| W6SWO |
Rating:  |
2022-08-09 | |
| Great improvement! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| This antenna replaced an MFJ mini dual bander that I’ve been using for close to 20 years. The MFJ was inexpensive and worked well, but this X200 is in another class. I live on a good hill and this antenna is up in the air about 21 feet on a small stub mast designed for TV antennas, and it’s fed with RG213. I can hit repeaters out at least 30-40 miles on about half power using either my FT-8800 or my IC-7100. SWR on 2m is about 1.2:1, and 1.4:1 on 440. I didn’t have any of the quality issues that others have mentioned, and my other Diamond antennas have all been very high quality. I have recommended the X200 to others. |
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| NU9R |
Rating: |
2022-08-08 | |
| Terrible SWR |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This antenna is a no tune antenna. 50 W forward gets me 20 watts reflected. Terrible! |
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| WB6JWB |
Rating:  |
2022-02-07 | |
| Complete Junk |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This is the fifth Diamond antenna I have owned over the years. The prior four have been okay (with quirks), but the recently made X-200A is junk.
Most reading this will know that this antenna arrives in two parts, the upper half and the lower half. Inside each fiberglass half is a copper radiator, consisting of about #8 or 10 solid copper wire. To assemble the antenna, one half of the radiator slips into a metal sleeve. The joint is "secured" by a very small single screw that tightens against the copper wire.
As I gently turned the screwdriver I realized it was not tightening. To my dismay, I could see the screw was not gripping the threads. Closer examination revealed that the screw is stainless steel and the receiving threads are copper. The screw literally pulled the copper threads out under the lightest touch possible.
Prior to the debacle described above, I noticed that the copper radiator is soldered to the copper joint, but the soldering looks like it was done by someone doing their very first day on the job as it is a cold solder joint.
Lastly, the "quirky" issue I mentioned above applies to most, if not all, Diamond VHF/UHF base station antennas. In an apparent attempt to protect the SO-239 /PL259 connection from rain, the coax must first be placed thru the bottom metal sleeve of the antenna, then the coax is connected to the bottom of the antenna, then the antenna is put into the top of the sleeve. After that, there are two small holes in the sleeve which must be aligned with the threaded holes of the antenna so two small hex bolts could be inserted. All this is fine if you're standing on the ground and can assemble the antenna and attach the coax before mounting it. For anyone putting this antenna on a tower, good luck as you really need three hands to complete the awkward installation.
I'm never buying a Diamond antenna again as their quality has gone from okay to junk status. |
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| AC8JU |
Rating: |
2018-07-18 | |
| Keeper |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Bought this two years ago intending to put it up next time my 40 foot tilt mast was down, replacing my 8 year old discone. That came this week.
Day one: My son and grandson showed up and helped get the big mast down.
Day two: Did maintenance and swapped out the discone for the new whitestick.
Day three: Kids came back and we pushed the mast back up.
While the thing was horizontal and resting on sawhorses I just had to try the x-200a. It worked better that way than the discone ever did at 40 feet! Up in the air the thing is incredible. I can hit repeaters at 45 miles with a 5 watt HT. I'm keeping this antenna. |
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| AD0AR |
Rating: |
2018-02-09 | |
| You gotta be kidding me! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Using with a Icom IC-7100/ IC-7000 and a dual MFJ amplifier setup. Top of antenna is 42FT AGL.
At first I was running a 5/8 wave dual band mobile Diamond antenna.
Performance was good to about 30 miles out.
I upgraded to this antenna to get a little more range as to hit a repeater about 40 miles out.
After putting it up, I could hear a repeater, but not the one I was looking for.
Nah, this one was much further away. About 120 miles away. I could key the repeater too. All with the stock output from my IC-7100. Who needs amplifiers with this bad boy! Maybe if you are operating simplex?
I am impressed.
Granted I needed to hit the preamp and keep all wires short due to coaxial losses for better receive, but this antenna totally ROCKS!
It's been up since 2015 without issue.
I'm a Navy veteran here and I am used to dressing antennas and coax on antenna masts aboard naval ships, so your mileage may vary on your personal installation.
Next I need to install a dual band preamp AT the antenna to utilize the full range of this antenna as I can obviously transmit farther than I can hear. Buy one, RTFM (read the friggin' manual) and you will be satisfied.
In God we trust, all others we monitor. AD0AR
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| K4GMO |
Rating: |
2017-02-12 | |
| Perfect for attic "stealth" mount. Unbelievable performance. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
My setup:
ICOM ID-51A (5W HT)
50' of DX Engineering LMR-400 Ultraflex
SO-239 to BNC adapter, and a BNC to SMA adapter
Diamond X-200A
I live in a one-story house in a mostly flat area, and the antenna is stealth mounted in the attic. Despite my 5 watts, low mount height, and unavoidable interference from metal construction materials in my attic, I am able to hit repeaters 35+ miles out full quieting, and I am readable into repeaters 50+ miles out. Other operators are stunned when I give my QTH and that I am transmitting with 5 watts.
I can read repeaters at least 75 miles away.
I cannot say enough good things about this antenna, and I think it is the perfect balance between height and gain. If you are looking for an attic-mount vertical, look no further. I cannot attest to the weatherproofing, but I had no issues with assembly, and no issues/complaints with the materials or construction. |
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| N0AN |
Rating: |
2015-09-12 | |
| Superb Range |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have had an Arrow dual band J-Pole at 65 feet for many years. The 2m side is on 144.390 APRS, and the UHF side is on 438.500 EchoLink. I recently replaced the Arrow with the Diamond X200. To say I'm pleased would be quite an understatment!
Some brief notes:
Assembly and Contruction:
Assembly is easy, but it should be noted that the top part of the antenna is held inside the upper fiberglass and needs to be brought out to connect to the lower part. I just held onto the top fiberglass and snapped my wrist toward the ground and it came out fine.
Construction seems solid, but I don't trust the waterproofing. Even with a gasket, I remain skeptical. (I had an X700 that filled up with water routinely and it used the same construction techniques). To avoid this, I covered three areas with a layer of Scotch 33 tape, followed by a layer of Coax Seal (putty), and a finishing layer of Scotch 33. The 3 areas are 1) the tip; 2) the joint of the upper and lower sections; 3) the base of the lower section where it meets the larger fiberglass tube. (it looks epoxied, but again, I don't trust it). Standard waterproofing of the feed point connector is also recommended, although the connector is hidden inside the mounting mast.
VSWR: using a 10' feedline for testing, held bracket in hand, antenna above the head.
On 2m Lowest was 1.3:1 (at 145.00 MHz)
On 70cm Lowest was 1.9:1 (at 449 Mhz)
The VSWR on both bands was pretty broad. I was worried about the relatively high VSWR on 70cm until I put it up and actually used it. Of course, the VSWR was only about 1.6 : 1 after about 100' of LMR-400.
PERFORMANCE: (70cm)
Comparing the X200 to the Arrow J-Pole, it was downright amazing. The X200 added quite a distance improvement on 70cm, which was the band I was worried about with respect to VSWR. Normally I could just make it to the edge of Ames, IA from my location north of Ogden (on the Arrow). Things would become quite noisy and the link was unusable, frequently I couldn't even bring my link up.
Doing the same test with the X200, I was able to use the link all the way into west Ames, and as far south as Ankeny Ia. The two distances are about 22 and 35 miles respectively.
PERFORMAMCE: (2m)
The range and number of stations heard, especially distant mobiles, is exceptional. You can see what kind of performance I'm getting by looking up N0AN-1 on aprs.fi. It will show the stations, location and distances involved. This is, of course, on 144.390 for APRS.
OVERALL:
I could not be more pleased to this point.
If my waterproofing works, and the antenna continues to perform at this level, I would not hesitate to recommend it. I'm quite impressed. BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN TO DO THE ADDITIONAL WATERPROOFING! |
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| K3ROJ |
Rating: |
2012-05-24 | |
| Watch your power |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
After having my XNA500 146/440 antenna fail, I bought the X200 at HRO. They still use small capacitors to resonate the antenna for 146 and 440 Mhz. Doing some research on GOOGLE, I found someone who has repaired these antennas: http://on3jt.byze.be/repair-a-diamond-x200-vhfuhf-antenna
After repairing the XN500, it failed again and discovered that attempting to operate ATV on the 440 band causes these capacitors to fail since video spikes surpassed the 200 watt rating. These small capacitors are difficult to find but RF Parts do have them. My new X200 performs as well as any antenna I have ever used. |
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| VE3ATM |
Rating: |
2012-04-26 | |
| Very Happy with the Antenna |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I purchased the Diamond X200a as I just purchased a dual band radio. I replaced a 6 element beam that I had been using on 2M for a number of years. The reception is every bit as good as the beam, but even better when you consider you don't have to keep rotating the antenna to pickup the numerous repeaters I like to monitor.
I have hit a number of repeaters in both the 2M and 70cm bands that are 60+ miles away using low power (5W) with full quieting.
I would recommend this antenna to anyone moving to a dual band radio. You can expect performance as good as a 6 element beam without the need to keep rotating the antenna for maximum performance.
Like a few of the other folks that have reviewed this antenna in the past, I ensured everything was properly assembled and tight then after screwing the top and bottom sections together I ran a bead of silicone around the top mounting screw.
I also sealed the PL-259 with CoaxWrap before mounting the antenna to the base. That is the best waterproofing wrap I have every used. I would recommend it to anyone looking to weatherproof connectors without the mess of rubber tape and electrical tape. |
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| NI4JM |
Rating: |
2011-09-29 | |
| Aggravating! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I have owned several Diamond X-50 antennas that have worked wonderfully for years. I decided to try the next model up since I had more room and figured the extra gain would help. SWR was 3:1 across 2M and 2:1 across 70cm. It has been taken down 3 times and cleaned, re-flowed the solder connections once and the antenna is still not working right. I also checked the feedline to make sure I wasn't fooling myself. So, I just ordered another X-50 to replace this hunk-o-junk. I know they work well. |
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