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Reviews For: Tram 1480 VHF/UHF Collinear Base Antenna

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

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Review Summary For : Tram 1480 VHF/UHF Collinear Base Antenna
Reviews: 54MSRP: around 70.
Description:
2 Meter/70 centimeter two piece omni. 5/8 X 2 VHF (6dB) and 5/8 X 5 UHF (8dB). 200 watts with a SO-239 connector.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.k1cra.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00543.9
KF4ULD Rating: 2018-01-29
Disappointed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I received this and they did not supply the set screw that fastens the lower element to the upper. Also, they did not drill the hole through all the way so the lower could poke through and mate with the upper and to be secured with a set screw that I had to make a trip to go get. The two sections eventually mated well, But once installed with a nice piece of LMR400, about 25' long, my SWR was at 1.7. I tuned around and the sweet spot was between 434 and 438 Mhz. So I need to shorten this! But it's up on my roof now so I guess I should have planned on this needing some work right? Very disappointed but I guess you get what you pay for right?
KB8DNS Rating: 2017-08-03
Great product! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought this in January of 2015 from Walmart for the sum of $43.71 with free shipping! A bit tricky on assembly as the to internal element must be fastened to the lower before attaching the top to the base. Over two years with this antenna with zero problems and good hits into local repeaters. Specs are similar to the Diamond X50A at half the price!

73 Rod W8GRI
KE8PA Rating: 2016-12-07
Apartment Balcony Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Unconventionally skipped base pipe installation due to space limits, but standing antenna on base radials alone on 3rd floor balcony deck with antenna tip under 1/2 " from overhead soffit, it is stable even in the 25 mph winds we are having now. Not even shaking in higher gusts. Fabulous ! Would make a great portable antenna just standing on a picnic table or car top.
Performance is great. I moved to the boonies and am making full quieting to repeaters 50 miles away.
For less than $ 50 at famous Ham outlet Home Depot ( hihi ) it's well worth it.
KK4OAB Rating: 2016-02-25
Best available I think Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Up 3 years in all kinds of North Florida weather...storms, very high winds, below freezing nights...you name it and this antenna just keeps on ticking as JCS used to say about Timex. I paid about 50 bucks new shipped and it is up 45 feet on my tower. With my TS2000's 100 watts I can reach from here (el89ow) to Tallahassee (90 mi) to Jacksonville (90 mi) to Ocala (100 mi)easily. I recommend this antenna to anyone and everyone. 5 stars
KC4YLV Rating: 2015-11-01
With a bit of TLC, a wonderful budget dual bander. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Steps for Tram 1480 success:

-As mentioned, make sure you actually connect the top element to the bottom one! Tap the top radome part until the element slides out and you can connect.

-If you need to tune, you can pull all the elements out by backing out the set screw down by the SO-239 connector. It's not mentioned in many places on the net, but you can play with the tune that way if you need. I barely tweaked mine.

-I put one dessicant packet in each half of the radome. Haven't checked them after a year, but figured it'd be a bit of extra moisture insurance.

-Silicone sealant on all the joints. Don't skip this.


With these steps, I've had a 1480 up on a pole in Denver for about 13 months now, and it survived the winter like a champ. We had a pretty soggy week or two this summer as well. SWR is still bang-on, 1.3 on the 2m edges and dead flat around 6.52. 70cm is just as good - 1.5 swr bandwidth is about 434 to 448, so it covers both my beloved satellite subband (though honestly it falls over when the birds are above about 20, 25 degrees - as expected) and the terrestrial repeater inputs.

What a great deal. I'm thinking of just making this my standard 2/70 antenna, and picking up a couple more.

Throw a few minutes of prep into it and you get an x200 for half the price.
KM5TC Rating: 2015-05-20
Very good dual band antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought mine in 1996, is up twenty feet or so, has withstood West Texas high winds, would buy another
with out question, 73's KM5TC

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by KM5TC on 2006-03-03

Just bought this antenna for under $45.00
Does what I want in both local and out
of town repeater coverage.
For the price it's hard to beat.

73's
KM5TC
W3ROK Rating: 2015-05-20
Worth the money, and then some Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have this antenna up about 25 feet up on my roof and it's done wonders for my station. I can activate repeaters in the Philadelphia area, nearly 80 miles distant. Simplex QSOs regularly 40miles away. When tropo conditions were great a few weeks ago I had a qso in MD, 145 miles away. Full quieting. I have it painted with black plastic as well to blend into my roof. Highly recommend this antenna.
N8GUN Rating: 2014-09-24
Very nice Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Eceeded expectations. Was using a Cushcraft Ringo, however was looking for a dual band antenna and for the price this was quality. Went up easy and the SWR readings were great. Awesome reports from local 2 meter stations. Was listening to stations I have not heard as well before and TX to stations at much lower power. Pictures on my QRZ page N8GUN.
KB0MJN Rating: 2014-09-17
swr on tram 1480 and proper assembly Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
440mhz swr was about 2:1 and 144mhz was about 3:1. THEN I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. During assembly the upper radiator element #14 in the parts list may be stuck up inside the upper fiberglass rod. It needs to be lowered out of the bottom of the upper fiberglass rod enough to access and loosen the allen set screw in item 15, then slip item 15 over item 16 and tighten set screw. Then slip the upper fiberglass rod back down and the rest is pretty obvious. There may be slight changes in the construction of the antenna before or after mine was made where this info may not be as relevant. I initally assembled my antenna and didn't notice the upper radiator element up inside the fiberglass rod therefore didn't connect it properly. That's why the high swr. I had to shake and tap the fiberglass rod to get the actual radiator inside to lower. When I did it right, swr's were very low, around 1:2, just did a quick check on both bands on two local freq's, didn't study the swr needle too hard. If you have the antenna then you probably have the instruction sheet and can use it to reference the item #'s I mentioned. Another symptom I noticed before I did it right was a distant repeater I really couldn't hear, much less hit. After doing it right I had about an S7 receive signal from it, and can hit it on 5 watts. I couldn't hear that repeater on a HT before either.
W6KKO Rating: 2014-05-14
Works very well Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this antenna for under $50. It can be had for this price from several well known vendors online. This antenna replaced a Diamond X50. I can definitely confirm my receive has improved with this Tram 1480 antenna during simplex and repeater conversations. Reports also confirm my TX has improved as well. (Nothing was wrong with the Diamond. Due to its small size it suits my need for occasional portable operations like Field Day, Fox Hunts, etc.)

I simply put the Tram 1480 together using the supplied instructions, and applied some coax tape all around the center joint to help keep moisture out. I did not adjust/tune it at all. No SWR issues on 2 meters or 70 cm. I TX 5 to 50 watts without issue.