Youmei Dual Band NMO Antenna: Compact Cannon Style UHF/VHF 400-470/136-174MHz Car Mobile Radio Antenna (50W) Review

Received these hoping to downsize their profile for city use but was disappointed with the performance. With my Yaesu FT7900 I got an SWR of 2.99 at 446 and 8.0 (yes, 8.0) at 146.52. In contrast, my Comet SS-860 has an SWR below 1.5 on every band. I guess I'll continue my phantom dual band NMO quest.

I bought this antenna to see if it could get into local repeaters and to lower my profile. On both occasions it was successful, hitting repeaters at 1, 4 and 7 mics. However, when I adjusted my SWR meter to my current TRAM 1180, I got an acceptable reading of 1.5:1, while this YOUMEI was just over 3:1 and my meter was literally smoking. So I guess I'll keep looking.

This antenna is very flat for terrain and low ground clearance. What I didn't do was check the SWR meter. This antenna was installed on both the door and brake light mounts and my SWR meter was off the charts. That explains why my transmission and reception quality was so bad. I cannot recommend this antenna. Recommend going to a real amateur radio site to get antennas that are professionally tuned right away.

Better than expected if you have realistic expectations. I bought it to use on the trail, to talk to other vehicles in my RV, or to turn on a nearby repeater. Can go about 5 miles in simplex fairly easily so it's good enough for my needs for most of the time I'm using my radio. I also like that it's short, of course, since my truck crashes into my garage etc every day with any other antenna - and I just don't like it.

Although advertised as a dual band antenna for 2m and 70cm. This is truly a single band antenna for only 70 meters. On the 70 cm band, the SWR is below 1.5 from 430 MHz to 450 MHz. On 2m the lowest SWR was 12:1. Transmitting on the 2m band will either damage your transmitter or force it into a power saving mode to prevent permanent damage to the transistor. it's like a dual-band antenna under all circumstances.

This antenna is excellent for local transmissions. I use it with my top cell phone in my POV to communicate with volunteer firefighters. It will broadcast to amateur radio repeaters whose antennas are 1,000 feet and 50 miles away. Other repeaters in the area with lower antennas will not be hit. But it works great with local VHF dispatchers in the area. This is the smallest low profile VHF antenna on the market. I have tried Laird low profile antennas and they are larger than this. I recommend…