Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

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

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
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
VA3COW Rating: 2010-09-06
Loved it for many years, till this one. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
From day one it provided me with great QSO's, Toronto to Rochester and Buffalo regularly, however it seems to have succumbed to old age and having tested SWR, its cable seems to be in need of replacing. Don't know if the antenna itself (yet) is finished but don't care to invest $50 in a new cable to find the antenna is dead. Might just buy a complete new unit.
KD8NUX Rating: 2010-08-18
Great antenna for my HT when in the car! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I use an Icom 91A w/ a D-Star chip and the SBB-7 for volunteering with emergency services. I needed a HT for field work, and chose the SBB-7 NMO and a magmount (5" mfj, I think) for when I'm in the car. Since I live in a suburban home and park my car in a garage, the antenna is definitely too tall to keep on the all the time. But that is alright, since I only attach the mag mount and antenna when I'm going to training or field exercises. I am able to hit the local repeaters (~20mi) and talk miles on simplex, all at 5 watts.
KI6SZ Rating: 2010-01-17
Very Good for three years, but defective now Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a very good antenna -- worked well and the fold-over feature was quite handy. Up until this past week, the antenna had worked great. During the past week, I noticed a significant reduction in performance with every repeater signal strength many S-units below normal and many that I could no longer access. Removing the antenna from the NMO base revealed the problem -- the "button contact" in the base of the antenna which contacts the center conductor of the car-attached NMO mount was no longer making contact -- it is normally spring-loaded but it appears that it has failed and there is no longer a good electrical contact between the corresponding NMO connector center-pins. I attempted dis-assembly of the base of the antenna, but have had no success. I will purchase another of these antennas to replace it with, but I'm puzzled as to why the contact should have failed. It has been in steady use for just over 2 years. I could give it a Zero, but it has worked so well up until this past week... Prior to this it was a solid "5".
K6NJ Rating: 2010-01-17
A good antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've only had this antenna for a couple of months, but at 55 inches it isn't to big, but offers BIG performance. I have the NMO mount and have switched between several antennas while stitting in the driveway. This antenna, by far, pulls in the weaker signals on both the 2 meter and 70 CM bands. So far, no problem with a large 5 inch mag mount on the roof of my truck. I would recommend this antenna.
VE5NAT Rating: 2008-07-25
still going strong Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well I've had this antenna for a little over 3 years... still no problems. I check the swr and all the screws every 6 months with no issues. The collar likes to work itself loose a couple a threads every couple of months. *not a huge deal*
Other than the fact I'm using it with the lossy mini coax which I think is making my antenna deaf as a door post, I've made contacts to repeaters nearly 300mi away with good results.
This antenna lived through ice fog, with 120km/h driving and 1/4 inch of ice on it. Still not broken or cracked.
I think that comet released a bad batch of these antennas in the beggining, just like the Icom 7000's back in the day.

I highly recommend this antenna to everyone.

----------------------
Earlier 4-star review posted by VE5NAT on 2006-09-04

This antenna is a good one. Although this antenna is nearly as high mounted on the trunk as my 5/8 2m whip is on the roof I havn't done too much bird catching with it yet(so far a had 3 birds fly into both antennas). I am currently using the K400 lip mount and it holds up well. I have the antenna mounted so that it is in line with the radio antenna and it looks sleek on my white sunfire. I will have to see how this antenna holds up to a Saskatchewan winter.(around the corner) So far it works great when I am crossbanding with my IC-2720 rig. I have yet to test it for some DX operations.
W4AMP Rating: 2007-11-18
Dog Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Antenna has gone deaf on UHF three months after purchase. HRO is about a 100 miles away, so had to lose 20$ to ship a 75$ antenna. Comet's quality has fallen, don't bother.
VE3OIJ Rating: 2007-10-15
Awesome performance, but fragile. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this antenna because I am often out in the boonies hiking (geocaching) and I wanted lots of gain to be able to reach out and touch repeaters from the middle of nowhere. With the SBB7, I was not disappointed. This antenna has awesome performance on both bands. I've even worked AO-51 from my car on this antenna.

However, the fold-down hinge is fragile. It can pick up crud during normal use and if a bit of moisture gets in there and freezes, you're in trouble. Mine broke off folding it down on a cold (-25 C) day.

The antenna is taller than most VHF/UHF mobiles... something to remember when driving around with it.
WH6QB Rating: 2007-09-08
Mine works great. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Had mine for almost a year now mounted on the door of my Dodge Caravan. SWR is, and always has been 1:1. I've run under trees, hit overheads (fast food drive through, parking garages, etc), and done well in excess of the posted speed limit on long trips on the open road.

I get great signal reports and work repeaters that others closer in are not getting into.

Mine takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. What can I say?

No idea why some seem to have issues. Happily, mine has performed up to my high expectations.
AB7Q Rating: 2006-10-26
Works great until it fails Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Bought my first one, used it 3 days and SWR went sky high. Sent it back to HRO who replaced it but I paid shipping both ways. Got the new one and it worked for a couple of months then the 440 side quit. I refuse to keep pouring money down that hole on shipping charges. It is sitting in the garage gathering dust, and I am done buying Comet mobile antennas. Good thing I have an SWR meter built into the 857, or I may have radio repair bills as well. That said, when the antenna worked it worked great. I do mostly simplex and the low angle worked very well. Comet needs to work on quality control. They should stand behind their products and take the hit when they fail. When my company drops the ball, we don't ask the customer to shell out more money. How many more loyal customers would they have if they would just step up and take care of business? As it is, they are running people off.
N8ERM Rating: 2006-08-06
JUNK FROM THE BOX Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
SOS bought one and was junk directly from the box. Checked it with a Telwave and a Bird 43 with the proper slug. Had another antenna on the mount and it loaded up great. Sent it back and recieved another one one week after I installed it SWR went to 3.5. The company was very rude and not interested in helping with the problem.