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Reviews For: DBJ-2 Roll-up J-Pole

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

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Review Summary For : DBJ-2 Roll-up J-Pole
Reviews: 4MSRP: 30.00
Description:
Dual band 2-440 portable J-pole with 8-10 db gain for ARES,
RACES and HT use up to 50 watts.
Product is in production
More Info: http://edsantennas.weebly.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0045
KJ7JAL Rating: 2019-04-08
Great Portable Antenna on a Push Up Mast Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
You can order this antenna from Dr. Fong on eBay. It comes with 6 feet of extra BNC terminated coax and an adapter for a Baofeng HT. To achieve effective "line of sight" communication, a 2M band antenna needs to be elevated above common obstructions such as homes and trees. For a base station, this can be achieved using a permanent mast and an outdoor antenna. For a portable station, you can mount a vertically oriented wire antenna such as the DBJ-2 Roll-up J-Pole on a 20-30 foot push up fiberglass travel mast. I tested Dr. Fong's simple vertical wire J Pole antenna elevated to 20 feet on a push up tripod mast. I was able to make 2M SSB contacts and participate in an EM Comms FM duplex Net at 5 watts and an EM Comms FM Simplex Net at 25 watts with excellent signal reports. The SWR on 2M was 1.0 to 1.5!
KA7EII Rating: 2018-01-09
It Just Works! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The DBJ-2 roll-up dual band J-pole antenna is just what I was looking for to use in my “go bag”. Dr. Fong and his students individually build, tune and test each antenna before shipment. My antenna arrived three days after ordering and comes complete with the antenna, 6-foot BNC male to BNC female extension cable, BNC female to SMA male adapter and SMA female to female adapter which allows the antenna to be used with HT's with BNC and SMA male or female antenna connectors. It arrives in a small zip lock bag with an instruction sheet that details how to use the antenna and it even came with a hand written note by Ed Fong. You can tell that Dr. Fong and his students take pride in their work and the antenna comes with a life time warranty.
To sum up the performance - “it just works”. I have been comparing this antenna to the OEM rubber ducky antennas on my Yaesu VX-5R and Baofeng UV-5RA radios in the shack and in the living room. TX and RX are greatly improved using the DBJ-2 compared to the rubber ducky antennas. I have no doubt the DBJ-2 will work great outdoors for emergency and field day operations. Just for fun, I also tried using the antenna on my Whistler WS-1080 scanner and it brought it alive receiving many 2-meter and 70-cm signals including a few DMR ham repeaters.
I will be ordering more of Ed Fong's antennas in the future.
KC8MWG Rating: 2016-08-27
Works well with my HT! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I wanted a portable antenna that would work better than the 14" Nagoya whip I had been using with my Baofeng UV5-RA. I had a hard time hitting our club's 2-meter repeater over 20 miles away from my home while using the whip (though it was "do-able" - occasionally. I live in a valley between some fairly tall hills...). With the DBJ-2 hung from a curtain rod, I was able to hit the repeater with no trouble at all. RX was a bit noisy, but I live in a very RF noisy house (Wi-fi, CFL's, etc.), so no fault of the antenna. Great product!
KJ4DGE Rating: 2016-08-11
Worth every penny! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After writing my article about HT's I considered buying a Nagoya 771 and looked at the spec of other third party antennas. I owned a Diamond SRH-77CA once and as it was no doubt would have been great as a scanner antenna but not on a dual band HAM HT antenna. Something kept drawing me back to a 2003 QST article about a roll-up J-pole dual band homebrew device that Dr. Ed Fong submitted.
Not only does it do all that he says it does I am currently testing it on a RS PRO-2004 to see what I can hear. It hanging from a curtain rod in the window on the second floor bedroom. With my understanding that Dr. Fong is a Professor in Electrical Engineering makes it all the better. I took a chance and ordered it. Out of the clear plastic ziplock baggie it came. It breathes quality workmanship. I also liked the idea he is a USA owner and makes these antennas with his students.
When I first hooked it to my Anytone UV-3318 I tuned to the late afternoon drive home roundtable. I had not been on in 5 years. Not only did I join in though scratchy at times given I live in a valley, running 5 watts and 14 feet off the ground it amazed me I even hit the repeater at all!.

In the past with the stock antenna I had to move around the backyard and it was pretty much a no show. With the DBJ-2, I was hearing repeaters I have not heard in years. The no ground concept will be applied in the coming months using Ed's DBJ-2 to bicycle mobile ops. I am looking forward to this. Expect 8-10 db gain over a HT rubber duck!