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Reviews For: Comet GP-9 dual band base antenna

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

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Review Summary For : Comet GP-9 dual band base antenna
Reviews: 50MSRP: 200 about
Description:
Ultra High Gain Dual Bander for 146 & 446Mhz
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cometantenna.com/base.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00504.5
W1TXT Rating: 2016-12-01
So good, I bought another one Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My first GP9 was up for at least 15 years and the antenna failed after taking a lightning strike. I got my money's worth out of the antenna, which survived numerous storms including several harsh winter nor'easters. I looked around for another dual band antenna and think the GP9 is still the best high gain VHF/UHF vertical antenna available today. 73.
REMOVED_VE7WRSEILERCWS Rating: 2015-06-25
SUPERLATIVE Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I recently purchased this antenna from Radioworld in Toronto Canada. It took me less than 15 minutes to assemble this antenna,I gave it a couple of coats of wax to protect the fibreglass structure.I do the same with the marine antennas on my sailboat.
The antenna performs as advertised.I live about 350 FT above sea level. I would Purchase again. My advice is to take with a grain of salt some of the negative feedback regarding this antenna
KB6NQW Rating: 2014-08-18
Outstanding operation and long lived Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the GP-9 from Mick's Dad, Bruce (SK) in 1993 or 4. We've used it through the Santa Ana winds, here in Southern California. I worked fantastic during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. We had to operate across the San Fernando Valley, from my QTH in West Hills to the North Hollywood border with Burbank.
At that time, we had a Yaesu FT-470 HT attached to a pigtail on 9914 to the antenna 25' above the ground, working another FT-470 on a rubber duck in North Hollywood. The antenna worked like gangbusters!
It still does after over 20 years of use.
KD8SFE Rating: 2014-04-29
Flamethrower Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I put this thing up and was amazed at how well it works. I don't have anything to compare it to at this location but it surpassed my expectation and has been in storms for over a year so I gave it a five. I use VHF only.
KB1HXO Rating: 2014-04-08
great Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had this one up now for about 11 years. Good gain for VHF/UHF and would recommend to a friend. Its withstood all kinds of weather. Also has low SWR, So all in all I give this one a 5 rating.
W4ONC Rating: 2013-03-07
Set Screws Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Putting the GP-9 together was easy until I noticed that the very small set screws were missing. These small set screws hold the elements together. I called the 1-800 number to find out that I had to call another number in California (1-909-393-6133) for the screws. They came within 2 days at no cost. I am pleased with their service. So far it seems to be working fine.
K3DAV Rating: 2012-05-30
Best 2M Vertical Ever Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I replaced an old Comet GP-15 with a Dominator 6M antenna, and a new GP-9. At first look, the GP-9 seems like a stupid way to build this antenna. The 3 sections are open ended with a wire sticking out and the owner must connect the wires before locking the fiberglass poles together with compression connections. This is a poor design and makes no sense.

But I pulled out the wires from each section to inspect them for cold solder joints that have been known to exist in the GP-9. I was lucky enough to find all good connections on mine.

After installing the GP-9, I found a flat 1.1 SWR from 144 through 147MHz. Then a slight rise in SWR to a 1.4 at 148MHz. On UHF, the SWR is constantly up and down across the entire 30MHz of 440. But the "downs" are flat and the "up's" never peak above 1.5. So I can not complain about the great SWR at all, and the great SWR assures that all connections inside the antenna are good ones.

As for performance, I expected bigger improvements than I got. On VHF, the local signals are about the same as with the old GP-15, and distant signals show a 1 to a rare 2 "S" unit increase.

On UHF I noticed very little difference if any when compared to my old GP-15 only half the size and less gain. So in my opinion the GP-9 is a good 2 meter antenna. Probably the best 2 meter vertical on the market. But for UHF, a home-brew wire dipole will do as good. The gain factor for UHF is greatly exaggerated.

I have a great detailed article about the GP-9 and my performence review of the GP-9 and other antennas on my website at..
http://www.k3dav.com/cometgp9vhfuhfant.htm

Over all, the GP-9 is a great 2 meter antenna, but Comet could have designed the construction much better.
W8STU Rating: 2011-03-28
GREAT ANTENNA Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Greetings,

I have had three of these great antennas. I had one on my vacation home, one on my now EX-wife's house, (which is still up going to waste.), and I have one now at my current QTH. They work great. I can get into distant repeaters which are at least 60 miles from me full quieting. They last a long time. The one I have now has been up at three different locations for the past 10 years. I have had no problems with it. This last one, when I was putting it together to put up the whole insides slid out. I had to carefully slide it back together. Naturally I was worried. I got it back together and everything was still great. No problems. That shows how well they are put together and how forgiving they are. I would highly recommend this antenna. When this one does finally bites the dust I will buy another one. Thanks in advance. 73, Stu de W8STU
IZ2QDD Rating: 2011-01-15
The greatest antenna! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Compared with the other antennas is truly superior. In comparison to the Diamond X-510N else is not history, it is possible to go over 147 MHz without any problem and may very well receive the Air Band. After two years I can say that works well and allows me to also cover distances over 200Km.No problem for the SSB band.
K9VUJ Rating: 2010-06-03
12 years Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I decided to replace the very old RG213 with LMR400 so I removed the antenna after 12 years on top of my W51 tower. I completely disassembled the antenna for inspection. I found nothing that needed repair. It was dry inside the radome and all connections looked as new. The fiberglass was is excellent shape. I did have some problem getting the tube unscrewed to expose the N-connector, but after applying some juice it came free. I would recommend using anti-seize grease to those threads. It's now back up for another 12.