Antenna Recommendations for Apartment

[Daedalus0101101]

Greetings everyone,

I am hoping to get an antenna recommendation for someone that lives in an apartment.  I have a HT that can hit my local repeater, but people say that its a bit scratchy and I have to be right next to my window to get good signal for transmit.  I am looking to get a mobile station ( home base station.....why are there no radios like the iCom 7300 for GMRS??) and want a good antenna with a ground plane already on it.  I won't be able to mount the antenna outside and/or punch holes through the walls for a cable being in an apartment, so I'm looking for something that can be inside near the window.  Already have power and my mobile unit (at least my first one) picked out, just need an antenna. 

 

Thanks in advance

 

David

[kidphc]

Greetings everyone,
I am hoping to get an antenna recommendation for someone that lives in an apartment.  I have a HT that can hit my local repeater, but people say that its a bit scratchy and I have to be right next to my window to get good signal for transmit.  I am looking to get a mobile station ( home base station.....why are there no radios like the iCom 7300 for GMRS??) and want a good antenna with a ground plane already on it.  I won't be able to mount the antenna outside and/or punch holes through the walls for a cable being in an apartment, so I'm looking for something that can be inside near the window.  Already have power and my mobile unit (at least my first one) picked out, just need an antenna. 
 
Thanks in advance
 
David

First off. Something like a ic7300 is a massive overkill for GMRS. Akin to a nuclear bomb to kill a fly. Most people will not even attempt to buy it.

Secondly, there are great mobile radios. Like the wooxun kg series, older Motorolas/kenwoods all the way down to something like a db20g.

Lastly, I wouldn't want a 50w mobile rig blasting away with an antenna inside that close to me. I have friends that do something similar, but they were mentally off to begin with.

You can also cut a 2x4, and make a psuedo pass through for a window or sliding door (if you have a balcony). I perfer the balcony route for the antenna, since you can dress the antenna to look like a plant from far away, it's outside. There are several reasons for it, more than rf exposure, electro magnetic waves tend not to like some structures more than others. This is why you need to get close to the windows with the ht, a lot of the signal is getting attenuated by the building structure.

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[WRYS709]

7 minutes ago, kidphc said:

First off. Something like a ic7300 is a massive overkill for GMRS. Akin to a nuclear bomb to kill a fly. Most people will not even attempt to buy it.

I never thought about stretching this Transverter from 450 to 467 to see if an Icom IC-7300 can operate on the GMRS channels.

Nice challenge! 

 

[kidphc]

I never thought about stretching this Transverter from 450 to 467 to see if an Icom IC-7300 can operate on the GMRS channels.
Nice challenge! 
 
http://files.mygmrs.com/forums/monthly_2024_11/Screenshot2024-11-26at10_34_56AM.png.fed69e743e2b12525f670ff06adc64dd.png

You can certainly use a transverter. For 2m/70cm work it ended up with the ft991a. It can't be unlocked for GMRS.

I mean most of the GMRS users are looking at Baofengs be it a uv5r or a gmrs locked variant. So a 1k HF radio isn't normally on the radar. Plus GMRS gains nothing from having a waterfall

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[Socalgmrs]

46 minutes ago, Daedalus0101101 said:

 

So I totally agree you dont need a 7300 for gmrs.  If you’re already hitting the repeater with a ht maybe just add an antenna.  Something small and short with 3db gain.  I’d also be scared of 50w and an indoor antenna.  Especially a high gain antenna.  You can probably get this done for Nader $100 and the repeater will be able to here you great. 

[WRCZ387]

2 hours ago, Daedalus0101101 said:

Greetings everyone,

I am hoping to get an antenna recommendation for someone that lives in an apartment. I have a HT that can hit my local repeater, but people say that its a bit scratchy and I have to be right next to my window to get good signal for transmit. I am looking to get a mobile station ( home base station.....why are there no radios like the iCom 7300 for GMRS??) and want a good antenna with a ground plane already on it. I won't be able to mount the antenna outside and/or punch holes through the walls for a cable being in an apartment, so I'm looking for something that can be inside near the window.  Already have power and my mobile unit (at least my first one) picked out, just need an antenna. 

Thanks in advance

David

Maybe these will help:

https://www.jpole-antenna.com/shop/462-mhz-land-mobile-gmrs-j-pole-antenna/

You'll need to buy coax for it

https://dpdproductions.com/collections/gmrs-base-mobile-antennas/products/gmrs-blade-indoor-antenna

Comes with 18' of coax

[Lscott]

2 hours ago, Daedalus0101101 said:

Greetings everyone,

I am hoping to get an antenna recommendation for someone that lives in an apartment.  I have a HT that can hit my local repeater, but people say that its a bit scratchy and I have to be right next to my window to get good signal for transmit.  I am looking to get a mobile station ( home base station.....why are there no radios like the iCom 7300 for GMRS??) and want a good antenna with a ground plane already on it.  I won't be able to mount the antenna outside and/or punch holes through the walls for a cable being in an apartment, so I'm looking for something that can be inside near the window.  Already have power and my mobile unit (at least my first one) picked out, just need an antenna. 

 

Thanks in advance

 

David

You might want to look at something like the antennas in the below link.

https://n9taxlabs.com/shop/ols/products/dual-band-murs-gmrs-slim-jim-with-10-or-16-foot-cable

No ground plane required. You can try hanging it up on the window.

[WRUE951]

I'd go with a home brew J-pole or Ed Fong's J-Pole..     I actually have both that  i have used for my portable repeater and both are pretty impressive antennas..  Ed Fong is a bit more 'eye' pleasing.   

[WRTC928]

What about a mag mount intended for vehicles with a Midland ghost antenna on it? It will give you 3 dB gain and looks nothing like an antenna to the uninitiated. Make a pseudo pass-through as kidphc recommended, run the cable through it, and put the antenna on a metal sheet on a little table on the balcony or something of the sort. You can use a decorated serving tray for the ground plane. The thing is, you don't need to hit a repeater with a lot of power; it will come out the other end as 50 watts (probably) anyway. All you need to do is get a little more signal out than you do now, and an unobtrusive antenna attached to your HT will almost certainly do that. Use a ferrous tray for your ground plane, and the mag mount will keep the antenna from moving around. I use a 3 dB gain mag mount antenna on one of my vehicles and attach a HT to it and it definitely improves the signal. It won't blow anybody's doors off, but again, all you need to do is improve your signal getting to the repeater and a 3 dB antenna will (theoretically) double the effective signal. I won't link it because an Amazon link is about 900 characters long. Just search Amazon for Ghost Antenna and magnet mount base with NMO connection. It's less than $100 total.

[WRXB215]

13 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

put the antenna on a metal sheet on a little table on the balcony

It will look just like a pepper shaker on the table. No one will know the difference.

14 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

I won't link it because an Amazon link is about 900 characters long.

If you link to one or more words like this, it will be fine. Just highlight the words and then click on the little chain next to the quote marks above the text area.

[SteveShannon]

Something to be aware of is that base stations are not allowed to transmit on the 467 MHz main channels that repeaters receive.

c) 467 MHz main channels. Only mobile, hand-held portable, control and fixed stations may transmit on these 8 channels. Mobile, hand-held portable and control stations may transmit on these channels only when communicating through a repeater station or making brief test transmissions in accordance with § 95.319(c). The channel center frequencies are: 467.5500, 467.5750, 467.6000, 467.6250, 467.6500, 467.6750, 467.7000, and 467.7250 MHz.