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Reviews For: Comet SBB-224 Tri-band Vertical 2m/220/440

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

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Review Summary For : Comet SBB-224 Tri-band Vertical 2m/220/440
Reviews: 12MSRP: 74.95
Description:
Mobile vertical antenna for 2m, 220MHz, 440 MHz 100 Watt
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.cometantenna.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15124.5
N1IG Rating: 2024-06-16
Excellent tri-band antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was looking for a decent tri-band antenna to use with my 5888UV-iii, and found the Comet SBB-224NMO with a bunch of very good reviews. Bought one from HRO, and have been very pleased with its performance so far. I can now clearly hear and hit repeaters, that in the past were a bit noisy. It just works well.
N2MDV Rating: 2017-01-13
A cheaper replacement for the older CX-224, but still great! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Back in the 1990's I bought the older model CX-224 and found it to perform very well on all three bands. Yes, no perfect match, but all below a VSWR of 1.9:1. To my surprise, it was 1.1:1 on the new license free MURS 151 / 154MHz band. The MAG mount was a 5" Lakeview. Fast FWR to 2008, when a low hanging pine tree branch grabbed that antenna and the pull from the coax made it swing under my passager's side rear tire. CRUNCH!!!! I thought it lost, so replaced it with the newer SSB-224. Found it cheaper at $75.00, compared to over $200.00 for the CX-224. Performance was the very same on all bands and worked very well with the Kenwood TM-741A. I even used it once with a Yaesu FT-857D for contesting 2M SSB and worked the Altoona, PA group from Western New York running Rover. This antenna, I bought the Diamond 4" MAG Mount with that addition 6" suction cup. Stands up to trees now. The old CX-224? I kept it in storage and looked at it in 2017. To my surprise only the MAG mount crunched and gave way, but the antenna survived! I added GND radials and another PL-259 connector to it and tested it with a dual band HT. Good VSWR's! I'm going to make a base antenna out of this. YEA!!!!!
WV2NY Rating: 2015-04-07
I give it a Good Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Hi guys, I have two of these, one has been mostly mobile for the last year (it's holding up well despite the rough winter we just had) and the other has been used on a mag mount here and there.
Both antennas are exactly alike as far as performance while mobile goes.

at 147.255 my local repeater the SWR is 2.0, you go down to 140 and it the SWR goes down to 1.5, you go up to 148 and it goes up to 2.3. My MFJ meter only has VHF so I can't speak to the SWR on 440 or 220.

On the move I get reports of picket fencing once I get past the 10 mile maker from any of our club's three repeaters, 2m, 440 and 220. Closer than 10 miles in and everyone hears me well both on the repeater & simplex.

So, there you have it, my experiences with this antenna, Your experiences and mileage may vary.

I'm getting exactly what I expect from an antenna of this size and gain.

Joe WV2NY
KY4TS Rating: 2014-08-12
Works great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This has been mounted to the trunk lid of my car since 2010. In that time I only had one problem. The spring loaded center pin on the NMO mount became jammed or damaged and wouldn't make a good solid contact. One call to Comet was all it took to remedy the situation. Even though the antenna was out of warrantee, they had me send the base and center loading coil to them and replaced it at no cost. Superb customer service! I have had no other problems with it. The radio I am using has only 1 watt out on 222MHz, but this antenna makes the most of that watt. The 144 and 440 band performance was on par with another dual band antenna I had been using that had slightly better (on paper) gain ratings. Very satisfied with this antenna AND Comet (NCG) customer service.
KI4GTJ Rating: 2011-11-01
The Best Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I'm useing it on a mag mount in apartment running my Wouxun 2m/220 and for running my ADI ar-247 in the truck works great! When on the truck its on the comet rs720 nno
KC0IVL Rating: 2010-01-25
Great Antenna for 220 Mhz Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the SBB-224 back in 2005 for the 220-Band as I have a Comet CA-2x4SR for my 2M/440 Radio. Another web site suggested that I go with a Larsen Mono band antenna for 220 instead. I hooked up the brand new Larsen and noticed my receive dropped a whole S-Unit from the SSB-224 even though it has been in use for four years. I then tuned the Larsen down to a perfect 1.1 match and still didn't receive or transmit as well as the Comet, even though the SWR on the Comet was a bit higher (1.5). I will be sticking with the SBB-224 for 220 Mhz from now on.
KB3CS Rating: 2008-06-19
excellent performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
the antenna is pre-tuned and needs no removal of paint or surface finish - despite previous reviewers comment.
Surprising to me was how very low the SWR is across all three bands. The SWR meter didn't deflect at all until I was well outside the Ham bands!
This antenna is quite serviceable in the 150 MHz and 460 MHz business bands, too.
Good choice for use with a Yaesu VX-6 triband HT.
K6JMG Rating: 2008-05-14
Very Pleased Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
For a multi-band antenna this is an excellent little unit. The nicest thing I feel I can say about anything is that is works as expected.

One other thing that raised Comet to the top of my list, or at least NCG who is their US distributor, is customer service integrity. I do not leave the antenna on its base; I normally keep it in the back of the car. It was rattling back there so I decided to rearrange it. When I took it out I discovered the the center load on it was cracked in half. I assumed I had allowed something to slide into it and broke it. I called NCG and told them what had happened and that I didn't feel like it was a warranty issue. The fellow at NCG said he thought it WAS a warranty issue and he was sending me a new load...there is some integrity left in the world!!

Jim
KC4CP Rating: 2006-12-10
VERY GOOD Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
For a tri-band antenna, this one works very well. However, there is one problem that exists with all of them ... that must be corrected. The ends of the whips (at points of connection) are always totally powder coated. You must scrape off the powder coating! Performance will go through the roof and SWR will become nearly perfect (if not perfect).

It should be understood that a mono-band antenna will certainly do a little better. But I give it a 5 rating in the tri-band antenna category.
VA3TO Rating: 2006-07-10
Compact yet effective Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been using my SBB-224 triband antenna for 6 years on a trunk lip mount (ground re-inforced) with my Kenwood TM-741a triband FM mobile radio. Never had a problem like I did with my Diamond and Comet 50/146/440 triband antennas which both exhibited similar problems after about 3 years of use (sudden poor performance although the SWR showed to be okay !?).
The SBB-224 offers reasonable gain considering its short size and the low profile allows me to pull in and out of my garage without having to get out of the car to remove/install it !