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Reviews For: Diamond SRH789

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

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Review Summary For : Diamond SRH789
Reviews: 3MSRP: 30
Description:
The Diamond RH789 is an omnidirectional telescoping SMA antenna for 95 MHz to 1100 MHz. There is a hinge at the base. It acts as 1/4 wave from 95-300 MHz and a 5/8 wave from 300 to 1100 MHz. It can be used for transmit up to 10 watts. This black, six section antenna is 7.9 inches retracted and 31.7 inches fully extended. Gain is 2.15 dBi from 95-300 MHz and 3.2 dBi from 300-1100 MHz). 50 ohms.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantht/1204.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0034.7
K7RNO Rating: 2013-02-26
Antenna: 5; build: 2 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The good news: as an antenna, to transmit a strong signal and receive, it performs well, as long as you tune it properly to your frequency. The design benefit is that you can tune it.

Where it lacks, IMHO, is in the build. This antenna can be tilted/folded in two directions (180° opposed), with the hinge just over the mount. This may cause the polarization to change unnoticed, and the direction of tilt cannot be modified: it is what it is, depending on where the mount ends up after tightening it. This fact will also largely nullify a potential argument of the hinge preventing SMA or antenna damage.

Not sure whether this was an issue by the SMA connector, but when I tried it with a counterpoise (on a washer), there was no more antenna working. The washer appears to have prevented the contact to the SMA.

I returned it and am waiting for a Smiley 270A instead.
K6ELV Rating: 2011-06-14
The ONLY antenna you will need Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The great thing about this antenna is that it works really great for whatever band you want to work, because you can dial in the length perfectly to get it at the resonant length, it may be a little difficult to achieve in the field, but if you use it enough times then you learn exactly the correct telescoping amount for each band (it doesn't take long at all to master on this antenna). The main reason WHY this antenna blows away other antenna's is because it is NOT a helical resonator like other antenna's are. Another thing I like about this antenna is that you can use it on frequencies outside the ham bands just by adjusting the length, which is the main reason why I got this. That way I could use it on my Air band radio and use it on the FRS/GMRS/MURS frequencies that I modded my HT for instead of having to buy a bunch of different antennas. Then when you want to go back to the ham frequencies you just adjust the length without changing antennas. So all you need is just one antenna for all ham bands or otherwise because this antenna does it all. Basically it is the ONLY antenna you will need. It is also great for scanning too. Another great thing I like is that you can make it really compact when not in use, which is a plus if you do a lot of traveling and you want to save space in your suitcase unlike the other high performance antennas which are usually more than 1 foot long all the time. This antenna saves you a lot of money because you do not have to buy different antennas for each band. It is pretty cheap too (I paid $29.99 for it on Hamcity) compare that $30 price for an antenna that covers just about everything to buying a separate antenna for each band at $30 a pop. It would really add up! If this antenna wasn't around I would've had to spend around $90 to get all the antennas I needed (1 antenna for airband, 1 antenna for FRS/GMRS and public service scanner frequencies, and another antenna for the ham bands.)
KC2IGY Rating: 2010-11-04
Great for scanning Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this antenna to upgrade the stock antenna on the new Uniden HomePatrol Scanner. On VHF-Air and VHF-Hi, there's just no comparison to the stock antenna. The Diamond blows it out of the water. It picks up VHF-Air transmissions that the stock antenna just doesn't pick up at all. I also tuned into 2 different distant NOAA Weather Stations. With the Diamond, one comes in full-scale, the other comes in at 1 bar on the meter. With the stock, the stronger station comes in at 1-2 bars, and the weak one doesn't come in at all even with the squelch open. On UHF, the difference is less dramatic, but the Diamond wins again, even with the antenna extended fully. I gained about 1 bar on the meter with fringe UHF stations. On 800MHz, I can't pick a winner because both antennas pick up the 800MHz Systems I listen to equally as well. Again, that is with the Diamond fully extended, and not tuned to the length for 800MHz. I'm going to try and find some fringe 800MHz stations to fully test it. All in all, I couldn't be happier. One final note, when the Diamond is collapsed, it's about the same size as the stock antenna and seems to perform almost as well on all the bands. Raising it just a little makes a huge difference though.