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Reviews For: DIAMOND X-50 2m/440 ANTENNA

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Omnidirectional: verticals, mobile, etc

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Review Summary For : DIAMOND X-50 2m/440 ANTENNA
Reviews: 122MSRP: 99.99
Description:
Gain: 2m:4.5dB 70cm:7.2dB
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.rfparts.com/diamond/x50.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
131224.6
W2NJU Rating: 2011-09-05
Great Antenna For the Money Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Low VSWR across 2m and 440. Withstood Irene from a chimney mount 40 feet up with no damage. No increase in SWR even in heavy rains. Solid signal reports. In short I love this antenna. Put it and forget it. Hopefuly for 10 years.
KD9VI Rating: 2011-09-02
great little antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
bought it second hand (new to me!) ... I really can pull in the repeaters on both 2m and 440. My signal is clear on low power when my homebrew was picket fencing on higher power.
WD9HOT Rating: 2011-05-21
Perfect for antenna restrictions Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you have antenna restrictions and must use indoors this 5 foot 6 inch gem works so much better than Gerry rigging a mobile antenna.
K7NNG Rating: 2011-03-01
EXCELLENT FOR ME Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had mine up for 9 years. never a problem anywhere on 2 meters....checked it through out for swr before install.
I am very happy with performance.
perhaps he got a bad run.
W2NCS Rating: 2011-02-28
Great Buy! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I know three people that own this antenna and I purchased mine based on their satisfaction. Very reasonable price, easy to assemble, and works like a champ! I use this antenna on all frequencies from 144.0-148.500 (I know, outside ham band. MARS operator). NOWHERE on any of these frequencies does my SWR exceed 1.2:1. Since putting it up, it has survived several storms with 50-60 kt. winds and it still works great. I can honestly say I have never been happier with ANY other antenna I have owned. If you follow the directions very carefully, take care in assembly, and use a GOOD quality coax, I can't imagine your experience will be any less satisfying. Over the years I have purchase items that other people said are "junk", just to discover that it was really a failure on their part to assemble it properly or use quality components. You are only as strong as your weakest link! If you need a dual band antenna that will perform to your expectations, this one definitely gets my vote.
KD4TWJ Rating: 2011-02-28
Buyer beware Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

I purchased the NA version with the N connector, recently from a local HAM who had one new in the package. He was going to use it for a project, but sometime later the project did not happen, so he sold it to me for a good price. I had planned on replacing the old quarter wave vertical that I had been using for my APRS I-Gate with this antenna.

Unfortunately this “no tune” antenna is garbage on the lower half of two meters. Below 146.0Mhz, the reflected power climbs dramatically. When I saw this on the SWR meter, I setup the analyzer and sure enough, the resonant point is around 149.5Mhz . Usable bandwidth is about 146.0 to 154.0 .
I guess that I would be all set if I was using MURS...

UHF is fine, nearly 10Mhz wide. The antenna was tested at ~17 feet AGL. I am glad that I tested it before it went up higher, but still it is disappointing that RF parts cannot get their QC right.

Thinking back, this is not the first time that I have seen this happen with an X-50.
A few years back our local EMCOMM group bought three of these antennas brand new as replacements for older antennas. One was to replace the antenna for our APRS digipeater.
So there I was, strapped into the tower, I had just tightened the new X-50 into place, when something told me to yell back down that the guys below should test it, while I was still up there (yes I shimmied down a few feet before they PTT). You guessed it, SWR over 2:1 . So we lowered that one back down and hoisted another up, and this time it was good. I sealed everything up, and that antenna is still in service.
After I came down from the tower, we tested the third X-50, and that one also would not have been a good match on APRS, although it was better than the first antenna that we tried. So the lesson learned was that each one of those X-50 antennas had a very different resonant point on VHF. I should have remembered that recently when I purchased that antenna from the local HAM.

He purchased the antenna from AES, of course they will not take the antenna back once it has been out of the door for more than three months, so I am stuck with this lemon.

Roughly half of the Diamond / RF Parts equipment that I have purchased in the last 19 years or so, has been garbage. I have tried in the past to deal with RF Parts on replacements, but they have always managed to screw me.

The moral of the story is never buy Diamond used, or shipped. Only purchase their products locally and test them right away, so that you can return them locally if needed.

KC8DHV Rating: 2010-12-23
Great little Antenna! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this Diamond Antenna now for about 5 years, I bought it from another amateur that was getting out of the hobby for 20 bucks! The best 20 bucks I have ever spent! I only have it about 25 feet off of the ground and this baby gets out and talks! If your looking for a decent dual band antenna and you run across one of these little baby's, JUMP ON IT! You will not be sorry!
KC7YRA Rating: 2010-10-30
Rugged!! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Have had my 50na up for almost a year now. It is mounted 60 feet up on my tower, high in the mountains of Wyoming.

In this short year, the antenna has experienced winds approaching (and gusts OVER) 100 MPH, temperatures of -43F, and relentless UV in the summer. So far, looks and works great.

Just had it down for a coax replacement (faulty connector, not the antennas problem) and got to inspect it. No single issue I could see.

Prior to this I was using a dualband Larsen antenna at a slightly lower height on the same tower. The performance difference is staggering at times. Can work out 60+ miles simplex on the 50na when the Larsen was limited to 30-40 miles.

Put it up, feed it decent coax, and play radio. It doesn't get much easier.

Brad
James H. Lincoln Rating: 2010-10-30
Professional Quality! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the Diamond X-50A recently and upon opening the package I observed that the antenna is of top quality in materal and workmanship.

After a very simple assembly process (about 10 min), the antenna was mounted to a mast pipe and errected. Once in the shack, the design and quality was realized with a low SWR on both bands and first class reception on both simplex and the repeaters. This antenna is HOT!

If you want quality performance at a very fair price, look no further. I'm as picky as they come and I rate this one A++++!
OZ1KNJ Rating: 2010-09-20
Exellent Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The X-50 is an amazing antenna compared to its size. Low SWR and very good reception and transmitting. Never had any problems with it. Its definitely better than the X-30, which I also have had.