Antenna choices for Yaesu FT-60R

[n7uv]

Thanks, I'm new at this and realizing ham antennas are a bit more complicated than the old "rabbit ear" TV antennas I used as a kid

I appreciate your info and realize a short antenna attached directly to an HT is going to have limitations regardless of the brand.

Being new to ham radio and starting out at a budget level, my new Yaesu FT-60R HT is my only ham radio right now and I have mostly used it so far from inside my house with the included stock antenna, and have been pleasantly surprised at how well it picks up conversations between hams even though I am using the included stock antenna from within my house especially considering there are no repeaters listed as being within the county limits of the county we live in, so it must be picking up a repeater from outside our county limits because the conversations I have heard thus far has included people from another state.

So while I will possibly consider a larger (coax connected) antenna as a later possibility, in the meantime I am very impressed with the reception ability of my FT-60R with the stock antenna from inside my house.

So while I am pleased and content with how well my FT-60R HT already does "as is" from our semi-rural location, it does make me wonder how much better it might be connected to a 4 foot antenna with how well it already does "as is" from our location.

Thanks again !

well, the thing about those old rabbit-ear antennas is that they're intended to be a dipole at whatever radio frequency your TV station is on. Always work best when both legs are adjusted to the right length, and oriented to capture as much of the broadcast signal as practical. Efficient, as well. Just ugly, ungainly, and fully unacceptable in today's world...

 

[GKLdiy88]

And! Some of the really cheap "mag-mount" antennas have a magnet that is barely that, street speeds can knock them loose. Especially no fun on the freeway. When a mag-mount whip-style wire antenna is stuck to a suitable ferrous material (@littona discovered that the expensive way), should be able to grab the end of the antenna and fold it to the roof without it popping loose. Even then, the mag-mount base is only capacitively coupled to the metal roof surface, so the base should be at least a few inches in diameter and there should be a piece of metal (copper, maybe, but not likely, prolly just copper colored) foil on the bottom of the antenna base. Take an ohmmeter and buzz the foil to the ground connection on the cable to make sure it's actually connected.

Very good point, one reason I do a whole lot of research of customer reviews on any product I might consider buying. I'd rather pay a little extra for a magnet good enough to hold on even at expressway speeds.

Like I think @mmckenna said, try connecting your FT-60 to a decent antenna mounted outside. It's nearly as good as any mobile out there (receiver intermod is generally worse, and of course it puts out only 5 W which is plenty good enough with a decent antenna). I have a couple Yaesu/Vertex VX-150 2-meter-only handhelds in service as ammo-can digis. While not the same radio, they're similar enough in size and performance. On a decent antenna (one's on a j-pole and the other's on a 1/4 mounted over a ground plane) they're as good as anything out there.

I'm not ready to immediately buy an antenna, but I like to research stuff ahead of time and decide on possibilities for when I am ready and appreciate all the info the forum members share here.

Though I checked reviews before buying my FT-60R HT, I still occasionally find more reviews and I am even more convinced I made a very good choice for an HT in that price range.

Eventually I hope to get a mobile ham made for in the car, and also use it as a base station at home, no big hurry, having fun with what I do have so far !

Thanks again !

 

[GKLdiy88]

well, the thing about those old rabbit-ear antennas is that they're intended to be a dipole at whatever radio frequency your TV station is on. Always work best when both legs are adjusted to the right length, and oriented to capture as much of the broadcast signal as practical. Efficient, as well. Just ugly, ungainly, and fully unacceptable in today's world...

.......and don't forget some people added aluminum foil to the rabbit ears to try to improve reception

 

[mmckenna]

Now I have read customer reviews that the antenna included with FT-60R is not a bad antenna as far as those types of antennas go, but it would seem obvious if you connected an HT to the right 4 foot vertical antenna high above the ground that would get much greater range than the included 7 inch antenna.

Absolutely.
2 meters, 70 centimeters and higher bands operate very much on a line of sight basis. If the two antennas can "see" each other, you can usually talk fairly reliably between them. Generally speaking, getting a good antenna up as high as you safely can, and feeding it with decent coaxial cable, will allow you to work just about anything that is visible.

There are some funky things that happen with building penetration, reflections, ducting, knife edge refraction, etc, but generally speaking, reliable communications needs line of sight to be reliable. Easy to do, and it will make a noticeable difference in performance.

Just don't fall for the gimmick antennas that they market towards ham operators.

 

[TexTAC]

I have an FT-60R and use a Diamond SRH77CA antenna on it. It works ok for portable use (but is longer than the stock antenna). It transmit on repeaters within about 2-5 miles (and one about 12 miles away which is on a skyscraper in Dallas) … some repeaters are easier to hit than others and it makes a big difference if I go outdoors and away from obstructions. A big plus is it also picks up the Dallas PD and FD frequencies and I often use that radio indoors at night as a scanner for those frequencies. It also does ok scanning aircraft frequencies.

To get better reception, I have a Larson NMO mount triband antenna temporarily mounted on a cheap base station converter and pole outdoors. That works much better plus I can move it around easily to get better reception. I can also unmount it and use it as a mobile antenna (though I don’t do that often because a portable in a vehicle is a bit cumbersome).

The outdoor Larson NMO mount antenna makes a big difference hitting repeaters and being readable when transmitting compared to the Diamond rubber duck antenna.

Getting up high and away from obstructions is key for any antenna.

 

[GKLdiy88]

Absolutely.
2 meters, 70 centimeters and higher bands operate very much on a line of sight basis. If the two antennas can "see" each other, you can usually talk fairly reliably between them. Generally speaking, getting a good antenna up as high as you safely can, and feeding it with decent coaxial cable, will allow you to work just about anything that is visible.

There are some funky things that happen with building penetration, reflections, ducting, knife edge refraction, etc, but generally speaking, reliable communications needs line of sight to be reliable. Easy to do, and it will make a noticeable difference in performance.

Just don't fall for the gimmick antennas that they market towards ham operators.

Yep, I learned long ago not to automatically fall for any advertising hype, but rather to try to research from more than one source reviews of actual customers who have used the product. If they have to choose out of a 5 star rating, I usually won't consider a product unless it has an average of over 4 stars and even then it needs to be from enough reviews and not just a few.

I have an FT-60R and use a Diamond SRH77CA antenna on it. It works ok for portable use (but is longer than the stock antenna). It transmit on repeaters within about 2-5 miles (and one about 12 miles away which is on a skyscraper in Dallas) … some repeaters are easier to hit than others and it makes a big difference if I go outdoors and away from obstructions. A big plus is it also picks up the Dallas PD and FD frequencies and I often use that radio indoors at night as a scanner for those frequencies. It also does ok scanning aircraft frequencies.

To get better reception, I have a Larson NMO mount triband antenna temporarily mounted on a cheap base station converter and pole outdoors. That works much better plus I can move it around easily to get better reception. I can also unmount it and use it as a mobile antenna (though I don’t do that often because a portable in a vehicle is a bit cumbersome).

The outdoor Larson NMO mount antenna makes a big difference hitting repeaters and being readable when transmitting compared to the Diamond rubber duck antenna.

Getting up high and away from obstructions is key for any antenna.

Always good to hear from those who have the same model I do (FT-60R), not that advice from others isn't also valid and helpful, it is and is appreciated also, but it's good to hear how the FT-60R has worked for others. Thanks for the info !

 

[mmckenna]

If they have to choose out of a 5 star rating, I usually won't consider a product unless it has an average of over 4 stars and even then it needs to be from enough reviews and not just a few.

That same tactic has worked pretty well for me. Online reviews should always be suspect though.
One issue I've seen is that the person doing the review may not have anything else to compare it to. A new ham buying their first antenna will usually assume they made the best possible decision since they can now hit a repeater 10 miles away. Often others forget that they have no benchmark to compare it too. The reviews rarely mention location, antenna heigh, coax cable, receiver sensitivity, local noise floor, all variables that matter.

But part of the fun of the hobby is the experimentation. Doesn't mean you have to come up with some approach that no one else has. It just means you experiment to find what components of your system work best for your specific situation.

As always, beware of the ham radio gimmick antennas. Antenna design is ruled by the laws of physics, and those laws are pretty rigid. No Chinese antenna has a way to circumvent physics, no matter what they claim.

 

[GKLdiy88]

That same tactic has worked pretty well for me. Online reviews should always be suspect though.
One issue I've seen is that the person doing the review may not have anything else to compare it to. A new ham buying their first antenna will usually assume they made the best possible decision since they can now hit a repeater 10 miles away. Often others forget that they have no benchmark to compare it too. The reviews rarely mention location, antenna heigh, coax cable, receiver sensitivity, local noise floor, all variables that matter.

But part of the fun of the hobby is the experimentation. Doesn't mean you have to come up with some approach that no one else has. It just means you experiment to find what components of your system work best for your specific situation.

As always, beware of the ham radio gimmick antennas. Antenna design is ruled by the laws of physics, and those laws are pretty rigid. No Chinese antenna has a way to circumvent physics, no matter what they claim.

I definitely understand and can appreciate what you are saying, if I see a product with less than 50 reviews I don't give anywhere near as much weight to the overall combined rating as say where I see a site with 200 or more reviews. Also, I like to see reviews on the same product from more than one web site and try not to reply on just one source of reviews. (also understand about products being limited by the laws of physics, also that there are the variables you mentioned like location, antenna heigh, coax cable, ect.)

 

[mmckenna]

I definitely understand and can appreciate what you are saying...

Yeah, you understand.

For kicks, sometimes I go read the reviews on Amazon. It's usually good for a laugh.

 

[GKLdiy88]

Yeah, you understand.

For kicks, sometimes I go read the reviews on Amazon. It's usually good for a laugh.

My overall experience on Amazon has been very positive, rarely do I get a defective product, and the few times I did the customer service was excellent where they would replace the product, sometimes even after the normal period you are limited to, because they want to inspire confidence in their company so you will buy again later.

Now having said all that, I do carefully scrutinize the reviews, and need to see a LOT of reviews and not rely on products with few reviews.

The laugh I get from Amazon (and other review sites) is how you can see both great 4+ star reviews and very negative 1 star reviews on the same product (almost makes you wonder if the competition is trying to sabotage the reviews of a competitor)

Anyhow, that is why I need to see a LOT of 4+ star reviews to feel somewhat confident. Not only reviews of the product itself, but of the selling company so I know they have good customer support. I'll be busy for a while but will check back later.

 

[GKLdiy88]

UPDATE: After doing a lot of research I ordered a Tram 1185-SMA Amateur Dual-Band Magnet Antenna with SMA-Male Connector for use with my Yaesu FT-60R. I read enough customer reviews and forum comments to convince me the 1185 worked very well and also that the magnet was very strong so no concern if I did also use it in the car. Mostly I will use it on a metal sheet at home kinda like a budget level base station. (Maybe by the end of the year my hobby budget will be ready to enable me to step up a little to a more powerful radio like a mobile unit made for a car but that can also be used at home with a 12v power supply adapter) (I will still keep the other info and ideas in mind for later consideration, like the homemade antennas)