Midland Ghost Antenna

[WRTC928]

Today I put a Midland Ghost Antenna on the NMO mag mount on my car. I figured a small black cylinder on the top of my small black car wouldn't attract a lot of attention. I was previously using a Nagoya UT-72G with its own mag mount. TBH, I didn't expect much from the Ghost Antenna, but I was quite surprised. I attached a Baofeng AR-5RM which emits 7-8 watts (even though it's nominally a 10 watt radio) and took a drive to check it out. I got about 15-17 miles from the Oklahoma City repeater and received a signal report from a kind GMRS user. I was at the extreme range I usually get, and he said my signal sounded like I had "a little strange interference" but he could understand me just fine. TBH, I was impressed. It didn't give up anything to the UT-72G, and in fact, may have been marginally better. 

[LeoG]

The UT-72G I would rate in the subpar area.  That was my 1st mobile antenna and I wasn't impressed at all with it.  The Midland MXTA26 is far superior and it's the antenna I currently run.  I do have that ghost antenna in my wish list only because it's small profile keeps it hidden.

[WRTC928]

36 minutes ago, LeoG said:

The UT-72G I would rate in the subpar area.  That was my 1st mobile antenna and I wasn't impressed at all with it.  The Midland MXTA26 is far superior and it's the antenna I currently run.  I do have that ghost antenna in my wish list only because it's small profile keeps it hidden.

There's not a lot of activity around here, and the UT-72G was good enough, so I never felt the need to replace it, but I agree it's not the best available. However, for the itty-bitty Ghost to outperform it was a surprise to me. In a lot of scenarios, it may be good enough. At some point, I may get the MXTA26 or something similar and throw it in the back of the car. If I feel the need, I can just screw off the Ghost and screw on the MX. I really like the fact that I don't have to worry about the Ghost in a drive-through or a parking garage, and on my black car, it's almost a stealth antenna.

[WRYZ926]

I'm another that is not impressed with the Nagoya UT-72G. My Tram 1174 does a better job. I have a Melowave Shadow that I am going to try out on the wife's car to see how it does with my KG-XS20G.

[RIPPER238]

Love my Midland Ghost Antenna, allows me to fit my truck in the garage. Works really well for GMRS and has some decent range for being so small, also really good in hilly areas. I also have the MXTA26 which is awsome if i need a little more reach. I always have both in my truck depending on needs. 

 

I recently purchased a Comet CA-2X4SRNMO for my handhelds with more bands. Haven't tried it out yet. 

[WRYZ926]

14 minutes ago, RIPPER238 said:

I recently purchased a Comet CA-2X4SRNMO for my handhelds with more bands. Haven't tried it out yet. 

You should be happy with the 2x4SR. They work well for 2m, 70cm, GMRS, MURS, and public safety frequencies. That is what I use on my SxS and it works well.

I have to stick with antennas that are no taller than 20" on my Ford Escape in order to fit into the garage.

[LeeBo]

I also have the Comet CA-2X4SR (PL259 mount) and have been very happy with it.

[RIPPER238]

13 minutes ago, LeeBo said:

I also have the Comet CA-2X4SR (PL259 mount) and have been very happy with it.

I got a huge Tram magnetic NMO mount for it incase my Midland magnetic mount does not hold up as well. Placement is smack dab in the middle roof of my 4Runner. 

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, RIPPER238 said:

I got a huge Tram magnetic NMO mount for it incase my Midland magnetic mount does not hold up as well. Placement is smack dab in the middle roof of my 4Runner. 

My Midland mount works fine on my 4Runner. 

[WRYZ926]

I use two of the Midland mag mounts on my Ford Escape without any issues. And a Melowave mag mount on the SxS. Both do well even with the Comet 2x4SRNMO.

[WRUE951]

18 hours ago, WRTC928 said:

Today I put a Midland Ghost Antenna on the NMO mag mount on my car. I figured a small black cylinder on the top of my small black car wouldn't attract a lot of attention. I was previously using a Nagoya UT-72G with its own mag mount. TBH, I didn't expect much from the Ghost Antenna, but I was quite surprised. I attached a Baofeng AR-5RM which emits 7-8 watts (even though it's nominally a 10 watt radio) and took a drive to check it out. I got about 15-17 miles from the Oklahoma City repeater and received a signal report from a kind GMRS user. I was at the extreme range I usually get, and he said my signal sounded like I had "a little strange interference" but he could understand me just fine. TBH, I was impressed. It didn't give up anything to the UT-72G, and in fact, may have been marginally better. 

They are pretty impressive but they will peter out pretty fast on the long haul or when around hills and trees.  On a trip up the calif/oregon cost last summer i had to switch over to my Midland whip to get some traction talking with friends along the redwoods..   Overall, the stuby does very well.  

[WRTC928]

1 hour ago, WRUE951 said:

They are pretty impressive but they will peter out pretty fast on the long haul or when around hills and trees.  On a trip up the calif/oregon cost last summer i had to switch over to my Midland whip to get some traction talking with friends along the redwoods..   Overall, the stuby does very well.  

Yeah, I don't expect it to perform as well as a whip in those circumstances, but for just running around doing errands in the city, it seems as if it will work well.

[nokones]

Who ever Midland has producing their antennae does a great job in producing a good antennae with good VSWRs on GMRS freqs. Unfortunately, the operating band range is very narrow and that is why they work great on GMRS freqs, if you have a good groundplane.  

And they do not require any tuning which is a good thing for a majority of the GMRS users. It is a great turn-key solution for most beginning GMRS users.

[OffRoaderX]

Not long ago I tested a few antennas against the Midland Ghost antenna and it performed better than the Nagoya UT-72G .. and ALMOST as good as the Midland MXTA26..

[WRYZ926]

15 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

Not long ago I tested a few antennas against the Midland Ghost antenna and it performed better than the Nagoya UT-72G .. and ALMOST as good as the Midland MXTA26..

I was given a brand new Melowave antenna recently and rewatching your video on the Midland Ghost and Melowave Shadow is what made me decide to keep it and try it out on the wife's car.

[WRUE951]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

Not long ago I tested a few antennas against the Midland Ghost antenna and it performed better than the Nagoya UT-72G .. and ALMOST as good as the Midland MXTA26..

The Midland is defiantly better than the Nagoya..  One person in our 4 camper caravan had the Nagoya and he was always the first guy out and he didn't have a backup so he was always the lost ranger..  

[LeeBo]

20 hours ago, RIPPER238 said:

I got a huge Tram magnetic NMO mount for it incase my Midland magnetic mount does not hold up as well. Placement is smack dab in the middle roof of my 4Runner. 

Lip mount on the rear hatch. Works pretty well.

[WRUQ357]

I have the ghost antenna on a lip mount on the cowl of the TJR. It's perfect for the trails. I also have one on the driver's side rear door on my truck using a Nagoya lip mount and the ghost antenna works well there as also. 

[dosw]

I have the Ghost antenna (MXTA25), the whip (MXTA26), and the Comet CA2X4SR-NMO. On my old '95 Bronco I use them with a lip mount on the hood that is just forward of the air-vent cowl. The ground-plane that provides is a minimum of eight inches to the aft, and more in all other directions.

I find the best of the bunch on GMRS is the MXTA26. The CA2X4SR-NMO is invaluable as a dual-bander/broad-bander, though; great for 2m/70cm plus GMRS (different radios, sure). I don't really use the Ghost all that often anymore. It was okay. SWR was a little higher than the others, and as I drive around testing propagation by recording at home what the signal sounds like, I just get more umph out of the bigger antennas. Plus, where I have it mounted on the Bronco, my FM Stereo's antenna is still longer than the MXTA26.

But the Ghost isn't bad. If I'm in a group where we're within a couple miles of each other, I don't need anything better. And actually if I'm parked in the lot at a ski resort, the Ghost is probably a better option for reaching someone on the slopes, since the mountains can be so abrupt.

[RIPPER238]

On 12/11/2024 at 7:37 AM, LeeBo said:

Lip mount on the rear hatch. Works pretty well.

Doesn't look like you have the spring option. Is it pretty stable at high speeds? 

[LeeBo]

34 minutes ago, RIPPER238 said:

Doesn't look like you have the spring option. Is it pretty stable at high speeds? 

I did go back and add the spring as there are some low hanging branches in our neighborhood, but too the pic before adding the spring.  Let me see if I can find one.

EDIT - went outside and took a couple with spring.  Very stable at highway speeds.

EDIT 2 - Yes, I know it's a 2M/70CM antenna, but it does work great on GMRS. 

[RIPPER238]

13 minutes ago, LeeBo said:

I did go back and add the spring as there are some low hanging branches in our neighborhood, but too the pic before adding the spring.  Let me see if I can find one.

EDIT - went outside and took a couple with spring.  Very stable at highway speeds.

 

 

Thank you! I may add the spring. but i'll try it without first. I will likely only use it as needed since most of my off road radio use is with GMRS and i have that Midland that works well. But i'm really loving listening to all the other bands and this antenna should be perfect.