Nagoya ut-72g antenna

[WRZX278]

So I have one of these for my gmrs radio magnet mount in the very center of the roof of my suv, when I check the swr I get I 1.9, should I check different locations on my car or, send it back, keep it and just be happy or is there a better antenna I should look at? Oh BTW the radio is a midland mxt275, the short little 2 inch antenna has an swr of 1.2 when I check it.

[SteveShannon]

Truly there’s nothing wrong with 1.9:1 SWR. I would not worry about it. 
Plus the short length of most cables attached to magnetic mounts means that the losses are usually low. You wouldn’t enjoy having LMR-400 as the feed line going through your door and over your roof. 

[OffRoaderX]

37 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

Truly there’s nothing wrong with 1.9:1 SWR. I would not worry about it. 

This..

1.9:1 is fine and more than plenty good enough for normal people using their radio for normal things.  Stop overthinking it and just use/enjoy your radio.

[SteveShannon]

2 minutes ago, WRZX278 said:

So I have one of these for my gmrs radio magnet mount in the very center of the roof of my suv, when I check the swr I get I 1.9, should I check different locations on my car or, send it back, keep it and just be happy or is there a better antenna I should look at? Oh BTW the radio is a midland mxt275, the short little 2 inch antenna has an swr of 1.2 when I check it.

There’s nothing wrong with 1.9:1. 
Check it on different channels and you might see the SWR change. 
 

Also, a perfect SWR does not mean it is a good or bad antenna. A dummy load will get you 1.0:1. A very lossy cable will improve your SWR at the expense of signal strength. 

[WRZX278]

Sorry what do you mean lossy cable?

[OffRoaderX]

34 minutes ago, WRZX278 said:

what do you mean lossy cable?

Cheap, low quality cable - too many of the RF electricities fall out and dont make it to the antenna.

[SteveShannon]

2 hours ago, WRZX278 said:

Sorry what do you mean lossy cable?

All coax has attenuation (RF electricities fall out) that’s related to the length. It’s entirely possible to lose 75% or more of your signal strength (RF power ) in your coax before it reaches the antenna. 
SWR is calculated from the ratio of reflected power compared to forward power. An SWR meter placed near the radio measures power before it has been attenuated but it measures the reflected power after it has been attenuated in two different directions, when it is weakest. That results in a low SWR that doesn’t accurately predict how efficient your antenna truly is. 
 

TL;DR. Randy nailed it. 

[WRZX278]

Unfortunately it's the factory cable built into the base of mount, so nothing I can do about that, but I will try placing it in different spot on my suv roof, and if that doesn't help I won't worry about it until I can afford an upgrade, just glad it's not in the range to damage my radio, I live in the hills of Kentucky so I'm just trying to get the most I can out of it. Thanks for y'alls response. Randy love the vids you're the whole reason I found out about gmrs and got into it.

[WRZX278]

Thanks for the responses guys, appreciate the help and advice