On Sat, 3 Apr 2004 06:36:31 -0500, "Dave VanHorn"
wrote:

You would be better off with a 1/4 wave ground plane on 2m. Seriously.
And one of those can be as simple as five 19 inch pieces of wire and a
So-239 connector. MK

Why would he be better off with a 1/4 wave, with it's large vertical lobe?

Hi Dave,

For any of a couple of reasons, principal among them being simplicity.
I have 2M, 220 and 440 versions with drooping radials that match quite
easily and couldn't be any cheaper for only the cost of the SO239. As
for "it's large vertical lobe," I am not sure what you mean by that.
The 5/8ths has more gain, but not so much more in a band and
application that is dominated by line of sight communication. If the
difference between the two is important to getting into a repeater,
getting into the repeater is not the same as full quieting and can be
an obnoxious advantage suffered by those who have to listen to a poor
connection. Such problems are more simply remedied by elevating the
existing antenna than trying to "add gain."

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC