For two meters and 440 I would suggest a J-pole. If you look on the arrow
antenna site http://www.arrowantennas.com/j-pole.html
He gives you the information to build your own. FM by mutual agreement is
vertical where sideband is horizontal. This relationship is used on VHF and
UHF.

On 6 meters a simple dipole will get you started. Use the formula
468/desired frequency in MHz equals the total wire length in feet. Make it a
little longer for adjustment purposes then cut it in half. Add a center
insulator and end insulators. At low power (=100 watts) use pieces of PVC
pipe. Tie the shield of the coax to one side of center and the center
conductor to the other.

Welcome to amateur radio and if I can help you in any way just e-mail me.

73 Fred

wrote in message
ups.com...
New to ham radio. Interested in building an antenna for a base station.
I dont have anything yet, just in the planning stage.


Thought about buying a handheld and using that as part of my "base
station" one maybe capable of 2 440 and 6. These seem cheaper used than
the home units.


My question is, is there information out there on how to build one? I
have a radio shack book at home that has a plan for a 440. It uses
aluminum ground wire. What I find when working with this stuff is it is
impossible to make it perfectlyu straight. Doesn't that effect the
performance? I mean it comes coiled and when I cut it to length I cant
get it perfectly straight.


Also, it is posisble to have good performance with one antenna for all
the bands? Or is it absolutely necessary to have one antenna for each
band? I have limited room.


I appreciate your help!