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Reviews For: Diamond CR320A

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

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Review Summary For : Diamond CR320A
Reviews: 11MSRP: 89.95
Description:
The Diamond CR320A triband is a 2 meter, 220 MHz (1.25 meter) and 440 MHz mobile antenna. It is a 1/4 wave on 2 meters, a 1/2 wave on 220, and a 2 5/8 wave on 440 MHz providing 5.5 dB gain.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.rfparts.com/diamond/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00113.5
K7VO Rating: 2004-02-20
Well built, attractive, and the performance you'd expect Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've been running the Diamond CR320A for a month or so on my Honda Civic wagon. It's a small antenna, much smaller than the CR224A it replaced. I was willing to trade a little in performance in order to get the third band (440MHz) and the ability to run my triband rig (Icom IC-901A with the UX-39A 222MHz module) on one antenna. I know some hams don't mind if their car looks like a porcupine. I do :)

The antenna is black in color and is much less noticable because of it. It does fold over, and while it's small enough to get through some drive throughs I did need to fold it down to get into my garage. This is a huge plus over the comparable Comet antenna that I saw -- it didn't fold. It was well worth the extra $8 to get that feature.

Unlike many other Diamond antennas this one comes fully assembled. There is nothing to adjust or tighten down. Construction is very good indeed.

In moving to the CR320A from the CR224A I went from a 7/8 wave to a 1/4 wave on 2m. The result is what I expected. In town it makes no difference. Once I get to the fringe area of the repeaters I've lost some coverage area, but not a huge amount. I went from a 5/8 over 5/8 colinear on 222MHz down to a 1/2 wave. Here the reduction in coverage area was even less. I live on the fringe of the 224.84 repeater in Grifton, NC and was still able to get into a roundtable discussion on it going to and from the grocery store. Not bad! The antenna is a 5/8 over 5/8 colinear on 440MHz, and this is where the CR320A shines.

For the record: I am using the antenna with a Comet triplexer and a Diamond K400 hatchback mount.

Diamond antennas are never inexpensive, but considering the fit and finish of this product and the expected performance I think it's worth the money. I'm completely satisfied.