I can remember the good ole days when hams could build and repair their own radios and test equipment

Hams USED to INVENT new technology

Now they simply BUY new technology from China

I built much of my own test equipment when I first became a ham
Now I too have become lazy and simply buy the watt meters, VOMs, field strength meters and frequency counters I need.

We still have some very inventive hams in our ranks but as time has passed the CB radio conversations and those on the local repeaters have become the same.

Even the best ham grade fiberglass antennas on the market won't hold up as well in the elements as a simple mobile antenna.

And WHERE the antenna is mounted becomes more important than gain.

A well positioned mobile antenna can easily outperform a poorly positioned stacked jpole
antenna.

Don't fix what ain't broke

You get what you PAY for.

ALL these cheaply constructed fiberglass antennas "work", but none will last if not
soldered, painted, and sealed.

Any conductor of rf within a wavelength will have some effect on antenna patterns.

But you should have very little interaction between those bands

Simply drive in an 8 foot ground rod and common it with the service reference.

As a Moto tech, I have never seen a Moto mic that was wired for anything but a Motorola.

However, you can get a Kenwood mic that looks exactly the same and will work with many ham mobiles.

And Vertex(yaesu) also makes similar hand mics that will likely work for your application.

Contact your local Kenwood or Vertex dealer for info

McVey is a local kid

He went to West Liberty college just up the road and lived in nearby coshocton Ohio.

He was a REACT member and very active member of the local gun club.

So sighting rifle scopes was a normal thing.

regular old lamp cord also has similar properties but since it's not manufactured for RF use,
there's no guarantee that any two pieces you buy will be the same.

If you simply use a 3/8 x 24 mount, you can easily put a 19.5 inch whip and a 6.5 inch whip
on the same stud.

This will far exceed the performance of that CB whip look alike thing you were looking at

You may want to experiment with 1/4 wave coaxial stubs.

A open ended length of coax attached to a TEE can be a notch filter when cut to 1/4 wavelength

It may be narrow enough as to not attenuate the 160mhz freqs too bad.

http://www.kyes.com/antenna/coaxfilter.html

TV antenna manufacturers have been doing this for decades.

VHF and UHF elements on the same boom with one feedpoint.

Need more info

Are you using it in the car or on a power supply?

It's generally never a good idea to adjust anything since these adjustments never need adjusted once adjusted at the factory.

Yes the X-50 would work better.

But I would recommend the Comet GP-3 if that's the type of antenna you want.

And if you want an antenna that will last more than a couple years buy a Hustler G6-2/70R
It's 10 time stronger than ANY of the import junk.

trees have little effect on 2 meters since leaves are
much smaller than 1/4 wavelength

However, many leaves approach 1/4 wave at 70cm so attenuation will be greater.

Hard to beat an alkaline for low current long service life applications
That's why they last for a year or more in clocks and remote controls and watches.

Lithium cells are better for high current applications

However, you may be better off mounting a solar garden light near the sensor and using it to power the
sensor.

These garden solar lights are water proof, cheap, and already include a battery.

You may need to drop the voltage with a diode or two or limit the current with a resistor but it will keep you from climbing the tower

LOL!