[Antennas] Best Mobile Antenna

[Eric Lemmon]

Gary,

I look at 2m/440 mobile antennas as a compromise that I'm not willing to
accept.  Such antennas very seldom have ideal performance on either band,
and the quality is too often sacrificed to make them cheaply.  Even the
highly-rated Diamond 270 flip-over antenna had rather poor performance on
UHF.  I finally just gave it away.

My suggestion is to install two antennas, one for VHF and the other for UHF,
using Motorola-style NMO mounts.  For the VHF antenna, I would use an
Antenna Specialists Mosaic ASP7455, and for the UHF, I would use the
ASP7655.  These are both commercial-grade, heavy-duty antennas commonly used
on public safety vehicles.  My preference is for Antenex MBD mounts, which
are all-brass and come with double-shielded Teflex cable.  I would put the
UHF antenna in the front, to keep the feedline short.

With separate antennas, you can either use a good diplexer to connect a
dual-band radio or use separate radios.  If you purchase from a commercial
supplier such as Tessco or Talley, you should be able to buy both antennas
and two MBD mounts for less than 100 bucks total.

73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY
 

-----Original Message-----
From: antennas-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:antennas-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Gary Smith
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 12:33 PM
To: antennas at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Antennas] Best Mobile Antenna

Hi Everyone,

I have a Hyundai Elantra and want to get the best 2m/70cm mobile antenna for
FM mobile operation.  The rig I am using is a Kenwood TDM-700A and I have
plans to add a Mirage amp to get pre-amp capabilities and around 160 watts
out.  I will be roof mounting this antenna and will drill a hole in the roof
to get a good ground plane connection.  My concerns are:

1.  To get the best performance (i.e. gain and receive capability) because I
am often operating on the fringes of the local repeater system.
2.  To have the power handling capability.
3.  To have an antenna that will take the punishment of constant use and a
lot of driving.

Please give me your feedback, experiences, and recommendation.  As always,
thanks in advance for the advice.

73 de Gary
WA1TJB