In article <19940310103633UDSD022@DSIBM.OKLADOT.STATE.OK.US>,
Jim Glover <UDSD022@DSIBM.OKLADOT.STATE.OK.US> wrote:
>I'd like to hold the spending down to a copule of bucks here.
>(I'm still waiting to buy into packet!) Can anyone
>recommend a cheap 2M portable antenna design?
The simplest design that absolutely WORKS is the one in the ARRL Antenna Book.
It's a quarter wave groundplane built on an SO-239 chassis mount connector (the
one with 4 holes). Offhand I don't know the recommended dimensions, but if you
solder a 19-1/2" 14 ga. wire to the center pin of the connector, and solder
four of those same size and length wires to the four holes and bend them down at a 45 degree angle, you'll have it. The 14 ga. wire makes it sturdy enough to
stand on its own. OR, make the radiator wire 20" long and bend it at the end to
form a loop - then you can hang it from the ceiling. Fashion a length of coax
with a male PL-259 on one end, and a male BNC on the other (or a PL-259 on each end, with a BNC adapter on one of them), and you're all set. The antenna itself
will cost you under $2.
If you have an Antenna Book, I believe you can find it by looking in the index
