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Originally posted by Some Shot:

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Any recommendations for a car magnet mount antenna for 2 Meter?

I have a Nagoya UT-72 that works for me on UHF/VHF and GMRS.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...n_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

That's the same one I bought about 2 weeks ago, and it seems to work fairly well. I primarily use it indoors on a cookie sheet since I rarely leave the house anymore, but so far I like it. The only thing I don't like is that skinny little adapter cable, but it is a necessity. Biggest issue is the weight of the coax cable far exceeds the radio, even with the extended power battery pack, so the radio doesn't like to stand up on the lamp table beside my chair where I normally use it. LOL... 1st world problems!

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Originally posted by ltz400:

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Originally posted by oddball:
I have a feeling I'm going to collect some antennas...

it will resemble "the holster drawer"

That's what I am afraid of...

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Originally posted by parabellum:
Yes, the CHIRP video is quite helpful.

That is the one that allowed me to use the software. When I first installed it I felt like an idiot because I couldn't figure out what to do with it (and this coming from a strong computer/IT background ).

Another thing to consider is keeping those radios viable in the possibility of an EMP event. I keep mine in a metal ammo can which hopefully will act as a Faraday cage. Most of us will have one of those lying around and it keeps all of the required items in one place.

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Originally posted by SigSentry:
Ground plane, ah, another...ongoing saga.

It's quite simple really... that's before the plane's wheels leave the runway!

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Originally posted by bettysnephew:
Another thing to consider is keeping those radios viable in the possibility of an EMP event. I keep mine in a metal ammo can which hopefully will act as a Faraday cage. Most of us will have one of those lying around and it keeps all of the required items in one place.

Good idea, but I have to wonder... doesn't a Faraday cage have to be grounded to function? If so, that ammo can would need to be grounded also.

Hopefully someone much smarter than I can answer this question so I'll know if I need to ground mine or not!

^^^Posted back on page 7

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Originally posted by SigSentry:
Next project will be to build a Faraday "bucket". Subscribed to his channel and watched some of his past live streams. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a member here. He was more into gun videos before getting into HAM. He's also into 3D-Printing. Let pray Para doesn't get into that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rx7VjhfoFU

Bill, you have five posts on this page. Don't do that. Do not spam this thread. This is a thirty page thread. People are trying to glean information from it. One post at a time, please.

I suppose my goal is to have a decent reach at home, in the car, or on the trail (without breaking the bank). A lot of the repeater traffic is signal checks, antenna discussion, and capabilities of these little HTs. They're trying to work out the bugs ( a lot of simplex traffic and digital noise) so folks can contact the repeater with the best results. Atmospheric conditions will still do what they do though.

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Originally posted by bronicabill:

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Originally posted by Some Shot:

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Any recommendations for a car magnet mount antenna for 2 Meter?

I have a Nagoya UT-72 that works for me on UHF/VHF and GMRS.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...n_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

That's the same one I bought about 2 weeks ago, and it seems to work fairly well. I primarily use it indoors on a cookie sheet since I rarely leave the house anymore, but so far I like it. The only thing I don't like is that skinny little adapter cable, but it is a necessity. Biggest issue is the weight of the coax cable far exceeds the radio, even with the extended power battery pack, so the radio doesn't like to stand up on the lamp table beside my chair where I normally use it. LOL... 1st world problems!

That skinny little adapter cable is actually pretty useful in real world use. The thicker coax to the antenna is a lot heaver and stiffer, a few inches of the thin stuff makes it a lot easier to pick up and manipulate the radio.

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Originally posted by bronicabill:
That's the same one I bought about 2 weeks ago, and it seems to work fairly well. I primarily use it indoors on a cookie sheet since I rarely leave the house anymore, but so far I like it. The only thing I don't like is that skinny little adapter cable, but it is a necessity.

I bought two of the UT-72G antennas last week to use as mobiles and they work decently. But I'm finding height is the name of the game in getting range out of my radios. As an experiment, I placed one of the 72Gs on the roof of my backyard BBQ area 9.5' feet off the ground and improved my longest range from my home handheld to a my wife's car, 7 1/2 miles. I'm sure if I get the antenna higher, the range will further improve.

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Originally posted by SigSentry:
I suppose my goal is to have a decent reach at home, in the car, or on the trail

The reason I'm researching equipment for a base station setup. My handhelds are great for local in town, 3 1/2 miles is the best we got with the stock antennas. Right now, my focus is on a base antenna and a means to get the sucker up as high as I can within the limits placed on me, along with the coax cable.

Yes, height is important to extend signal range, primary because you increase the line of sight aspect for these frequencies.

Don't forget to check the mygmrs.com site. You may have a GMRS repeater network in your area already, which you can tap in to for extended range.

CERT (civilian emergency response teams) use GMRS for comms and may have been able to put repeaters up in strategic locations. Not sure if they closed these to just their CERT members or not.

CERT also uses Amateur Radio, as I have tested many batches of CERT members for amateur radio license.

Also, if you place an antenna outside and live in a frequent lighting storm area, be cure to properly ground the antenna outside before it enters the house. Ability to also quickly disconnect the connection from outside to inside is a good idea too.

^^^^^^^

I became a member of mygmrs.com, I also joined their forum. I tried to radio test three different GMRS repeaters with both factory and external antennas, and nope, I'm out of range. The closest one to me is 8 miles away and if I drive a couple of miles closer with a mobile antenna, I can get a "kerchunk" (squelch tail) on my handheld. The other two are 12-15 miles away, and no signal.

It's become apparent via this thread that in order for most of us to be able to reach repeaters in our area, we need more than HTs pushing a nominal 8 watts at best, and we need a stationary antenna with as much height as practical.

Perhaps one of the ham radios intended for mobile installation, running off an inverter, as a member displayed earlier in this thread. In this way, a unit might be kept at home but also put into a vehicle for mobile use, unmounted.

Otherwise, with our piddly Boofwengs, we'll be limited to monitoring only, or transmitting within our immediate vicinity.

What about the use of these straight-wire, grounded antennas? I have tall trees behind my house. Will a simple antenna such as this give me the ability to reach out? The antenna is the real issue, because if a straight wire won't work to get me to repeaters in my area, the only choice is to mount an antenna, and I don't think I can afford to do that.

One thing to keep in mind is that with the price of these things we probably aren't the only one's in our neighborhoods that have them. If they were needed there would probably be a lot of activity and a mile or two might get needed help.

I have two repeaters close to my house, I can just barely hit the weak one which is the closest to my house and it is an open one. The one with more watts is on top of the local hospital about 9 stories tall, no problems hitting it or receiving from it. Weak one is 5 miles away and the stronger one is 8 miles away. The weak one is open and the stronger one is club run(membership). Will be getting my 50 watt Base/mobile radio this week and will see how it does. Have been looking at making a telescoping PVC pipe to raise my antenna even higher. Probable will join the club to access the stronger repeater, lots of traffic since they are all on a net which covers 3-4 states.

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Originally posted by mark60:
One thing to keep in mind is that with the price of these things we probably aren't the only one's in our neighborhoods that have them. If they were needed there would probably be a lot of activity and a mile or two might get needed help.

It would be folly to rely on such a thing.

I like this option from PowerWerx for a Mobile Radio Base Station.



https://powerwerx.com/mblcovr-...se-station-enclosure

I live on a BIG hill and have multiple FM repeaters (on 2M VHF & 70cm UHF) within a few miles of my home. Those repeaters are also located on BIG hills, and are 2.5 mi, 3.25 mi & 5.5 mi away. My plan is to put a vertical mast Base Antenna in my attic as I've got room for at least a 9' Antenna up there, and with a 50W Mobile Radio set up as a base station, I should be able to reach anyone I need to contact.

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Originally posted by parabellum:
It's become apparent via this thread that in order for most of us to be able to reach repeaters in our area, we need more than HTs pushing a nominal 8 watts at best, and we need a stationary antenna with as much height as practical.

Terrain is a huge factor. I've read accounts from guys who can get reach 12 miles in simplex mode on their stock HTs, but live in a flat desert area with a smattering of homes and buildings. Or guys who can get a lot of range because they live on a hillside and contact people who live in the valley below. My terrain is metroplex suburbia with a lot of houses, outdoor malls, industrial parks, etc. Not as bad as a big city urban area, but without the help of my small 20" mobile antennas, I can't reach beyond 3.5 miles. And for me to go out even further, since I'm interested in getting some distance without repeaters, a base antenna looks to be a mandatory piece of equipment, whether I use a HT or a mobile/base unit.

Well, that's why I'm asking about simple straightwire antennas, slung from a tree, and grounded.

Didn't a member mention fairly early in this thread about talking to someone halfway around the world with such an antenna?

This is what I'm talking about: Random Wire Antenna

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If used for transmitting, a random wire antenna usually will also require an antenna tuner, as it has an unpredictable impedance that varies with frequency. One side of the output of the tuner is connected directly to the antenna, without a transmission line, the other to a good earth ground. A wire near an odd number of a quarter-waves in length works best; in contrast, a wire near an even number of quarter-wavelengths long, although fine for receiving, on transmit will exceed the matching ability of most small tuners, unless first fed through an unun with a large transform ratio.