Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes
Reviews Home

Reviews For: Diamond SRH320A HT Ant - 2/220/430

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 : Diamond SRH320A HT Ant - 2/220/430
Reviews: 42MSRP: 49.95
Description:
The Diamond SRH320A is a tri-band HT antenna for 2 meters, 220 and 430 MHz. It is 13.5 inches (35 cm) tall and weighs about 1 ounce (30 g). This semi-flexible antenna is black with bottom and center loading coils. This 50 ohm antenna can handle up to 10 watts.
The SRH320A is a 1/4 wave on 2 meters and 220 MHz, a 1/2 wave on 430 MHz. This antenna terminates to a 50 ohm SMA. It is also suitable for wideband receivers which feature an SMA connector. It is also optimized for receive on the 120, 150, 300, 450 and 900 MHz bands. Made in Japan.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantht/0454.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00424.7
WA7ZAF Rating: 2020-03-06
Highly overrated and too delicate for daily use Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I got this antenna to use with my Kenwood TH-F6A and subsequently my Yaesu VX-6R and Kenwood TH-D74A. I was expecting magic based on the glowing reviews, but I wasn't impressed with the performance vs the price. Yes, it does perform noticeably better than the factory rubber ducks. Only marginally better, but in all honesty, noticeably better.

My biggest complaints, and the reason the Diamond lays neglected and unused is because it gets bent and tweaked every which way every time it is touched wrong. It doesn't take much to bend it and it always bends in the same place, making me believe that it will eventually fail in that location. That, combined with the only marginal performance improvement leads me to the opinion that this antenna is way too expensive for what I get from it. The Yaesu duck is a FAR better bang for my buck.

Since I have the stock antennas for all three radios along with this Diamond, I decided to do a more objective, side by side comparison of them. I found that the Diamond has nearly dead-flat SWR on all three bands, while the ducks each landed between 1.5-about 1.9 to 1. The Diamond shows slightly better radiation on my signal strength meter than the ducks as well.

The most interesting data to me though was the rankings of the 3 stock antennas. The Stock Kenwood from the TH-F6A is significantly lower in detected radiated power than the TH-D74A antenna and the VX-6R antenna. The D74 and VX-6 antennas are nearly indistinguishable in performance. The Kenwood antennas are nearly $90 each for a replacement. The Yaesu antenna can be had for about $19 shipped. Since I did these tests, my Diamond antenna has been laying on my window sill while I have been stacking up the Yaesu antennas like cordwood.
FORMER_KC2FYA Rating: 2017-07-21
Good Addition Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I placed the 320 on my Kenwood TH-D74A and what a difference in my being able to access repeaters further out. This would include D-Star repeaters where I used to have the radio on the high setting, I now am able to access with on a lower power setting. I like that the 320 comes with a rubber washer for in between the antenna and the HT. I will only keep the supplied rubber duck as a backup.

Thanks to the other reviews on this antenna. A prime antenna for a prime rig.
VE6ICE Rating: 2016-09-12
VSWR Test Results Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Always had good results with this antenna. The tests were done on a Rohde & Schwarz ZVH8 Antenna tester using an N Male-to-SMA Female adapter. No doubt the adapter introduces some reflection, so actual performance will be slightly better than reported here. Also see my review of the Diamond SRH77CA for comparison, as those tests were done with the same test setup on the same day.

Diamond SRH320A 2m/1.25m/70cm (Yellow Bag) Genuine
==================================================
VSWR = 1:2.8/1:3.0/1:3.4 @ 144/146/148MHz
VSWR = 1:1.4/1:1.5/1:1.6 @ 222/223.5/225MHz
VSWR = 1:2.9/1:1.3/1:2.7 @ 420/435/450MHz

Minimum peaks in VSWR:
========================
1:1.6/1:1.1/1.2 @ 180/210/437MHz

So performs as advertised I would say.
KD2ACO Rating: 2016-04-02
works well for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have a Kenwood TH-F6A that works very well. I was looking for a little more gain and picked up the Diamond SRH320A. I noticed right away being able to hit the repeaters in the area (NYC) solidly with lower power than with the stock antenna. Where I used to have to run on high power for full quieting (5W), I can now hit with low power (0.5w). The radio doesn't fit in the shirt pocket anymore, but being able to run all day on a battery charge is very nice.
N4ZN Rating: 2016-01-01
Meh....... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Guess it would make a decent replacement to a lost, or broken, OEM duck. I bought one along with the purchase of a yeasu vx-6r, due to reading reviews posted here. I'm just not seeing the magical awesomeness that everyone else seems to be experiencing. Either the kenwood ducks really suck, the yeasu ducks kind of suck, or the antenna I received just plain sucks compared to others rolling off the same line at the plant.
My performance experience was that the diamond, compared to the stock antenna, was that the diamond had such a "maybe" dicernable difference.... Perhaps only because of an almost double length from the stock duck. The best I could detect was a minuscule reduction in the sizzle on a fringe repeater. Certainly not worth $50. And, I purchased the radio for its submersible capability. Something I doubt the diamond has. My plans were to plasti-dip from the tip, to half way of the base. Glad I tested it before the modification! Like one of the other reviewers stated, better to put your money towards an extra battery. Amen.
N2XPM Rating: 2015-06-20
Best Money Spent! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am nuts about antennas. I have tried so many and this product is by far "THE BEST" on my Yaesu FT-60. It performs flawlessly. I am able to hear repeaters with better signal strength and get into area repeaters on low power "Full Quiet" something that I haven't been able to do in a long time. This HT Antenna is "The Goods" in performance. It's well built.
KK6PA Rating: 2015-05-09
diamond SRH320 triband HT antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had the antenna for several years. Last week I got curious about whether it was REALLY a good antenna that the Mfr claims. Turns out it's pretty darn good. I compared it to my TH-F6 HT original antenna. I set up my field strength meter and went thru all three bands comparing the two antennas.
Two mtrs: The Diamond was margionally better than the Original. The meter showed 50 for the original and 70 with the Diamond.
222 MHz: Set the meter to show zero with the orginal. The Diamond pegged the meter.
440 Mhz: Set the meter to show zero with the original. The Diamond didn't peg it but the reading was 75. The meter scale max is 100. Definitely better.

'Nuf said?? :-)
KK4PLD Rating: 2014-03-26
Good alternative Time Owned: more than 12 months.

I paired this antenna with a Yaesu VX6R. This antenna is a vast improvement in gain over the OEM antenna. I was able to hear some stations on simplex marginally better than using the stock one. I would recommend buying and using this over what is supplied by the manufacturer for your HT.
KI6OSH Rating: 2013-07-21
Wonderful!!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If I could give it 10 points, I would. Perfect antenna for the Kenwood TH-F6A HT. The stock rubber duck works but this is like color TV compared to black and white, for those of us who recall those days. I can hit Mt. Diablo using 5 watts from my home QTH, almost 85 bird miles. Loud and clear. I highly recommend this antenna, I've had it for 4 years now and it's holding up well. Tremendous performer.
KC9YFM Rating: 2013-07-21
By far the best HT antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna a few months ago because I had really been needing a really good HT antenna that would last me a long time. When I first put this on my radio, the difference could be noticed immediately. Compared to other antennas like ExpertPower that I had been using for a while, this one just blew them out of the water. I live right on the edge of my local repeater, and all of the previous antennas I used were marginal at best, and I had to go outside of my house to successfully get into the repeater. However with this antenna, I can now go anywhere inside my house and get the strong signal tail tone. Not only that, but I can even go in my basement and it still works great! It's truly astonishing to me that an antenna can perform so well. Both VHF and UHF bands perform great, and I haven't noticed any kinds of issues with the antenna.

Even though it's relatively large in length, the upper portion of the antenna is very thin which gives you the illusion that it's smaller than it really is. Because it's so flimsy, it seems like it would be really delicate, but it's able to bend back to its original shape no matter how bad you bend it. I couldn't really tell you how extreme you have to bend it to where it won't go back (because I don't want to try), but so far it has always been able to go back. It also looks very good on the small HTs that we have nowadays. It doesn't make your radio look lopsided with a huge antenna. It performs very well and it looks very good.

The $50 price tag should not deter you from buying this. It is literally the single best performing HT antenna I have ever seen, and you won't be disappointed. I wouldn't say that if I wasn't 100% certain that it's the best. You really do get what you pay for in this case.