Jimmie D wrote:

Bryan wrote:
merlin-7 wrote:
I think that most here know that even the best (rubber duck type
antenna)
is still only 1/2 of a real antenna (no real ground plane) and adding a
wire, hanging off the ht and connected to the outside of the antenna
connector improves performance.

What I was wondering is.

Has any one tried doing the same thing with something like foil tape
going
around the outside of a HT? Or possibly a spring or a couple of springs
connected to the antenna connector?

Btw it's a 5w Icom T2h so its pretty big for an HT, I commonly get in
areas
where I can key up the repeater of choice but skip in and out
sometimes.
My only other choice would be a small yagi (kind of hard to fit in a
suitcase)

Thanks
Ki4ILB

You may not need the gain of a yagi but could still easily do a
collapsible
dipole that would fit your briefcase. TV rabbit (aka "bunny") ears come
to
mind as a donor antenna -- replace the twinlead with 50 ohm coax (and a
choke balun). And for a portable antenna with a short feedline,
RG-174/U
is
mighty convenient (buy a BNC-to-whatever patch cable & snip off the
uneeded
end). If you buy a longer BNC/BNC patch cable, you can cut it in half
and
make two (different) antennas.

Bryan WA7PRC


Forgot I had used TV rabbit ears during a month long stay up in Syracuse.
The TV was on cable but still had the rabbit ears that cme with the TV.
These were made for use with coax so they are just a cable connected to
the
telscoping antenna. Bought an F to BNC adapter at Radio Shack and was in
business. Ive used pieces of wire pinned to curtains.

Jimmie

The coaxial cable was likely a 75 ohm variety... but would be close enough
to 50 ohms so the rig would drive it. Apparently, it did for you! ^5

Bryan