[TMRA] HT antennas

[KB8NXO at access-ohio.net]

While I'm sure many all ready know this, there are also many who can benefit 
from this as well. My HT (Hand held Portable type) is an Alinco DJ-V5TH. 
Using it out of the box to hit local repeaters it has a "frying" sound. So I 
added a tiger tail. One lead is 19 1/2 inches for 2m and the other is 6 1/2 
inches for .70 cm. The frying sound disappeared from my transmissions. I 
just received a Comet SMN-24 from my favorite retailer. What a difference. 
 
I did not receive an answer to my CQ call but I went inside the house 
because of rain, I sat in my chair and tuned into the weather on 162.5000. 
When I had done this in the past my received signal light up about two bars. 
Not very good but it worked. With the 2m/.70cm gain antenna the received 
signal was off the charts. Full scale.
 
This has convinced me that the stock antenna that came with my hand held is 
junk. Relatively speaking. So if you have a hand held that you use to check 
in to the repeaters with and you have to repeat yourself to get through, you 
should seriously consider getting an antenna with gain for your rig. And 
since you most likely can make a tiger tail with what you already have... do 
that too.
 
Rick  KB8NXO