As I’ve talked about in past blog entries and on Train Aficionado LIVE: Wideband antennas work okay on all bands but not great on a single band whereas a single band antenna works great on the one band it is tuned for. I’ve learned about Smiley from a fellow railfan so I had to test it out.
Located in California, Smiley Antenna has been going strong since 1984 with over 300,000 antennas sold. These high-quality portable antennas are a little different than your traditional antennas where the antenna and connector are two separate parts. These antennas can be fitted with up to 10 different types of antenna connectors.
Smiley has 6 options from mini, stubby, regular-sized, telescopic to a super duck. After looking at the wide variety of antennas I chose to get the 5/8 SLIM DUCK 160 MHZ. I purchased two connectors one for my Uniden Bearcat BC125AT scanner and one for my Anytone two-way radio.
Smiley 5/8 SLIM DUCK 160 MHZ Antenna
This rubber duck antenna is longer than your typical stock antenna at 9 inches. The SLIM DUCK is a flexible rubber duck made tough enough for military standards. It packs a punch with a 6dbd gain and its tune between 155 – 165 MHz centered at 160 MHz.
I’ve tested this antenna with both my scanner and the Anytone radio and it delivers a huge boost in a reception over the stock antenna. It picks up more of those distance signals and some additional trackside detectors. The antenna is flexible and taller but it is not tall enough to be a nuisance if you’re wearing the radio at your hip.
Each connector has a threaded connection so it is easy to switch between the connectors if using this one antenna for multiple radios.
I would highly recommend this antenna to someone that looking for an alternative to the wideband stock antenna.
