Best Antenna for your hand-held Radio?
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- Опубликовано: 25 авг 2024
- Let's try some common antennas for your HT. Which antenna do you use and why? I learned a couple of things making this recording. The best antenna isn't always obvious.
Yaesu FT1XDR stock 4.3
Nagoya NA771 4.9
Diamond SHR77CA 5.0
Diamond SRHF10 5.0
Signal Stick 5.4
Signal Stick & poise 10.0 (+3) 
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I wonder how the rest would do with a counterpoise?
My first question too...
no need
Suppose it’s worth a try
I was going to put a counterpoise (rat tail) on my handhelds and had no idea how much it would improve the transmission. Wow! Such a simple addition for a very large improvement. Thanks for sharing this video. You hear all sorts of opinions but to actually see the results is best.
Scientific testing utilizing real calibrated test equipment shows that the added performance is in the two milliwatt range.
@@CAphotosRF standard unit is dB, and a part of an antenna affecting an antenna system will be measured in dB and not mW (or Watt).
Great job with the antenna tests. I'm a newbie and learned a lot.
Never thought of using a counterpoise on a HT antenna. I'm going to give it a go!
Great Video demonstration, Counterpoise really makes a difference.
Thanks for you demonstration.
Oh My God!!! that is eye opening. The counterpoise is magic... Most surprising Ham Radio finding I didn't pay attention to in the past 20 years.... ( can a hand held microphone double as a counterpoise?
Thanks for the review. I would like to see the “dummy load” with a counterpoise because that thing surprised me
Is it possible that you might redo your test? With each antenna with counterpoise? Plus at least two power settings on your radio?
I am curious how each antenna fares with the Tiger Tail and how the S meter varies over power.
I have also the same collection of antennas: stubby, stock, Diamond RH77CA, Signal Stick.
I think we got the idea
Excellent presentation!
wow, that counterpoise surely looks odd but is a game-changer if you really need distance and clarity.
I will definately make some for my HT radios! I really like the signal stick due to is flexible storage mainly and will be getting in an order on the next payday. 💰👍🤓73
Thanks that helped me make a choice. Nice comparisons.
Single-stick winds with counterpoise yes indeedy full quieting with no noise 👍
8:00 The Signal Stick is actually dual band (2m and 70cm) according to their website. They do offer a 440 and 220 single band. All 2m are dual band.
Yep the Quarter wave (Roughly 19") will work great on 440 due to the third harmonic. In my experience the Signal stuff signal stick works quite well on 70cm. A quarter wave antenna tuned for the 2 meter amateur band is 3/4 wave on 70 centimeter band.
I just tested my Signal Stick, black SMA-M version, at home with my analyzer and it's over 9.9 VSWR all over the 450 MHz range (until it's 480 then it's about 8.2 VSWR.). So if it's a dual band antenna it's a very poor dual band antenna. I own many brands and models of HT antennas, by the way.
@@nine7295 No doubt the "Signal Stuff" warranty will sort you out.
@@nine7295 what is your best?
New subscriber here (on 4/6/24); I bought the Quansheng instead of Baofeng, but I expect they're very similar...
Thanks for posting this video; I'm just getting on the air, although I've had my tech license for about 6 yrs...! 73!
KN4KZT
Yes the Signal Stick is a very good antenna. But the ABBREE is better, specially on the receiving side. The first antenna I ever bought was the Nagoya 771. Still a decent antenna. But there are better.
Love this video. Counterpoise is awesome!
Thank you. Excellent test with 2m, especially when adding the rat tail. But with a dual-band HT, I am wondering about suitability for the 70cm band. Without swapping out the antenna each time I switch from 2m to 70cm, which antenna works best for actual dual-band usage?
Good stuff here. Seems to me that the most improvement in the signal is the counterpoise, which makes sense. But I do wonder how well the other antennas would compare if they too used the counterpoise. Specifically the Diamond SHR77CA.
Cool Star Wars shirt BTW
WB8ERJ
Just wandering about the distance?
Nice, would have been great if you tested it on other frequencies too.
WOW, interesting! Great information.😃
Very interesting test, especially at the end with the addition of the counterpoise. Like someone else mentioned, I wonder how the others would perform with a counterpoise. It was not surprising that the Nagoya NA771 and Diamond SHR77A were almost identical, as they are basically the same design.
I'm curious about your radio frequency display... 146.420 tagged as National Calling Frequency. I thought the 2M simplex National Calling Frequency was 146.520?
It is, I just checked my code plug I use on CHIRP. 146.520 is one of the simplex frequencies I have programmed.
he probably selected channel 98 - which he has programmed for 146.52 and labeled as National Calling, and then turned the VFO dial ... which changed the frequency but the label remained because he didn't change the channel
Yep - that’s exactly what I run on my RFinder B1+ - SignalStick & Counterpoise. Same on my picrAPRS - I hit repeaters so much better.
This was great.thankyou,new subscriber
Great Video! I use the counterpoise also, Signal Stuff says the 19" long signal stick is dual band.
Correct. If Signal Stuff sells a 2m only, I was unable to find it on their website.
I tested my Signal Stick (black, SMA-M) with an analyzer and the VSWR is over 9.9 all over the 450 MHz range, and barely at 8.2 on 480 MHz. So it's a very poor "dual band" antenna . (If you must insist.)
This was awesome
good information
I will try this
a good test would be at the extreme edge of coverage area. so turn the rf way down to simulate those conditions. extended antennas should fill the rf gap at this edge and where you will see the most difference also at shorter distances you can run less output power and extend your battery life. 73..
Great observation, I should have further stated my test conditions, and yah, running far enough away to do the test is a work out :). The HT was on 0.1watts, the RFGAIN on the ic705 was turned down until the noise floor was at 1 S-Unit. I also hid behind an oak tree :) science!
How about the Abbree flat-tactical antennas? In a future RUclips, I'd like to see you test some tri-banders. Abbree has a flat-tact tri-band that looks _exactly_ like its dual-band flat-tact. In fact, I've got a label maker that I've used so I don't get them mixed up. Shoot, there may be no difference in them at all, who knows?
Abbree also has an AR-771 tri-band whip that looks just like its AR-771 dual bander! Again, they may be the same antenna.
And finally, I also see you're using a cheap Amazon SMA adapter. I have a drawer full of the things and have long wondered if they affect the antenna's performance. Have you tested your antenna with and without that adapter? Nagoya, which I think is a bit overrated has an NA-24J dual-band antenna that's as expensive as the Signal Stick. It, too, is rated as a dual bander, yet appears to be made of the same material as the Signal Stick, yet shorter. Do you think the NA-24J also might be just a primarily VHF antenna?
If you have a friend, it would be nice to see some range testing. I bought two 24Js and two Signal Sticks. I just haven't tested them, nor can I because I live in a horrible area that's flat and congested. The Abbree flat-tact antennas have impressed me, and they're stiff enough to beat the crap out of people who think you'll put their eyes out! I just had retina surgery so I'm not worried. And one last thing. The Nagoya NA-771 isn't a bad antenna. It's just not that great and vastly overrated. I'm very interested in tri-band antenna technology. I'm just not sure tri-bander antennas work. One question Signal Stuff answered on its website is that they aren't working on a tri-band antenna.
Apparently they can't make one, and I wonder if it's technologically possible to make? Abbree tried twice (a flat-tact and a whip) and Nagoya once, and it was a bomb. We'll wait and see. More and more people are interested in the 200-260MHz band. Why? Who knows? 73-out.
A quarter wave VHF vertical could well behave as a 3/4 wave in UHF, so the Signal Stick should work fine. I use a vertical magnetic antenna on te car roof, and works just fine in both bands. Thanks for sharing your experiments! LU1EKR
I tested the Signal Stick with my analyser at 450 range and it's VSWR is over 9.9, until 480 and then it's 8.2. so it's a poor "dual band" antenna.
Why not the poise with a shorter antenna then?
Any rubberduck will perform better with rat tail. Also for your information, %99 of antennas will good swr below 2.0 on low power only. Switch your handheld to high-power and your swr is above 4.0! Unless you add 19" rat tail then your swr will drop below 2.0.
Why not test all the antennas with counterpoise?
Do you have any advice for extending the range of an aviation handheld? Yaesu 450L
The same principles would apply.
😇 I thought you were very cool excellent ❤️
put the signal stick poise on the diamond
@8:00 ==> "works great on what ??" Couldn't hear. I like that "signal stick". However, i think you should've tested it like factorywise. Without that "extra" wire with that green thing. Where did u buy it ? That signal stick with poise..
"Great on neither"
Au vu de la vignette RUclips, ce ne sont pas des antennes HF mais bien VHF et UHF...
Oui, ce sont des antennes portatives qui incluent VHF et UHF, pas HF. Pour HF, j'aime toujours un fan-dipôle.
Thanks!
You bet! thank you!
What is the best antenna for VHF?
I ordered 8 Nagoya 771/771g etc and 6 of them were complete crap. I returned them all. SWR 19.99 no matter what I did, some had a bad base. Not worth $20 a piece.
Great job congratulations 73 from kb2uew
Will these work on GMRS radios?
Is it a counterpoise ? Or are you just extending a 1/4 wave to a full dipole ..
the counter poise turns the 1/4 wave-end-fend into a center-fed 1/2 wave dipole.
@@KM6LYW IMO it isn't a counterpoise but one half of a dipole. To me a counterpoise is for instance a set of wires to form a virtual earth. Or a large metal object.
Suppose your starting point would be a vertical dipole: would you than call the lower part a counterpoise and the upper part a quarter wave antenna?
@@gartnl I think all those observations are accurate. you might say driven element and counterpoise. in any event, there is current racing from the tip of the driven element to the tip of the counterpoise.
146.420 is not a valid (simplex) frequency - at least not in your area. you should check your local band plan when selecting frequencies. Interesting to see the difference in tx between your antennas. I agree that the Yaesu stock antenna is noticeable inferior, and next the Nagoya. Nagoya used to be a respectable brand, but is now mostly associated with CCR's - and your video seems to reflect that. The Diamonds and Signal Stick appear to me to be superior and around the same on average in your video. I have looked at the SRHF10 before, but dismissed it because of it's size. It's hard to believe that at least on tx, it rivals longer antennas. I will have to give it a second look. thanks for the video
146.40-146.58 is simp,ex... tho it brings up the question of signsl deviation on the edges of that. thanks for watching!
@@KM6LYW - not true. The frequency coordinator for your region has channelized it's VHF simplex frequencies. The closest channelized frequencies to the one you used are 146.415 & 146.430. It is likely no one noticed interference, so I guess it just depends on how you wish to be perceived on the internet. Possible perceptions could include careless, unknowledgeable, or rebellious. I don't really care, but I notice these things. You seem pretty knowledgeable - so it surprises me that you made this mistake ...
Wow !
Any particular Pi you use/recommend?
PiZero2W, or Pi3B+ depending on ram requirements
Where does one get this poise?
i think i used some speaker wire i found at the hardware store.. might have been lamp cord? crimp on a little connector, make it about 20-21 inches.
Nice video, great shirt 😉
Yup, my antenna analyzer shows all kind of peaks and valleys in various Frequencies depending on hand, body position and different HT'S in use.
Then add a counterpoise and it's just that much harder. Does counterpoise touch you? Touch you hand/arm, touch the ground?
Jeez it was infinitely complex...
LOL!! You don't need a HAM license to change antennas, I can't believe you seriously said that...
From what I can tell, FCC part97 forbids modifying the antenna on free radio services like FRS (walkie-talkies that you'd buy at Walmart for example). "§ 95.587 The antenna must be a non-removable integral part of the FRS transmitter type." Do you live outside the FCC jurisdiction? That'd be a cool feature for FRS/walkie-talkies.
@@KM6LYWGMRS is a thing.
dude is higher than a mofo
Blabbing about how as ham operator you can change your antenna multiple times tells me 2 things. It tells me you don’t value my time and 2 you use titling as validity.