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Reviews For: MFJ-1412 RuffRider High Power 144/440 MHz Mobile Antenna

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

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Review Summary For : MFJ-1412 RuffRider High Power 144/440 MHz Mobile Antenna
Reviews: 7MSRP: $49.95
Description:
Just 40" long handles full 200 Watts. Great for high power mobile amp. 1/2 Wave, 3 dB gain on 2 Meters, 5/8 Wave, 5.5 dB gain on 440 MHz.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/products.php?prodid=MFJ-1412
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0074.1
N2XPM Rating: 2019-08-04
Disappointed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Subsequently to my last review, this mobile antenna has failed on UHF. I am more then disappointed since it was the past reviews that I fell on as to make this purchase. This was the icing on the cake and I WILL NO LONGER purchase anything from MFJ and their sister companies. They is no Quality and no Quality control to their end user.
KJ5GUY Rating: 2019-01-10
Big Bang For The Buck! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had this antenna for approximately 3 months now, it is mounted inn the center of the roof on a 5 inch Browning magmount. It has performed flawlessly. I have a QYT 980 Plus dual band and a Yaesu FT-3200D 2M C4FM rig in my 2014 Accord going through this antenna using an MFJ vhf/uhf duplexer. The RX is outstanding on 70cm and 2m analog. Most of the signals coming in are clear with little to no noise. Upon putting it on an SWR meter, I was seeing that right out of the box it was pretty flat averaging around 1.2-1.5! I may try and get it down a little further, but I'm thinking leave well enough alone, thats pretty darn good I think for SWR. Some areas I operate from are famous for RFI, but they are no match for this antenna, one area in particular is very close to a large commercial airport and 2m/440 is very difficult to receive and TX on but, not with this antenna, it still is able to RX/TX even though there is some hash, I find the stations coming in are very readable unlike before where the signal would just drop out....and forget about transmitting! It was very intermittent to say the least! I have hit repeaters 35-40 miles away using 30 watts output and have hit one repeater approximately 60 miles away! I think I might have to purchase another to keep as a spare if and when this thing ever breaks! It is very well built and rugged. I make sure the allen screws are tightened down every now and then and throw on some dielectric grease around the threads where they srew into the magmount. The antenna looks good too. I have the all black one and it seems to disappear on the car and at night its like...antenna? what antenna? All in all you can't go wrong with this one folks. I know MFJ is not synonymous with high quality on some of their products, but they knocked it out the park with this one and it can handle up to 200 watts too! SCORE!!!! I'll be back in about 9 months and see how it has held up for its first year in service.....73 everyone!
KB8GFF Rating: 2017-11-07
Perfect! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Blows the Larsen away and is identical to the Diamond 770 1/2 the price. Nice thick stainless stinger with chrome base. Comes with NMO adapter and stinger folds over for garage parking. This is a "Brute" of a antenna
KJ4I Rating: 2015-08-15
Very good antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using one of these antennas for about the past 12 plus years. It has been in continuous mobile service since the day I bought it. These antennas are tough and work very well on both vhf and uhf. I have compared it to many other and much more expensive antennas that people say can't be beat. Well it has stood up to every single one of them. I just recently purchased a new one to replace my original. By no means has the original antenna gone bad. I just wanted to change from the stainless steel to the all black version so it would be a little less noticeable on my current vehicle. Save your self some money and buy the MFJ version. They are basically just re-branded Diamond antennas. You will get a lot of antenna for around $30. Highly recommended.
KC5CQW Rating: 2013-07-06
Go-To antenna Time Owned: more than 12 months.
First off, this is basically the same antenna as the Diamond NE770HA; just rebranded. The "free" NMO to PL-259 adapter is a little on the cheap side. It's well worth the extra cost... :-)
Performance wise, the antenna works great and physically it's very sturdy. It is mounted on a through hole roof mount.
It gets whacked by tree limbs (at low speeds) regularly with no ill effects.
I packed some silicone dielectric grease into the NMO and PL-259 ends to keep any water out. I'm still neutral on this as it may be better left dry.
AK4TO Rating: 2012-08-10
Very Pleasantly Surprised!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
When buying this mobile antenna for my Honda Civic, I was not really too sure of what I would be getting for $29.99, but I was pleasantly surprised to say the least!! I am extremely happy with this antenna's range, as well as overall quality of workmanship that went into buliding this antenna for this extremely affordable price, even though I had to provide myself with a 6' mag mount to go with it, I am still very happy and satsified!
KC8ZDF Rating: 2006-10-11
Great antenna so far. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just got this antenna two days ago and so far i have got great reports. Im replacing the mfj 19.99 dollar 1/4 wave magmount and notice a 2 to 3 sometimes smeter gain. It brings singnals in like a 5/8 antenna. Although this is a dual band antenna the specs are 40" tall, 1/2 wave on 2meters, 3.0db and 5.5 db gain on 70cm. It does not have the fold over feature of the Ruff Rider 1422 and others antenna. I had bad luck with the 1422 gain antenna and water getting in where the gasket and the antenna fold over making swr go thru well the roof of the car and way beyond the moon. I drive a 4 door sedan and can fit into parking structures no problem. It has also rain here in michigan the last day and had a very long soaking and did not see any loss of performance at all. Im using the mfj 3.5" nmo mag mount and gettin a swr of 1.1 1.2 so far. so its working well. Holds no problem at 80mph. Im using a ft-2800m and it really works great for tx and rx. I will do some months updating and let people know how things work out but i think the way this i built it should be a great antenna for someone looking for a 1/2 on 2 meter over the normal 1/4 antenna with no gain. I think that this performs just as well as the 5/8 wave 2 meter antenna. This antenna will need a nmo mag mount or a nmo thru the roof of car which i plan on doing sooon so will let you know of the performance of that. And it comes with the nmo adapter to go from uhf connector to the nmo for free. Let you guys all know soon on updates thru winter and everything.