uhf antenna

I have a 600mm 4.5db AE4007 that cost about $67 as well as a 200mm $14 rubber job for just around the 'burbs.

I put the longer one on if going out of the city from Adelaide in flat country. It really is a 10 second job. The short one allows me to get in car parks and stuff no worries and is cheap to replace if flogged. Does the job around town and is good enough if only travelling iin a group. The short one is also better in hilly country and if the trees are a bit low.

Antenna is on roof rack and connected to an Icom IC400PRO.

Cheers
Muddy

Hiya I have the 4705 and its good for hilly areas, if I was doing the Nullarbor and WA I would go a 6db as well, for longer distance along the road. Thats the best compromise in my opinion, i have a 3400 also as well as a new TX6200 handheld.

all the best

I run a 3db little rubber job, I've had 4db Dipoles, 6db Whips etc etc. This little one is excellent. Doesn't get clobbered off road and does awsome around town into the repeaters. Out on the road I'm still getting very good distances out of it.

*NOTE If you are in hilly areas the lower the DB rating the better off you'll be.

Same as the others.....

Little Rubber jobby for around town, and good if you want to be in a convoy.

Got the other one which is either 6 db / 9 db. About a 30 second job to change over, but only good on flat ground, because of the propagation pattern they emit. Also when driving at speeds, the propagation pattern gets worse, because of the slant on the whip.

Wolfie

I think mine is the GME 4018K - 4.5db. This has a spring base and handles corrugated roads well. The whip can screw off and be replaced by a small rubber one for round town. Have the same radio.

Peter

MR Z,

We run a GME AE4017 (60 cm Black Stainless Steel Whip 4.5 dB) on a TX3400 and it has given excellent performance both in the hills and on the flats. We went 4.5dB to save having to keep changing antenna's over.

Regards,
Keith

MrZ click here it will give you the info on how to choose the right antenna.

Baz.

Hi Mr Z,

I run a ~800mm 4.5dba ground plane independant around town. Just a standard cheapie but operates very well. I also recently bought a 2.2m 7.0dBa mobile one that has awesome range. Using it over Xmas, i was able to communicate with other club members some distance away (estimate over 15 kms on other side of dunes) while others with me (~600mm S/S 6 dBa whip aerial) could not even make out the other party.

Even when hills were between us, my "high" dba rating antenae consistenly outperformed the lower dBa, even though the lower dBa is supposedly better for hills. I have found the 2.2m height gives a real advantage and is more important than a "low" dBa rating in hilly conditions. But the 2.2m height means it gets a workout in scrub terrain and also has to be reomved to park in my garage. Only takes a few seconds to unscrew and stick the small antenae back on.

IMHO go for the tallest antenae that is practical for you if you want good range. I have found height to be more important than dBa rating, but this is in WA where what we call hills are slight undulations over east!

Cheers

Captain

Mr Z,
I have a TX 3400 and I've had a lot more success running GME antennas, running the radio & antenna as a matched set I believe works, also keeing other antennas as far a practically possible away from each other also helps, I run a GME 4701 I think the big white one anyway and I agree with the Captain it does better than the short white one, but it's a pain in the botty when doing off road stuff, gets to much of a battering. I run a GME antenna it has a spring base and a chrome mid sectioney bit about 18 mm diam and 300 mm long with a shortish black whip on it, this has performed really well all round, on road, off road & corrogations.
If you buy the really big GME spring loaded base you can fit a wide range of sizes of antenna into it, from somthing about a meter long to something about ten meters long, the base has a small grub screw as well that acts a a bit of a deterant to would-be thieves. Hope this helps a bit.

Z,

With the choice of aerials available, it's almost as bad as the tojo/nissan, engel/waeco debates. Whatever you think will suit you best will do.

From experience, I've found the GME 4700 series aerials are not good value. They don't last, especially on bush roads. Work well when they are new, but once they lose tune, they are expensive fishing rod! After 2 dud aerials, their only good point would be the easy method to interchange the whips.

There are a number of "extended gain" aerials, the GME 4018k is one mentioned above, that can replace the longer whip with a shorter 150mm aerial, for use around town.

Length, as Captain says makes a lot of difference, in extreme conditions. But then as stated, they have their problems in tight scrub etc. We've been using CB-6 aerials, with good results. Talking about mobile-mobile, of 20-30 clicks, and m'bile-base, of 40-80 k's, depending on time of day. Terrain is mild undulating, to scattered hills.

Also, stainless steel aerials don't like corrugations, and will break off after constant use on these roads. In an about-face, I've just bought a RFI CD900 aerial, with s'steel whip, that has been partially covered in a plastic, or rubber, to reduce the vibrations. Will have to see how it lasts.

Have seen some blokes with 2 aerials on vehicle, just matter of changing over the co-ax, to use the other stick.

hooroo...

Mr Z I have the GME antenna that you are thinking of, has taken all sorts of bush abuse and rough roads no worries. I get the same range as a mate with his hillbilly fishing rod(you know the ridiculous white ones with steal me/break me written all over them) which he managed to bleep ter when hitting an overhead branch. mine also has the added bonus of being about 20mm taller than the roof of the Cruiser(mounted on bullbar), so round town if the antenna fits, the car fits. IMHO.

The higher the arial the better it will perform. A little rubber one on the roof rack will outperform some of the best bullbar mounted arials in some conditions. I have mine mounted on the roofrack and use the little rubber job in convoy and around town but use a GME 6db when more range is needed. Only prob with roof mount is overhanging trees.

thanks for the replys everyone, i think i'll get the gme ae4705, with the large spring base so i can change antennas around if i feel the need

cheers