Off road worthy Ham Antenna

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by DWH on August 28, 2011 at 9:04pm

I have the Diamond NR-770. It has survived so far and it folds over to get it out of the way if you know there is something coming up that could take it off (parking garage).

 

It is available in several different configurations, so make sure you know which one you are getting.

Permalink Reply by manoweb on August 28, 2011 at 10:21pm

Yeah, that one or the very very similar Comet SBB-5 or SBB-5NMO.

I would not personally mount it on the bumper because of the non-omnidirectional radiation pattern that would result, but maybe it's not a big issue.

Permalink Reply by opg4759 on September 6, 2011 at 8:05am

If you want to stay with a 3/8's treaded mount hat fist the hole on the ARB then you will need to go with something like a 2M and a 440(70cm) ham sticks and just run the one for the band you are using. 

 

You would be better off enlarging the hole for a UHF connector since there is a plethora of dual band antennas with a UHF or N-type connector. I've been happy with both Comet and Diamond antennas so you can't really go wrong with either. I'm currently running a Comet SB7 and have been very happy with it.

 

Alesio is correct that it will mess a bit with the radiation pattern, but unless you are looking to DX (long distance communications of 100 miles or more on VHF) it won't really make a difference on the trail. That is one of the major problems with antennas on rigs like ours since since to get the optimal radiation pattern  you should have the antenna in the center of your roof. However you will rip it right off on the trail if you do that, so we have to make concessions in optimal performance to protect our rigs and antennas from damage.  There are ways around that at base camp you could run hard connector extension to raise the antenna while in camp if you are overly concerned about it.