HT and remote antenna question
Posted: 31 Dec 2022, 20:02
If you have an HT and run say two meters of antenna wire to an HT antenna on the roof of the car doesn't the length of feeder wire actually act like the other half of a dipole that's usually absent in a handheld radio?
Seems to me that would mean half your RF would be being radiated around the inside of the car via the feeder line and the difference between the length of the antenna wire and the actual antenna at the end would function like a dipole with one arm several times longer than the other, and surely that would also waste wattage powering the long half of the dipole signal through the antenna wire.
Also, since a handheld is basically just running as one half of a dipole is there any way to isolate the RF that would run through the length of antenna feeder? Maybe getting jiggy with oddball baluns or chokes or something so you COULD fit a working dipole at the end of an antenna line off an HT?
Yes I understand that HT's are not meant to be used with external antennas but I've done some experimenting with interesting results and frankly the "on paper" rocket science of antennas flies right out the window when you start doing unusual things.
Seems to me that would mean half your RF would be being radiated around the inside of the car via the feeder line and the difference between the length of the antenna wire and the actual antenna at the end would function like a dipole with one arm several times longer than the other, and surely that would also waste wattage powering the long half of the dipole signal through the antenna wire.
Also, since a handheld is basically just running as one half of a dipole is there any way to isolate the RF that would run through the length of antenna feeder? Maybe getting jiggy with oddball baluns or chokes or something so you COULD fit a working dipole at the end of an antenna line off an HT?
Yes I understand that HT's are not meant to be used with external antennas but I've done some experimenting with interesting results and frankly the "on paper" rocket science of antennas flies right out the window when you start doing unusual things.