The 2m HT Dipole Antenna

I have a Yaesu VX-170 HT that, until this point, I only really used in the mini-van with a 1/4 wave mag-mount antenna. The W1BIM repeater in Paxton, MA is the most active repeater I have found in this area (actually it's about 30 miles away as the crow flies, so a bit of a haul...but it has a great footprint).

I've lost track of where I read about it, but the idea for a 1/4 wave antenna with a 1/4 wave dangling counterpoise sounded like a good rubber duckie upgrade that would still allow pedestrian use. Another way to describe it would be as a 1/2 wave vertical dipole.

The upper element is a 19" piece of 1/8" brass rod soldered into a gold plated banana plug. This plugs into the center of a UHF to BNC adapter which in turn connects to the BNC to SMA adapter required for this HT. The lower element is a piece of RG-58 braid that I had lying around that was not quite 19" long (I put a ring terminal on the other end to give it the extra length). This braid is soldered onto the "shield" of the UHF to BNC adapter.

I tested the antenna while standing outside on the deck this morning and it works just fine. I was able to get into the Paxton repeater with a reportedly good signal on the 5 watt setting. Next thing to try is the 2 watt setting -- no sense in running down the batteries if I don't have to!

UPDATE (18-MAR-2008) I've since purchased a Diamond SRH320A triband HT antenna... it works better than the rubber duckie, and it definately works better if I use a counterpoise, or "tiger tale". The main feature is that I'm much less likely to destroy my HT's antenna socket with the Diamond antenna! The brass clunker is now a "just-in-case" antenna that lives in my vehicle.