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Reviews For: TRAM 1180

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

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Review Summary For : TRAM 1180
Reviews: 35MSRP: 22
Description:
A Dual Band Center Loaded NMO Mobile Antenna for 144/440 Mhz
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mapleleafcom.com/tram.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00354.2
KD5UWG Rating: 2003-01-21
poor antenna used for 1hour and it was shot Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
i just recieved my call sign today 01/21/03 bought a kenwood tm-v7a and the tram 1180 as well as a magnet mount shop set up my equipment had good swr but i made numerous qso's on medium power on my way home happy to be in the hobby well i got home and what to my supprise the antenna had a 90degree bend in it right at the load coil now i could understand if i over powered it but on medium come on and after only an hour i dont understand im gonna use a heat gun to try to straighten it so i can maybe use it on low power till i can buy a better antenna should have spent the extra cash today i guess but im a newbie so i hoped this would be good yeah right oh well 73's to you and yours and hope no one has an experience like mine
W4HRC Rating: 2002-12-22
Great Antenna!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I also bought my Tram 1180 on Ebay from ggsec. The SWR is 1.5 to 1 or less on both bands out of the box. I've had it for over 1 year and have had no trouble at all. It works great and is well built, for under $30.00 it can't be beat.
KD5SLB Rating: 2002-08-10
one of the Best Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have used this antenna as a mag. mount mobil and as a base unit and it warked perfect each way. One of the best you can get for the money.
KD5SLB
K2ANE Rating: 2002-04-15
Still a Charm!!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Last year I purchased one of these dual band beauties on Ebay from screen name GSSEC. I was very happy with it. You can read my earlier review below.

This year I found myself wanting to add another dual bander to my second car and I did not have to think twice about where that antenna was coming from. I purchased this new one from GSSEC once again and installed it on my car. It uses an NMO mount. Same price and with Priority shipping it cost $24.95.


Just like with the last one, all I did was remove it from the packaging, check to make sure the allen set screws were snug and tight, popped it onto the roof mounted NMO fitting and Hammed away. The 2 meter SWR was 1.3 to 1 at 144.200, 1.1 to 1 at 146.520 and 1.3 to 1 at 147.960. I did not check the 440 SWR as I was using an older 706 at the time which does not have 440 capability. Needless to say, if it does not tune as a rule on 2 meters, forget about 440 though in the past I have found with other dual band antennas, 440 is more forgiving SWR wise if the 2 meter portion has a high VSWR.

I just had to share this experience once again regarding this product. It is a great deal and I am satisfied twice over.

de Bill K2ANE/2
KB9YFI Rating: 2001-11-30
Plug and play - Low $ Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought this antenna from an ebay vender as well as the NMO mounting kit. They were really cheap. I think that the whole deal was under $35. I don't have an analyzer but the thing works great mounted to the center of my car's roof. I don't have a VHF SWR meter either but my HF meter will zero on VHF and shows a low reading of under 1.5 or so. I never bothered trying to tune it because it works great out of the box.

The good news is that it works really well in the field. Never had any bad signal reports on the repeaters plus it has perfomed great on simplex- expecially at public service events where we had repeater problems.

It is a pretty long antenna to have on the car top and it hits my garage door hard every time I enter or leave but clears the roof once the door is down. I have been abusing it thusly for the past year at least twice a day. It still works great and the loading coils show no signs of damage or cracking at all. I have a shorter Comet dual-bander that I put on when I have to go into parking ramps (when I remember- D'oh!) but its performance does not compare even though it cost much more. Gain is everything on simplex and this is a high-gain antenna that is high-quality and low-priced. What more can you ask for?