SQBM500P Dual Band 2/70 Vertical Super Gainer

Bought this aerial to replace a very old second hand 2m vertical I had had in place for years. Very easy to assemble and an immediate improvement both in receive and transmit signal strength. 1:1 SWR over the whole 2m band an excellent buy and very good value.

Swapped out the homemade slimjim on telescopic mast and immediate improvement. Can now reach
some repeaters that were previously out of reach. 1:1swr straight out of the box.

The 20 year old vertical had had its day, performance had dropped over the winter. Easy to put together, popped on to the mast same height, 4 s points up on 30 mile distant station. Local noise is also lower. The antenna works as I expected. In my mind a good buy.

As I’m “hamming” on a budget I have to consider all alternatives to the main brands - this potential “copy” of more expensive items had the same gain figures for much less money. Previous reviewers spoke highly so I took a chance.
They weren’t wrong. It is robust and when erected gave much better performance than my previous antenna and showed increases of S3/4 and more. I am getting out much further and fetching in more distant stations than previously.
I would recommend this whether you’re on a budget or not.

Brought for SDR radio with a RSPdx so I cannot comment on transmit ability.
Innitial mounting near the house wasnt great for rx reception due to local noise.
Antenna moved away from the house and works better now.
It is slightly tall though (at 2.5meters ontop of a 2 meter mounting pole).
The antenna did very well in two recent strong wind events with gusts over 50mph.
Very deaf at 25Mhz (claimed minium RX range).
CB - only local TX is picked up.
Very good normal FM radio reception. I pick up radio 4 (very weak) on 104.4mhz and I am nearly 45 miles away from the transmitter.
Acars - I recieve up to 220 miles
Aircraft band - no problem picking local VOR beacons, control frequencies (both sides of the conversation) and local ATIS. London VOLMET is weak but listenable.
2 meters and 40cm work like a charm.
ISM band works brilliantly for picking up local weather stations.
PMR 446 - picks up a fair few TX but this is low power.
I havent tried higher frequencies ..... yet.
Just a shame there are no instructions especially about how to connect the conductor in the top pole section to the bottom section but I did read another review that said about getting the top conductor to be visible then it was a case of using the supplied allen keys to connect and tighten the to conductors together.
My only real gripe is that the single locking nut that holds the base of the antenna to the metal bracket sleeve did not come undone in the recent strong winds but the antenna has a slight wobble in strong winds now even though the mast does not move. so it's rocking between the base of the antenna and the metal mounting. it wont go anywhere though as its a strong build.
It may just wobble more over time with future strong wind events

Bought this to replace my homebrew EDZ dipole and is a huge jump in performance even though only fitted into my loft space. Can now hit multiple repeaters across several counties, chat to an old friend who is mobile simplex on both 2m/70cm and discovered a fairly local simplex gateway too.

Fantastic build quality, simple to put together (look up instructions for a 'similar' antenna) and serving me well.

Great work Moonraker and appreciate what I thought was a great shipping price for Fedex delivery. (Quick too!)

Good quality antenna, fitted as a replacement for Diamond X-30. I see quite an improvement in signal strength (1-2 bars more on the S-meter), can easily chat to stations 50 miles away on both 2m and 70cm. I can also reach some repeaters I was unable to get through to before. Overall, money well spent.

Received quickly as expected with the high cost of carriage.
All packed well. No assembly instructions.
It wasn't apparent that the upper part had a concealed boss and Allen key.
So at first the swr was extreme.
I took it all down again. Took it apart connected the two electrically and bosh it works well.
Not sure why no instructions for old geezers .

Just finished installing up above roofline
Really simple assembly, sturdy hardware and out of the box SWR barely 1.1 2M 1.2 70CM
Nice reports on TX audio and uplift in reception for a couple of weaker repeaters from home QTH

Nice bit of kit, well done Moonrakers, highly recommended

This replaced a W30 and what a difference. The results are astounding and has made my 4 element beam redundant for vertical. As the gain is proper gain (dBd) and not the isotropic value that make an antenna seem better than it really is. Feeding 50-watts I get a good 70-mile radius, simplex and further over the sea up the coast from about 10-miles or so inland.

Foundation licence holders should really get this; 10-watts in and just shy of 50-watts e.r.p. less losses and rough rounding of numbers. I broadcast the GB2RS news for the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland from an Icom IC-7100 at full tilt (50-watts) and this 20-minute broadcast is heard and understood. Only feeding with RG58 but as there is less than 10-metres to the antenna from the shack, the losses are near negligible.