intellectualist
Banned
Registered: Feb 2008
Location: Near Asheville
Posts: 981 |
Re: Garmin Booster and Antennas
quote: Originally posted by vetman1
I also looked into buying a Yagi Antenna. I called and spoke with a gentleman that makes the yagi antennas and he was not overly encouraging even though he would send me one for around $90. My understanding is that the Yagi would have to be specific for the Garmin as my old telemetry Yagi is "tuned" to around 219 frequency.
My question is where would the best money on an antenna be spent? Would a Yagi antenna perform better than a 48 inch, 5/8 wave MURS band magnetic mount antenna on the roof of my truck? I would think that the 48 inch tall Murs antenna would significantly out perform the smaller Garmin magnetic antennas, but how would it compare to a Yagi antenna? The MURS band antennas made for the Garmin run about $85 unless you make one from Ebay supplies for about $50. The cost of the GRE amplifier is only around $50 itself.
We do use lower sideband CB radios and I already have a Wilson magnetic antenna on my truck's roof. There is no way that I can separate the two antennas by the magic 10 foot rule some suggest to prevent burning up the Astro 220. Almost all of our radios have been "tuned" up to a higher output and some club members do run amplifiers in addition to their radios.
Thanks,
Thomas
The best money would be spent on an arrow antenna for around $50. Google arrow antennas.If you are referring to the antenna you pm'ed me the link about, was that not a "base station" antenna not specifically suited for mobile use? I did not look that close but as I stated in the PM, I can point you to sources much cheaper and just as good as that if it was even a mobile antenna at all.
Who did you speak to about the yagi antenna? Why did he say he was not encouraged? I can promise you, if you get a yagi and learn to use it poperly, you will be completely satisfied with the range but as I have said before, if your dogs get deep and you typically hunt in places where you can drive around and get closer, a magnet mount will probably be the way to go and avoid the hassle of the yagi.
The antenna you are looking at does have a "gain factor" because it is 5/8s wave antenna as opposed to a quarter wave, so it will have some gain as well as a larger "capture area" for the signal, and there is the problem for me. I want as small a footprint as possible without sacrificing alot of performance because I do not want to be constantly whacking the antenna with limbs while I am driving. You can always remove the antenna and redeploy it when needed but the larger antenna is going to be more aggravating to do that with and the magnet is going to have to be much larger and stronger.
The cb is 27 mhz, not 156 mhz like the marine radios so there is a large difference in operating frequency there.
Let me answer your questions:
The yagi needs to be close to the freq. of the garmin. Your telemetry yagi will not work well!
The murs antenna will outperform the smaller magnet mount, in theory!
The yagi will outperform the murs antenna if used properly in theory and actuality!
Last edited by intellectualist on 03-06-2011 at 05:40 PM
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