Comtelco Antennas
A Deep Dive into Mobile Mark’s Family Brand
Comtelco, a family brand of Mobile Mark, was established back in 1982 with a strong catalog of diverse antennas and accessories mainly for Public Safety, Land Mobile Radio (LMR), and VHF/UHF. Famously known for its long history of success, dedication to customers, reliability, and engineering excellence, the brand offers a wide variety of solutions that differ in form factors, technical capabilities, and use cases.
It started with the creation of Whisco Component Engineering, Inc. by three former Motorola employees. The concept was to design, develop, and manufacture products for the communications market. Comtelco was created as a division to distribute products and eventually evolved into Comtelco Industries, to sell products throughout the world.
In 2017, Comtelco Industries was acquired by Mobile Mark. All of the Comtelco products, equipment, and personnel were merged into the Mobile Mark family and became a Family Brand of Mobile Mark. The late Bob Scorza, former President of Comtelco, explained “We believe Mobile Mark will continue to bring value to our customers by investing in research and development. We know how they operate their business and we know their commitment to the industry. We have every confidence that they will continue to provide the highest quality products, offering the best performance and reliability.”
Since then, Mobile Mark has been committed to honor our agreement, and Comtelco has been continuously thriving as a family brand of Mobile Mark. Now that you’re more familiar with Comtelco’s history, let’s get into the technical aspects of it. Comtelco products cover the following: Base Stations, Folded Dipoles, Marine Antennas, Panels, Yagis, Spring Loaded Whips, Couplers, Mounts, Specialty Brackets, Marine Antennas, Accessories, and more! Let’s take a look at some of these.
Base Station Antennas
Let’s start by saying that our antennas are all manufactured in the US. using proven design techniques and specialized materials that provide economical and reliable long-term operation. These Omnidirectional base stations are primarily center-fed dipoles, available in various configurations, offered in both standard bandwidth and wide bandwidth at certain frequencies. They are constructed using high-quality copper alloy elements and/or welded for electrical mechanical integrity.
Let’s start by saying that our antennas are all manufactured in the US. using proven design techniques and specialized materials that provide economical and reliable long-term operation. These Omnidirectional base stations are primarily center-fed dipoles, available in various configurations, offered in both standard bandwidth and wide bandwidth at certain frequencies. They are constructed using high-quality copper alloy elements and/or welded for electrical mechanical integrity.
On top of all of that, a complete lineup of mounting accessories are available: stainless steel mount kits, V-bolt brackets, and powder-coated aluminum block assemblies for ease of mounting and resistance to corrosion. Their single band frequency ranges from 45 – 960 MHz while their gain ranges from 3dBd to 6.5 dBd; all the omnidirectional BS, BSL, and BSLL Series are ideal for mobile networks, utilities, and public safety infrastructure. Check out our Base Station Antennas.
Yagi Antennas
Our Yagis are used by customers all over the world, specifically in locations where resistance to severe environmental conditions is a great cause of concern. By using a construction technique called cold weld, we can produce antennas that are every bit as rugged as a standard welded yagi, but at a significant cost advantage. Using specially designed hydraulic machinery, we are able to press tight-tolerance solid elements into precision machined booms. These elements are pressed in with over 1,000 lbs. of hydraulic pressure, insuring a permanent bond. After assembly, an epoxy powder coat is applied. This seals the antenna, providing total environmental protection. The premium cold welded yagi antennas’ elements range from 3 to 15 elements, and their frequency ranges from 144 to 960 MHz, while their gain ranges from 6dBd to 15dBd.
Our line of fully welded enclosed feed Yagis are constructed with solid aluminum elements, enclose feed with no-tune design, and epoxy powder coating finish. Their elements range from 3 to 12 elements and frequency ranges from 200 to 960 MHz while the gain ranges from 7dBd to 10 dBd. All of our Yagi antennas are ideal for long-range point-to-point communication, from utility sectors to public safety, smart highways, and mining. Learn more about the Yagi Antennas.
Folded Dipole Antennas
Our folded dipoles, the EDX Series, are engineered to provide enhanced performance where broader bandwidth and directional coverage are essential. These antennas essentially double the electrical length by folding back onto themselves, improving impedance matching and enabling better connectivity with a range of transmission systems. The design also increases the effective diameter of the antenna, which enhances bandwidth while maintaining a balanced, DC-grounded structure that supports reliable operation in a wide variety of environments.
The EDX Series is built for rugged field deployment, with anodized aluminum construction that can withstand extreme wind speeds. Offering wide frequency support from 150 to 512 MHz, these antennas cover UHF, VHF, and even PTC applications, making them ideal for public safety, utilities, transportation, railroads, and smart grid infrastructure. Their 360° gain pattern, 4 dBi max gain, and optional phasing harness make them highly adaptable to specific coverage requirements, whether omnidirectional, stacked for greater gain, or side-mounted for wider horizontal coverage.
Installation is designed to be straightforward and field-friendly. The antennas include stainless steel mounting hardware and are optimized for easy mast alignment; they are lightweight yet durable and they integrate seamlessly into complex setups. In environments that demand reliability, in field ability to tune and configure, and consistent performance across VHF/UHF bands, the folded dipole EDX Series stands out as a powerful infrastructure solution.
Low Band, VHF, UHF, and Trunking
As the leader in spring loaded antennas, Comtelco introduced the first spring loaded-contact in a mobile antenna and continues to develop and improve this technology. Comtelco antennas use a rugged .125” diameter stainless 17-7 steel tapered whip in our standard base loaded antennas. Many of our competitors use only a .100” diameter whip. The difference can be seen in the bending over that a lighter-duty whip exhibits when mounted on a moving vehicle. Our antennas have an enclosed silver-plated phasing coil and feature a .125” diameter stainless whip below the coil. This gives us a more robust whip than units with only a 0.100” diameter whip.
Our High-Q loading coils are larger in diameter, allowing Low Band coils to be built in the same low profile base as our VHF and UHF models. We have provided more frequency splits in our shunt fed base loads. This allows better frequency matching throughout the bandwidth. Most of our black whips are epoxy powder coated, so there is no chipping or flaking, a problem that is encountered with chrome.
Our mobile whips vary as they are options for Quarter Wave, Half Wave, 5/8 Wave, or Wide Band. Their mounting options are diverse as well; they’re available as NMO, Fixed, or magnetic. The frequencies of whip-style antennas differ: low band unity gain shunt fed dc grounded cover 26 to 54 MHz, Quarter Wave cover 54 MHz to 970 MHz, Half Wave cover VHF, UHF & 800 MHz Trunking, 5/8 Wave cover VHF & UHF, and Wide Band cover UHF & 800 MHz Trunking.
Mounts & Accessories
Comtelco covers a wide array of products, and there’s more that we haven’t even covered. Not only does it cover antennas, but it also includes options for mounts and accessories that are essential for your installation process. We make sure you have the complete solution at hand.
We have options for mount systems, like NMO mounts, that are for standard and very low loss requirements. Brass mount with no flats, and a stainless steel piercing saddle to provide a good electrical and mechanical connection. Other options include magnetic, trunk, and specialty mounts and brackets. Mobile to base adapters, adapter brackets, thick body mounts, diplexers, triplexers, couplers, and so much more.
Mobile Mark’s Comtelco antenna line combines decades of engineering heritage with modern manufacturing agility and global reach. Whether you’re deploying base stations, boosting mobile communications, or need broad-spectrum, durable antennas, there’s a solution. Remember, all of our Comtelco products are Made in the US. with short lead times of 3-weeks. In fact, over 30% ship early. We urge you to look at our Comtelco Catalog to learn more about what we discussed and the other sections Comtelco covers.
Remember, when failure is not an option and when communications are critical, Comtelco and Mobile Mark antenna solutions are here for you!
ABOUT MOBILE MARK, INC.
Mobile Mark Antenna Solutions designs and manufactures site, mobile and device antennas for 30 MHz – 6 GHz. Applications include GPS Tracking & Fleet Management, Cellular 4G LTE, 5Gready, WiFi, RFID, Public Safety FirstNet, M2M, Industrial IoT, IoT, Smart City Networks and Autonomous & Connected Cars. Engineering and custom design services are available. Mobile Mark’s global headquarters, which include research facilities and manufacturing plant, are located near Chicago, IL. An additional manufacturing and sales facility is located near Birmingham, UK. For further information visit our website: www.mobilemark.com.