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Reviews For: Comet SBB-7NMO 2/440 mobile antenna

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

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Review Summary For : Comet SBB-7NMO 2/440 mobile antenna
Reviews: 43MSRP: 79.95
Description:
2M @ 4.5 dBi 5/8; 440 @ 7.2 dBi 5/8x3; <1.5:1; 70W FM; 4'7"
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cometantenna.com/mobile.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00433.2
KA5BBC Rating: 2020-05-07
A good performer that has lasted well. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this antenna for approximately five years now and it has been used both on my vehicle and all my qth attached to a ground plane mount. It has survived daily use and abuse, including a being folded on a daily basis to get into a parking structure and being hit by low-hanging branches etc. The only damage it has suffered what's caused by me trying to loosen the folding mechanism when it got frozen one winter and all that managed to do was scratch the paint. It outperforms the CR8900 I bought too match my previous radio and is a perfect pairing for my mobile IC-706MkIIg - the only mobile antenna I've ever owned that outperforms it on 2 meters is the CG-144 which is a 7' colinear.
This is been a good investment which has a far outweighed its initial price and will probably last for several more years yet.
WC4R Rating: 2018-09-12
Poor quality Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had 3 of these Comet/Diamond antennas over the years. They are great IF you don't hit garage door frames or trees, etc. If they are always in the clear and don't have to flex, you will love them. But in time, they will break wherever the plastic is located (coil or base). I switched to the Hustler 2/70 (same as Larsen) and you can see the quality and engineering improvement right away. Performance difference is nill.
KK6ZTI Rating: 2018-09-12
Another Great, Underrated Comet Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This thread reminds me of all the Comet CHA-250B crticisms that almost scared me away from buying it a few years ago; because it, and now the SBB7 (PL-259) I just bought work great.

In all fairness the SBB7 is my first mobile antenna and I've only used it 3-4 times while driving. As expected, stations come in loud and clear... Yet the obvious isn't why I'm reviewing my SBB7 less than a week after buying it... Well, I guess other than for the fact it sustained over 80MPH on the freeway a few times.

Until the next long drive, my SBB7 stands on a thin aluminum sheet on the floor of a room in my home; connected to my ICOM-ID51A+. I'm in Los Angeles, currently listening to a maxed out signal from the K6ECS repeater in Running Springs... Located 95 miles away. Minutes earlier I tagged repeaters in Ridgecrest (147 miles away), Pomona (45.7 miles), OAKLAND (Full Sig RX & TX Confirmation over 350 MILES AWAY), etc. etc.

If we're amidst an ionospheric anomaly it's isn't momentary because I was experiencing the same performance three days ago.

BTW - both on the car and in this crude home setup; the SBB7's mounted to a Comet RS-870 with a Comet CK-3M coax assembly.
VA3WAO Rating: 2018-07-13
Done with Comet Time Owned: more than 12 months.
In the past 3 years I have had 3 of these things, all in PO mount. Mounted on the trunk lid of a Chevy Cruze, so about 1/3 of the bottom of the antenna is out of the wind. Admittedly one of my SBB-7's got taken out by a tree that landed on my car! BUT the other two each only last a bit beyond a year, both fail on the UHF side with incredibly high SWR (+20:1).

Highway all the way to work, up to 70+ Mph or 120Kph for about 60 miles. This could have something to do with it but at the price of this antenna, I think they need to build a bit more substance into their antennas. Not sure what failed in each antenna, but the second one wasn't on the car more than 5 months before it failed and no winter salt or bad heavy weather did it see!

The last one I tried to fix it, I send Comet an email, they said return it to the vendor if less than a year old, no offer of parts or offer of what was possibly wrong. I was disappointed. If it was simple the replacement of one of the coils,then an easy fix but they made no comment other than to return it if it was less than a year old.

But when they were working, it worked as advertised if not better! So when they are working, I would give them a 10 out 5 stars! I measured near unity SWR on VHF and 1.12 on UHF ... extremely good performance, I was hitting several of my local repeaters (None closer than 35 miles from me) and the main repeater I used almost never dropped out in the moraines that I travel through. So when it is working it's had to beat! But 3 in 3 years sorry I am not made of money.
N9PBD Rating: 2016-02-21
Great Antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this antenna on my main ham radio car on a center-of-the roof NMO mount for over a year. By far the best dual band NMO antenna I have. Low SWR (<1.3:1 on VHF and <1.4:1 on UHF), and great gain. I run full time APRS at 50 watts on the antenna, while using both VHF and UHF voice with great results. Remembering to fold the antenna when going into garages, or under low overhangs is very important. If you can get in the habit, you'll have great success with this antenna.
Love this antenna, and have had zero issues.
K1DUN Rating: 2014-09-06
Hear what you're missing! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have the PL-259 version of this antenna and it's the best mobile antenna I've used to date. I've used three smaller antennas in the past, but none of them pull in repeaters like this one! When I first mounted this on my Diamond K600S mount and was driving over a hill, I could hear two repeaters that were each about 60 miles away! No issues with the construction of this antenna yet.
WE3M Rating: 2014-03-03
Very good antenna! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own a PL-259 mount version of this antenna on my Jeep Wrangler and have to use the hinge feature twice a day when entering and exiting the parking garage at work. Because a Jeep Wrangler has little topside metal for a ground plane, mine is on a spotlight bracket just forward of the left "A" pillar and I can reach it from the window to raise and lower as necessary.

I have never had a problem with signal or reaching distant repeaters even at their max range, and am quite impressed at how this antenna handles the power from my stock IC-7000.

My only issue was that the fold-over hinge finally failed at the 13 month mark, just out of warranty, due to a hinge pin sliding out and causing wear. I e-mailed Comet describing the problem and they immediately replaced the entire base AT THEIR EXPENSE within the week! Their customer service more than made up for this one rare failure and I would buy a Comet antenna again.
N8PHL Rating: 2013-01-29
What junk Total crap Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had # of them over the last 5 years and every one has died.
I have never had them mounted where they would hit trees or anything, always mounted with a good solid NMO mount.
I never ran more then 50 watts with this antenna. All 3 of them have went deaf on the 70cm band and they have all had load failure.
For a antenna that costs around $80.00 one would expect to be better then this.
I get maybe a year and a half out of this antenna and then I have to replace it.
It is a shame that this antenna is such junk because it works well when it works but when it goes bad it is junk.
N0FPE Rating: 2012-11-11
Junk Time Owned: more than 12 months.
had 2 of these POS antennas over the course of 3 years. First one broke at the base and I got a replacement for the cost of shipping. 2nd one died and killed my radio in the process. I was informed I could get a new antenna if I shipped the bad one back at MY expense. And of course no help with the dead radio. These antennas were not beat on trees or anything for that matter. Always just highway driving with GOOD mounts. Toosed the thing in the trash and moved on. Dont buy one unless you want to have nothing but problems and have money to buy a new radio!

Junk


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Earlier 2-star review posted by N0FPE on 2005-06-02

I have had 3 of these antennas FAIL in 4 years. The first one I bought was DOA out of the box. I contacted the company and they sent me a new one AFTER I shipped the bad one back to the at MY expense. The second one failed after abt a year on my truck and killed the finals in my radio. After trying to again contact the company for 3 months I broke down and bought a 3rd one! My mistake. 2 weeks ago I was doing a check of all my mobile antennas and did a SWR check on the current SSB7 using a Bird 43. Guess what! VHF at over 3:1 and UHF off the scale! Checked the mount and coax. Cleaned the tiltover and still no go. Removed the antenna and replaced it with an Antenx CB144/440 and POOF no SWR problems! Stuck the SSB7 on a mag mount and tested is further all with the same results. This ant is a POS and I will not buy another. I will stick with Antennx
The reason for the rating of 2 is that when the SSB7 is working it works WELL. But is sure doesnt stand up to the test of time.

Dan/NØFPE

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Earlier 3-star review posted by N0FPE on 2004-01-12

I have had my SSB-7 for abt 2 years. The first one was bad out of the box. Sent it back directly to Comet for replacement. The second one lasted abt one year and the thing just fell appart. Sent this one back to Comet also. Received what they say is the new and improved version. It has been in service abt a year now so time will tell. The antenna is good when it works but is just not very well made for the price. It will be a Diamond for me next time.
KC9IBS Rating: 2012-11-11
Sucks Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had 2 of tham in 5yrs thay come apart at the base swr go high on 2m 2.1/ 440 4.1 junk !!!!!

p.s the fold down is good