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Reviews For: Smiley Super Stick II VHF 5/8-wave telescopic vertical

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

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Review Summary For : Smiley Super Stick II VHF 5/8-wave telescopic vertical
Reviews: 3MSRP: 23
Description:
Super Stick II 5/8 wave , flexible base loaded telescopic antenna is the standard for field use whether in the countryside of city. It provides 6 to 9 db gain and is usable in 2 positions. Fully extended or fully collapsed. It is a true 1/4 wave when collapsed. Available in the following bands. 118 - 174 MHz. Modular construction features replaceable telescopic section, tuned coil/spring. Available with any TA Base. This new flex coil matching network provides at band center low SWR as well as a + or - 5 MHz band center. (Example an antenna tuned at 146 being the band center, the antenna will perform the same between 141-151 MHz.) Telescope 10" down and 48" up.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.smileyantenna.com/collections/2-meter/products/super-stick-ii-2-meter
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0035
W4SEX Rating: 2015-10-21
Worth every penny Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This allows me to sit inside the warm house in the winter and still check in on the Nets. Highly recommended.
NOCARRIER Rating: 2014-07-01
New to HAM, great first purchase Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Listening to the airwaves for about a year with a handheld scanner using the stock rubber duck, I had no idea what I was missing until I purchased the Smiley 2 m Super Stick. Within minutes my scanner was pulling in dozens of previously "dead" channels and my RF universe expanded overnight.

The antenna is a touch heavy and becomes a bit awkward if fully extended on a handheld, but that's to be expected with this much metal at such a length. The spring mount allows some give and I'm able to balance my handheld on a flat surface with the antenna fully extended. I got the BNC version and the BNC to SMA connector braces against the handheld chassis for extra support.
KN0JI Rating: 2014-05-03
Very best HT vertical Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My honest rating would be about 4.8, actually. I have purchased and used two of them, the Smiley 2 m 1/2-wave telescopic (for my Yaesu FT-60R) and the Smiley Super Stick II 2 m 5/8-wave telescopic (for my Baofeng UV-82), and their performance is unmatched IMO. They perform much better than the Retech RHA-771 (on my Yaesu) Nagoya NA-775 (on my Baofeng) and a little better than the Nagoya UT-108 mag mount, but not quite as good as my homemade 2 m 1/4-wave ground plane.

Their only drawback is that they tend to be top-heavy when carrying them around on your HT, and put quite a heavy strain on your HT's PC board. So, when I'm not using the radio, I remove the antenna to preserve my HT, but that kind of defeats the purpose of my wanting to hear what's going on when I'm hiking, etc. I purchased the BNC version of these antennas, then bought BNC-to-SMA connectors that have large cowls that touch the HT when attached, to help relieve some of the strain.

Overall, the performance outweighs the drawbacks, and I highly recommend them. They perform better than any 2 m HT vertical I have ever used.