What Kind of Dual Band Antenna?

Suty

Adventurer
Alright, You 2M guys, what kind of antenna for me. I am going to get a Icom 208H Dual Band Radio and I was wondering what antenna should I get? I would like one that is permantly mounted, but I don't want one that 6' tall either. I saw some on Ebay that attach through the Glass ( rear window) similar to the old cell phone antennas. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated
 

asteffes

Explorer
Suty said:
Alright, You 2M guys, what kind of antenna for me. I am going to get a Icom 208H Dual Band Radio and I was wondering what antenna should I get? I would like one that is permantly mounted, but I don't want one that 6' tall either. I saw some on Ebay that attach through the Glass ( rear window) similar to the old cell phone antennas. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated

I like the Larsen dual-band antenna. It's a 5/8 wave on 2 meters, so it's slightly less than one meter long, plus a 2" tall base that screws onto your NMO mount. I would couple it with a Diamond NMO mount (magnetic or whatever style floats your boat) as that combination worked well with my Kenwood and Icom mobile rigs.

If you want something really short and flexible, I've been using a Diamond NMO-base antenna with a Larsen magnetic base. The whole assembly is about 15" tall and very flexible (won't catch on things, happily flexes out of the way if you wack it on something. Magnet strength has been great.)

Hope this helps.
 

UncleChris

Adventurer
I have a Diamond NR 770HNMO that is hard mounted to my roof with an NMO mount. I drilled the hole in my 05 Taco DC and got over the pain. It installed really well, and did not have to rip out the headliner(only slightly.)

With it and my D700a I can get the Fremont Peak repeater all the way up into Silicon Valley. It works extremely well and much better than the mag mount that I had. It is about 41" long and can fold over.

I don't use it for wheeling, I don't think that it would get along with the trees very well. I got a small 14" NMO duckie for wheelin'.

Others tout the Diamond CR320.

Word on the street(air?) is that the through glass ones are pretty worthless, but I have not tried them myself.
 

Pskhaat

2005 Expedition Trophy Champion
I'm assuming dual-band you mean 2m and 70cm? As others have suggested, do the Larsen dual-band whip in the NMO mount. The whip is easier on the trees. Best bang-for-the-buck.

Remember, generally speaking a stacked antenna will perform better, but as you mentioned, they do get tall.
 

asteffes

Explorer
pskhaat said:
I'm assuming dual-band you mean 2m and 70cm? As others have suggested, do the Larsen dual-band whip in the NMO mount. The whip is easier on the trees. Best bang-for-the-buck.

Remember, generally speaking a stacked antenna will perform better, but as you mentioned, they do get tall.

Yes, the 208H is a 2m/70cm radio. "Dual band," in ham speak, pretty much always refers to 2m/70cm rigs.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,538
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top