best antenna for 440...base installation

[N7LRG]

Getting a Baofeng UV-5R for 440 and plan on making a bracket to mount an antenna on the side of my tower for base use...which one? I don't want to use a mag mount. Comments?

[KG4NEL]

How much gain do you think you'll need for your location?

Hustler has a pretty good selection from 5/8-wave verticals to fairly high-gain collinears...

[K6LCS]

No one can intelligently answer you until you provide some more information. Things like ...

Length of coax run. What coax do you plan to use?
Where do you live - and what do you want to do on 440? (Just local repeaters? Simplex work?)

I mean, I live in Southern California, and I need just the bare minimum of an antenna to work scores of local repeaters - as I live in a valley surrounded by mountaintop repeater systems.

Clint K6LCS

[ONAIR]

Why not just build yourself a simple 440 ground plane first, and see how it works for you?  You can make one in around 10 minutes for only a few bucks, and it might surprise you as to how well it actually performs.

[W8JX]

Why not just build yourself a simple 440 ground plane first, and see how it works for you?  You can make one in around 10 minutes for only a few bucks, and it might surprise you as to how well it actually performs.

I would not waste time with a 440 ground plane. Given that any feed line you use is going to have some loss you want at least some moderate gain to offset line losses and have a net positive gain. Also height is very important on 440. The higher the better. 

[K1CJS]

Hustler.  They make the G7-144 for two meter use, and they also have similar antennas (triple colinear) for the 1.2 meter and the 70 cm band.

[KC9AXZ]

Look into dual band verticals. Comet, Diamond and others make great verticals. You can save some money and look into the "off brand" antennas such as Workman, Opek, Tram. In most cases you will find that the build quality are almost identical. These antennas are pretty rugged and will serve you well for many years.

Jon KC9AXZ

[KA3NXN]

The Hustler to get is the G6-440. It's a 440 only base antenna with about 6dbd gain. There are quite a number of them out there being used as repeater antennas. The only thing that might work better for you as an omni direction is a 8 dipole array. If you want more gain than that you will need to go with a beam.

I use Hustler single band base antennas for all my UHF/VHF work at home and they are good antennas.
For 2 meter I have the G7-144
For 220 the G7-220
For 440 the G6-440

Jaime-KA3NXN

[K9KJM]

I agree that the Hustler dual band is a good choice.   I would limit my choices to Hustler, Diamond, And Comet. And avoid the "Clone" made in China choices. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.

(Yes, There are better commercial antennas available, But at higher prices. For most ham operations, The Hustler/Diamond/Comet are about the best deal.) 

And I also agree that a dual band is the antenna to get in the ham grade antennas.