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Reviews For: Diamond SRH77CA Dual Band (2 m /70 CM) HT Antenna

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

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Review Summary For : Diamond SRH77CA Dual Band (2 m /70 CM) HT Antenna
Reviews: 63MSRP: 29.95
Description:
15" long, male SMA connector, flexible dual-band antenna for handheld transceivers. 1/4 wave on 2 meters, 2.15 dbi gain on 70 cm (Mfgr claim).
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
11633.9
CASPER669 Rating: 2004-01-25
Excellent Antenna Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've used this antenna with my TH-D7A(G) for the last 10 months. I was referred by another ham to try this antenna. Although I can only compare it to the stock (and the BNC version) antenna that came with it, I still believe I can join the others in saying this is one of the best antenna's one can buy for their HT. I've seen reviews where some folks talk about how using high-gain antennas (such as this one) causes them to receive a lot of intermod. I think one should understand the dynamics of the receiver... Receivers on HT's (and some QRP rigs) are made to be extremely sensitive. They do this to make up for the lack of performance of the stock antenna. Once you introduce a high-gain antenna, one should consider changing the squelch levels. Although this won't completely rid you of ALL intermod, it will make life much better for you.

P.S. - I rarely get intermod on my HT using this antenna in concert with my current squelch settings. The antenna is a bargain for the price and worth every penny.

Chris KC2KFW
N3KFD Rating: 2004-01-25
Very good! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This antenna is solid, made very well and performs very well overall. It's a huge improvement over the stock dummy load that came with my Kenwood TH-D7A(G)! With the stock duck, 2 meters was useless and 70 cm was poor at best.

I bought this antenna after buying (and selling) an SRH-519 (which was not as good as this antenna, but also a good performer, excellent considering it's size). I decided that I was willing to deal with the inconvenience of the extra size for the convenience of the extra gain that the SRH-77CA offers.

I also tried a Comet SMA-24 antenna. The weight was much better on this antenna and so was the performance on 2 meters, however; the 70 cm performance was surprisingly very poor. While using the SMA-24 I also encountered the fading in and out of the repeaters from the extreme whipping movement that others have mentioned about this and other "thin whip" type antennas.

I gave the SRH-77CA a 4 rating because although the performance on 2 meters was very good, given the size of the antenna I was expecting the 2 meter performance to be a little better, however; the 70 cm performance is absolutely excellent, very strong! Yes, the antenna is a little bigger than I would like, but the performance is well worth it on both bands.

I must admit that I was concerned at first about the size and weight of this antenna on an SMA mount. So far, it screws down tight, makes a good seal against the radio, does not back off with use and seems to be O.K. Also, this antenna does not seem to have the problem of fading in and out of repeaters with movement that some of the other "thin" whips about the same length have.

I highly recommend this antenna.
KC0ORP Rating: 2003-08-08
Good replacement for stock duck Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The SRH77CA is the SMA version of Diamond's RH77CA dual-band HT antenna. As such, it mirrors closely the performance of that antenna. On my Icom T-90A, I have noticed very marginal improvements on 2 meter performance, perhaps 1-2 S-Units over the stock duck, and marginally better reported signal quality and range. The difference is striking on 70 cm, however. I'm now hitting repeaters at 32 km/20 miles on UHF now (using 500 mw), and the signal stregnth is easily up 3 S-Units. 6 meter performance is nearly the same on the T-90A. As a scanning antenna, it's nothing short of wunderbar, for an HT antenna. (No HT antenna can realistically compare to a dedicated antenna) All my VHF-air (including military air) and public service freq's (through 800 MHZ) are now coming in with an average 2-3 S-Unit improvement, minimum. Weak station reception and clarity have been much improved. HF recive has also improved, but only fractionally. Altogether, I'm quite pleased.

The antenna itself is fifteen inches/38 cm long, and quite "waggy". It's a friendly dog...The bottom 3 inches/7.5 cm is solid plastic, covering the male SMA connector and providing protection from the elements. Firm seal.

This antenna may be in limited stock; it's no longer listed on Diamond's website. Diamond may intend on replacing this antenna with the SRH999, which is twice the price, but has 6 m and 23 cm capability.

Good buy for the money.

Wally
KC0ORP