SBB-5 SBB5 Comet Original 146/446 MHz Dual Band Mobile Antenna

I needed a dual band antenna for my 4Runner. Comet has an excellent reputation with Professor Ed Fong, who teaches college level classes about antennas and propagation. So, I bought this from Amazon. The price was competitive and free shipping saved my money. It arrived exactly as predicted as well.So far all reports have been very positive and my reception seems very good. The construction appears to be high quality and the antenna perfectly fits my Midland. NMO magnetic mount.I included the only picture I have as a joke. It is there, on top of the 4Runner, but that tells you nothing. ;-)

I ended up buying a few old antennas and mount from an old ham. That lead me to putting this antenna on a mag mount in my attic instead of on my vehicle. It works amazingly! Much better than I expected. It hits the repeaters around me and that’s what counts right?

Sturdy. Reasonable flex at Highway speeds. Great SWR on VHF/UHF out of the box with no tuning.

Using this ham radio, with a Motorola mobile and a fender mount on an f150. I can hit repeaters 40 miles away with it. Great antenna for something without a good ground plane, like a truck fender mount.

Installed it 10 inches from my tarr-heal 75A on a spare tire mount back of my Rav-4.3 Transmitted at 144.005 and 147.995 also 432.006 and 449.995. The swr meter in my FT-897 barely moved up scale at ends of band, no indication at all in middle of bands right out of the box it was shipped in. Hit a repeater I never worked from home almost 40 miles away on 2. A 70 cm machine almost the same distance is now full scale. Fantastic!

It’s a comet!!!!! Having owned several comet antennas this one won’t disappoint you. Opted to go for 1/2 wave for the fact i don’t have to worry too much about the ground plane. Works very well and quality is top notch.

I dont have much time using the antenna, but I did an SWR analysis of it and attached the pics. Basically about ~1.5. Note that I did not adjust (tune) the antenna. These are the stock readings on my unit. Values are OK, but could be better.I chose the NMO mount. The NMO mount is low profile and I needed to adjust my mount so that it would catch enough threads to be secure.The folding mechanism is not great and I dont intend to use it. I will just unscrew as needed.I like the size at just over a meter long, I can keep it in my trunk when not in use.Note that if you intend to use a magnetic base, I suggest either 5.5", or tri-magnet. My 3.5" base is marginally strong enough.

Not sure you couldnt find this somewhere else a bit cheaper.....my other antenna was destroyed due to an accident needed another dual band antenna for my mobile ham this one fit the bill I like comet antennas anyway .....have not hooked it up yet still waiting for my mag mount..... we will add more later..