Friday, March 25, 2016

Comet SMA-24 Unboxing and First Look

(see video link below)
Comet Original SMA-24
146/446 Dual-Band High Gain Antenna
Unboxing and First Look Review

Now that I've been getting back into Amateur Radio and have been spending more time with my gear, the decision was made to upgrade the antenna on my trusty Kenwood TH-D7A.

The stock antenna on the TH-D7A is actually quite good and has a sturdy build. The quality of the antenna was never in question. However, those stock antennas are designed toward a trade-off size between "long enough" to pull in a good signal and "short enough" to be portable and convenient to work with in a portable, handheld radio.

Inevitably, whether an Amateur Radio operator, a Shortwave Listener, an SDR enthusiast, or a fan of scanners, the curious among us will always seek to pull in more signal as we reach for those far away and elusive transmissions.

I'd been taking my handheld Kenwood TH-D7A to work so I could listen to a local 2 meter repeater which belongs to a club that I'm interested in joining. My goal was to monitor the repeater for a while to get a feel for the operating style preferred by the users of that repeater. I also thought it might be a good idea to determine the activity patterns of the repeater and maybe see if I could pick up a few call signs before jumping on the air.

The distance to the repeater from my work place and the physical structure of my building reduced the reception of that repeater's signal down to an almost unusable state. It was a struggle to get the radio into a position where the squelch would stay open while people were conversing on my favored repeater. Something needed to be done.

Many years ago, I had purchased the Comet SMA-24 (or something very similar to it) and had used it with a different handheld radio. My memory told me that the increased length of the SMA-24, as compared to the stock antenna, showed a significant increase in received signal strength. I could no longer find that antenna among my collection of parts, so I searched Amazon just to see if it was there (see links below).

It turns out that Amazon had the antenna and since my Prime account meant that I'd get free shipping, I placed the order. I am quite happy with the results. Not only was the antenna delivered quickly and in excellent condition, it has demonstrated the improvements in signal reception that I was hoping to realize.

With this new antenna, that repeater is pushing a clear and strong signal into my radio. With a small, mono earbud shoved in my ear, I'm good to go! And not only does the new antenna allow reception of the signal I was hoping to receive, it has greatly improved this radio's overall signal quality. I'm pulling in much more than ever before. While inside my work place, that radio used to sit mostly silent with the squelch opening mainly to the occasional burst of random noise. Now I am pulling in communications across all bands!

The Comet SMA-24 has a length of about 17 inches and acts as a 1/4 wave on 146MHz for a gain of 2.15dBi. Meanwhile, on 446MHz it shows a gain of 3.4dBi and acts as a 5/8 wave radiator. The manufacturer states that the maximum power that should be put into this antenna is 20 Watts.

All in all, I have to say that I am very happy with this purchase and would recommend this antenna to anyone interested in improving the signal gain of their handheld radios or RTL-SDR devices.

I hope this video helps those who might be thinking of purchasing the Comet SMA-24 dual band antenna or those who may be interested in the reliable Kenwood HTs.



If you enjoyed this video, please let me know by hitting the like button and sharing a comment below.

As always, please feel free to share the video and this blog with friends, and remember to subscribe to the KC7ZXY YouTube channel if you'd like to see more videos like this one!

Purchase on Amazon.com (affiliate links)...
Comet SMA-24 Antenna - http://amzn.to/2vCggiT

Thanks for visiting. Keep coming back!

73,
KC7ZXY
Donald Watkins

► Twitter: @KC7ZXY
► Google+: +KC7ZXY 
► YouTube: KC7ZXY Tube

Other Links:
Comet SMA-24 on Amazon.com
Comet Antenna Website
Kenwood Amateur Radio Website