Antenna's for hand held radios.

You want at least a 1/4 wave antenna for VHF. Central frequency for ham VHF is 146 mHz. A 1/4 wave length antenna is 19 inches in length. Gets you about 2.1 dBi of gain / increased power output.

We call it ERP - effective radiated power.

5 watts plus 2.1 dBi - about 8 watts ERP.

Now, antenna designers, as radioman alludes to in his post, can fiddle with antenna design. They can place a small loading coil in the rubber duck antenna, make it physically only 15 inch long, and give the electrical wave length appearance of 1/4 wave - 19 inches. They could even make it electrically 5/8 wave length, which would be 47 inches long in physical length.

The trade off with loading coils is that frequency is narrowed, so the receive frequencies may now just be limited to 144-148 and everything outside this range is now poor. You can still hear, but it's degraded.

Another possibility

the front end of the radio is being overloaded by the stronger signals produced by the larger antenna.

its called receiver desensitization

The cheaper the radio the less filtering that they usually have to prevent out-of-band strong signals causing receiver issues.

I think one way to test would be to see if it still picks up weak in-band signals with the abree.
That should differentiate between the antenna having a high Q factor (narrow bandwidth) or the radio becoming desensitized.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Regarding the odd issue I was having with not being able to hear NOAA broadcasting on 162.55 MHz with the Abbree UHF/VHF antenna-

I was able to hear a bit of the broadcast by standing near the large window facing my patio, and even more of it by going outside, but it was quite dependent upon my exact position in my yard and driveway. Moving a couple of feet one way or anther caused the signal to appear or disappear. This was the same with either of these two Abbree antennas. They are just not as sensitive at that frequency as he stock UV-5R antenna, so it's not a matter of a defective part.

It's somewhat discouraging because it demonstrates that not much of this stuff is cut and dried; there are vagaries at every turn with this radio stuff, and there are a million turns.

quote:

Originally posted by icom706:
Go with the FT-65 for your needs.

Thank you!!!! For the recommendation and for the reasoning; both are very helpful as I wade through this new (for me) complex technology and players.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88

1. FT-65R - sounds like this is the top recommendation. Not sure why but perhaps it's the best value for novice and emergency use.

2. FT-60R - sounds like more feature rich than #1 but used NiMH battery (not a fan).

3. FT-70DR - sounds like more feature rich than #1 (and #2?) and includes C4FM (some kind of digital mode to enhance audio quality). Not sure if it's useful / needed or not.

according to Yaesu none of these three radios will transmit on GMRS frequencies and are not waterproof.

quote:

Originally posted by ltz400:

quote:

Originally posted by konata88

1. FT-65R - sounds like this is the top recommendation. Not sure why but perhaps it's the best value for novice and emergency use.

2. FT-60R - sounds like more feature rich than #1 but used NiMH battery (not a fan).

3. FT-70DR - sounds like more feature rich than #1 (and #2?) and includes C4FM (some kind of digital mode to enhance audio quality). Not sure if it's useful / needed or not.

according to Yaesu none of these three radios will transmit on GMRS frequencies and are not waterproof.

Yeah, I actually looked into the Yaesu HTs last year, and came to the conclusion that it was not a feasible solution for my emergency comms family plan. My wife, my son were not the least bit interested in getting their ham licenses. Plus the learning curve of these radios was much higher than they were willing to deal with. That is when I decided GMRS radios was the ticket for emer. comms in our family. I'm still going to explore the possibility of ham radio for my own education.

Dumb question: what does HT stand for? ETA: seems like "handheld transceiver"

Still learning but my strategy at this point is:
1. Ham for SHTF
2. GMRS 2W/FRS for current and possibly future casual/novice use. (have this already)
3. GMRS 5W+ for SHTF supplemental (casual / novice use) (likely Rugged or maybe Midland at this point).

^dumb answer. I think it's "handie talkie". Could mean some sort of tri-band model don't know.

you will hear people say handie talkie

For me its always been Handheld Transceiver

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
<<snip the question because I don't know the answer>>>
Still learning but my strategy at this point is:
1. Ham for SHTF
2. GMRS 2W/FRS for current and possibly future casual/novice use. (have this already)
3. GMRS 5W+ for SHTF supplemental (casual / novice use) (likely Rugged or maybe Midland at this point).

That is exactly my strategy also! Will upgrade radios later if/when I get more into the hobby.

OK, I have an odd issue with one of my two UV-5Rs.

I ordered two extend batteries: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5...dt_b_product_details

I received them today. One of the two radios will not power up with one of the extended batteries. This is not a charging issue.

Both batteries are charged and both batteries will power up one radio, but neither of the batteries will power up the other radio. That radio powers up fine with either of the two standard batteries that came with the radios.

So the issue is that one radio will not work with the extended batteries. It seems like the batteries are locking in place all the way. The contacts for that radio are not bent. Even though the issue is with this one radio and extended batteries, I cleaned the contacts of the batteries and the radio. Nothing.

Any suggestions?

Without sounding too tinfoil hat I would say that depending on WHAT may lie ahead to keep in mind that avoiding anything on the RF spectrum may be needed.

OK, I found out by pushing like hell upwards on the battery, the radio will power up but once I let go, it goes off again. So, there's some little bit of plastic at the top of the battery or in the interface for the radio that is stopping the battery from seating fully, bit it really does look like the battery is seated.

I guess the issue has to be with the radio's locking interface, and not the battery.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
OK, I found out by pushing like hell upwards on the battery, the radio will power up but once I let go, it goes off again. So, there's some little bit of plastic at the top of the battery or in the interface for the radio that is stopping the battery from seating fully, bit it really does look like the battery is seated.

I guess the issue has to be with the radio's locking interface, and not the battery.

So I have a similar issue with one of mine, stock batteries, and I narrowed it down to the brass prongs on the radio side. One of the 4 brass prongs appears to be missing some spring/tension and it creates an issue where the contact is broken and radio will cycle on and off with the slightest movement and then ultimately, the radio will not turn on without significant positive pressure pushing the battery up.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Without sounding too tinfoil hat I would say that depending on WHAT may lie ahead to keep in mind that avoiding anything on the RF spectrum may be needed.

it is better to remain silent and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. Samuel Clemens

I take this quote to mean there is no harm in listening and only transmitting when and where needed.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
OK, I have an odd issue with one of my two UV-5Rs.

I ordered two extend batteries: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5...dt_b_product_details

I received them today. One of the two radios will not power up with one of the extended batteries. This is not a charging issue.

Both batteries are charged and both batteries will power up one radio, but neither of the batteries will power up the other radio. That radio powers up fine with either of the two standard batteries that came with the radios.

So the issue is that one radio will not work with the extended batteries. It seems like the batteries are locking in place all the way. The contacts for that radio are not bent. Even though the issue is with this one radio and extended batteries, I cleaned the contacts of the batteries and the radio. Nothing.

Any suggestions?

here is a video of the most probable culprit and a solution. sorry for the torture.



edit to add: GCE61 warned us of this problem and the solution on page 9 of this thread.

Well, you get what you pay for.

Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by ltz400:

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Without sounding too tinfoil hat I would say that depending on WHAT may lie ahead to keep in mind that avoiding anything on the RF spectrum may be needed.

it is better to remain silent and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. Samuel Clemens

I take this quote to mean there is no harm in listening and only transmitting when and where needed.

I agree for most cases 100%.
But for tin foil hat situations you wanna remove batteries. It’s not hard to get population densities in the form of red dots from some stuff you can buy at radio shack.

I don’t think this is that thread though so I’ll bow out of all that talk, I got 4 Motorolas I need to test when I get home

I understand, the quote was not directed at you but is something I try to follow as much as I can. I have been where you are and have grandchildren there with you now.

ANYWAY...

Looking at the video, the issue is with the batteries, and my batteries don't have those projections. Clearly, it is something with the battery/radio interface on the radio, but I can't figure it out.

I have two choices. I can live with it or I can try to return the one radio,.

I'll fool with it tomorrow.

Pain in the ass.

Well, Amazon was running a deal on a two pack of UV5R's for $29 today, so I ordered a set. Time to read back on everything, program them, and start making sure the one in my wife's car has a battery and a spare ready to go.

Next up, Meshtastic and ATAK on an old Galaxy phone. 256 bit encryption on 915mhz wireless with no SIM card and six mile line-of-sight range with every other one acting as a repeater. Makes me feel all tingly.

I looked back and I haven't seen any videos from S2 Underground yet, so I'm just gonna drop this here:
https://www.youtube.com/@S2Underground/playlists