Comet GP-1
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| Frequency | 144-148 / 440-450 MHz |
| Gain | 3.0 (2m) / 6.0 (70cm) dBi (manufacturer figures; 1/2-wave on 2 m, 2x 5/8-wave on 70 cm) |
| TX power | 200 W (200 W SSB / 100 W FM) |
| Modes | FM, SSB, CW, digital |
| Connector | SO-239 |
| feedpoint | SO-239 at the base |
Estimated (unverified): introduction year (1990s-2000s, long-running model)
The no-drama base antenna: four feet of sealed fiberglass with no radials to bend, no traps to fail, and nothing to tune. The half-wave two-meter element keeps it tolerant of imperfect mounting, the 200-watt SSB rating exceeds any base rig short of an amplifier, and at two pounds it goes up on a push-up pole, a balcony rail, or an eave bracket - which is exactly the customer it was built for.
Compactness is the ceiling: 3.0 and 6.0 dBi are starter-antenna numbers, and its taller siblings and rivals add real, audible gain for modest extra money and height. Strictly a ham-band antenna - the SWR curve is centered on 144-148/440-450 - and like all fiberglass collinears it tells you nothing about the elements inside until something fails.
The right first base antenna and the right stealth antenna: small, sealed, forgiving, and cheap. Operators with room for six more feet of fiberglass should buy its bigger brother instead; operators with a balcony and an HOA should buy this and stop worrying.
The GP series is Comet's line of sealed fiberglass base verticals (the white sticks on rooftops) and the GP-1 is its smallest ham-band member: four feet two inches, two pounds, a half-wave over a pair of phased 5/8-waves, and an SO-239 at the bottom. No radials, because the design supplies its own counterpoise inside the radome; no assembly beyond hose-clamping it to anything between 1.25 and 2.5 inches in diameter.
The half-wave choice on two meters is what makes the antenna so unfussy: half-waves are largely indifferent to what they are mounted on, so the GP-1 performs about the same on a proper mast, a balcony rail, or a chimney bracket. The numbers are modest and honestly stated, 3.0 dBi on VHF, 6.0 on UHF, with SWR under 1.5:1 across the ham segments and a 200-watt SSB rating that no base operator will threaten without an amplifier.
The buying logic is about height and headroom. For roughly the cost of dinner, the GP-3 adds twenty inches and a decibel and a half, and taller sticks like the Diamond X200A keep climbing from there. The GP-1 wins when the constraint is space, weight, or visibility: it is the antenna for the apartment balcony, the rented roof, and the first station, places where four quiet feet of fiberglass beat eight conspicuous ones.