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On May 7, 11:31 am, James186282 wrote:
I've been trying to understand the basics of HT radio antennas. The
first part that puzzles me is the "ground" side of an antenna. Or if I
can use a Dipole as an example one side of the dipole. Or if we use a
groundplane the radials. With an HT are we just "doing without"? Or is
this just my dumbness in action?

My second question is in asking how effective is the typical rubber duck
antenna versus say a truly resonant antenna or even a 5/8th wave which
tries (if I understand it) to squish the pattern down from a sphere to a
doughnut so its hears and talks better out then "up and down"

In my mind I would simply like an antenna that was effective but
flexable. Length is not "critical" as I plan to hang it up high on an
LB harness. The idea is a rough and tumble antenna that can work in the
woods on a Search and Rescue mission but will give me the very best
range out (not so much up/dn)

Has anyone done any serious work with HT antennas? Is there anyone
clued into how to match these properly? And has anyone looking into
using spring steel (Such as Measuring tape) for the antenna as the
Military uses in many of their radios?

Thanks for any thoughts on this de Jay W0VNE

With an HT, the radio and the person holding it are the lower half
of the antenna if using a 1/4 wave or 5/8 wave. And yes, a full
length antenna will trounce most rubber ducks.
A good antenna for HT's is the half wave. But I've seen the 5/8's
do pretty well even considering the problems.
A 1/4 wave is a good cheap antenna. IE: get an adapter that
converts the rubber duck connector to a SO-239. Then stick
a 1/4 wave whip in the center pin hole. Quicky 1/4 wave that will eat
most all rubber ducks. And using external ground planes, verticals
works well too.
-
At one time, I did troubleshooting on a manpack radio (that dates the event)
that had a battery operated data terminal connected to the radio. Pressing
the transmit button would terminate the data. The problem was that the
cable length from the radio to the data terminal was almost exactly 1/4
resonant. The radio loved the arrangement....the data terminal didn't like
the voltage.