Re: [Paddlewise] VHF antenna

For one good version of the J-pole that is very portable see;
http://hamgate1.sunyerie.edu/~larc/pocketJpole.htm

A Google search on "twin lead J-pole" (without the quotes) will give 
you many more sites.

The J-Pole will outperform a rubber duck in nearly ALL cases.
Even the loose from the coax is offset by the added height of the
antenna.
With RG-58 coax you would need to have more coax than you want to carry
to make the j-pole less efficient than the rubber duck.

For emergency antennas I usually use RG-174 about 20' long and it is
FAR better than the rubber duck.

I use these antennas on Ham radio and marine VHF and they work very
well.

michael N6CHV


Evan Dallas wrote:

> Sorry, I'm on the digest version of Paddlewise, so I just got your posting.
> The primary idea I had was an antenna for emergency transmission, presumably
> in the neighborhood of 157 MHz.  Secondary use would be to improve reception
> in remote areas.
> 
> However, if as you say, this arrangment works less well than the rubber
> ducky antenna for transmission, then there's less incentive for me to do
> this.  Are you saying the quality of the transmission would be poorer, even
> though the range would be farther (due to being elevated higher)?
> 
> I've been having a hard time finding a sketch of a J-pole antenna, other
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