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Reviews For: COMPACTenna 2M/440+

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

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Review Summary For : COMPACTenna 2M/440+
Reviews: 5MSRP: $109.95 at DX Engineering
Description:
Model 2M/440+ All the high performance of the 7.5” model 2M/440, PLUS an additional 1.5dB of gain, and greater power handling capacity. It is for those where 9? is allowable/desirable and the operator wants that extra ‘edge’. * This product information is from COMPACTenna website listed below under URL.
Product is in production
More Info: https://compactenna.com/#PH3
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
2555
WO1FMN Rating: 2023-03-28
Performs better than advertised. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I live on a river, in a valley, surrounded by mountainous terrain. I park under a car port so antenna height is an issue. I have a GMRS and a 2m/70cm antenna, both in a magnet mount on the roof of my Toyota Tacoma. I started using a Midland MXTA26 GMRS antenna and a Tram 1180 vhf/uhf antenna. They both worked well but removing them both got old very fast. So I found a Browning BR-176-s 5/8 wave GMRS antenna that measures 12 1/2 inches tall, cleared the car port, gave me right around 1.5:1 SWR out of the box and performed as well as the Midland. I installed a Comet CA-2X4SR antenna, for the vhf/uhf that would fold down to clear the car port, gave low SWR out of the box, without any adjustment needed and performed as well as the Tram 1180, but I still had to stop and fold the antenna down when I parked. Then I heard about the COMPACTenna. 7 1/2 inches? Worth a try right, well this antenna is amazing, I installed it on the rear passenger side of the roof as per the instructions and it improved my rx and tx. With the prior two antennas, sitting in my driveway, in the valley, surrounded by mountains, of the nine closest repeaters I could hit two maybe three on a good day. With the COMPACTenna, I can hit all nine. The farthest one of which is almost 30 miles away. I have also noticed that the picket fencing when the car is in motion has been reduced. This antenna is well worth the price. I will be trying the base mount, when I can. I should also note that @ around 155 mhz SWR was 2:1, everything else was less than that, and that all mounts are NMO.


73,
Rick
WO1FMN
N7WR Rating: 2023-02-03
Performs as advertised--unique design Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Up front I will say this comparison of a number of different 2/440 NMO mount mobile antennas is not scientific but it may prove helpful. I wish I could have used a Bird 43 watt/SWR meter to run the tests but I didn’t have access to one. The Diawa CN-630 which I did use has proven pretty accurate however.
By way of background I live in a very rural area accessed by gravel roads which in many places are overgrown with tree branches. Antenna survival is an issue as it is when an occasional SAR response takes me even deeper into the woods. Then there is the matter of the type of vehicle I drive and the low entry into our carport.
My vehicle is a 4WD SUV with a metal roof rack. That roof rack is bonded to the frame and sits atop a metal vehicle roof. The NMO mounts for antennas are bolted into the roof rack. My SUV contains 3 radios: an ICOM 2730A 2/440 radio; a commercial VHF Public Safety Radio and a Uniden HomePatrol scanner. Each has its own antenna. For a variety of reasons all three antennas that are normally on the vehicle are VHF quarter waves. On the several long trips I take each year on the open road the 2730A antenna is changed to a Larson NMO-2/70. The test results will make the reason obvious.
This “project” started out to be a comparison between the quarter wave and the ComPac 2/440+. The later is a unique design, is only 9 inches tall, ruggedly built and the reviews have been very positive. My objective was to see if the ComPac would be a better day to day performer than the quarter wave. However it occurred to me that over the years I have accumulated a number of different NMO mobile antennas so I decided to compare more than just the two.
What I measured was SWR at different frequencies on both the 2 meter and 70CM bands. I also used each antenna to access a 2 M repeater 52 miles from me to see which antenna received the best signal from the repeater (expressed as a percentage of full—100%--quieting). I did not run a similar comparison on 70 CM as there are no 440 repeaters that I use or that are very active in this region.
One additional thing which should be mentioned is that multi path is frequent due to the mountains and canyons in our region.
The accompanying chart shows the comparison. My new daily use dual band antenna, based on the results, is the ComPac 2/440+ . I should note that in addition to the other factors multi path was not noted with that antenna. However the Larson will remain my open road antenna of choice. I will not be changing out the quarter waves for the Public Safety radio or scanner. Just to see I used the ComPac with the public safety radio on a frequency near 155.000 Mhz The SWR was 1.4:1
V/UHF MOBILE ANTENNA SWR COMPARISONS
N7WR—FEBRUARY 2023
All antenna used the same NMO mount on the left rear of the roof rack of my SUV
FREQUENCY 144.0 146.0 147.0 442.0 445.0 447.0
ANTENNA RX % Quieting(1)
2M quarter wave 25% 1.7:1 1.8:1 2.1:1 2.1:1 2.3:1 2.8:1

Larson 5/8 2 M 75% 2.5:1 2.6:1 2.6:1 NA NA NA

Larson 2/70 100% 1.3:1 1.1:1 1.1:1 1.2:1 1.1:1 1.2:1

Comet SB680SBNMO 75% 1.3:1 1.4:1 1.6:1 2.75:1 2.5:1 2.65:1

CometSBB2NMO 40% 2.3:1 2.0:1 2.2:1 2.5:1 2.2:1 2.4:1

Laird dual band NMO 75% 1.6:1 1.8:1 1.9:1 3.6:1 3.8:1 4.0:1

ComPac 2/440+ 100% 1.2:1 1.25:1 1.25:1 1.25:1 1.3:1 1.3:1

SWR READINGS TAKEN WITH DIAWA CN-630
(1) Percentage of full quieting on receive from a 2 meter repeater 52 miles away
W4JEA Rating: 2022-05-02
Good Antenna, Great Performance Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have been using and testing COMPACtenna LMR-I, 2M-220-440 and SCAN-III antennas on my personal vehicle for the past six months, Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab. My main interest in this antenna is for Public Safety, Federal Government use supporting Full Spectrum VHF/UHF/700/800 MHz radios. All other “Full Spectrum” antennas tested are a compromise at best.
Placing the antenna as designed on the driver side rear corner of the cab utilizing a NMO magnet mount, I have found that this antenna works comparable to the Comet SSB-5 mobile antenna center mounted on the roof. On the extreme edge of coverage, I experienced less multi-path fades. This was measured and monitored utilizing a calibrated dual receiver SDR recording both antennas simultaneously. Testing was conducted on the VHF and UHF bands. During a fade condition, I noted the COMPACtenna typically had a 6 dB or better signal level. Comparing the antenna against a roof mount 5 dB 7/800 antenna the multi-path performance well exceeded the VHF/UHF results. As part of my testing, I have performed line sweeps and return loss plots comparing against other Full Spectrum offerings. From this testing I have been suggesting the COMPACtenna line as solutions to my Public Safety and Federal Government customers.
I hope this helps anyone considering these antennas
73,
Jim
W4JEA
W4PIG Rating: 2021-11-10
EXCELLENT 5 STARS Time Owned: more than 12 months.
i have the tri band verison 2-220-440. i have had it going on 3 years excellent antenna i had my doubts about it boy i was wrong !!!!!!!!!
KC3RMV Rating: 2021-11-08
Superb Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Dr. Jack Nilsson has done it again! After placing the COMPACTenna 2M/440+ antenna onto my car, this antenna has worked superbly. With some experimenting with antenna placement and routing of coax, I have experienced SWR readings below 1.2:1 on both bands.

I cannot recommend this antenna any more highly. Superb sums it up!