6-meter handheld antenna recommendations?

[prcguy]

Deleted duplicate post......
prcguy

Hi
I started using a Harris/Thales antenna that covers 6 thru 500Mhz on my FT-817 with an exceptional VSWR on all bands. It is a compromise but does work a lot better than the YHA-63 antenna that comes with the 817.
Testing shows that on 2 meters it works 60% better than a conventional rubber antenna.
This is due to the matching network in the base of the antenna.

Glenn, VE6ND

 

[prcguy]

I've made some impressive contacts with my 13" Thales antenna on a 6m HT but the specs on that antenna are around -30 to -20dBi gain in the 30-50MHz range. When I go to the 1m long version designed for 30-90MHz I have a couple of S unit improvement from my 6m HT over the 13" version.

A large group of people use military radios on 51MHz at the Dayton Hamvention and I can't talk across the entire roughly 15 acre venue with my 13" antenna and have to use the 1m long version. In the military circles where they use a 13" class antenna in the 30-90Mhz range they usually rate the range of the radio and antenna in hundreds of yards. I'm not kidding, I have manuals that state this.
prcguy

Yes it is, and the antenna is somewhat longer but the matching network does not have as much loss as one would think. Efficiency is good on 6 meters better than the top loaded YHA-63, I've been testing the antenna for about a week now and after putting it on a network analyzer it is much improved over any conventional rubber duck of the same size or close to it.
So yes the matching network does work quite well on this particular antenna with very little loss, if the losses were that great they wouldn't have been used/issued.
For 222Mhz while portable I use the Trivec Avant 2040 and while the network is larger in physical design it does pretty much what the smaller Harris rubber antenna does.

Glenn, VE6ND

 

[mancow]

I've made some impressive contacts with my 13" Thales antenna on a 6m HT but the specs on that antenna are around -30 to -20dBi gain in the 30-50MHz range. When I go to the 1m long version designed for 30-90MHz I have a couple of S unit improvement from my 6m HT over the 13" version.

A large group of people use military radios on 51MHz at the Dayton Hamvention and I can't talk across the entire roughly 15 acre venue with my 13" antenna and have to use the 1m long version. In the military circles where they use a 13" class antenna in the 30-90Mhz range they usually rate the range of the radio and antenna in hundreds of yards. I'm not kidding, I have manuals that state this.
prcguy

That Shakespeare whip we used out there the size of the rubber ones is amazing though. I was getting similar range to the full size tape whip. I wish I had bought more when they were on ebay.

 

[prcguy]

Yea, the Shakespeare is about 20" long and is a noticeable improvement over the 13", much more than you would think. I think I got three of the 20" blades and two with goosenecks before the prices went crazy.
prcguy

That Shakespeare whip we used out there the size of the rubber ones is amazing though. I was getting similar range to the full size tape whip. I wish I had bought more when they were on ebay.

 

[n1rik]

RE:6m antenna

What I find out works great with the flexible lo band antennas is running a counterpoise wire... acting as a radial. I pinch a 47" wire between my antenna and the ground of the connector ontop of my Wouxun 2m/6m HT and suddenly it comes alive. I can get into my 6m repeater full quieting with 1 watt at my house where as before with 4-watts I was extremely noisey without it. I can now hit my local coverage 6m repeater with my HT from 30 miles away using this configuration. My friend Dan has done the same thing with his 10m HT and can get into his mountain top 10 meter repeater perfectly fine from 70 miles away. It's amazing how much a counterpoise wire can make an improvement.

73
Bill, N1RIK

 

[FreqMeister]

Yaesu FT-817ND

First, my apologies if this has been covered already.

I am considering buying a dual-band (6-meter/2-meter) handheld transceiver and am interested in input from anyone regarding their experience with 6-meter handhelds, especially with regard to antennas. The particular model in consideration transmits at 4 watts on 50 MHz and 5 watts on VHF. At this point, I'm not looking for a mobile or base station antenna. One likely contender that I've found is the Diamond SRH940.

Be careful with fake Chinese clone antennas. They're often easier to find than the real thing. The Yaesu FT-817ND comes with a great antenna for 6 meter, 2 meter and 70cm meter use. It's not quite handheld but close and there are few true handheld 6 meter transceivers. The FT-817ND will run off 8 AA batteries and, in addition to 6m, offers 2m, 70cm, and all the HF ham bands from 80m on up..