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Reviews For: Edison Fong roll-up 2m/440 J-Pole

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

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Review Summary For : Edison Fong roll-up 2m/440 J-Pole
Reviews: 7MSRP: 20
Description:
Roll-up and put in your pocket 2m/440 J-pole made out of TV twinlead,
complete with coax and BNC connector. Sold at Ham Radio Outlet, written about
in QST.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0075
KA7EII Rating: 2018-01-09
It Just Works! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The DBJ-2 roll-up dual band J-pole antenna is just what I was looking for to use in my “go bag”. Dr. Fong and his students individually build, tune and test each antenna before shipment. My antenna arrived three days after ordering and comes complete with the antenna, 6-foot BNC male to BNC female extension cable, BNC female to SMA male adapter and SMA female to female adapter which allows the antenna to be used with HT's with BNC and SMA male or female antenna connectors. It arrives in a small zip lock bag with an instruction sheet that details how to use the antenna and it even came with a hand written note by Ed Fong. You can tell that Dr. Fong and his students take pride in their work and the antenna comes with a life time warranty.
To sum up the performance - “it just works”. I have been comparing this antenna to the OEM rubber ducky antennas on my Yaesu VX-5R and Baofeng UV-5RA radios in the shack and in the living room. TX and RX are greatly improved using the DBJ-2 compared to the rubber ducky antennas. I have no doubt the DBJ-2 will work great outdoors for emergency and field day operations. Just for fun, I also tried using the antenna on my Whistler WS-1080 scanner and it brought it alive receiving many 2-meter and 70-cm signals including a few DMR ham repeaters.
I will be ordering more of Ed Fong's antennas in the future.
W5UY Rating: 2013-04-22
Great Little Antenna and worth every penny! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased this antenna a couple of years ago and encased it in the recommended PVC pipe. I have it mounted about 25 feet off the ground on five pieces of fiberglass masting. I am feeding it with about 35 feet of RG-213/U and about 40 watts. It is nice looking and I can work repeaters as far as 75 miles from my home. I have used many VHF antennas over the years but I never have used a better antenna.
NO6W Rating: 2011-10-18
maximum bang for minimum bucks Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have both antennas. Spoke with Edison on two occasions at Pacificon and found him very forthcoming about his development and tuning process. He's a born teacher. He told me that the velocity factor for twin-lead varies from batch to batch, so the network analyzer is essential to tune each antenna for maximum performance.

The quality of construction is good. I discovered one or two solder joints which were mechaniically sound but not pretty. They were easy to touch up... but I'm a rather picky mil-spec qualified solderer.

This roll-up works just as well as the base station version, which is to say, as good as it gets.

Highly recommended, especially for new hams with that new, dual band HT, and a low budget. The first and best accessory they should buy.

BTW Ed is selling these on eBay now, and still a great deal.
N0YXE Rating: 2011-10-10
TURNS AN HT INTO A BASE STATION! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This antenna is well made and the SWR measures 1:1. It works beyond ALL expectations. For the first time ever, I am able to use my HT to make contact with the ARES repeater, twelve miles away with my five watt handheld! Impossible with the rubber duck it came with. I mounted the J-pole along the side of the sliding door wall in the kitchen with the HT on a bread rack. The contact with the repeater was full quieting! If you would like a picture of the antenna on the wall, send me a note: terryspaceship@yahoo.com

Dr. Fong even called me when I asked a question on e-mail. He's the best customer customer service representative I've ever had!

SWL377 Rating: 2010-06-18
used it in parachute mobile ops Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ed Fong makes great antennas at great prices. He is a nice guy too. He has a PhD in EE and really knows his stuff. SF bay Area hams know his antennas well and they are highly regarded.

On June 12 2010, jumping at Byron CA, I used Ed Fong's roll up J pole antenna under parachute canopy and worked 9 non pre arranged QSOs on 2M SSB using 5 watts. Of course at 10,000 feet anything would work pretty well, but people were hearing me on the SF Peninsula even after I descended to 1500 feet and my line of sight was cut off by the Altamont Pass mountains.

If you look close you may see it trailing behind me as I landed. Click on photos to see full frame image:

https://parachutemobile.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=47

The antenna was coiled up and secured with gaffers tape during my exit and then untaped and deployed once I was under canopy. It was abused, dragged on the ground during landing but suffered no damgage.

Ed is meticulous about tuning his antennas and uses high grade test gear to trim em up. He has some help from his family assembling the antennas but Ed tunes each one himself.

The value is unbeatable, great performance and low prices.

Buy one, you will never regret it.

73
Mark
AF6IM
www.parachutemobile.org
KD5HMP Rating: 2007-08-28
excellent antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This was my first antenna I built due to cost and projected ease. I got the twin lead from radio shack (100ft/$15) and followed the directions. Did not bother to tune it but followed the directions with the exception of increasing the coax section since I was using RG-8X versus the lossier coax in his plans. Has great RX and TX performance over my 1.4wave mag mount diploe and 17" flex whip on the HT. Its full quieting and allows me to cut the squelch way down. My best QSO with this thing only 5ft off the ground is a repeater 70 miles away on 1w! Granted the repeater is one of the highest in the LA basin (mt Kelly in the LA basin) but I could not even begin to hit that repeater with my other rigs. Performs great on both 2m and 440.
NS6Y_ Rating: 2006-12-25
Everyone loves this antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a roll-up J-pole for 2m and 440 made by a local ham who's had it written up in QST and sells it though Ham Radio Outlet. It comes with a length of thin coax and a BNC connector, and a little loop at the top to hang it from a tree, etc. It's very popular with San Francisco Bay Area hams, and according to all accounts works better than even a 5/8 wave and can make a real difference with an HT.

I have one and the PVC pipe antenna he makes (reviewed on eham here too) and they're great. I can't hit the repeater from my new apartment with the stock rubber duck or a larger antenna with my VX170, but with this, no problem. I just took this and a couple of hollow fishing pole sections, threaded it up into the fishing pole, with a piece of cord to keep the upper end up in the pole sections, put a Caplug on the top, painted the sections to match my apartment complex here, hose-clamped that to one of the posts in my fence on my patio, ran more coax to go inside the house, and tested it, with my VX170 which means 5W tops, S-6 into the Palo Alto repeater. That's all I ask! I'd probably do even better if I had it hanging in the tree here, it'd be a bit higher, but it's not fully weatherproofed on its own, and I'm hoping a hiding-in-plain-sight pole will offend management less than a wirey thingie up in the tree.

This is a really great antenna made by a great guy, I've talked to him a few times and he takes an HP vector network analyzer out in the field to test antennas, the performance and workmanship are first rate.