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are Diamond products just junk?

ok so i had this antenna for a few months now and thumbs down...
this is the compare of the 2
on UHF
Diamond X-50A gets s9
MFJ UV-325 gets S40+ i don't get it...
as for VHF
Diamond X-50A gets s20
The MFJ UV-325 S20+
I would think it would be performing a lot better. but this antenna was not worth it...

The MFJ UV-325 i got it off a friend used the inside was complementary rotted out the silver coil in it was corded and open the little ceramic cap was done i made a new coil with 14awg copper wire and got a new high voltage cap that was over kill compared to the old one.. this busted antenna that i fixed has nicer SWR and better receive then the Diamond X-50A. i feel ripped off..
 
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Ran a diamond x50 for a while years ago...worked great til it took a lightning strike. I then ran a x200. I worked great as well. I still have it in the shed for backup if my comet 333 dies.
 
so, if i understand the op correctly, he sent the antenna back to DX, and they sent him a replacement and he still has extremely poor performance from the diamond model antenna. Did the op get a new duplexer too? He said the duplexer was bad as well.
If he were not saying the repaired antenna that he got from a friend worked well, I would say there are things at play here other than the diamond brand antenna.
The good news is that while he can not talk on the radio in a fashion that makes him happy, he does have the video games at his girl friends house to occupy the time. Wonder what his GF is doing while he playing video games?
 
so, if i understand the op correctly, he sent the antenna back to DX, and they sent him a replacement and he still has extremely poor performance from the diamond model antenna. Did the op get a new duplexer too? He said the duplexer was bad as well.
If he were not saying the repaired antenna that he got from a friend worked well, I would say there are things at play here other than the diamond brand antenna.
The good news is that while he can not talk on the radio in a fashion that makes him happy, he does have the video games at his girl friends house to occupy the time. Wonder what his GF is doing while he playing video games?


just build a 2 meter. 70cm dipole.
that is what i use with my ken. ts2000 hooked to my duplexer. have great reports
i can hit the repeaters with the dipole inside my house.
 
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so, if i understand the op correctly, he sent the antenna back to DX, and they sent him a replacement and he still has extremely poor performance from the diamond model antenna. Did the op get a new duplexer too? He said the duplexer was bad as well.
If he were not saying the repaired antenna that he got from a friend worked well, I would say there are things at play here other than the diamond brand antenna.

I did get a new duplexer and i tested it with and with out the duplexer. the duplexer is not impacting the performance...

The good news is that while he can not talk on the radio in a fashion that makes him happy, he does have the video games at his girl friends house to occupy the time. Wonder what his GF is doing while he playing video games?
you miss the point she is playing them too :love:


MY BAD!!! it is a Workman UV 325
 
KD2GOE - I am curious, what are some reports from stations/repeaters that are further away? S9 and S9+ don't tell the whole picture? Takeoff angles (for one) also come into play. My x50 does a great job 20-30 miles out. I can hit close in repeaters with a rollup j-pole with comparable signals, but when I start to reach out you see a significant difference.
 
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KD2GOE - I am curious, what are some reports from stations/repeaters that are further away? S9 and S9+ don't tell the whole picture? Takeoff angles (for one) also come into play. My x50 does a great job 20-30 miles out. I can hit close in repeaters with a rollup j-pole with comparable signals, but when I start to reach out you see a significant difference.

ok ill see what i can do on testing that. not to much people talk simplex and i have no way to see what i am giving the repeater i am using a Kenwood TS-2000 so i cant send tones.. so the best i can do is try to hit repeaters that are far away at lower power or get reports...
 
The Ts-2000 does not have tones? Really? I find that hard to believe

I am guessing he means DTMF tones, which it seems are challenging with this model w/o a different microphone or futzing with the internal memory. It may be easier to just record a sound clip on a cell phone and play it back through the mic.
 
I am guessing he means DTMF tones, which it seems are challenging with this model w/o a different microphone or futzing with the internal memory. It may be easier to just record a sound clip on a cell phone and play it back through the mic.

i open the repeaters with the ctcss tone from my k ts2000. i dont see the problem.
 
So far my X50-NA is working very well. It has been up a bit over four months and is the first and only Diamond product I've purchased in the nearly 33 years that I've been licensed. It's always possible that some manufacturing defect gets past QA and out into the field. In that case one simply needs to test the unit when purchased and get it replaced under warranty.
 

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