Comet CA-GMRS antenna anyone?

[Frdbronco8]

I see this for about $100 and 42 inches long but I can't find much info about it online. Perhaps it's newish? Everyone seems to really like the Comet 712efc but its 10ft tall. I was wondering how this would compare as I would like something that doesn't stick up quiet so high. Also a few bucks cheaper. 

 

I'm running a 25watt mobile and currently have a small antenna in the attic. Figure if I'm going to go through the trouble of mounting something on the roof I'd like to upgrade the antenna at the same time. 

 

Thanks!

Andy

[GrouserPad]

12 minutes ago, Frdbronco8 said:

I see this for about $100 and 42 inches long but I can't find much info about it online. Perhaps it's newish? Everyone seems to really like the Comet 712efc but its 10ft tall. I was wondering how this would compare as I would like something that doesn't stick up quiet so high. Also a few bucks cheaper. 

 

I'm running a 25watt mobile and currently have a small antenna in the attic. Figure if I'm going to go through the trouble of mounting something on the roof I'd like to upgrade the antenna at the same time. 

 

Thanks!

Andy

I too was looking for base station roof mounted antennas and had your exact question. Ultimately I went with the Retevis ma09 462to467 Omni. It is really broad banded across the gmrs frequency range and has an excellent swr on repeaters and simplex channels. But and this is a big but, I don’t feel it receives distant signals very well and am going to pull it down give it to my mom and put up something better for me. I’m 12’ above my roofline to the coax connection. Ranch. Need to find the best Omni. My search is on. Currently talking an average of 3 to 5 miles home base (4watt tdh3) to my 50watt ocean kg1000 mobile and mag mount mxta26. 

[Frdbronco8]

2 hours ago, GrouserPad said:

I too was looking for base station roof mounted antennas and had your exact question. Ultimately I went with the Retevis ma09 462to467 Omni. It is really broad banded across the gmrs frequency range and has an excellent swr on repeaters and simplex channels. But and this is a big but, I don’t feel it receives distant signals very well and am going to pull it down give it to my mom and put up something better for me. I’m 12’ above my roofline to the coax connection. Ranch. Need to find the best Omni. My search is on. Currently talking an average of 3 to 5 miles home base (4watt tdh3) to my 50watt ocean kg1000 mobile and mag mount mxta26. 

I was eyeballing that one too but there were just enough questionable reviews to make me pause. This Comet is about the same price and a nice size but I don't want to keep buying antennas with little to no improvement.

[WRYZ926]

I hae no experience with the CA-GMRS so I can't comment on it. I do have several Comet antennas and I have been very happy with all of them. I have a GP-9 and CA-712EFC base antennas along with a SBB-1 and 2x4SR mobile antennas. I don't think you will go wrong with the CA-GMRS if it is anything like the Comet antennas I have.

[WRHS218]

13 hours ago, Frdbronco8 said:

I don't want to keep buying antennas with little to no improvement.

Sacrilege! Bro! Do you even radio?

[SteveShannon]

16 hours ago, Frdbronco8 said:

I see this for about $100 and 42 inches long but I can't find much info about it online. Perhaps it's newish? Everyone seems to really like the Comet 712efc but its 10ft tall. I was wondering how this would compare as I would like something that doesn't stick up quiet so high. Also a few bucks cheaper. 

 

I'm running a 25watt mobile and currently have a small antenna in the attic. Figure if I'm going to go through the trouble of mounting something on the roof I'd like to upgrade the antenna at the same time. 

 

Thanks!

Andy

 

13 hours ago, Frdbronco8 said:

I was eyeballing that one too but there were just enough questionable reviews to make me pause. This Comet is about the same price and a nice size but I don't want to keep buying antennas with little to no improvement.

When it comes right down to it, price and size both matter.  The Comet antennas will both have similar build quality, but the size of the Comet CA-712EFC results in better performance and higher price.  It’s also higher gain, which should not be confused with better performance, but should be considered more focused.  If the stations you wish to contact are more or less horizontally aligned with your station, contacts with them will be easier, but if they’re vastly different in elevation (angularity) horizontal gain might actually result in less signal reaching them or coming from them.

The CA-GMRS is a nice size for use in an attic, but you must recognize that its smaller size will result in different performance compared to the 712EFC.  It’s lower gain, so stations that are at a higher or lower angle may be heard better.

I have several Comet and Diamond antennas.  They are well built and perform well for my purposes. If I needed lower gain I would have no compunction about trying the CA-GMRS.  If I wanted higher gain I would get the CA-712EFC.  Both will do well if you mount them correctly and use appropriate feedline.  Neither will overcome topography or otherwise bad circumstances.  If you truly only want to do this once, bite the bullet and get the 712.  The added height is often the determining factor.

[Frdbronco8]

Well I went and ordered one. Getting it outside on the roof is going to be a bigger project than I expected so I threw it in the attic for now. Will see if it makes a difference compared to my little 2.5db antenna I had. Swr is 1.75. Dropped to 1.4ish when I held it down in the house below the attic so I'm guessing being so close to the roofing is raising the swr a little but not enough to be too worried about. Funny thing is my Ed fong antenna was a 1.05 but didn't seem to work any better (or maybe a little worde) than the cheapo amazon antenna I was running. 

[WRUU653]

Please let us know how it works out. Good luck. 

[Frdbronco8]

Listening to some simplex traffic (TX frequency of local repeater with nearby people) and it's hard to say if it recieves any differently. Maybe only a touch better than my HT that I'm holding (hoped it would be way better than my ht). Did a quick test with a ht in the car and it seemed to TX a little stronger to a couple spots I have tried before but not a big difference.  Will have to try with a couple people later on that I know we're just out of my reach. I wonder if the 712 would be much different?

[WSEZ864]

1 hour ago, Frdbronco8 said:

Well I went and ordered one. Getting it outside on the roof is going to be a bigger project than I expected so I threw it in the attic for now. Will see if it makes a difference compared to my little 2.5db antenna I had. Swr is 1.75. Dropped to 1.4ish when I held it down in the house below the attic so I'm guessing being so close to the roofing is raising the swr a little but not enough to be too worried about. Funny thing is my Ed fong antenna was a 1.05 but didn't seem to work any better (or maybe a little worde) than the cheapo amazon antenna I was running. 

Low SWR is desirable but does not always indicate or guarantee best radiation. Don't get caught up in that trap. A good dummy load has a very low SWR (1:1), but radiation is abysmal.

[SteveShannon]

41 minutes ago, Frdbronco8 said:

Listening to some simplex traffic (TX frequency of local repeater with nearby people) and it's hard to say if it recieves any differently. Maybe only a touch better than my HT that I'm holding (hoped it would be way better than my ht). Did a quick test with a ht in the car and it seemed to TX a little stronger to a couple spots I have tried before but not a big difference.  Will have to try with a couple people later on that I know we're just out of my reach. I wonder if the 712 would be much different?

So the difference between one S-unit and the next is 6 db. So an S9 signal is 6 db or four times the power of an S8 signal, yet makes little audible difference. S7 would be 1/16 the power of an S9 and you’d be able to easily tell the difference. 
I think (hope) putting it on your roof will help, but be sure you get it at least a half wavelength above your roof. For GMRS that’s not very much distance. 

[WRYZ926]

I am also sure that the antenna will do better once it is outside and above the roof. As Steve mentioned, make sure the base of the antenna is at least a half wavelength above the highest point of the your roof. That is only 1 foot.

I just noticed how close the metal rafter plates are to the end of the antenna. That can have an effect on things. I know that some people don't have much of a choice on antenna placement but an attic is far from ideal for any vertical VHF or UHF antenna.