This is very big for a mobile aerial, it's about 50% heavier and longer than the Sirio HP 2070 R. Like the Sirio, it has a fold over base. The W-7900 is about 4cm longer than a Diamond NR-790, and a little heavier. I've used the NR-790 on a gutter mount, attached to a Ford Transit van, which was very secure. I assume the Watson would work well in a similar arrangement, but the W-7900 is far too heavy for the standard car hatch back mount or a mag mount. I purchased the W-7900 at the 1999 Cork rally, as a replacement for the rather old and scruffy NR-790, but unfortunately it's never been used in
anger as I don't believe it would be secure at high speeds.
Techical Data
Technical data for the Watson W-7900 dual band mobile antenna, taken from the
manufacturers packaging.
2 Metres
70 cms
Type
7/8 Wave
3 x 5/8 Wave
Frequency Range
Not specified
Maximum Power
150 Watts
1.5:1 VSWR Bandwidth
Not specified
Gain
5 dB
7.6 dB
Length
1.54m
Weight
600g
Note that the gain is ambiguous as they don't specify whether they're using dBd or dBi, which makes a big difference. I
hope they're using dBd, as the performance would be very poor otherwise.
See also my In Car Amateur Radio page.
File under: Category Amateur Radio, Category VHFand Up.
