Does a HAM and GMRS antenna exist?

[WSDV406]

I'm new to the radio world. I'm a GMRS license holder (WSDV406). My interest in radio is mostly for emergencies and SHTF scenarios. My question is: With the arrival of radios like, but not limited to, the TIDRADIO H3 -- which are capable of tx and rx on HAM and GMRS frequencies -- is there a single antenna for HT's that works well for both bands? Or would you need to have one for each band and swap them continually.

Please don't get overly legal. I'm not talking about regular transmission.....I'm talking about emergency and SHTF scenarios. Also, if you can help it, please don't get too overly technical. I'm willing to learn (and am learning a LOT), but i'm looking for the simplest answer.......if one is possible.

[marcspaz]

The short answer is yes, there are plenty of multi-band antennas. 

 

The long answer is, yes, but not that cover every band. Also antennas tuned to and dedicated to the band you want to transmit and receive on Will work better. 

[marcspaz]

For handheld radios, the Nagoya NA-701C is good for MURS and GMRS. The Nagoya NA-320A is average for amateur 144MHz, 220MHz and 440MHz, and performs marginally on MURS and GMRS.  The Diamond SRH77CA will work anywhere from sub-par to fantastic on frequencies from 136MHz to about 600MHz, but is designed for 2m/440.

[GreggInFL]

9 hours ago, nokones said:

... GMRS is for the cool people.

And that's why I'm here. 

[AdmiralCochrane]

Ok, exactly what "information" did you get access to by having a GMRS license?

 

[back4more70]

I've never ignored a new member that fast lol

[back4more70]

2 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

FWIW, I thought your joke was humorous.

This is humerus

[WSDV406]

16 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

FWIW, I thought your joke was humorous.

It's worth  a lot. Truly. Thanks for taking the time to say so.

[OffRoaderX]

1 minute ago, WSDV406 said:

I'm a GMRS license holder (WSDV406)

Thank you for giving us your call-sign.

[WSDV406]

I watch tons of your videos. I love your dry humor and satire. I don't give a SHIT about FCC rules or guidelines. I paid my $35 for.....let's call it  "other reasons". I actually got ousted from a local GMRS club within 48 hours. Hey. Whatever. Fuck em. I'm not about arbitrary rule following drones that support censorship and the infringement on inalienable rights.

So now you have my GMRS callsign. Know that I'm a free speech absolutist who paid their $35 for access to information, not to adhere to arbitrary rules.

That said, do you have any recommendations on antennas?

[WSDV406]

2 minutes ago, marcspaz said:

The short answer is yes.

 

The long answer is, yes, but antennas tuned to and dedicated to the band you want to transmit and receive on Will work better. 

I understand that a jack of all trades is a master of none......but i also recognize that a master of none is better than one (which is the other half of the quote that most folks don't know). That said, can you recommend a "jack of all trades" antenna(s) for a HT?

[WSDV406]

28 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

Thank you for giving us your call-sign.

I watch tons of your videos. I love your dry humor and satire. I don't give a SHIT about FCC rules or guidelines. I paid my $35 for.....let's call it  "other reasons". I actually got ousted from a local GMRS club within 48 hours. Hey. Whatever. Fuck em. I'm not about arbitrary rule following drones that support censorship and the infringement on inalienable rights.

So now you have my GMRS callsign. Know that I'm a free speech absolutist who paid their $35 for access to information, not to adhere to arbitrary rules.

That said, do you have any recommendations on antennas?

[WRUU653]

22 minutes ago, WSDV406 said:

So now you have my GMRS callsign

I’m gonna take a guess based on my perception of Randy’s humor that @OffRoaderX was having a bit of fun with the redundancy of stating your call sign in your post when it’s already your name on the site. So I can’t help wonder why you got ousted from the club? Was it the colorful language?
As @marcspaz mentioned I have found the Nagoya NA-701C to do well. For mobile the Comet SBB5 does good on 2m/440 and okay on GMRS but as stated the antenna that is tuned for what you’re using is going to do the best for that. Everything else is going to be a compromise. Cheers  

[WSDV406]

1 minute ago, WRUU653 said:

I’m gonna take a guess based on my perception of Randy’s humor that @OffRoaderX was having a bit of fun with the redundancy of stating your call sign in your post when it’s already your name on the site. So I can’t help wonder why you got ousted from the club? Was it the colorful language?
As @marcspaz mentioned I have found the Nagoya NA-701C to do well. For mobile the Comet SBB5 does good on 2m/440 and okay on GMRS but as stated the antenna that is tuned for what you’re using is going to do the best for that. Everything else is going to be a compromise. Cheers  

I understand that....as this was my first post, I didn't realize that it listed my callsign when I posted. So @OffRoaderX can go suck a sad ham antenna.

So you're saying that the Nagoya NA-701C does an "ok" job at both HAM and GMRS frequencies?

Any other recommendations to investigate? Or do you recommend swapping antennas?

I still haven't looked into mobile antennas....as I'm very new to this. I bought a Baeofeng uv5r a couple of years ago and realized it was NOT as simple of a setup and usage as I thought it was. I've since bought a TIDRADIO T3 too. Both HT's, as I'm sure you're aware. 

My main interest is emergency/SHTF scenarios. Because yeah, the GMRS baby butt's near me are apparently gonna be too immature and supportive of arbitrary "rules" that infringe upon inalienable rights for me to be on the air waves with them. Oh well. Fuck em. 

[dosw]

For mobile consider the Comet CA2X4SR. It handles GMRS, 70cm, MURS, Marine VHF, and 2m. And it will listen to a much broader range than that. I've worked a repeater 63 miles away with less than 4w from a handheld with an adapter, with that antenna. Ideal conditions, to be sure. But it's anecdotal evidence that antenna is capable.

I'm not really invested in the licensing rant, though. 

[nokones]

Hey, Jeffrey, you only had your license for three days and have posted 5 times to this forum and you are already acting like a "Sad HAM" and you definitely don't have any respect for the Queen. The Queen is not any type of an antenna sucker. Maybe Amateur Radio is your best suit and the crowd you should be hanging with because GMRS is for the cool people.

If you think GMRS is for emergencies and the SHTF scenarios you will be in for a rude awakening during those situations when you can't communicate with anyone except God even with a fully or discharged battery.

Oh, there is another "Sad HAM" on this forum that may be somebody you probably would get along with real well, his forum user name has something to do with Danish Marbles.

[SteveShannon]

33 minutes ago, back4more70 said:

I've never ignored a new member that fast lol

Same here.

[WRQD922]

Don’t push him toward amateur radio. We also have enough garbage already.

[dosw]

1 hour ago, nokones said:

Hey, Jeffrey, you only had your license for three days and have posted 5 times to this forum and you are already acting like a "Sad HAM" and you definitely don't have any respect for the Queen. The Queen is not any type of an antenna sucker. Maybe Amateur Radio is your best suit and the crowd you should be hanging with because GMRS is for the cool people.

If you think GMRS is for emergencies and the SHTF scenarios you will be in for a rude awakening during those situations when you can't communicate with anyone except God even with a fully or discharged battery.

Oh, there is another "Sad HAM" on this forum that may be somebody you probably would get along with real well, his forum user name has something to do with Danish Marbles.

I also find it hard to believe anyone would be terribly successful getting help in an SHTF situation if they're barging into an Amateur frequency with attitude and no license, having already been kicked out of a local GMRS group for showing attitude and disdain for the process. There's some crossover, and long memories between GMRS users and hams. Go into a GMRS group and treat people such that they kick you out, then find yourself in an "emergency" and key up on a ham repeater. Great plan.

[marcspaz]

2 hours ago, nokones said:

Maybe Amateur Radio is your best suit and the crowd you should be hanging with because GMRS is for the cool people.

Dude!  Don't curse my people!  I thought we were friends!  LOL

 

[MSnow]

13 hours ago, WSDV406 said:

I'm new to the radio world. I'm a GMRS license holder (WSDV406). My interest in radio is mostly for emergencies and SHTF scenarios. My question is: With the arrival of radios like, but not limited to, the TIDRADIO H3 -- which are capable of tx and rx on HAM and GMRS frequencies -- is there a single antenna for HT's that works well for both bands? Or would you need to have one for each band and swap them continually.

Please don't get overly legal. I'm not talking about regular transmission.....I'm talking about emergency and SHTF scenarios. Also, if you can help it, please don't get too overly technical. I'm willing to learn (and am learning a LOT), but i'm looking for the simplest answer.......if one is possible.

The antennas that come on the radios from the factory are typically decent at everything. I have bought several different brands expecting to have better performance and from my experiences there is no difference over the factory antennas. When your talking about a HT, the improvements are mostly so small you can't and won't notice the differences. Now with that said if you get something like a magnetic mount Midland MXTA12 & MXTA26 you will notice some improvements and  just use an adapter to the HT. I had that antenna on a KG1000g Plus and was picking up tons of chatter from rail roads, Ham nets, and Fire, EMS frequencies really well over any antenna i ever wasted money on for my HT. Just my .02.

[WRQC527]

Anyone have this image in your head after reading this here feller's collection literary gems? I, too considered placing him on my ignored user list, but frankly, I think I'll wait another day.

[SteveShannon]

42 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

Anyone have this image in your head after reading this here feller's collection literary gems? I, too considered placing him on my ignored user list, but frankly, I think I'll wait another day.

I suspect his bumper sticker says “Born to be ignored”

[WSDV406]

3 hours ago, nokones said:

Hey, Jeffrey, you only had your license for three days and have posted 5 times to this forum and you are already acting like a "Sad HAM" and you definitely don't have any respect for the Queen. The Queen is not any type of an antenna sucker. Maybe Amateur Radio is your best suit and the crowd you should be hanging with because GMRS is for the cool people.

If you think GMRS is for emergencies and the SHTF scenarios you will be in for a rude awakening during those situations when you can't communicate with anyone except God even with a fully or discharged battery.

Oh, there is another "Sad HAM" on this forum that may be somebody you probably would get along with real well, his forum user name has something to do with Danish Marbles.

Thanks for the warm welcome

[WRQC527]

5 hours ago, WSDV406 said:

Didn't realize it was faux pas to post often.

And I thought it was obvious that the antenna sucking comment was a joke. I guess not. 

I don't see why yall are calling me a sad ham. Literally the only thing I said is that I do not and will not alter or censor my speech when I transmit.

If that makes me a sad ham to yall, then so be it.

You see, here's the thing. Or things, if you're counting. First, posting often is not a faux pas. There are people on this forum who quite literally live here. They talk to us more often than their own families. Second, if you want to joke about any subject here, no one will stop you. But not everyone appreciates the humor. In fact, a number of folks here were born without a sense of humor. Third, I don't get why anyone would call you a sad ham, because in order to be a sad ham, you need to be a ham, which to my knowledge, you're not. Also, it requires taking a test, so you may already be at a disadvantage. So you win that argument. The title of "sad ham" has to be earned. It takes a lot of posts throwing one's ham superiority, epic knowledge of FCC rules and radio theory in everyone's faces in order to achieve sad ham status. Also, you need to start every post with "I've been a ham for X years" as a warning to take you seriously. And finally, no one cares if you alter or censor your speech. They probably just won't engage with you. Not surprisingly, you're already on a number of ignore user lists in addition to being tossed from a GMRS club. I haven't taken that step yet, mostly because you do provide some entertainment. Which is nice.

[OffRoaderX]

32 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

because in order to be a sad ham, you need to be a ham

There is an uncommon phenomenon known as the "latent sad-H.A.M.".. As we all know, sad-H.A.M.s are born, not created, and the vast majority of sad-H.A.M.s grow up to have the license, live in the basement, callsign license plates, etc..  

HOWEVER - The latent sad-H.A.M. does net yet have, and in many cases may never actually achieve the life-prize of a H.A.M. license - but this does not prevent the latent sad-H.A.M. from exhibiting all of the attributes and defects of a sad-H.A.M., most of which you have pointed out.  You find many of these latent sad-H.A.M.s frequenting places like GMRS forums, Reddit, night-clubs that cater to men, HOA meetings, shoe-stores, etc, and although they do their best to disguise their true nature and try to blend-in with the regular people, they are usually very easy to identify.

SOURCE: ME!  I am The Queen of all that is GMRS, my thesis was in sadH.A.M.ology, in 1987 I coined the term "sad-H.A.M.", and my Wikipedia page says that I know everything. I am also a YouTubes superstar so that gives me extra interweb credd.