

I won't say it's the end all-be all, but center roof mag mounts have worked well for me in almost all cases, both on ham and gmrs. good ground plane doesn't hurt either. I think the lip mounts are more common to have the mixed cable with a short run of something thin to pass the seal, and something with less loss for the rest of the run.  I also have a fender bolt mount I'm planning to try, so I can run a bigger antenna without being an overhead height issue.

I have one diamond (dual band ham) antenna that wasn't happy on anything, though...wish I'd left the fender mount on when I was testing that, as it's on my to-do list to put that back on so i can run a little more antenna without overhead clearance issues.

[SteveShannon]

4 hours ago, wayoverthere said:

I have one diamond (dual band ham) antenna that wasn't happy on anything, though...wish I'd left the fender mount on when I was testing that.

Sounds like there’s a story involved…

Our garage is a single car garage, reserved for a wheelchair van for my wife. The topper for my pickup is just barely too tall to fit through the door with the weatherstripping on the garage door. That’s why the garage no longer has the top piece of weather stripping. Also, the topper apparently has a slight incline, which causes a wedging action .

The 4Runner fits easily enough into the garage, but I never put it in there anyway so I think I’ll just get the magnetic mounts for both.

[wayoverthere]

10 hours ago, Sshannon said:

Sounds like there’s a story involved…

short version, dual band NR72b...tested on 3 different mag mounts, roof, cowl, bed corner, and on the trunk of the car, both center and edge. all close to 2:1 swr on 70cm, and 3ish on 2m. Then found a little slip of paper in the package mentioning "direct grounding required", so i ordered a fender bolt mount and matching cable..that got 1.5ish on 70cm, and still 2.5ish on 2m, so off it came.  later decided to order a different comet (sbb5) to go on that mount, but haven't gotten around to putting the mount back on and finding an actual good path to route the cable into the cab.

the one thing that diamond has worked okay on is mag mounted on an 8"x12" piece of sheet metal..2m still sucked, but 70cm was like 1.05:1

edit: also tried it on a midland nmo mount (so239 to nmo), with a nagoya ground plane kit (both short and long radials...no better there either.

Edited November 22, 2022 by wayoverthere
added...

[KAF6045]

Were there any adjustment screws on that Diamond? Most all antennas I've seen, even if supposedly factory tuned, still provide set screws allowing maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length change (granted for those with a mid-level coil may have three tuning positions: top of coil, bottom of coil, top of base).

[wayoverthere]

3 hours ago, KAF6045 said:

Were there any adjustment screws on that Diamond? Most all antennas I've seen, even if supposedly factory tuned, still provide set screws allowing maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch in length change (granted for those with a mid-level coil may have three tuning positions: top of coil, bottom of coil, top of base).

i'll have to look at it again, but i think it did; it's currently tucked away in the spare parts bin now, to futz with another day.  it has a coil in the middle, but it's the wound into the wire type (like the MXTA26), not adjustable/removable, so it'd just be the base.

if i dig into trying to tune it, i'll dig out the nanoVNA, see where it's actually happy. in the end, i think it's just a little short to be very happy on 2m.