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Reviews For: Comet CA-2x4SR

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

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Review Summary For : Comet CA-2x4SR
Reviews: 50MSRP: 69.00
Description:
CA-2x4SR VHF/UHF Dual Band Antenna 1.5:1 or less SWR: 140-160/435-465MHz Gain: 3.8/6.2dBi Max Power: 150 watts Length: 40 inches Connector: PL-259 Fold-over hinge included
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cometantenna.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
12504.8
W5CFI Rating: 2023-04-13
I had higher expectations Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
After reading all the good reviews on this antenna, I had high expectations. I bought it for my jeep and mounted it on a rear mount on the tailgate hinge. Performance was mediocre at best. It was resonant, but tx/rx ability wasn't that good past 15 miles from a repeater.

As a experiment, I bought a black Browning BR-180. I drove around and talked on the comet, then changed antennas to the BR-180 and drove the same route with it. It was consistently 2 S-units better than the comet, both and TX and RX. The 2x4 will be going to the hamfest sale pile.
NO9X Rating: 2022-12-20
Great "do all" antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
As others have mentioned, great performance on all bands. Surprisingly good...this is as close to a free lunch as you can get.
I do have a 62.5" antenna that outperforms it, but I don't believe that one would hold up to very strong winds and ice in sub zero temps. This one WILL.
I haven't found an antenna the same size that can beat it on ham bands, much less GMRS/MURS.
Well worth the money
K6ELV Rating: 2021-05-11
Best mobile antenna ever! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This antenna is truly broadband with no compromises in performance. It hears exceptionally well, better than my previous 2m/70cm ham band only mobile antenna and just as good as my Diamond X-200 base antenna. With this antenna I am able to pick up a few repeaters perfectly readable from over 90 miles away using a mag-mount. SWR is under 2:1 all across 2m/70cm FM as well as MURS, GMRS, and Civil Air Patrol frequencies. Another bonus is the SWR is also under 2:1 from 222-225mhz so it can actually be used as a tri-band antenna even though it is not advertised as such. This one antenna does it all and is a top performer. It truly lives up to what is promised and more. Normally broadband antennas such as discones are a compromise but not this antenna.
KJ7PXJ Rating: 2021-03-02
Best antenna of all to date, esp for UHF/GMRS Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've tried many, and from both field strength meter tests of radiated power, and comparison of weak station reception, this dual band antenna outdoes all that I have tried, at least on UHF/GMRS wavelengths.

I may tame this review down as I spend more money on more antennae to test, but for now, this wire cannot be beat.

Not sure about 2M performance, because I have not done much testing there, but on 70cm and GMRS it was simply somewhat to way better than the two Larsens that I tried.

Issue is it's quite long compared to the short Larsens, and doesn't easily go under a garage door, whereas the larsens bend and go under without much complaining.

Also I have this Comet on the rear corner stake pocket of my truck, not an ideal ground plane, but it still outdoes the Larsens that are on the roof top NMO mounted.

Comet did a great job here.
KJ4FGI Rating: 2019-11-05
Outstanding on UHF/VHF and GMRS Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have had this for 11 years, very low swr on all uhf/vhf and GMRS. Outstanding for GMRS Search and Rescue GMRS frequencies.
W2XAD Rating: 2017-05-10
Great antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have 2 of these antennas and they work great for me. Just one catch.
Put some sort of Gorilla glue where the center coil transformer goes into the antenna. You can knock it loose. I hit a low hanging branch at 60 mph and the ring let loose. I re inserted the ring tightly then Gorilla glued it. It still works like the day I bought it 4 years ago.
K4XXX Rating: 2017-04-20
Best antenna I've used Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased this antenna winter of 2013 and fender mounted it on my truck (I know, I know...).

Quick background: Ham and Fire/Rescue, so I use this antenna for both services, as well as GMRS.

Immediately I noticed an improvement over the jetstream dual band antenna and the 5/8 vhf whips I've tried and compared the antenna to. Fast forward, I magnet mounted it on the roof, and as expected it performed even better! So much so I bought a second and put it on the fender mount and had the one mag-mounted on the roof. Fast forward again to spring 2016, I got a back rack on my truck and mounted the antenna on the middle top of the back rack and it performs wonderfully. I can really notice a difference between a normal Larsn 5/8 wave UHF antenna vs this antenna on UHF deep in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Vhf is untouched by 5/8 wave whips, this antenna out performs them in my experience. I purchased the spring as on my 2500 Ram, on top of the back rack, this antenna sits very high and trees don't play nice with antennas. So far its held up against low branches, low over passes, and whatever else it has hit.

I would recommend, and have recommended this antenna numerous times to folks. Works great for both ham and public safety operations.
K7DB Rating: 2016-07-09
Three years later -- still working great! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is just an update on my 7/31/2013 review... in 2013 I was using this antenna with a Wouxun dual-band handheld radio, and with this Comet antenna I got excellent results

It's three years later, and this antenna still works great. It's on a different vehicle now, and I'm usually using it with my Yaesu FT-857D.

Bottom line: this is a great antenna that is put together well, and can be expected to deliver years of service.
W8ARR Rating: 2016-03-18
Excellent antenna Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this antenna from Universal Radio to complement a Juentai JT-6188. The main reason I bought it was the advertised gain on 2 meters. I needed to hit a certain repeater that hosted the local traffic net. The previous setup I had would not hit the repeater from my grand kids house. Seeing that the Juentai had an RF output of 20 watts I needed a good antenna.
The Comet CA-2x4SR antenna met my demanding requirements with ease. I was able to log into the traffic net with no issues, full quieting with no static or scratching. I recommend this antenna to other hams in my local area and I recommend it to you.
KA5IJZ Rating: 2016-01-08
Astounding mag mount Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Signals come in from almost everywhere on 2m and 70cm, signals never heard before on my Tram 1185 dual band mag mount. With even just the 10 watt mobile rig that I use, signal reports always amaze me from some pretty far points. Best money every spent on a dual band mag mount. I purchased the pl259/so239 mag base model and quite satisfied. Very recommended dual band mobile antenna.