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Reviews For: Pryme RD-98 144/440 HT SMA Antenna

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

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Review Summary For : Pryme RD-98 144/440 HT SMA Antenna
Reviews: 34MSRP: 27.99
Description:
A wonder to behold, the RD-98 is a 17" dualband HT antenna that is only 1/16th of an inch in diameter. The antenna is made of extremely strong and very flexible material -- you can even tie it in a knot without hurting it! This combination of strength and gain (2.15 dBi on Two Meters and 3.2 dBi on 70 Centimeters) has made the RD-98 the favorite antenna of emergency service volunteers and portable packet operators everywhere. The antenna's BNC (or SMA) connector is even fitted with a black rubber guard to keep out moisture. <br>
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.pryme.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00343.5
W1SCB Rating: 2003-09-17
Good! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have this and 8 other SMA antennae to use on my two handhelds, A Yaesu VX@ and Kenwood TH-F6. This one performs fine, and is one of the few whose pin is long enough to reach on my VX2! The RD9 pryme I have wont. It seems weak and I treat it gingerly for fear of failure, and it whips around quite a bit. I have had suggestions of adding a layer or two of shrink wrap to stiffen the base section by the connector, but haven't gotten to it. Overall, fairly inexpensive and works well.
KQ4KK Rating: 2003-09-16
DOA The center pin is too short Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought the SMA version at Dayton this year. Did not use it on my VX7 till I got home. The center pin is too short for the VX7!! Sent two emails to Pryme, never got a response. Put a message on the VX7 reflector, got 10 responses with the same outcome. Only buy one if the center pin is long enough.
KG6MXV Rating: 2003-09-16
Defective unit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought one of theses after reading these great reviews. When installed on my Icom W32A I couldn't even hit local repeaters. Reinstalling my stock antenna put things back to normal - I could access the local repeaters with no problem.

There's nothing obvious with the Pryme antenna to show me it has a problem - no visible breaks or twists or kinks or anything.. Is there a way to somehow test it with a ohmmeter?
KD7BCY Rating: 2003-07-28
The perfect antenna? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This thing is great! The best HT antenna I've found. Gets out great on 2m and 70cm, and does a good job receiving anything the VX-5 can tune. Unfortunatley, it just broke. The wire snapped at the connector. I've had this antenna more than a year and has been through so much abuse, I'm suprised anything could last this long, so I'm off to buy another one! I'm just not sure if my VX-5 will last as long as this next antenna, being dropped, drowned, baked, and abused every other way I know. I suppose dropping the radio antenna first all the time might have something to do with the breakage...
LNXAUTHOR Rating: 2003-06-16
Get this antenna if you have a dual-band HT! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
- don't waste your money on more expensive shorter SMA antennas! get this antenna for your HT and you won't have trouble hitting your repeater...

- this antenna is also good for the new breed of wideband-receive HTs and works a lot better than the original OEM dummy load (i shouldn't say this really, as a few HTs do come with an acceptable antenna)...

- i'm one of those idiots who, after just getting a ticket, went out and spent quite a bit of money on HTs and sundry accessories... don't make the same mistake!

- buying this antenna will be the best money spent for an accessory for your HT... (a nice case is next)...
WB2GOF Rating: 2002-10-30
Good Improvement of Stock Antennas Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Very Flexible. I use it with my ALinco DJ-V5T, and the difference is astounding. I have no problem with the flexing of the antenna, whether its on my belt on in my hand. Signals do tend to fade in and out when the antenna whips about, but I just steady it for a second before transmitting. This is tolerable to me for the added gain and improvement of the HT's stock antenna. And the price is right. I can hit repeaters about 25 miles from my home!
N5VWN Rating: 2002-10-30
great but not perfect Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First of all, so far this is a really good antenna and worth the money. I almost gave it a "5". It has one drawback that is a minor irritant. As reported earlier on a weaker reception, you must hold it really still as the floppy antenna swings, the station fades in and out. Just needs to be a tad stiffer. Other than that, it's improved the performance of my icom T81a. Now it works as good as my old htx-202, which has outlasted an alinco and another icom so far. But that's another review.
KG4TZY Rating: 2002-08-02
Great Addition Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had great results with this antenna. I took my VX-150 on a trip to New York. Of course the rubber duckie did not perform so I picked up this antenna and was able to reliably hit repeaters from inside the house. Back home I was able to hit repeaters at 15 miles from inside the house. Great addition!
KB9YFI Rating: 2002-03-30
Amazing wonder wire Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have this antenna as well as its shorter 7" cousin. This antenna really has some gain for an HT unit. Mine is an SMA connector because I have a VX5 Yaesu.

When you hold still distant repeaters are a snap on 5W. If you let the antenna swing the distant signals will fade slightly in an out in time with frequency of your swaying antenna. It was kind of fun to play around with this phenomenon at first but grew old soon. If the radio captures the signal 100% you will not hear this effect. Using a speaker-mic and holding the radio up above your head and still will result in near mobile rig performance. This antenna is awesome.

It is very durable due to the fact that the thin wire will flex greatly before it permanently bends. You can tie it into a 3" diameter circle without even putting much pressure on it. One can imagine from this narrative how much this thing sways while you are walking. There is one weak spot on the antenna and that is right where the thin wire emerges from the base section. This is where the wire is most liable to be permanently bent as there is no way for the wire inside the coil to flex and all the force is concentrated on that first 1/8" of wire and can't be spread over a larger area.

If you have a spare tire above your belt be very careful when wearing the radio on a belt clip. Don't even think about sitting down into your car with it on your belt as the next time you pull it off to talk the antenna will be sticking out askew 45 degrees.

It can be bent back by carefully applying pressure in the reverse direction but experience tells me that such a thin wire has only a limited number of these fixes before the metal is stressed and will break off leaving the unit ruined. They cost $30 for the SMA version so that would be an expensive mistake to make more than once.

This problem is also found with the shorter version of the antenna as the same wire is used with a nearly identical base coil setup although the coil is naturally longer (RF theory 101.)

Overall I rate this antenna a 5 of 5 as it performs excellently as long as you don't abuse the junction of the base and wire. I keep mine rolled up in my "go" kit for when the 7"-er is not enough to do the job. You never know when it might really be needed in an emergency situation.

Jim - KB9YFI
AD6VU Rating: 2001-10-08
D.O.A. - Dead short... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was initially fascinated with the long whippy, ultrathin material and opted to buy the BNC version; but unsuccessful testing for resonance revealed that mine had a dead short. I feel the ad copy above is not very accurate as several in the store were already permanently bent . Be sure to remove this whip from the package before you buy it.... too flexible and weak for my tastes. I ended up returning it and replaced it with a Radiall/Larsen KD4-146 Helical Kulduckie... at least it's resonant at exactly 146Mhz....and is very beefy in construction....