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Reviews For: OPEK VU-1545

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

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Review Summary For : OPEK VU-1545
Reviews: 2MSRP:
Description:
Dual-band VHF/UHF mobile antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.opektech.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0023.5
W7KBC Rating: 2014-06-03
OPEK VU-1545 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned 2 of these antennas purchased at different times for 2 different vehicles & the antennas have performed well. swr readings out of the package were with in spec & the antennas are built well. For around $35.00 this antenna is a good choice.
KS3J Rating: 2010-09-08
Not at all impressed. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this antenna from a vendor at the Shelby hamfest to replace an older Diamond antenna. The mount and antenna seem solid, but I was in for a surprise when I tried to tune it.

Out of the package, the antenna nulled at 161 MHz! Worse, there was only about 1/2" of room to extend the antenna at either the base, coil top, or coil bottom. The lowest I could tune the antenna using all these options was 151 MHz, so at 146.52 my SWR would have been 2:1! There was no reason to even try tuning the antenna for UHF in this condition. Obviously the top whip supplied with the antenna was at least an inch too short.

I went to the manufacturer's web site looking for answers, but there are none there. Not even the specs of the antenna are listed in any detail, and there is no "support" option at all. They indicate that they are a direct importer and that all their products are made overseas.

The dealer I bought from was not local to me, so I'm not sure I'll bother going through the return process, but I'm back in the market for a dual-band antenna, and I won't buy an OPEK product again.