Guest Jim Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 I purchased a mobile antenna and I can’t hit the repeater with it. The swr is 1.27 but I can hit it in my house with the rubber duck all connected to a handheld ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRQC527 Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 19 minutes ago, Guest Jim said: I purchased a mobile antenna and I can’t hit the repeater with it. The swr is 1.27 but I can hit it in my house with the rubber duck all connected to a handheld ? What make and model is the antenna, and what kind of radio? I'm thinking you have some kind of mobile radio installed in the car with the mobile antenna? Or are you using the handheld in the car with the mobile antenna connected? WRXB215 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRWE456 Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 Hello and welcome! Most mobile antenna's require a ground plane such as the metal of a car body to work properly. If it's a magnet mount you can place it on a cookie sheet or pizza pan which will provide a ground plane. You will get better performance outside the house and as high as you can get it. Same with the handheld. UHF (GMRS) is mainly line of sight. The more stuff the signal has to penetrate the weaker it will be and the shorter your range. WRXB215 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRWE456 Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 You didn't say if you were using it in a car. I was assuming you were using it in the house. More details will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSAQ406 Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 With that SWR I don't think it is the ground plane. Can you give more info? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRWE456 Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 I think he is long gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRYS709 Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 That's the problem with "Guests" - they have no skin in the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRWE456 Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 Indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James6905 Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 I currently use a Baofeng BF-21 with the ABBREE AR-771 antenna. I bought a mobile antenna it's a Midland – MXTA26 MicroMobile® 6DB Gain Whip Antenna NMO and the Mag mount. To me it seams the ABBREE antenna works the same as the mag mount. Unless the mag mount works better with a 50 watt radio? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nokones Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 13 hours ago, James6905 said: I currently use a Baofeng BF-21 with the ABBREE AR-771 antenna. I bought a mobile antenna it's a Midland – MXTA26 MicroMobile® 6DB Gain Whip Antenna NMO and the Mag mount. To me it seams the ABBREE antenna works the same as the mag mount. Unless the mag mount works better with a 50 watt radio? As a radio user you will more than likely never know what the actual difference is in performance will be between the two subject antennae. James6905 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRXP381 Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 13 hours ago, James6905 said: I currently use a Baofeng BF-21 with the ABBREE AR-771 antenna. I bought a mobile antenna it's a Midland – MXTA26 MicroMobile® 6DB Gain Whip Antenna NMO and the Mag mount. To me it seams the ABBREE antenna works the same as the mag mount. Unless the mag mount works better with a 50 watt radio? How far are you trying to transmit that you don’t hear a difference. You’re not going to notice much if n receive but others will notice n transmit. The big difference is going to come into play when you’re inside your car moving with the 771. I use the 771 on all my radios but inside a moving car 20-30miles from a repeater the metal of the car will stop the transmission. But if you have an antenna on the out side even a cheap mag mount will work way better. The mxta26 is a very good antenna as long as you have 12-18” of ground plane around the antenna 360deg. If you’re not seeing a difference you’re either to close to notice or something else is going on like no ground plane, bad location or bad coax or connectors. James6905 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James6905 Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 So i had both of my baofengs one with mag mount antenna and the other with 771. both received the same. inside the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreggInFL Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 4 minutes ago, James6905 said: So i had both of my baofengs one with mag mount antenna and the other with 771. both received the same. inside the car. Both radios were in the car, or both antennae were in the car? James6905 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quarterwave Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 I recommend starting out, if new to radio, using a 1/4 wave Motorola style antenna, Whether it's NMO hole mount, bracketed, or mag, it will give you the least amount of trouble, and most performance before you start playing with gain rods. Once you have the mount in place, and have experimented to have it in the right place on the vehicle, you have a baseline. Then you can buy a 3 or 6 db NMO style (quality) rod and base and swap it in easily. Tune it and see if it does any better, but the 1/4 wave was always such a solid piece, in looks, size and performance. I don't mess with gain antennae. in fact, I have a couple of the high dollar Motorola Spectrum 6 dB units still in the tubes new. Just no use for them. Your best match and pattern will be with a 1/4 wave. Years ago working in commercial radio, this solved many a problem for us. Just my opinion, trying to help new people. James6905 and WRXP381 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James6905 Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 really not trying to be smart butt here but why would i have a mag mount inside the car? "but i guess there is always that one person" first baofeng attached to car mag mount outside on roof in center of roof top, ar-771 antenna on second baofeng inside car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quarterwave Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 It was about mobile antennae in general. But if you like your antenna inside, you could go that way! LOL. James6905 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James6905 Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 When you tune for swr do you usually go with the frequency in the middle? Or is it like cb, If your SWR reading is higher on channel 40 than it is on channel 1, lower something on your antenna. If channel 1 is higher than 40, raise something on your antenna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRXP381 Posted May 28 Report Share Posted May 28 35 minutes ago, James6905 said: When you tune for swr do you usually go with the frequency in the middle? Or is it like cb, If your SWR reading is higher on channel 40 than it is on channel 1, lower something on your antenna. If channel 1 is higher than 40, raise something on your antenna. I buy pretuned antennas and don’t have to worry about tuning. I haven't tuned an antenna since the cb days with Wilson or fire stick antennas. James6905 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreggInFL Posted May 29 Report Share Posted May 29 5 hours ago, James6905 said: really not trying to be smart butt here but why would i have a mag mount inside the car? "but i guess there is always that one person" first baofeng attached to car mag mount outside on roof in center of roof top, ar-771 antenna on second baofeng inside car. I asked because it seemed odd you found no difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nokones Posted May 29 Report Share Posted May 29 You may not want to tune or need to tune but it is important to check the entire antenna system VSWR with a reliable meter after the install to make sure that the antenna system is performing without any faults with the antenna, connectors and/or cable. SteveShannon and James6905 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James6905 Posted May 29 Report Share Posted May 29 11 hours ago, GreggInFL said: I asked because it seemed odd you found no difference. Maybe the mag mount outside helped the ar-771 on the inside? and that is why it made no difference. I'll have to drive around more to see. so mag mount mounted outside with no radio hooked up, and radio inside hooked up to ar-771 vs no mag mount outside not hooked up. and only ar-771. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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