Number 32 on you. hedbKk c.
rd
A "Rad Radiator" For
Your W alkie-Talkie
Replace your rubber ducky with a dipole.
R ubbe r duc ky ante nnas (or should I say
" ru bbe r res isto rs") arc cute and make
us look like Kojak , but they are very poor
radiators. I decided to confront this problem
and come up with an easy- to-co nstruct hal f-
wave vertica l d ipole to enha nce the perfor-
mance o f toda y's walkie-talkies. Such a
d ipole wou ld also be suitable for testing to
evalua te the rubber du cky ' s performance .
My wal kie-tal kie is a Kenwood T H-2 1. a
shin pocket unit with an output of one watt on
high power and 150 m illiwans on low power.
1 made my o wn 19-ineh whip for the unit
becau se I was n' t able to buy one corn mcr-
cially.
You may already have a 19-inch whip. or
have a different type o f wal kie-talkie. Th at
does n't mancr-cthis project will wo rk just the
same. The wire pan of the antenna can he
attac hed 10 yo ur walk ie-talkie with a big alli-
gator cl ip. or a clip o f your own creat ion . The
important thing is that you make a good con-
ncction to the g round shell o f the antenna
connector, as close as possible to the antenna
base .
This antenna is not a new idea. I ha ve seen
it used elsewhe re and 1do not claim credit for
its invention . My goal was to verify its pe r-
formance and to infonn my fello w amateurs
abo ut it.
8uildin g the Whip
I built my ante nna from an o ld scanne r whip.
a Rad io Shack audio adapter (pan nu mber
274 ·389 ). a one- inc h piece of #12 bare wire .
and the cente r pin from an old solder-on
phone connector. I used only pan of the
whip: a seg ment four sect ions long thai would
extend e xactly 19 inc hes out o f the connector
shel l when finished .
To mak e the wh ip, remove the pin from the
ce nter of an RCA solder-on connector and
so lde r it to the #12 wire . Remove the plating
fro m the bottom of you r whip sec tions. using
a file and tiny knife to do the ins ide. Drill out
the top of your Radio Shad: connector shell
(I used the she ll only) so it is straight and
doesn't have a lip at the top . You can adjust
the length slightly by sho rte ning or lengthe n-
ing the 1112 bare wi re. Remember to leave
enough to allow 19 inc hes fro m the top of the
connecto r she ll to the tip o f the wh ip when
finished . Mine is exactly 19 inches, but a half
inch more or less s hould be okay. Also. make
sure that the cente r pin of the connecto r
by Bob Sumption W8MDV
Photo A. Deanna KA BWI talking 10 Tony
K89AFW Ih rouXh the PInnow" , indiana, re-
peater. WA9/NM , 42 m iles a wuy.
doe sn 't e xte nd too far into the walkie-talkie.
Th e Kenwood TH-21 has co mpo nents right
under the connector and you cou ld damage
the m with a long connector pin .
When assembling you r whip use the origi-
nal rubber du cky antenna connector as a
guide. I mad e mine too long and had to short-
en it on the grinder. Lucki ly , I did not damage
my walki e-talkie .
When you have the length correct. insert
the whip and connector asse mbly into the
connecto r shell. This is a good time to test the
fit o f the assembly on the unit. Make sure it all
fits and the co nnector she ll threads match
your un it. When you are sure you have it
correct, jam the bottom of the connector full
of wadded-up pieces o f masking tape and pack
them tightl y all around the connec tor pin .
Next, mix up som e epoxy glue and wo rk it
down around the whip until the connecto r is
filled . I clamped my wh ip assembly into a
vice to do this. then let it set overnig ht. Be
sure to center the Whip so that it doe sn 't sho rt
out to the connector she ll. Also , exte nd the
whip be fore glu ing so you do n't glue all the
whip segments toge ther . That was anothe r
goo f I made once. When finished you shou ld
have a nice whip to use on you r radio .
For the bo ttom halfof the dipole use a piece
of stranded hookup wire soldered to a piece of
thin sheet brass (from the hobby shop) l4"
wide by I ~ long . Bend th is piece into a C
shape and slip it s nug ly over the outside of the
connector shell. The wire is 19 inches long
and hangs dow n when using the radio, form-
ing the other half of a vertical dipole anten na.
How Well Does it Work?
My daugh ter Deanna KA8YVI helped with
the pe rforma nce testing . We tested the whip
using a wavetck field strength meier. The
waverck had a 19-inch piece o f wire on it that
hung down the side of the table . The walkie-
tal kie.set o n another table with the wavcrek
fifteen feet aw ay , was on high power with one
watt output.
Test Results :
Readings o n the Field Stre ngth Meter
Rubbe r ducky ante nna II dB
Whip alone 13 d8
Whip with wire 18 dB
These re sults sho w an improvement of seven
d8 ever the rubber ducky antenna when using
a full-size vert ical dipole.
To veri fy the results on the air, we used the
HT to wor k several repeaters. One of them
was the WA91NM repeater 42 miles away in
Plymouth, Indiana . The antenna of this re-
peater is at 400 feet. Deanna talked to Tony
KB9A FW south of Plymouth through this
repeater.
The new ant enna made the d ifference
between no contact at all and solid copy .
1 pe rformed a si mplex test with Dennis
KA8BND in Buchanan , Michigan . over 20
miles away . Dennis reponed that he could
hear a signal when I used the rubber-d uck but
he cou ld not copy me . Wit h the new vertical
dipole it was aga in Q-5 copy . Dennis repon-
ed he .....as using a double trombone antenna at
25 feet.
In evaluat ing th is antenna bear in mind
that all rubber d ueky an te nnas are not
created equal, so compa risons with other
walkie-talkies and rubber ducky antennas
may va ry. 1.11
Boh Sumption W8MD V has been licensed
since /958. He is now WI Extra and works as
a Laboratory Electronics Technician fi" A l~
lied Signal (Bendix Dil'ision ) in SoU/h Bend,
Indiana . Bob is pan of a hamfamily : His XYL
Diane , daughter Deanna , and .wn Mik e all
hold Technician licenses. Contact Bob al
61250 Cuss Roud, Cassopolis M149031 .
73 Amateur RadiO • May,l990 35