GMRS Base Antenna

[WSGE954]

I live in a small city, about 26-27,000, in Southern Maine.  My neighborhood has a lot of trees, houses and structures.  We do have repeaters in the area and I can connect to at least 3 of them with a UV-5G Plus (2-pack that I was given for Christmas).  One is about 5 miles away, another around 10 and the third, although hitting it intermittently, about 25 miles (depends where I am I guess so probably when I am hitting it it is closer).  Due to being poor Tom, I plan to purchase a Wouxun KG-XS20G (ah, not the KG-1000G Plus), a power supply, base antenna and the paraphernalia needed (yes, good coax and connectors).  The antenna will be on my roof but still surrounded by my neighbors trees, my land is pretty clear with lower shrubs and...stuff.  I figure the radio and power supply are going to be around $328 with the governor's cut.  I don't want to skimp on the antenna and paraphernalia but there is only so much money to go around too.  So, after writing this book, in my environment, what antenna would you suggest?

[AdmiralCochrane]

Which antenna is much less important that trying to get it as high as you can.  A "better" antenna will not make up for being too low.

[WSGE954]

Yes, thank you Admiral.  Putting it on my roof peak will give me some lines of sight.  The western sky should be pretty good, east and north will still have trees to push through and south isn’t as good as west but there will be a lot of sky there.  There is a larger city with taller buildings to the north but I have hit repeaters within that city and beyond it with the HT.  I am also near an airport so not sure how high I can go but probably can use a pole of some length.  Thanks again!!

[BoxCar]

As far as how high can I go with my antenna, there are rules covering antenna height and lighting/painting depending on how close to the airport you are. For most practical purposes, you can ignore them unless the highest point of the antenna exceeds 200 feet. Practically, plan on your height being 20 - 40 feet above your roof as a maximum.

[TDM827]

Seems like most people opt for an omni-directional fiberglass antenna. But there are other types out there. Tram Retavis and Harvest offer these antennas at entry level prices. Most under $125. Some people swear by Comet and Diamond, I believe they are a bit more pricier, closer to the $180 mark.    

[WRYZ926]

5 hours ago, WSGE954 said:

 I am also near an airport so not sure how high I can go but probably can use a pole of some length.  Thanks again!!

Check local zoning laws along with contacting the airport. A friend is directly inline with the N/S runway at the local airport that is about 1 mile north of his house so he is restricted to a maximum height of 80 feet above ground.

[WSGE954]

Thank you all again for the input.  I very much appreciate it.

[WRUE951]

On 3/11/2025 at 4:00 PM, AdmiralCochrane said:

Which antenna is much less important that trying to get it as high as you can.  A "better" antenna will not make up for being too low.

Not necessarily true. Different dipole antennas have varying elevation patterns..  Some antennas mostly high gain commercial have low elevation patterns making them ideal for mountain top applications where signal is radiated more downward where many non commercial is just the opposite.  Some antennas are designed for optimum performance at a typical 40' heights and others work better mounted on 200' towers sitting on mountain tops.  The commercial guys know this and do their homework when selecting antennas.  Likewise i think most of us settling up home brew repeater systems should research antenna patterns and select something that works for their applications.