One of the other posters in this thread gave me the solution to my quest,
and it was cheap, easy, small, and less than 1.3 SWR. It was a simple
dipole, made of a wooden block and welding rod. I took a piece of 3/4 inch
wood dowel, cut it to about 4 inches in length, drilled one hole in each end
(lengthwise). I left about 1/2 inch of wood between the holes I drilled, so
the welding rods would not touch. I inserted a 19 inch piece of welding rod
in each end. The overall length is about 38 and 1/2 inches. Then, in the
center of the dowel, I drilled two intersecting holes so that I could put
screws into the wood which would press against each piece of welding rod.
This kept the welding rods in place, and it also gave me a place to attach
the center wire and braid from an RG-58U Coax cable. I soldered two small
alligator clips, on the coax, so that I could just clip the coax to the
antenna. To take it apart, or put it together, all I need is a phillips
screwdriver.

I'd like to thank everyone for their help, in pointing me in the right
direction!

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
I'm sure you know what you want, and I'm sure you have all the lab
equipment necessary to calculate VSWR on an antenna inside a conductive
structure. I'm also sure you have built antennas for emergency and
portable use for fifty years, so you are on your own so far as I'm
concerned.

Cheap, easy, small. Pick two.

Best of luck; write if you get work.

Jim



"Chuck James" wrote in message
. net...
Thanks. I appreciate the suggestion, but I have built the antenna you
described, using welding rod, plus a 440 MHz (smaller version), but in a
crowded room the radials stick out farther than I want. I tried building
a TV antenna line J-Pole today, but the SWR was higher than I expected.
I haven't tried shortening it yet, but will when I get time. But I would
still have to find some way to hang it from the ceiling or something. I
really want something small, unobtrusive and cheap and easy to
build.standing and as small as practical. The Welding Rod antennas
made with 45
degree radials are a little bulky to move through congested hallways.
The idea is to make it portable enough to move from room to room as
needed. Long radials would impede moving through hallways.
Thanks in advance, KE5GEO