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Reviews For: Larsen NMO-150

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

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Review Summary For : Larsen NMO-150
Reviews: 30MSRP: 35 (Street Value)
Description:
NMO 150 (2m)
Frequency: 144-174 MHz
Gain: 3dBd / 5.2dBi
Electrical: 5/8 wave
Height: 49"
Power Rating: 200 Watts
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.radialllarsen.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
25304.9
KT4WO Rating: 2023-02-07
15 YO and like day1 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
-----Update---
Almost 30 years now, on same NMO150 antenna.
What more could I say?
--------------------

Got this one over 15 years ago, It has been moved from car to car and still works as well as day one..The N.C. Hi-Patrol has been using them(Low-band vers.) forever. And-they WILL handle the 200 watt rating. Larsen is the Astron(pwr-supplys) of antennas.

KT4WO
WJ1T Rating: 2023-02-06
Fantastic antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned this antenna for eight years. It has performed extremely well. Very good reception and transmission capability. It has been very durable and still looks as good as it performs. It is mounted on a Larsen NMO trunk mount. For a 5/8 wave antenna, it looks pretty low key. So, in short, I couldn't recommend this antenna more highly. If you are looking for a long range single band 2 meter mobile NMO style antenna, you couldn't do much better than this one.
KG5HFO Rating: 2022-09-12
Fantastic mobile antenna! EDIT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
EDIT AT BOTTOM

I’ve only ever used my bare HT or a mag mount in the past. Today, I had an NMO mount installed in the roof of my Ford Excursion in order to have another communication option whilst out and about off-roading, camping, or long road trips. Nice big flat metal roof for a ground plane, also! I chose this antenna over a 1/4 wave antenna for the slight bump in performance. On my way home from the shop I had a simplex QSO on 4652 with an operator 67 miles away! On a mobile antenna. And I live in central Oklahoma where we’ve never heard of hills. Color me impressed!

EDIT:
I recently took a trip to Mt. Scott here in Oklahoma. I was able to get the Norman repeater full scale on the Kenwood 281 at 75-ish miles. Pretty impressed but not totally unexpected given the height above surrounding terrain. However, I then had a simplex FM QSO with WA5REL at 67 miles. He was about an S7 and sounded like he was right next to me. Gave me the same report. After this I tried some other machines and was able to get into most operational machines within 90 miles. Not bad for a mobile!
WB6CSH Rating: 2020-09-13
Still has a matching coil problem Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used the NMO-150 antenna with the original gray base coil and after a few years that coil cracked and allowed the intrusion of water and other contaminates.
I phoned Larsen in Washington state (date was approx. 2005) and the female rep who answered my call was kind enough to offer me a replacement coil with no additional cost nor the return of the gray coil. She acknowledged that their gray coils were a problem and the new black coil she was sending me would remedy the problem.

A few years later, the newer black coil exhibited the same cracking problem, which means Larsen was not able to fix the cracking plastic/polymer problem! I'm curious as to why other hams have not experienced the same problem. This problem only appears on this particular "NMO 150" coil, I have observed! I am NOT overtightening the coil upon installation, either!

The original gray coil went so far as to split open, allowing me to visualize the inner workings of the coil. Interestingly, it is a copper coil with a tap to the coax center-conductor placed closer to the grounded end of the coil. The upper end of the coil goes to the whip connection the lower end of the coil goes to ground... a simple matching transformer!
N6JPG Rating: 2019-11-24
Simple, easy, works great. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have experimented with all sorts of different mobile antennas for 2m. Anything from a simple quarter-wave whip up to some of the super-duper "high gain" multi-band broad bandwidth mega whips. The latest one I tried was a 3.8 db gain broadbander from Comet. I immediately noticed a lot of "picket fencing" and dead areas that I had not noticed with the Larsen. I just keep coming back to it. Nothing out performs the Larsen 5/8 wave. I can hit my home repeater and a couple of others generally from better than 70 miles out on 25 watts. This is a tried, tested and true design and doesn't cost a fortune. It is also generally "tree safe" in that it flexes well when going under trees/obstacles. I park under an outdoor canopy and the Larsen bends to go under it easily and snaps back to upright immediately when I drive out with no ill effects. The only downside to this antenna is that it is a mono-bander but that does not bother me as I am mostly on 2m when mobile. Save your money for a good radio and just go with the Larsen.
WJ5Y Rating: 2019-09-30
My experience with the Larsen NMO-150 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
3 years ago I was given this Larsen NMO-150 by a retiring HAM. He had it 15+ years before passing it on to me. I live in NW Louisiana and believe it or not it is hilly terrain. I use 2M 99% of the time so this antenna is ideal for my work truck. I work 36 miles from our repeater and there are a few tall hills between where I work and the repeater. I used Nagoya, Nagoya knock-offs, Comet (loading coils broke after 6 months), Tram. MFJ and a few home brew antennas. Most worked well but not great. Enter the old Larsen. Works fantastic. Low, flat SWR, extremely durable and talks farther and more clear than any others I have used. I can reliably use our club repeater from 40 miles with 25 watts from my FT-1802, QYT-8900R or FT-100D. None of the other antennas could do that reliably even with 50 watts. I tried many times switching antennas out to be sure the comparison was fair. The others did not perform over hilly terrain. This Larsen antenna is highly recommended. This NMO-150 is on a Randall/Larsen magnetic mount. I have never, but will soon, try it on 6M with an SWR between 1.3 and 1.5.
SWLCHRIS Rating: 2018-04-03
best 29.99 antenna I have seen Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just got this from HRO today and ran to Harbor Freight to get a wirecutter and measuring tape.
Sat in parking lot clipping off 1\4 to 1\2 inch at a time to get SWR down to 1.1 to 1.5 across the entire bandwidth that I use. Hit a repeater in Lancaster county PA. while sitting in Christiana Delaware.Thats approximately 40 miles or so away and I was impressed to say the least.
KE5AST Rating: 2017-06-16
It's had a long run Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this antenna in 2005 and drilled a hole in the roof of my truck to install it. I went with a whip instead of a better gain aluminum antenna because I drive through the pasture a lot. I have dragged this antenna through every tree on the property and every fast food drive through I have gone through and it has worked flawless through it all. 12 years of extreme punishment and it still runs 100 watts out of the truck like it was new. I definitely recommend it.
N5KDA Rating: 2017-04-28
Better than the 7/8 wave MFJ-1432 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Below is my review of the MFJ-1432 7/8 wave.

I noticed a few local hams could access the local repeater from the next big town about 60 miles to my East, but I couldn't. They were using 5/8 wave antennas at about the same power level 50 to 60 watts. The other day I made the trip again but I took along a new Larsen 150 5/8 wave antenna. When I got to the point where I was very noisy into the repeater I swapped from the 7/8 wave MFJ to the 5/8 wave Larsen. Bam, I was back into the repeater without noise. It didn't start to get noisy for another 10 miles. The MFJ 1432 is dual band where the Larsen is not but we don't have a local 440 repeater anyway. This antenna does not have the gain MFJ says it does of a 3 dB gain 5/8 wave would have less signal not more.
KI4ODO Rating: 2016-08-20
Looks stock on my Sierra! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just installed the NMO-150BK on my 2015 Sierra yesterday. I used an L bracket mount on the side of the truck's tool box. I must say I was surprised how "stock" the antenna looks. The black antenna looks like a slightly larger verson of my stereo antenna. I did have to trim a couple of inches off to find a happy place mid band, but no big deal. I used bold cutters and it snips off pretty cleanly. I would have given it a lower rating for not being very wide banded, but I think that may have something to do with my indevidual set up. Im happy with the performance and ease of tuning by a few simple snips. My advice is to trim small amounts at a time. 1/4 to a max of 1/2 inch at a time. You can't put it back on. I would highly recommend this antenna for 2 meter.