In article ,
Lee Hopper "leehopp [at] centurytel [dot] net" wrote:

I have heard of holding a quarter-wavelength of wire next to the HT
while transmitting. This has been called a "tiger tail" and is supposed
to improve you radiated signal.
http://adjunct.diodon349.com/Radio/ht_tiger_tails_and_other_good_info.htm

Some attach this to the bnc at its base - others to the belt clip -
still others just hold it beside the radio as they transmit.

Do you think it might do any good?

A bunch of people in one of my area's hamclubs have built these...
they're the "fasten to the BNC base" variety.

Most of the peopple who made 'em, report significantly-improved
transmit range with their HTs.

One guy spends a fair bit of time up in San Francisco, and likes to
check into a net on the Stanford repeater. Without the tiger-tail on
its HT, he was able to get into the repeater reliably only by going
through some significant hassle (e.g. standing on a fire hydrant and
holding the radio just-so) to find an RF propagation path which
worked. He could not reach or hold the repeater while walking along,
pedestrian-mobile. With the tiger-tail in place, he reports that he
has no trouble getting into the repeater and holding it reliably while
just walking down the street.

The benefit seems roughly similar to switching from a short
rubber-duck antenna to a full quarter-wave "spaghetti noodle".

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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