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Add a 'Rat Tail' / Counterpoise to your Handheld for better TX & RX
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26CT1074 Contributor
Call Sign : 26-CT-1074 / M7MMC Posts : 82 Times Thanked : 6 Join date : 2019-06-28 QTH or Location : Brighton, East Sussex Equipment Used : Icom IC-7300, Lincoln II (V4), Xiegu X6100 Age : 46
Subject: Add a 'Rat Tail' / Counterpoise to your Handheld for better TX & RX Fri Apr 17, 2020 12:55 am
Another video I thought i'd share, which I did earlier this month. Seeing various videos on adding a simple counterpoise to a handheld radio i've seen some decent results, not only on RX but on TX too.
Easily made from bits and bobs you may already have laying around the shack.
Cheers and beers everyone, Stay safe and good health!
73' Mike.
steve152, glenn dog, Alan - Mirror Man and Jonesk99 like this post
Sydthecat CT Directors
Call Sign : 2E0VRX Posts : 776 Times Thanked : 47 Join date : 2019-06-26 QTH or Location : Yorkshire dales Equipment Used : Yaesu FTdx 101d, MD200 mic ,Mosley 3ele Yagi Age : 59
Subject: Re: Add a 'Rat Tail' / Counterpoise to your Handheld for better TX & RX Fri Apr 17, 2020 6:46 am
Nice one Mike will certainly give that one a go
Great video and many thanks for sharing
Craig CT Admin 73
Alan - Mirror Man likes this post
26CT1074 Contributor
Call Sign : 26-CT-1074 / M7MMC Posts : 82 Times Thanked : 6 Join date : 2019-06-28 QTH or Location : Brighton, East Sussex Equipment Used : Icom IC-7300, Lincoln II (V4), Xiegu X6100 Age : 46
Subject: Re: Add a 'Rat Tail' / Counterpoise to your Handheld for better TX & RX Fri Apr 17, 2020 12:02 pm
Thanks Craig, it seems to work because I made one for the 2 metre band and originally without one I couldn't access a repeater along the coast from me on the Baofeng GT3TP, when I made up a new 2m counterpoise I was able to open it and the signal received from it was marginally better also
73'
Alan - Mirror Man likes this post
Alan - Mirror Man Major contributor
Call Sign : 108CT233 Posts : 201 Times Thanked : 14 Join date : 2019-12-01 QTH or Location : Central Scotland Equipment Used : CRT SS9900 Beofeng UV5R Yaesu FTDX1200 CRT Micron CRT FP00 Sattelite 2000 antenna ZS6BKW X30 co-linear
Subject: Re: Add a 'Rat Tail' / Counterpoise to your Handheld for better TX & RX Sun Jun 21, 2020 3:53 pm
This is a very worthwhile little project to take on, I have added dual tuned counterpoises to my handhelds and have made some up for a friend to add to his handy as I have been so impressed with the results. I am hearing stations for the first time from a little further afield, increased signal strength from more local ones and would say there is an immediate and noticeable difference. I used a ground plane calculator to get my lengths choosing mid 2m and the middle of the PMR band and using some scrap wire from an old charging cable it is barely noticeable once attatched to your handset.
munz New Member
Call Sign : 108-CT-2014 Posts : 3 Times Thanked : 0 Join date : 2020-07-14 QTH or Location : Inverness Inverness Equipment Used : crt ss6900n with sirio 1/2wave Age : 57
Subject: Re: Add a 'Rat Tail' / Counterpoise to your Handheld for better TX & RX Wed Jul 15, 2020 9:33 pm
that is fantastic mike thank you! i got a few to do tomorrow. my daughter,my mate and my neighbor
Alan - Mirror Man likes this post
renmax New Member
Call Sign : 2-CT-171 Posts : 4 Times Thanked : 0 Join date : 2020-11-01 QTH or Location : Christmas Valley, Oregon Equipment Used : Yaesu 857
Subject: Re: Add a 'Rat Tail' / Counterpoise to your Handheld for better TX & RX Tue Nov 03, 2020 3:57 am
I have used rat tails on my HT for years! They really do work well. Easy to make. The rat tail is the ground side of the whip (dipole) antenna. They are 19in long. If you don't use a rat tail make sure you hold the HT in your hand because the radios are engineered to use you as the ground side of the radio.
Alan - Mirror Man likes this post
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Subject: Re: Add a 'Rat Tail' / Counterpoise to your Handheld for better TX & RX
Add a 'Rat Tail' / Counterpoise to your Handheld for better TX & RX