2m · 70cm

Bands

200 W

Rated

Frequency	144-148 / 435-450 MHz
Gain	6.0 (2m) / 8.0 (70cm) dBi (official sheet prints '6.0/8.0 dB'; the 2x5/8 + 4x5/8 phasing breakdown is widely cited community knowledge, not in the instruction PDF (Diamond's term: 'Liner Phase Shifter'))
TX power	200 W (200 W)
Modes	FM, SSB, CW, digital
Connector	SO-239 (UHF female)

Connectors

feedpoint

SO-239 at the base

Estimated (unverified): street price (maker doesn't publish; ~$130-160 commonly seen); element phasing breakdown (community-cited)

The eight-foot class benchmark: 6.0 / 8.0 dB official, from phased collinear stacks (the popular 2x5/8 + 4x5/8 breakdown is community lore - the official sheet just says 'Liner Phase Shifter') Two-section heavy fiberglass radome, stainless hardware, 112 mph wind rating, just 2.6 lb - decades of rooftops vouch for the construction 200 W; SO-239; no radials, nothing to tune Slots between the five- and ten-foot classes: more reach than compact verticals, less mast commitment than the flagship sticks The perennial cross-brand rival to Comet's GP series - the pairing that has split club rooftops for decades

Strengths

The default answer one size up: noticeably more signal than the five-foot class on both bands, from a two-piece fiberglass stick that ordinary masts and brackets still handle comfortably. The phased-collinear recipe is mature, the hardware survives weather measured in decades, and every dealer stocks it - the kind of antenna that gets recommended by people who stopped thinking about theirs years ago.

Weaknesses

Mid-ladder economics: the compact class is half the price and the ten-foot class outtalks it, so it wins only when eight feet is exactly what the site supports. Ham-bands-only coverage, and at 2.5 m the wind load starts caring about your bracket quality.

Verdict

The safe strong choice of dual-band base verticals: enough gain to feel, proven construction, no surprises anywhere. Pick your height class by your mast, and if the answer is 'about eight feet,' this is the antenna that class was named after.

The X200A is the antenna most hams picture when someone says 'dual-band base vertical': eight feet two inches of white two-section fiberglass delivering an official 6.0 dB on two meters and 8.0 on seventy centimeters from phased collinear stacks (the ham-lore breakdown of two 5/8-waves over four is plausible and everywhere, but Diamond's own sheet says only 'Liner Phase Shifter'). The recipe is identical in philosophy to its competitors and its siblings; what the X200A contributes is the specific size-point and a decades-long service record that turned it into the reference for its class.

Mechanically it is the familiar virtue stack: heavy fiberglass radome, stainless hardware, a 112 mph wind rating, 1.2 kg on the scale, an SO-239 at the base, no radials and nothing to tune. The 200-watt ceiling matters only to operators running base amplifiers on FM, which is a small and self-aware club. Its market position is the comfortable middle: the X30A and GP-1 compact class costs half as much for audibly less reach, while the ten-foot X300A and GP-6 tier outtalks it for audibly more commitment.

The Comet-versus-Diamond choice at each rung (here the X200A against the GP-3/GP-6 gap it conveniently straddles) has powered club-meeting debates for generations without producing a loser: the spec sheets interleave, the construction quality is equivalent, and the honest tiebreakers are price that week and which box the local store has. That is what mature product categories look like.

Diamond X200A