UHF Portable Radio Antenna Length

[metallitera]

I found threads on here about antenna length, but they seem to all revolve around cutting & making antennas, and mostly for building or vehicle mount.

I have a UHF radio that i RX&TX on about 450-470mhz.

I have the stock antenna thats around 6", would my reception hurt if i bought one of those stubby 2-3" antennas?

and is there a big difference in reception between the brands?

 

[ReceiverBeaver]

Length does make a difference. Use the longer ones. Probably little difference between brands though unless you were to come across a really cheaply made one that may break under repeated physical stress and knocking around. Any major name brand antenna should be fine.

 

[fmon]

Your stock antenna is likely optimal as a 1/4 wave for 460 MHz is 6.1 inches.

 

[rescuecomm]

As a general rule of thumb, going from a 6 inch to a 3 inch stubby antenna on a UHF portable will cost half of your transmit power and half of your receive strength. If you are working a repeater station less than 3 miles away such as in a small city, you may not notice the difference. More than that and the six inch antenna is the best. I don't use short antennas on my GMRS radios unless I am at the beach and the range is the room to the water. Our local police use the short ducks, the sheriff's office use the 6 inch since they can be a long way from the repeater. The deputies usually can hear the repeater well but can't transmit back in.

Bob