How to Extend The Range of Walkie-Talkie Portable Handheld Radios.
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- Опубликовано: 9 апр 2017
- Three tips on how to extend the range of handheld radios. Please see: / radioprepper DISCLAIMER: The Radio Prepper logo (depicting a microphone) is indeed inspired from a famous flag created in 1775. It is NOTHING BUT a symbol of freedom and independence. It does NOT imply support to any political group. It does NOT imply, represent nor support any ideology with an intent on harming anyone. Freedom means freedom from persecution based on any human trait or belief such as, non exhaustively, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or nationality. The Radio Prepper channel is a technology and science channel with a focus on preparedness and use of radio technology for disaster relief and small group communications in times of need. It is apolitical and open to anyone sharing the same interests. .
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The method in the video also applies to quarter wave antennas that are mounted on houses. Add a quarter wavelength counterpoise to a quarter wavelength vertical antenna and you have a vertical half wave dipole. I used to do it with a 261.62 centimeter vertical CB antenna when CB was popular. I added a counterpoise of equal length and made a 523.24 centimeter long vertical dipole. It was the poor man's base station antenna back in the day. It made for really good range and clear reception. It also helped to bring the standing wave ratio to almost ideal. I miss those days.
Great job explaining this concept. I have read a lot on this and yours was a very clear explanation. Thank you.
Good vid - thanks for posting. Your comment on polarization was excellent. Hams (well some) are fully aware of this, but when you hand a radio to a neighbor or wife, they may have never even operated one before - let alone know the right / wrong way. Insightful.
Great educational video. I have now attached these "Tails" to both my HT's and feel confident that it will help in extending the range. Many Thanks for taking the time to share. M6KVK
Well done. I actually learned something today. You got a new sub. Cheers.
this was exactly the tip I needed, thank you!
Thanks for helping people to understand the complex electronics concepts in a simple & layman language! Very helpful video!
Thanks.
That why the radio sounds like car music FYI 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 who is unemiployed radio pile can you tell me about walking tune tracks at 3:21 some people unidentifiable time
Thanks for the explanation, it was a good one.
Ah, thank you so much for this - brilliant!! You explained all so well. Bless you :)
Thank you,great video learned a lot.
Thank you! I will have to watch it again, very interesting!
Great advice. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you I never knew that and you did an incredible job explaining it
Very helpful. Very easy to understand. Thank you
What A Wonderful Explanations ! Really Thankfull For The Video :)
Good lesson,thanks.
Great video. I've been a fan for a while now an appreciate your videos and website.
Thanks!
Very educational! Good video.
Great tips sir. Thanks. Liked & Subscribed.
Great video thanks for posting 👍
Really Useful information 😎
Thank you so much 🙏🍻
Man...I love this channel! Just learned about this the other day. I believe it is also called a counterpoise (is it the same as a ground plane antenna?). Anyway, great videos. Very informative and directly to the point. Thanks so much for sharing.
Sort of... Thank you. Share it!
Thank you! You got another subscriber.
Very useful information... thank you 😁👍
Thanks again for a good video. Ive learned so much from you,in fact more than any other.
Music to my ears :-)
These were very good explanations of tactics to use to increase handheld radio range. Another tactic, if you are talking walkie-to-walkie (FM Vhf or Uhf), with some distance between the two radios, is to stand still while transmitting. Face in the direction, initially, that you believe your partner to be. Don't rush to make a quick, short transmission, during the first few transmissions. While you are working to extend the time of your transmission, your partner, who may have a very noisy copy on you at first, should be listening to the level of the noise on your signal, and, with his transceiver's antenna vertical, also, can extend his radio-holding hand out and rotate his body. If the quality of the received signal gets worse, go back to where you stood originally. If received signal quality improves, stand in that "hot spot", until your partner makes another transmission to you. He should look for a "hot spot" while you are transmitting back to him. Sometimes moving a very short distance (feet), while receiving a weaker signal, can have you go from receiving an extremely noisy and difficult to copy signal, to receiving a very strong and clear signal. A good way to demonstrate this, is to listen to one of the NOAA weather stations around 162Mhz (in the US), while moving around with your walkie.
Great Intel. Thank you
Hi, Radio Prepper! I regularly watch your videos here in the Philippines!
I look forward to see more of your video guides in the future!
More power to your channel!
Great! I spent two months in Las Pinas close to Manila. I enjoyed it a lot. It was around 1993. I wonder how it has changed..
@@RadioPrepper The traffic has worsened in Las Piñas. However it is good to know that you came here decades ago. A lot has changed already. By the way, the car you see in my profile pic is a car I bought in Las Piñas 2 years ago.
Radios are becoming popular here again because of inexpensive radios that are flooding the market. I use the radio as emcomm and also to train my daughter in 2-way radios.
Great, I hope to go back some day, maybe by boat...
@@RadioPrepper I think it's a good idea to share your videos about rsdio prepping. So maybe I can share your videos in Pinoy Preppers (FB page for preppers in the Phil) and also in one of the radio groups that I belong to.
When you can show a curve in 7 miles. You sir would get a Nobel prize. Definitely a good video on working a radio.
Thanks. It's just math..
That's easy. Spend an afternoon at the beach near a shipping port. You'll be able to track the location and distance of ships as they arrive and depart.
@@PatrickKQ4HBD the earth hss no curveture.
Get your facts right.
@@johannmeiring4208 I really hope your joking
Earth is flat. He was just showing a mountain ⛰️ in between.
Excellent video and great presentation. Finally a video for a newbie that goes slow enough to understand and explains in simple terms. Thank you
i was going to put 2 tails on (1 for each band), but when gil said just 1 (for 2m) would work
for both bands, i was most pleased.
fyi, the 2m tail is 9.5"/24cm and the 70cm tail is 4.5"/ 114cm.
'tails' are also 'counterpoises'.
once again the radio prepper saves the day!!
2m quarter wave is 50cm/19in. 70cm is 17.5cm.
@@RadioPrepper that is what i get for doing it in my head! many apologies to you and your followers.
Good job. Nice tree!
Interesting video, thanks
I would have appreciated a drawing diagram while you were talking. Either way, I learn some new stuff from this video.
well there you have it people, let's get high!
hahahaha omlg xD
Thank you for share.
I have the TYT UV-390 and love it !!!
Wow. Finally some facts!
Merci!
excellent thank you
Great video will try it tomorrow on my anytone as I have problems getting into a repeater. Also need to make a slim Jim which you showed me but need to buy the parts and a NanoVNA. Thank you and happy Christmas. M7TRS 73's
You too!
Thank you!
Thank you so much
I always made j-pole ‘firestick’ antennas with PVC pipe, copper tubing and electrical tape. They are good, low-cost, high gain antennas. Or were before copper prices went up.
Interesting, knowing the firestick... Thanks.
Years ago in the UK and using CB radio. My antenna was a mag mount and the ground plain of the car was important. If not in the car we used metal dustbin lids to increase the range. It was imperative to have the antenna on the car as close o centre of the roof for best range. Thanks for the video. A bientot mon ami.
I still have cb. A relatively basic mobile rig. A property tuned and mounted antennae makes all the difference. People are amazed by my radios range and audio quality.
Half-wave end-fed!
Radio Prepper Sorry I don’t understand the reply as I’m not radio savvy.
Journey of a Lifetime I have an older Cobra in the basement collecting dust. No antenna and no SWR meters to set one up with anymore so I guess there it will stay. It has virtually no monetary value to sell so may as well keep it for now. There is a Baofeng UV-82R for sale locally it’s a tri band radio pre programmed for the local LADD radios only $80 Canadian but I have no license to transmit.
Great video! Thanks for taking the time.
Has anyone noticed that almost everyone who takes time to write multiple paragraph lines is typically wrong, incapable of listening to what was actually said, or just a jackass? I'm a General Class if anyone really needs to know. If you know so much why are you watching a video that explains the theory of a damn Tiger Tail? He is helping new people which is more than most choose to do. How about thanking him for taking the time and helping to keep our hobby a live.
Thanks Shawn.
People just love to bitch and moan and criticize others these days unfortunately. Guess they want everyone to feel as miserable and pathetic as themselves. Love the video and am appreciative of anyone who attempts to do something positive for others.
I have been interested in radio since I was a young lad. The practice of adding a counterpoise to the antenna works really well. During the golden age of radio when the bands were beautiful, I could talk all over the planet with three watts, a 261.62 centimeter long antenna with a counterpoise of equal length to make a vertical dipole. Those were good days. I still have the AOR scanner and I plugged it up to my television roof top antenna. The scanner still works perfectly. There is nobody on a bunch of dead bands because of poor propagation. Nothing above 15 megacycles is active anymore, including 2 meters. When I used to plug the same scanner into the television roof top antenna back in the 1990s, I could hear things from around the world. I came really close to getting my amateur radio license back in the day. I learned Morse code, learned the bands, learned basic antenna theory and basic propagation theory. Then all the bands collapsed and solar flux indexes started hovering around the lower 60s. I never bothered to get the license. These are bleak times for any kind of radio hobby. I miss my old favourite hobby a lot. I actually still have an old sideband citizen's band radio installed in the vehicle I bought back in 1996. But it is completely barren of users. The bands are dead everywhere.
Those days will be back!
@@RadioPrepper I really hope it happens soon. It is doubtful I will still have the vehicle and CB radio I bought back in 1996. But I hope I still will have them.
Getting higher extends the range for sure. Good radio/antenna info.But there's no measurable curvature. Architects and surveyors make no adjustments for earth curvature. Shocking but true.
on a building 100m long it is easy to flatten the earth the few cm that the earth curves. Over 7km, the curvature is 3.85m, which more than enough rock to block UHF and VHF completely
Excellent point that isnt brought up alot 🤘
Merci !
😎🙏
I just opened the radio and coiled a 1/2 wl wire in the space where the speaker is. works like a charm. also extended the antenna to be 1/2 wl. tuned for max signal strength.
can share photo
Bad idea, don't do that.
@@RadioPrepper sorry, i forgot about the radiating element, fixed it, works twice as good now.
This is why it's best to get your amateur radio license so u can learn al off the cool shit. Mobile radios, ht's and qrp, sdr, psk etc
And not being an asshole jamming frequencies
SUBSCRIBED.
Merci beaucoup. Excellent information. Will adding wire improve the signal of AM on a handheld?
Same thing yes.
Thanks
You make very good tutorial videos! Congratulations!
I tried this with a tuned 49 cm long pig tail
wire and the result was only a little bit better than originally.
(Baofeng UV-9R Plus, with original stock antenna, VHF, 145.500 MHz, 1 W, and a field strength meter.)
However when I unscrewed the wire from the body of the radio, and I just squeezed the wire with
the back of the radio with my hand, the field strength jumped to double! Can you imagine how I surprised? :)
I think in my case this capacitive coupling it was better than direct coupling! Worth to try! :)
73DX! HA0NC, Op.:Zsolt, from Hungary, Debrecen
Interesting...
@Zsolt Horváth: Hi Zsolt - that’s because handie talkie (HT) radios are (usually) designed to utilise the hand (and human body) for capacitance (and why HTs work better when held, rather than just placed on a surface). This is most noticeable when receiving more distant transmissions. Hope not teaching grandmother how to suck eggs! Will send you greetings via QRZ.com.
This is just as smart as standing on your roof
I actually learned something today.
I live in the city there's a lot of electrical noise I was thinking about using a loop antenna that instead of attempting to pick up the electrical component of the radio frequency it attempts to detect the magnetic component. I think that will give me a better signal to noise ratio and make it easier for me to detect a weakee signal. Any ideas as to whether an external loop antenna would work better and what size does it need to be
Definitely and outside would be better. Use a perimeter of 5m.
I have a client that has some sets of icom radios, they want to be using it over a very long distance. It was initially configured some years ago and they said it was connected to the a mast
They probably meant a mast was used to get the antenna higher, which does help a lot. An antenna is mounted on top of the mast and connected with a coax cable to the radio below.
Yeah, height and polarization are big, especially height, although the antenna is something that should be given attention, for sure... A true quarter wave whip can improve range immensely, as opposed to the popular rubber duck antennas. In addition, and this is common in relation to using hand-helds inside buildings, one can often improve range to an astonishing degree by simply moving around and finding a sweet spot, this phenomenon presumably being due to the nature of muti-path RF behavior... Anyway, for better range, definitely get a longer antenna!
Quarter wave definitely! With a quarter wave counterpoise hanging... In urban environments reflection on buildings does play a role, especially on UHF.
you said any dual band vhf uhf antenna works on walkie talkies? what's the name of that antenna on video? thanks
As long as they have the same connector and are made for the same frequencies. I have so many, no idea!
Interesting 😃👀👍
Take my subscription!
Cool flag love it
No talk on snek. ☺
I have another tip for PMR band (446 MHz). For other bands, you would just need to adjust the length. I have a dural tube, 31 cm long, 10 mm thick, but note, must be hollow! Then I have a little plastic tube which I can easily put on the standard anthena. The plastic one should be put on the anthena similarly like you put on gloves on your fingers. The aluminium/dural tube needs to be tied together with the plastic tube, thus, when you put the plastic tube on, the dural tube is placed along with the anthenna and goes parallel. Needs to be as close as possible. I use some ductape for fixing these two together. Do not touch the dural tube when receiving/transmitting, otherwise, you would distune it. This hack can be well used with stock PMR transcievers with non-removable little anthennas and it improves the signal by 1-2 radio, so if you hear somebody 3R, you can get 4-5 R from that.
+Rafael van Horn Thanks, did you test it yourself?
Range = height above local terrain, the "radio path horizon", antenna efficiency in "dbd"", antenna impedance match to transmitter, receiver sensitivity and selectivity, and at the very last, transmitter power. You can have all the power you can carry, but the type of antenna and its height over the surrounding terrain is what makes the difference.
I stood at the top of Cheeha Mountain in Alabama, with a one watt amateur VHF transceiver brought up repeaters in four states with the rubber duck antenna alone. On 6 meters with a three element beam horizontally polarized during a band opening, I talked to a ham in Maine with a Yaesu FT- 625 RD at one watt. Height can be everything.
Absolutely!
Very informative video...... :)
I have a VHF motorola xir p6600i walkie talkie and I use this in dense forest area. What length will be appropriate for rat tail to increase range?
A quarter wave.
So if you have that radio in your left hand plus a Quarter Pounder from McD's in your right hand = half wave ? Enjoyed the video, just gave up on all that 1/4 wave stuff.
Yes ;-)
Thank you i just bought some survivor cord and wanted to know how I could I use the included wire
I think outside the box, the antenna plug looks alot like a TV cable, would it work if you plug in to that would you get a world wide signal, or use a aligator clip like you have it set up and connect the other end to the biggest metal structure you can find, or the copper water pipes
No. The antenna needs to be a precise length. You would risk damaging the radio.
Guys the section about polorization is a knowledge bomb of truth. Ask anyone who works with antennas, keeping consistent polarization is key!
My last video about the UV3R+ shows this clearly...
Bonjour ,j'ai un baofeng BF-88E. Svp, comment augmenter sa portée ( car elle est casi " null" ) et du fait que je ne sais même pas oter l'antenne qui m'a l'air d'être bien fixe ? Et ou comment bricoler ou quel modèle pourrait s'insérer dessus ? Merci à vous.
Je dirais de souder un fil d'un quart d'onde sur le pole negative de la batterie et de la laisser pendre. Mais bon, pas grand chose à faire... Ou construire une Yagi qui s'emboite sur l'antenne... Vidéo à suivre...
Loved the video! Thanks for the Rat-Tail trick! I never knew :) Hey, by the way, my wife and I can't decide where your accent is from. If you're willing to share, where is your accent from?
France :-)
Radio Prepper, not only is your content great! You also have great French accent which makes it even that much more interesting. Thank you for making videos! I love to watch them in my free time. Maybe I’ll have time to make my rats tail today :)
Excellent:-)
Hi, Please is it required to connect radios to mast if needed to be used over more than 20 kilometers distance?
Sorry I do not understand your question.
What brand\model radios are you using in this video?
I think it might have been a TYT MD390.
waiting for the flat earters to show up
That is so fantastic i now know what to do with my Baofeng
I have 2 baofeng radios. Does your have problems with the speaker cutting out?
I had problems with the speaker jack breaking on two UV5R+ radios. Try with an external speaker/mike.
Have acquired my call sign and GMRS license, now seeking and debating to either purchase a FRS/GMRS radio or MURS? Seeking advice as participative in Jeep roundabouts jamborees, camping and mountain biking escaped. Seeking suggestions since again assurance getting a suitable means of communication for me, family and friends.
Since you will be outdoors I would suggest MURS, which works better in wooded environments. GMRS does work better in urban environments...
What two way radios do you recommend for long distance? For people without a license
Without a license CB would be best... A CB radio with SSB modes...
Is the polarity the same on the radio for SMA male and female connectors? Hope you dont mind me asking.
Hi, yes, the outer ring is always the ground. Not that it matters, since we are dealing with A.C. current...
Excellent. Thank you
hi... are you placed anywhere around Toulouse ?
Antibes.
They also wind a coil around to get the length. So the wire length in the antenna is 1/4 or half length, no matter how long it actually is. It is wound. No walkie talkie antennas I know of are whip...
Some are. Often it's just a spring.
This is taken right from the Technician test.
Why do VHF and UHF radio signals usually travel somewhat farther than the visual line of sight distance between two stations? (T3C11)
The Earth seems less curved to radio waves than to light
I do agree that holding the antenna properly when using an omni-directional antenna is correct.
Protective HT because short wave. bounces off the atmosphere and the ground
Thank you very much. I'm still looking for an antenna that can be mounted high. Like on the home or vehicle.
For VHF and UHF look at the Diamond X series..
@@RadioPrepper I was specifically thinking the FRS walkie-talkies.
You can make a UHF Yagi using the handheld antenna as the feeding element.
So if you are buying an antenna, do you have to take the length of the radio into consideration?
Theoretically it should help, but in practice there are too many other variables to matter. Best way it to test a few and keep the best one. I test my handheld antennas on an analyser, but that even can give totally unexpected results.
Good Vid,I can confirm @27.78125mhz with a 4 Watt FM handheld transceiver (President Randy 2 AM\FM CB )and a quarter wave counterpoise on a ring terminal.
The stock factory supplied rubber antenna gave me a extra 4 S-Points in receive by a station and 4 S Points back to station.
Thats +24dB gain roughly based on 6dB per S-Points give or take.
My set of four CB handheld now have these counterpoise wires and easy to fold and deploy in field.
Not bad for a piece of wire!
Ground plane is def more critical at Higher end of HF band 25-32mhz and Low-band VHF from 30-88 Mhz of radio spectrum.
To get the antenna more effective radiation due to compressed antenna generally used on HT.
73's Rob
+rpcomms1 Yep, without the counterpoise wire half of your antenna is missing..
What do you think of the stubby antennas on Amazon, 2 iches high?
It works but not that well and the SWR is pretty bad...
@@RadioPrepper thank you
Deploy a reusable drone. Hook the radio to existing structure. Old Easter basket. Abandon or retrieve.
-- Harry Hamster ;-)
Whats the model number of that antenna @8:02 ?
Diamond, SP-something... Markings are unfortunately worn off...
The Quansheng UV-R50 radio clip does not connect to the ground on the battery. It would have to be done on the inside between the battery and radio, but theoretically could work.
Or the outside of the antenna connector..
Rat tails... I will figure a way to do this to my uniden walkies. Thanks for the tip.
I like the drawing ;-)
Looks like mine☺
So this is the famous rat tail. I will give it a try!
Yes!
Hello. I heard that in Norway you have switched radio from analog to digital. Is it true that your analog walkie-talkies are not working now?
I am not in Norway, but walkie-talkies used for what? Analog will always work anywhere in the world. They do not depend on an infrastructure like cell phones. An analog radio will always work with another analog radio and a digital radio will always work with a digital radio using the same system. Geography has no bearing on radio waves.
@@RadioPrepper if so, okay) I thought that I bought myself an analog walkie-talkie in vain. Now, after all, everything is being digitized: digital television, digital money, digital broadcasting, and so on. Excuse me if it's not convenient to read, I'm just translating from google translator :)
No problem, the translation is good. Analog will still be used for a very long time :-)
In American movies, gangsters shoot from weapons held horizontally. Increase the range of bullets? Walkie-talkies are also kept horizontal.
;-)
That must be it...
Basketball Americans were on to a winner with holding them horizontal haha
Wait, the Earth is flat. Maybe a mountain is in the way.
Just kidding everyone. Settle down.
Yes It's proven that there is no curvature or gravity (Gravity is a theory ). Its weight and density
@1EccentricMoFo where do Australian people live? Are they closer to the rim than us?
I agree
Indrid Cold and the planets and sun move around it. Of course this is obvious
1EccentricMoFo I agree and moons a giant flat disk in sky
How long should I cut the rat tail? What gauge wire too?
A quarter wave of the lowest frequency. For the 2m band, 50cm (19in). A thin wire is fine.
Some advice please; I event direct an ultra marathon. The race is on salt flats i.e. as flat as earth can be. On the flats are water stations for the runners. Base camp/start-finish is at the Southern edge of the salt flats with runners on the salt flats to the North. Further South of the base camp is a 100m high escarpment overlooking the salt flats with no obstructions. On the escarpment I placed a person with a 2W T800 Motorola walkie talkie. Then each water station had its own 2W T800 walkie talkie. The furthest water station from the escarpment walkie talkie was 32kms. Everyone at the water stations on the salt flats could hear the person on the escarpment but the escarpment couldn't hear anyone more than 15 - 20kms away. How do I fix this? I was based at the start finish and was using the escarpment person to relay messages from the water stations to me 1kms forward of the escarpment. Is a repeater set up on the escarpment the solution? More power walkie talkies everywhere or something else?
Power won't do it. The reason is the curvature of the earth. At that distance the stations no longer have line-of-sight. The solution is height. You need to use a coax cable to an antenna on a mast, like a telescopic fishing pole, on both ends. What frequency are you using? You'll need a small budget, likely less than $100...
@@RadioPrepper 462.5625MHz
I'd suggest a quarter wave with radials to put on top of the masts.. See the quarter wave antenna calculator by m0ukd..
Great video... Just switching from miles to kilometers units confuse people a little bit. Sure X kms x 1.6 = Y mls, but yet... You've got the point. Thanks.
Great video , if possible do the same videos in french too (ce serait bien pour le public francophone)
Oui!
That’s why a full whip works so good
Add the counterpoise (rat tail) to the whip and it still increases the range tremendously and cuts down noise. I used to have a 261.62 centimeter long antenna for citizen's band back during the golden age of propagation in the 1980s and 1990s. I added a counterpoise to it of equal length and I could talk around the planet using a 3 watt AM walkie talkie attached to the antenna. When you add an equal length counterpoise to a quarter wave vertical antenna, you get a half wave vertical dipole. I miss those days.
Yes, not to the antenna itself of course but the ground connection, outer antenna connector or the radio case if metal.