20 Best Handheld Ham Radio Antenna (2023 Updated)

I learned about this antenna years ago from someone who was into scanner radios. It’s much better than what comes with portable scanners and better than any other after market antenna I’ve tried.

As aftermarket scanner antennas go, this is the best you can buy. If your performance does not improve it’s not an antenna problem, it’s a scanner problem. Used on a RadioShack Pro 97. Ditch the 6″ rubber ducky and get with the RH77CA today.

I’m 100% satisfied with the Diamond RH77CA, and you will be too !.

Perfect replacement for the antenna that comes stock with most handheld scanners. You will get better reception and build quality from the Diamond RH77CA HT antenna.

I have one at my vacation home in Yuma. I have this at my summer home in Modesto and I even put one up at my Mom’s house. Best High Gain VHF UHF omni-directional antenna for the price. This is the Tram 1481 antenna.

Do not seal up any holes at the bottom. These holes are called weep holes to let out the condensation. If you want to use pure 100 % silicon chalking on the two top joints. Where the top section screws onto the middle section and the middle section screws together to the bottom section, Go for it.

Day 1 is beautiful. 60 watts on 2m and I can key a repeater 114 miles away, before you say that is impossible I am. 1,670 feet in elevation and I have not had a confirmed contact on that repeater but at 114mi keying it is impressive.

I read water issues on reviews. There is a rubber seal between the sections and the “supplied” wrenches weren’t. Use crescent wrenches or pliers. Obviously hand tight isn’t water tight lol. Time is the true test but at $59 I would easily put it up against units costing $100 more.

Assembled and installed this antenna on a pushup pole. Making contacts to places i was never able to reach before. Works better than other antennas that cost 2 or 3 times more. Some reviews complained about water getting in but that will not be a problem.

I taped each joint and then used liquid tape to seal it, something you should always do on a jointed antenna. The Tram antenna was recommended to me by a person who maintains several repeaters in the area.

He has been successfully using Tram antennas on them for years. If installed properly this antenna will give years of service.

Looking for a good durable and affordable dual band antenna, it does have some gain, but it’s not a 5/8 wave, the tram 1181 fills the bill. these are very affordable antennas-around $15-20. unity gain on vhf, and 2.

5db gain on uhf. pre-tuned for the 2m/70cm ham bands. the build quality is good on the nmo base, and the antenna itself is pre-tuned and ready to use. antenna itself is good quality heavy type black coated metal stinger that handles at least 50 watts, as that is what i’m running thru it.

i own 2 of these units and they are broad banded and work just fine for local area repeaters and simplex stations. i haven’t had any problems or issues with either of mine. one is on the car, the other one i’m using on a base kit for a simplex repeater, also running 50 watts.

looking for something that works for your portable or mobile, and don’t, or might not want longer 5/8 wave, and want a lower price too, be sure and check this antenna out. think you’ll be happy and surprised at it.

i was. be great to have an extra one just to have ready in a go bag, or an extra to put on a mag mount on a friends car if going out with them and they don’t have an antenna, quick antenna on a second vehicle your own.

i like my units. and for the price, can’t beat it, with capabilities for both bands-pre-tuned and low swr. i checked mine and that was all i did–didn’t touch or even think about any slight adjustments to it.

was that good! i’m sure these will last for many years for me and do just fine. really nothing to go bad or wrong on them. nice black finish on antenna and the nmo mount. give them a look.

Great low profile dual band antenna. I installed this on my 2013 Prius using the TRAM NMO trunk lip mount and it works great, despite being on the corner of the roof of the car. I did bend the element slightly to keep it vertical since the mount is on the sloping part of the hatch.

Overall, a very good antenna for the money. We’ll see how it holds up over time. I still have some 20+ year old mobile antennas that still work!.

When it comes to vhf n uhf I like to have every ounce of power to the antenna. I precision cut the coax so it has less than a half watt of reflective power. This antenna tuned great on the 2 meter band with less than a half of a watt reflective.

However, the lowest reflective power on the 70cm band was 5 watts.

I have no complaints as of so far. I mounted this antenna on a 37 telescopic tower. I just have a Baofeng HT hooked you it right now, but my Rx is a hundred times better. My Tx is also way better as well.

I can hit repeaters that I couldnt even hear before.

Using it for a mobile dual band antenna for cross band repeater, for events such as marathons, Triathlons, etc. Mounted on a flagpole mount on my receiver hitch, tested it today, works good. Field test next weekend.

Good quality product. Don’t forget to ground it, for even better reception.

Great. Hoisting up mast on halyard resulted in good distance if it stays vertical. Also, used an adapter to attach to a hand held, and really improved the distance just holding it up with one hand while using the hand held with the other.

Great little spare antenna for a VHF marine radio. I use the antenna with a GPS Standard Horizon. It picks up Sea Tow radio check in the dock, WX and 16 Coast Guard. I originally purchased the antenna to trouble shoot a fault I was having with my mast antenna.

Downside – it’s and expensive accessory to have in the off chance you’ll need it.

I needed a temporary antenna and this works great. My unit receives AIS and the signals come through W/O issue.

If you use all the rods, it is a great scanner antenna. I modified mine to 1/4 wave ground plane. Works great for TX as well as RX. Saved the additional rods, for other projects. It does come with some CB adjustable nodes.

I do not use CB so in the spare radio box they go for someone in the future.

My issue is how the antenna package arrived. The triangular shaped cardboard box was broken and folded back on itself. The antenna appears not to have been damaged. The antenna assembled easily with no issue.

I have not yet tested the antenna connected to my radio, therefore I can only give a preliminary review. After connecting the antenna to my radio, I will update this review.

I mounted this antenna about 10 days ago about 14 feet off the ground. I had no idea what I was missing! My Whistler scanner was getting stuff from 25 miles away with the antenna that came with it and I was happy.

This discone antenna has at least doubled the distance plus picks up frequencies the back-of-the-set telescopic antenna did not. It looks delicate but I dropped it to the ground when mounting it in the wind ( I should have waited ) and nothing bent or broke.

I’m very impressed. I didn’t get it to transmit CB so I can’t comment on that. But clearly receiving signals 50 miles away with being only 14 feet up is great. I can’t wait to get it on my roof!.

I was really happy with the quality of this Tram 1410 ant. well built out of stainless steel and the main hub looks to be maybe brass or bronze that has been very heavy chrome plated, I used a dab of dielectric grease when I assembled it, it was larger than I thought that it was going to be and I had to pick it up from the post office because it would not fit in the mail box.

it is roughly 3 foot high and about 3 foot wide at the base, I installed all of the arms finger tight and then used a small wrench 9/32 the gently tighten the small lock nuts, I then installed the antenna on a 10 ft.

high piece of 1-1/8 PVC pipe and locked down the 2 allen head screws that hold it to the pipe, I needed 100 ft. of low loss cable to reach my scanner now I am just waiting for my UHF to BNC adapter to get here from China so that I can hook it up and see how well it brings in a signal.

so far I am very pleased with the 1410 Tram. very well built!. I will write back to this review after I have tried it.

After years of making discone antennas from various plumbing parts and brass brazing rods, I decided to try the Tram antenna based on what I have read and the pictures I have seen of the quality assembly the Tram antenna has.

Because, once this antenna is installed, I will not want to be endlessly climbing up on a second story metal roof to service it after a wind storm or bird landing! The fact that the Tram antenna uses stainless steel rods, nuts and hub assembly means no corrosion with good strength, and was a very big factor in choosing the Tram antenna over other name brand antennas, especially the antennas that use fewer rods, or poorer quality materials.

While my home brew antennas worked very well, the rods would end up breaking from the wind or occasional large bird landing on it. I decided that due to age and other health issues, I do not want to keep climbing if I can avoid it!.

Quality is very good and this makes it an excellent value. (E-Bay $37. 00 free shipping) I have several dis-cone antennas and this makes for a perfect attic antenna to compliment my multiple scanners.

V/UHF reception is on par with my Diamond dis-cones. This antenna does not have the low band coverage nor the capability to easily add a vertical whip, yet HF-MW reception is fair. So. it’s not designed for low band! Overall a super value and easy to assemble.

Typically this antenna sells for approx $50 so if you can find it for less, you can’t build a dis-cone cheaper considering it’s made using stainless steel elements.

I got this antenna to replace the stock one that came with my Uniden BC75XLT. I mainly use it for listening to railroad communications. It is a definite improvement over the stock rubber duckie. Even when used inside a vehicle the reception is clearer and I get more range.

The antenna is long so it may be distracting if you like to carry it on your belt or a shoulder strap but I don’t use it that way so it is inconsequential to me. The increase in clarity and range more than make up for its long length.

Pull the trigger and buy this antenna if you need a great railroad scanner antenna.

This is a nice antenna, and a big performance improvement over the rubber duck antenna that came on my old HT. I have tested several antennas, and on both ends of the conversation this antenna produced much better signal and quieting than the rubber duck.

Of course, it does not perform as well as a base antenna mounted high in the air, nor even as well as a good car antenna, but it is a lot more convenient to use than either of those. The antenna feels very good.

It has a nice amount of bend, and it is a lot less “pokey” than some other extended HT antennas I’ve used.

I bought this for my Bearcat 125AT which came with a small “rubber ducky” antenna. I compared the two, and this Diamond antenna is definitely giving me better reception. I have limited experience in this hobby, but so far, I’m happy.

This product was highly recommended on some internet forums,and it seems to live up to its reputation.

I was excited to get this antenna, was easy to put it together. But when it came time to tune it the pdf file left a lot to be desired. If you are an old time ham operator you might be ok. But for a newbie who has never used one of these antennas I was totally lost.

I have no idea where to set the clip for any band. If you don’t have an antenna tuner you’ll be in trouble. I would send this back but it would cost more than what it’s worth. So I’m stuck with it and will keep playing with it.

No real help on YouTube either.

Picked this up for Father’s Day as a portable for 1B field day activation. I must say it was easy to adjust and very compact for traveling which made field day so much easier than last year. I did spend one day beforehand learning how to setup each band for lowest SWR.

Once in the field it performed brilliantly. I also had another adjustable loading coil from an earlier antenna that allowed me to use this as an 80M vertical as well by adding it in series. I really like having the long whip which will make for some interesting antenna experiments in the future.

The only issues I see with it are the stiff counterpoise wires that make setup and stretching them out not as easy as more flexible wire (which I may substitute in the future). Also, the coil tuning clip are wire are fragile – could see that breaking if not handled gently.

Otherwise, great purchase – worth the money!.

Really is a necessary upgrade to short rubber duck antenna that comes stock on HT. Solid improvement on receive/transmit. DX Engineering has captured me as a customer! Delivery was super quick, well packaged! Saving some money now for my next order!.

Got this antenna for my FT 65, works really well, now have clear audio from reoeaters that were marginal at best with the OEM antenna. The base of this antenna needs a rubber gasket at the base on the FT65.

One rubber washer is provided, but could be a little thicker for a snug fit, otherwise would give 5 stars.

Replaced the rubber-duck antenna that came with my Alinco DJ-G7 and what a difference! With the old duck I was scratchy getting into the local repeater. Now I can get in no problem PLUS am able to get into repeater 20 and 30 miles away from my back yard.

This antenna works great in the vhf and uhf ham bands. No tuning was required. just screwed it onto my existing roof mounted nmo mount. The reflected wattage was nearly virtually flat in the middle of both bands as read on my Telewave thruline watt meter.

I highly recommend this antenna. at a great price too.

I’ve bought 8 or 10 of these for multiple vehicles or temp mag mount usage. Seldom needs the SWR tuned.

Worked perfectly right out of the package. Excellent swr on both bands it was designed for, and even had acceptable swr for the 220 MHz band, as a bonus!

This antenna does what its intended to do. That is: its a 19. 5 inch, wave, dual band mag mount mobile antenna that hits repeaters on both vhf and uhf within reasonable distances (20-30 miles depending on terrain) extremely well.

The magnet is 3 in diameter and is very strong, able to easily withstand high freeway speeds. Its well built and sturdy, and will stand up to rubbing against some lower lying branches and moderate grazing of an overhead garage door.

At the price, its a real bargain, and will perform at least as well, and usually better, than anything else in this category. It has a 12 foot pl-259 coax cable, so, depending on the size of your vehicle, you may need a 3 foot extender to place it correctly on the vehicle roof.

Recommended.

I just ordered a second Tram 1185 from TexComm. For a small 13 antenna with a 3 1/2 inch mag mount, this antenna does some amazing work with my Anytone AT5888 UVIII Tri-band mobile transceiver in my Jeep.

Now Im able to drive into underground parking structures without having to take my antenna down to prevent damage, just mount it towards the rear of roof. Ive tried many antennas but this one by far does the best work on 2 meters, 220 mhz and 70cm, especially in rough terrain in the Hawaiian Islands.

Yes, its about $30 bucks but well worth every penny. Todd de WH6DWF.

This is a GREAT! Antenna for the price. I work out in the middle of no where where cell service is no where to be seen. This antenna has gotten me linked up and talking with people when I need it. Built very well, the antenna vertical portion is made very well will not bounce or swing in the wind, magnet portion is very strong, coax is nice and thick.

This is not by any means made cheap at all, this thing is made for the long haul. Tram did a great job with this design, it is more of a medium size antenna when fully mounted up right. I have it hooked to a ICOM IC-2000 and running 50 watts this antenna does wonders, SWR is low 1:1 to 1:2 sometimes really never seen it go any higher than that.

Great antenna buy one you will love it.

Although I wish the old Antenna Specialist Company was still around (they made some of the best antenna products). As a ham I have been using Larsen antennas for decades. They are a no buyers remorse product.

They are known to be used commercially (Police, Fire, EMS, Taxi, Public Works etc. ). Rarely do you see Comet, Diamond, and other known amateur radio antenna products used in rugged environments. I got a new vehicle and knew I had to poke another hole in the roof so I just bought another Larsen NMO 2/70B.

If you have a less than optimal installation location such as below roof line, this 1/2 wave antenna is the one to get. Even mounted low, the SWR is 1:1 – 1. 3:1 across the 2 meter band. Highly unusual but the numbers don’t lie.

70cm is slightly higher but not enough to justify adjustment. Also works quite well on receive on the air band when nothing else is going on. Highly recommend for no ground plane installations.

Very good gain, and the whip is tough as nails. I have one on my motorcycle, and I’ve never had trouble with it, even after dropping the bike, which bent the whip 45 degrees. I took it out of the base coil, bent it straight, put it back in and kept on going, no problem.

Put some Loctite on the screws that secure the whip in the base coil. They can vibrate loose, I found.

Most MFJ products come in the iconic “MFJ” thick plastic bag but this one came just with a thin plastic wrap without MFJ branding, so I’m not exactly sure whether this is genuine MFJ product. The quality is good, though.

It can’t be worse than MFJ. As for the antenna itself, it’s heavier and more expensive than LNR’s trail friendly end-fed, but end-fed would require a tree or a pole. This telescopic antenna, on the other hand, suits locations where there’s no tree and not quite practical to raise a pole for a half wave resonant antenna.

However, this product does require a counterpoise which is still quite long compared to the telescopic pole itself. So it isn’t as convenient as the product picture suggests. It’s not just going to work by itself.

It’s an antenna for special circumstances.

I have hooked up the antenna and with a slight tuning have received signals. The counterpoise does make a difference even with a tuner between the radio and antenna. The signals do come louder with the counterpoise attached to the radio.

It simply doesn’t work. Four contacts in FT8 mode in 10-11 days. DON’T GET IT! Even the included instructions have mistake(s).

This is my first base antenna so I can’t compare it to others. I am taking the Technicians test in 4 days so I can’t test transmission yet. With a Boefang UV5R I am listening to repeaters that are at least 30 miles away with very clear no noise reception.

Connecting the radio to a battery powered computer speaker works better. The antenna is very well made and was at a bargain price compared to the other 2 brands at higher prices. I wrapped the 2 piece joint with plumbers rescue tape.

My feed line is 30 feet of heavy duty RG8 with PL259 connectors. I don’t have an SWR meter yet. The base of the antenna is 8ft off the ground and elevation here is 2,300 ft. I will give an update if I can when I get a license for transmission quality.

So far I highly recommend this antenna.

Installed the Tram antenna this afternoon up on chimney as high as possible @35 ft. I live in a valley also surrounded by tall trees – even the hurricane winds pass over me. Instantly picked up 5 repeater stations on 2 meters; I had none before with a vertical.

All antenna parts were received and seemed to be very good quality with no defects. I was expecting to find and had to pull the center conductor connector out of the top section by two inches in order to mate the two sections.

I also applied silicone sealant to the outside joining connector as is was a little loose. Assembly was easy (5 minutes), and easy mounting by one person. You can’t buy the materials alone for less than the cost of this antenna – great price @$51.

I highly recommend this antenna to anyone needing a good vertical for 2 meters – along with good coax feed LMR400.

I had one of these up on the tower for 15 years and it has held up and worked great all these years. A couple weeks ago a tree fell on the base of the tower and knocked it down so I bought this new Tram antenna that day.

I have it installed now and it works better (being new I guess) than the old one. That is I easily reach repeaters up to 75 miles away on 50 watts, and have consistent reliable QSO’s with closer repeaters / stations on much less power.

I’ve had the Tram 1180 for a couple of years. It does the job well and has not weathered perceptibly in the time I’ve had it on the car. The structural wire is pretty thin but I’ve not had any problems on that account.

I’ve run into the garage door a few times and bent it over with no lasting effect though I do wish it were a bit more stout in the bottom section just to minimize the rocking action under some driving conditions.

Since it is dual-band, it is more troublesome to tune since you have to go back and forth to find the minima for both bands but you can get a very low SWR on both 70cm and 2m if you persist. It has held up at 50W but I can’t testify to anything beyond that power level.

If I were buying for my other car I’d get another.

Gain is similar to my JETSTREAM JTM3BM that does not have a load and is the same cost. Might be better to go with the MFJ design as its a simpler. I tested this antenna and my MFJ 3BM mag mount in my walk out basement with them mounted horizontally on some metal wall cabinets.

Signal strength was 30 over for both from a VHF repeater 3 miles away. Rx S meter showed 40+ on my MFJ 1480 outside. I’d say this antenna works pretty good.

This is my third 1180 antenna. It has < 1. 3:1 SWR on both 2 meters and 70 cm. It is a well built durable mobile antenna that with a ground plane can also serve as a temporary portable antenna. The NMO mounts makes installation and removal quick and easy.

What a neat little thing! The antenna seems to be adequately built for the price, and also has great SWR! I wouldn’t expect an antenna this cheap to hit below 1. 5 SWR but this actually surprised me! I found that this antenna gets 1.

1 to 1. 4 SWR across the 2M band and similar results on the 70cm band. It is very flexible too. I have this mounted on my 1991 chevy about 2 ft in front of my standard FM radio aerial, and this guy is sometimes bent so far back while i’m driving that is gently taps the FM aerial.

Actually, I should probably move it forward a bit so I don’t accidentally blow out my radio with the high RF. I recommend this antenna for anyone trying to get on the air quickly and cheaply. I may update this post when I get a few contacts.

The only problem is the lower rod is too small in diameter. The whole antenna wanders around as I drive. I have some bigger rod. I may drill out the base and center load to accept the larger rod. What a way to save on material! Add $3 to the price and have the Chinese use bigger stock.

The gain on UHF is less than a 1/4 wave spike because the antenna won’t stand straight up driving 70 mph. I will give you a + on feedback, but won’t encourage anyone else to buy one. I will probably give it to a fellow ham.

Been doing mobile antennas since 1949. FS.

I gave it 5 star rating because the product works very well for the price paid. Although I was a little disappointed in how flexible the antenna wire is. It doesnt seem cheap but it is real flexible and moves around quite a bit if you drive rough roads.

You can notice a slight bit of fluctuation in receiving if its really whipping around but is not a deal breaker! So all in all I am happy.

As long as you recognize that the MFJ-1820T is a compromise antenna, it will be a handy addition to the ham radio operator’s portable antenna arsenal. I use mine with an Elecraft KX3, along with two 13-foot radials.

The first time I used it from a picnic table at a local park, I made two CW contacts while running 10 watts. There is any number of more effective antennas but if you need something that sets up quickly and packs down to practically nothing, this is your antenna.

Just don’t expect miracles.

My issue with this antenna is that I am attempting to use it in a stucco coated townhome (wire mesh on outer walls). Not the antenna’s fault. Using (2) 13′ counterpoise wires in the application. Heard a very faint qso on ssb once.

expensive for what it is – but functional – and seems well made – yet to test out P owing to this cv19 stuff – but its a 1/4 wave so not expecting Stella results – but if condx right who knows