Walkie Talkie Antenna improvement

[MadVeteran]

I hope you all dont mind my frequent short posts. Today I decided to try something I had seen on line regarding improvements to Walkie Talkie antennas (remember, I am only on 11 meter for now).
I have a 4 watt Uniden Walkie Talkie, range sucks yes. I have bought improved antennas but, range still isnt good.
So, I added a 9 foot (speaker wire cut at 4.5 feet and connected to each other at one end) wire to the ground side of the antenna to improve ground and, create a kinda portable dipole.

WOW ! It worked much better than expected...

I turned walkie talkie to low power
I left antenna without ground wire and keyed up....... Home CB registered about a 3 on the meter.
I attached ground wire and keyed up again ............. Home CB registered about a 9 on the meter

Also, I could get all the skip on the Walkie that I get on the base station (with its inverted V dipole up over 30 feet).

Results may vary but, sure worked for me.. Its my Prepper range extender !

 

[MadVeteran]

One more item....
The ground wire is 4.5 feet (slightly long but livable)
I tried folding it into one foot sections and transmitted again,,, Not as good but still better than no wire.
I should have noticed the meter reading but, the drinking has started so, dont expect PHD analysis from me now.

 

[FlyBoy50]

Post a picture if you can. Might be something we want to try in emergency with our WT. Thanks !

 

[BJ radionut]

Building the Tiger Tail Antenna - Paratus Radio

HAM's having been doing that for years & years on HT's. VHF/UHF frequencies see great improvement doing this, no reason same for 11m. Now make both parts of HT antenna full 1/4 wave and even better.

vk3ye dot com - Short pedestrian mobile HF whip

vk3ye dot com - Wadetenna for pedestrian mobile HF

 

[MadVeteran]

Building the Tiger Tail Antenna - Paratus Radio

HAM's having been doing that for years & years on HT's. VHF/UHF frequencies see great improvement doing this, no reason same for 11m. Now make both parts of HT antenna full 1/4 wave and even better.

vk3ye dot com - Short pedestrian mobile HF whip

vk3ye dot com - Wadetenna for pedestrian mobile HF

Exactly,, I kept seeing "Tiger Tail" for sale and wanted one for 11 meter. However, as you all know, 11 meter is a long antenna. This is why I used speaker wire (two wires) and attached the two sides at one end, so that it wasnt 9 feet long.

I did transmit with the "tiger tail" coiled. It did not work as well but, still better than no Tiger Tail (all copy rights , yeadda yadda,,, ).

Another person asked if I would post a picture. It really isnt that good looking but I will when I attach a better connector to the antenna. I agree, this is the perfect, simple, transmission enhancer in an urgent situation.

 

[L2]

Reminds me of the Rat Tail. https://rattailantenna.com/

 

[Tom Line]

Wonder how well a folding whip would work like on those old military radios. One could be fabricated from measuring tape and green paint. Don't know if this one works but it has a loading coil. I also wonder if an external mic would work as a counterpoise.

 

[Recon]

Wonder how well a folding whip would work like on those old military radios. One could be fabricated from measuring tape and green paint. Don't know if this one works but it has a loading coil. I also wonder if an external mic would work as a counterpoise.
View attachment 49314

I have two of these antennas and they are an improvement and almost as rigid as the old military PRC Radio antennas.

 

[FlyBoy50]

I just ordered a extendable walkie talkie antenna from walmart with a bnc connector on the end that's suppose to fit cobra, uniden, & midland walkie talkies. It extends from 9" - almost 52" so it should beat my Cobra HATA antenna that extends to 27" from 9". The Cobra HATA gave me a impressive radio check one time when I was up on top of a mountain about 10 - 15 mile estimate with my Midland 75-822. Hopefully this new antenna will blow that away.

 

[Recon]

I just ordered a extendable walkie talkie antenna from walmart with a bnc connector on the end that's suppose to fit cobra, uniden, & midland walkie talkies. It extends from 9" - almost 52" so it should beat my Cobra HATA antenna that extends to 27" from 9". The Cobra HATA gave me a impressive radio check one time when I was up on top of a mountain about 10 - 15 mile estimate with my Midland 75-822. Hopefully this new antenna will blow that away.

Don't expect a drastic improvement with a 2 - 4 watt Walkie Talkie with AA batteries.

 

[FlyBoy50]

Don't expect a drastic improvement with a 2 - 4 watt Walkie Talkie with AA batteries.

What your saying is true but 4 watts can do some impressive stuff if you have height and location on your side and conditions. Back in the 70s I once talked 25miles with a cheap stock Royce mobile and a Shakespeare Big Stick antenna mounted on top of a big Maple tree on top of a hill with many hills and trees between us. I seen some crazy stuff happen with 4 watts that still has me scratching my head in disbelief. And the bottom line is their stupid Rubber Duckie antennas shouldn't even be installed in the first place unless your a kid playing in the yard or neighborhood. LOL

 

[Recon]

What your saying is true but 4 watts can do some impressive stuff if you have height and location on your side and conditions. Back in the 70s I once talked 25miles with a cheap stock Royce mobile and a Shakespeare Big Stick antenna mounted on top of a big Maple tree on top of a hill with many hills and trees between us. I seen some crazy stuff happen with 4 watts that still has me scratching my head in disbelief. And the bottom line is their stupid Rubber Duckie antennas shouldn't even be installed in the first place unless your a kid playing in the yard or neighborhood. LOL

I used my 3-watt Midland 75-822 with the 12 V adapter plugged with the into the 12 volt accessory socket in my truck and it worked fine with a short mag-mount antenna on the roof. The 75-822 will maintain the 3-watts with the 12 volt power source, but when you are using standard AA or rechargeable AA batteries, it doesn't take too long for 3-watts to drop down to nothing.

 

[Recon]

What your saying is true but 4 watts can do some impressive stuff if you have height and location on your side and conditions. Back in the 70s I once talked 25miles with a cheap stock Royce mobile and a Shakespeare Big Stick antenna mounted on top of a big Maple tree on top of a hill with many hills and trees between us. I seen some crazy stuff happen with 4 watts that still has me scratching my head in disbelief. And the bottom line is their stupid Rubber Duckie antennas shouldn't even be installed in the first place unless your a kid playing in the yard or neighborhood. LOL

I used my 3-watt Midland 75-822 with the 12 V adapter plugged into the 12-volt accessory socket in my truck, and it worked fine with a short mag-mount antenna on the roof. The 75-822 will maintain the 3-watts with the 12-volt power source, but when you are using standard AA or rechargeable AA batteries, it doesn't take too long for 3-watts to drop down to nothing. Note: Reposted to correct grammar on previous reply.

 

[FlyBoy50]

Someday I will check my Midland to see what kind of wattage it puts out on high setting. It's suppose to do 4watts on high but like you say it is probably 3 watts. Wonder if it can be adjusted internally? I will only use my Midland with my Honda Forman or Motorcycle and they both have 12 volt external power available. I do have a new set of High mAh NMH batteries available for emergency use but will always lean to 12 volt if available.

 

[FlyBoy50]

I also have used my GE walkie talkie in my car with 12volt power and a short Walmart Mag mount and received good reports on the radio.