Bingfu Vehicle Mobile Ham Radio Antenna VHF UHF 136-174MHz 400-470MHz Car Truck Amateur Two Way Radio Antenna with Lip Mount Fixed Bracket PL259 Male 5m 16.5 feet RG58 Cable

High-Performing 62-inch Dual Band Antenna Short Summary This 62-inch stainless steel antenna significantly outperforms shorter 18-inch models, enabling contact with previously inaudible repeaters and simplex stations. It is durable enough to survive extreme temperature swings and high winds while providing excellent performance on both 2m and 70cm bands. Full Review Performance and Range This antenna replaced an 18-inch dual band vertical. The new antenna allows for reaching repeaters and direct contacts that were unable to be heard with the previous antenna. It does a great job on 2m and is fantastic on 70cm. Installation and Mounting The antenna has been in use for over a month. It is currently mounted on a 24-foot painter’s pole strapped to a balcony post and the side of an apartment. It is mounted above an optional, separately purchased ground plane that screws between the antenna and the mast mount. The antenna went together easily, but I had to retighten the Allen screws before putting it up. Tuning and SWR Only the VHF radials are being used. Consequently, the UHF side is a little high in some parts of the band, but it remains low in the range used to connect to repeaters. This antenna is intended for use with a UHF repeater once construction of that project is completed. Durability and Weather Resistance The antenna has survived high winds on several occasions. It has also remained functional through temperature extremes ranging from below 0 to above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The stainless steel construction is intended for rust resistance. Manufacturer Specs • Length: 1.58 m (62 inches). • Gain: 5.0dBi (144MHz) / 7.6dBi (430MHz). • Material: Stainless steel. • Frequency Range: 144-146 / 430-440 MHz. • Connector: PL259 Male.

I was very hesitant because of the 3.9 stars when I purchased, but it’s a great antenna. I use it on my house for a base station and it’s great with 1.05 SWR. Crystal clear and no issues hitting a repeater 30 miles away with a 10W VHF/UHF radio. It’s unobtrusive, so the neighbors don’t bother me. A very light petroleum jelly coating on the antenna and a drop of loctite on the screws works miracles. As a mobile application I can see its shortcomings as it is brittle and long, so you probably need a spring mount so it doesn’t snap off if you hit something. Haven’t had any rust issues, but I also prepped the surface per above.

Horrible parts that continue to break. I'm not sure what material is being used, but the upper part just broke and fell off in my driveway. There are no instruction for putting this thing together, but after exchanging parts, I was able to use an antenna analyzer and get a 1.1 SWR. It works great, but the antenna just seems to randomly break and fall off with no external force. I'm not driving fast or hitting anything. Now I'm out of $70 bucks being out of return date.

Works great. The mount was as advertised and simple to install on my truck.

Worked great until the very top section came apart where it was glued together and disappeared. Ordered again. Hope this time it lasts longer than a month. Upon reflection, I noticed the problem after someone borrowed my truck. Perhaps they did not allow for the truck being five feet taller than it used to be. If so, not the antenna’s fault. The replacement is working fine.

I have an ICOM 706MKIIG and I needed just a dual band antenna. So I thought that I would spend a little extra and get the very long one to see if it was better. Boy is it! I can pick up a repeater that's probably 30-40 miles away and it and I are both in the northern part of West Virginia in the mountains. So that's saying a lot. Sometimes I can't even reach the repeater in the same county I live in on the old antennas. I'm hitting some I haven't hit in forever. I just have it clipped on the edge of one of my gutters! Works great and a great deal.

3 star review at this time. I was able to tune the antenna with an SWR meter to get really close to an ideal ratio of 1:1, I'm looking like I'm under 1.25:1. That is something I see people complain about is potentially poor performance but they're not tuning the antenna, which is seemingly required, not a big deal as a meter is relatively inexpensive. The allen wrench and set screws provided round off really easily, I hear other people complain about the antenna falling apart. Mine is installed in a mobile application and I fear it'll break with vibration. It would probably work better in a stationary set up. For those reasons I gave 3 stars, if the antenna seemed more solid like it wasn't going to fall apart I'd give it 4 or 5 stars.

Logic suggests that while designed for mobile use, leaving it mounted while moving is a really bad idea. I bought this for a portable repeater. After adding ground plane radials, I was able to adjust the SWR down to near perfect! As for rusting, I painted the entire setup to match the forest where it will be deployed. I honestly expect it to last many years. It would also be ideal for an inexpensive base station antenna. Again, I'd protect it from the elements. Possibly going to the extreme of placing it inside a capped PVC pipe. (PVC should be invisible to RF) Are there better options? Absolutely... but they all cost more. For budget applications and common sense protective precautions, this should work great. Again, adjust SWR and protect it from weather.

I put this on a 25 foot fibreglass push-up mast in Atlantic Canada. It was up a few months and survived some big storms when I had to take it down. Lo and behold, rust. If this is indeed stainless steel as stated, it is a very low grade.

Gained couple more km's when installed to a hand held radio.

As advertised but it took way longer than expected to arrived and the delivery dude should get fired but the product is awesome.

No Instructions, High SWR, Setscrews not qaulity. The setscrew are not stainless steel. Total garbage quality. The parts are not identifiable when assembling the units. Basically you match according to picture on line. I can not recommend this unit or the company who made or sell these units. They ought to be ashame to ship these unit as is.

Fell apart while driving.....lost top section cheap and nasty...