Understanding antenna options for VHF/UHF handheld radios
Transcript of Understanding antenna options for VHF/UHF handheld radios
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Understanding antenna
options for VHF/UHF
handheld radios
Bob Witte, KØNR
Tri-Lakes Monument
Radio Association
www.w0tlm.com
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▪ HT: Handheld Transceiver (Handie-Talkie)
▪ Affordable and compact transceiver with antenna, battery
▪ Typically covers 2 meters and 70 centimeters
▪ Low power (~5 watts)
▪ The three best ways to improve your HT:
Antenna, antenna, antenna
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▪ The quarter-wave vertical antenna requires a ground plane to work properly
▪ The ground plane produces an image that makes the makes the antenna work like a half-wave dipole
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▪ The World’s Most Convenient Crappy Antenna
▪ Shortened vertical radiator (not a quarter wave)
▪ No ground plane
▪ Rubber duck antennas vary in design and performance.
▪ Typically, they are ~8 dB worse than a dipole
Baofeng UV-5RYaesu FT-1DR
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▪ A full-length rubber duck for 2m
▪ Usually works on 70cm
▪ Does not fix the“no ground plane” problem
Source: Amazon.com Nagoya NA-771
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Sometimes called a “Tiger Tail” or “Rat Tail”
Add a ¼-wave wire to the HT ground(19 inches for 2 meters)
Creates a dipole antenna with the rubber duckOr a quarter-wave vertical with a counterpoise
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Bob Witte, KØNR [email protected]
MFJ-1714 – SMA or BNC connector New Improved!Dualband 2m/70cm halfwave antenna
Search Amazon forTWAYRDIO RH770
SMA (male or female)BNC
$17 delivered
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▪ About 54 inches long▪ Hang it in a tree, plastic
pipe, fishing pole, in a window
▪ Halfwave radiator with a quarter-wave matching section
▪ Dualband versions for 2m/70cm
Photo: kb3kai.com
Source: multiple vendors on Ebay
Or build it yourself.
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Bob Witte, KØNR [email protected]
▪ HT in a car is a transceiver inside a Faraday shield
▪ External antenna gets the antenna outside of the vehicle
▪ Mag-mount on the metal roof works well (requires a ground plane)
▪ About 19 inches high, 2m / 70cm
Source: Amazon.com
TRAM 1185
Make sure you get the proper connector or buy an adapter
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Attic antenna
Magnetic mount on steel sheet metal
Or on afiling cabinet, refrigerator, any hunk of metal
Bob Witte, KØNR [email protected]
Photo: Steve/KC2SP
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Arrow3-elementYagi
Directional antenna
BNC connector
~6dB better than a dipole
arrowantennas.com
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SMAFemale
SMAMale
BNCMale - Female
SMA Male on cable
NotPL-259
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RG-58 0.194 inches diameterStandard for mobile installations
RG-8X 0.242 inches diameterSlightly larger and lower loss than RG-58, still convenient size
RG-8U 0.405 inches diameterNot normally used with an HT, except for long coax runs. Lowest loss.
Photo: HamRadioSchool.com
For HT use, buy premade cables with the right connectors --- 50 ohms!
RG-316 Even smaller!0.1 inch diameter
Source: HRO hamradio.com, Amazon
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Source: Amazon, DXEngineering, HRO
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• Rubber duck antenna: convenient & crappy
• Antennas are a great way to improve your signal
• Pay attention to cables and connectors
• Try some things and experiment
Contact info:
Bob Witte KØNR