Just pulled the trigger on a Comet GP-9NC, wish me luck 😅

[SvenMarbles]

Decided to dismantle my “tower” one last time before it becomes weather prohibitive, originally for a 712efc, but I decided if I’m going to go through the trouble, why not just get the daddy GMRS antenna for a few more bucks and just be done with this forever . 
 

16.5 foot antenna. We’ll see how this goes..

[LeoG]

I just picked up the CA-712EFC and 10 ft doesn't seem that long.  Good luck with the beast.

[Socalgmrs]

Great antenna.  I went from a 712efc to the 9nc I was hit or miss at 200miles now I’m crystal clear at 250miles to the next repeater 

[Flameout]

On 9/28/2024 at 8:23 PM, WRXP381 said:

Great antenna.  I went from a 712efc to the 9nc I was hit or miss at 200miles now I’m crystal clear at 250miles to the next repeater 

Hmm, now you have me thinking. I'm currently using the 712efc, 60 feet up, and that thing really bends with the wind. I'm wondering if the 9nc would hold up OK, being 60' up. I do have a Commscope DB404, but it's awful compared to the 712efc

[Socalgmrs]

We have 60-even 80mph winds and have no issues with the 712 or the 9nc.  As long as the mount can hold it your good to go. They are very strong antennas.  

[WRYZ926]

So far this year I have experienced shear wind at 50 to 60 MPH and all of my antennas did fine. I have a Comet GP-9, Comet CA-712EFC, and a 6 band cobweb antenna. The standard GP-9 is 18' 6"t long while the GP-9NC is 16' 9" long. If the longer GP9 does fine then the GP-9NC will be fine.

For those that don't know, a 6 band cobweb antenna is a horizontal multi band wire antenna with a wire for each band. Mine is about 8 foot wide. 

[Davichko5650]

On 9/28/2024 at 4:42 PM, SvenMarbles said:

Decided to dismantle my “tower” one last time before it becomes weather prohibitive,

It's a well known fact that you get 6-10 dB gain when you install antennae during snowstorms or below zero weather!

[LeoG]

But is it worth it...

 

12dB during hurricanes and tornadoes.

[tcp2525]

12 hours ago, Davichko5650 said:

It's a well known fact that you get 6-10 dB gain when you install antennae during snowstorms or below zero weather!

And don't forget to draw blood. If you don't have a bloody injury, even if it's a papercut,the project will fail. Trust me, that's the way it always works.

[SvenMarbles]

I received the antenna yesterday and put it together. Despite being very long, it’s surprisingly lightweight. It’s sort of more “noodly” than I expected as well. Seems like it’ll just sort of finesse in the wind. 
 

I’ll get it on the pole today and see how it is..

[WRYZ926]

I was worried about my GP-9 too. But it has done just fine through high winds.

[LeoG]

I think it said it was rated for 92MPH.  That's a pretty stiff breeze.  Can't wait to hear what you think of it.  Eventually I'll get my 712EFC up in the air.

[SvenMarbles]

I got it up on my pole this afternoon. The base of it is about 20ft up and the tip of the antenna is about 37 feet.

early results seem awesome. Did some simplex testing from the car home to it and didn’t lose it in the amount of time that I had to drive around. 
 

It’s mainly what I wanted it for, to be able to simplex better. I need to test in all directions and with varying terrain, but I have at least 8 miles nice and loud due south to a ground level station. And judging by how clear the last transmission that my wife made before being pulled away by our 2 year old, it could have gone much further..

I’ve got more challenging terrain to the north and east of me so we’ll see what I can achieve when I have time to test it out…

But already I can tell that it’s significantly stronger and clearer than what I was running before. 

[Socalgmrs]

9 minutes ago, SvenMarbles said:

I got it up on my pole this afternoon. The base of it is about 20ft up and the tip of the antenna is about 37 feet.

early results seem awesome. Did some simplex testing from the car home to it and didn’t lose it in the amount of time that I had to drive around. 
 

It’s mainly what I wanted it for, to be able to simplex better. I need to test in all directions and with varying terrain, but I have at least 8 miles nice and loud due south to a ground level station. And judging by how clear the last transmission that my wife made before being pulled away by our 2 year old, it could have gone much further..

I’ve got more challenging terrain to the north and east of me so we’ll see what I can achieve when I have time to test it out…

But already I can tell that it’s significantly stronger and clearer than what I was running before. 

Great report thanks a bunch.  You’re radiating a whole heep more watts down range with the high gain and getting it up high.  

[SvenMarbles]

1 hour ago, WRXP381 said:

Great report thanks a bunch.  You’re radiating a whole heep more watts down range with the high gain and getting it up high.  

ERP is roughly 254 watts.

[SvenMarbles]

Well it's been quite an eye opener with this new GP-9 antenna. Last night I was moving across the dial and just listening. On .600 with an open tone I was receiving a distant repeater. I'm aware of all of the repeaters in my area, and what I'm supposed to be able to reach. Besides the 2 .600 repeaters in my area (Crete and Kane) the next closest thing is over 100 miles away. This one was low, in and out, and scratchy. Had to have been some sort of ducting condition to be getting in here..

I've also been scrolling through the simplex channels. The amount of traffic that I'm hearing from what I assume is FRS users is unbelievable. There's some barely readable traffic on nearly every channel. It's like I am sitting here DXing GMRS lol.

The ears on this antenna was something I didn't really even think too much about when I got it, but evidently it's equally a part of it's upside. It's on another level.

 

For simplex uses, it seems to have a pretty reliable bubble in a radius of 6-8 miles around my home to a ground level or mobile station. To another home radio with an outside high mounted antenna, probably significantly more. I wish I knew some people with such a setup in the area to simplex test with.

I'm VERY happy with this antenna.

 

 

[Socalgmrs]

Good to hear.  With the added height and big gain the ears are great. I actually had to turn up my squelch on my base radio to get rid of all the restaurants and warehouses within 20miles.  The 9nc made my rx and  tx into the repeater 200miles away crystal clear.  Don’t think it can be beat for the price.  The 10’ 9db gain 712efc and 6nc are amazing but this 16’ 12db 9nc is a whole new level. 

[SvenMarbles]

15 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:

Good to hear.  With the added height and big gain the ears are great. I actually had to turn up my squelch on my base radio to get rid of all the restaurants and warehouses within 20miles.  The 9nc made my rx and  tx into the repeater 200miles away crystal clear.  Don’t think it can be beat for the price.  The 10’ 9db gain 712efc and 6nc are amazing but this 16’ 12db 9nc is a whole new level. 

You've got to have extremely favorable terrain to be doing UHF 200 miles away lol.

[Socalgmrs]

11 minutes ago, WSEV934 said:

 

 

4 minutes ago, SvenMarbles said:

You've got to have extremely favorable terrain to be doing UHF 200 miles away lol.

I’m at 4500’ 200miles away is a repeater and a simplex station both around 6000’.  We have noting in the way.
I’m a good 1000’ above the huge valley in front of me so even an ht with a good antenna will do 60miles. 

[SvenMarbles]

1 minute ago, WRXP381 said:

 

I’m at 4500’ 200miles away is a repeater and a simplex station both around 6000’.  We have noting in the way.
I’m a good 1000’ above the huge valley in front of me so even an ht with a good antenna will do 60miles. 

Yeah that's an amazing set of circumstances. I'm 635 feet above sea level here. Nothing goes much higher than 700 feet here (Chicago area) but those spots are enough to muffle me out completely.

[dosw]

1 hour ago, SvenMarbles said:

Well it's been quite an eye opener with this new GP-9 antenna. Last night I was moving across the dial and just listening. On .600 with an open tone I was receiving a distant repeater. I'm aware of all of the repeaters in my area, and what I'm supposed to be able to reach. Besides the 2 .600 repeaters in my area (Crete and Kane) the next closest thing is over 100 miles away. This one was low, in and out, and scratchy. Had to have been some sort of ducting condition to be getting in here..

I've also been scrolling through the simplex channels. The amount of traffic that I'm hearing from what I assume is FRS users is unbelievable. There's some barely readable traffic on nearly every channel. It's like I am sitting here DXing GMRS lol.

The ears on this antenna was something I didn't really even think too much about when I got it, but evidently it's equally a part of it's upside. It's on another level.

 

For simplex uses, it seems to have a pretty reliable bubble in a radius of 6-8 miles around my home to a ground level or mobile station. To another home radio with an outside high mounted antenna, probably significantly more. I wish I knew some people with such a setup in the area to simplex test with.

I'm VERY happy with this antenna.

 

 

i can drive 4 minutes to a location where I'm at 5500 feet, and have clean line of sight to the entirety of the Salt Lake Valley, mostly 4200-5000 feet. The amount of traffic pulled in even by my MXTA26 at that vantage point is overwhelming. 

 

Even my home (5050 feet) has clear reception when transmitting to a repeater 45 and 64 miles away. Any further than that, and mountains block everything. But one time I hiked up Mt Olympus (near 10k feet) and was hearing a repeater in Wyoming, and another in Idaho with a Nagoya 771G antenna. I didn't try hitting them though.

 

There are 2m and 70cm repeaters at the top of mountain peaks near Brighton and Snowbird ski resorts. Those things have a bubble that reaches three states: Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada. ...maybe Colorado but the Uinta mountain range gets in the way a bit.

[LeoG]

41 minutes ago, SvenMarbles said:

Yeah that's an amazing set of circumstances. I'm 635 feet above sea level here. Nothing goes much higher than 700 feet here (Chicago area) but those spots are enough to muffle me out completely.

Ya...  I'm 60ft above sea level and in very hilly areas.  Add 40 ft to that for the antenna.  The shop where the repeater is, is 160' ASL and another 40' for the antenna.  I'm by the river so I'm in a valley with "mountains" on either side of me 5-8 miles out.  I air quoted mountains because there is nothing higher than 700ish ft around here but that's enough to have a sharp kill to my signal.  I can go north and south for 25 miles each but not with a strong signal because of multiple smaller hills and trees galore.

[tcp2525]

3 hours ago, WRXP381 said:

 

I’m at 4500’ 200miles away is a repeater and a simplex station both around 6000’.  We have noting in the way.
I’m a good 1000’ above the huge valley in front of me so even an ht with a good antenna will do 60miles. 

Damn, you should have saved the money and went with a quarter wave!!!

[GreggInFL]

On 10/5/2024 at 8:59 AM, WRXP381 said:

Good to hear.  With the added height and big gain the ears are great. I actually had to turn up my squelch on my base radio to get rid of all the restaurants and warehouses within 20miles.  The 9nc made my rx and  tx into the repeater 200miles away crystal clear.  Don’t think it can be beat for the price.  The 10’ 9db gain 712efc and 6nc are amazing but this 16’ 12db 9nc is a whole new level. 

Dear Santa...

[LeoG]

10 minutes ago, GreggInFL said:

Dear Santa...