Thanks guys! Ill try to build a couple different antennas at work tomorrow. Easy day, time to break out the soldering kit, and the calculator woohoo. Hmm. Vertically polarized, might have to do some re-thinking of my plan. I totally forgot about the polarization of the antenna. Go figure, mostly we use field expedient for long haul HF comms, and were going for some serious skip distance.
Thanks again guys, Ill play around the metal working shop tomorrow lol.

Oh and that first antenna you posted looks almost exactly like the AS-390 antennas we use on ships in the Navy
http://www.valcom-guelph.com/products/AS-390_SRC.html

The 3d Fold antenna looks interesting, but a bit more expensive to build... might have to get some copper pipe from work lol.

N4CR,
 Thanks for the info. Luckily the WD-1 I discovered after I posted this was Tinned copper, with three aluminum strands for strength. The reason I was using RG58 was it was what I had lol, I have an abundance of the stuff from using it at work. I'm in full agreement about the height playing a big difference, we run 44ft OE-254 field antennas on VHF at work to extended our LOS. What I was planning on was running the antenna out the third floor window in my apartment I live in, with the ends pointed perpendicular to the repeater I'm trying to hit.
I'm mainly trying to build stuff for cheap, that works. No sense dumping a butt ton of cash into a 58 dollar Baefong UV5R transceiver.. Ill wait until I can afford a Yaesu or an ICOM to do that hahaha. So I'm using standard materials I have floating around my work to make the best equipment I can. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome is what they taught us in field radio operators school in the Marines and it works!
Thanks again N4CR, I appreciate it.

Ok gents, heres the parts I have to work with.
milspec WD-1 Aluminum comms wire
one cobra head to BNC (COAX) adapter (We call them cobra heads at work, has a BNC on one end, two screw down ports on the other, we use them for makeshift HF antennas)
25ft RG-58A/U Low loss coax
Frequency is 147.840 tx ouput is 5 watts (HT rig)
Ok, I ran my formula, would it be better to use one leg single wire 3.17ft or dipole IE one out of the red center conductor, one out of the ground sheathing conductor of 1.505 ft?

Does anyone know how good the WD-1 wire is? We use it all the time at work for FE antennas, but then again, it is cheap, and it usually is all we have.
Thanks gents
Mike
KK4LAK

The one I have has an LS-474 loudspeaker that came with it (They work really well, pretty loud on the 104, REALLY loud on the Harris PRC-117)
Thanks for all the input guys, I appreciate the info. Oh- my callsign showed up on the ULS this morning, so its time to play hahahaha.
KK4LAK

Too bad my HT's rubber ducky cant hit the local repeater from the backside of Belvoir... Oh well, upgrade time!!!

Peter,
 If you dont mind me asking a dumb newbie question, why exactly are they difficult to tune for ham use? Granted in the military, we were given our day/night/alternate freqs, but is it because its single digit tuning? Are you refering to that?
Thanks for putting up with a relative new guy..
One a different note, does anyone make a good backpack rugged field transceiver? Ive seen the youkits TJ4a, and the elecraft line, but Im worried about moisture and wet conditions. Im hard on equipment, which is why I usually try to get mil-spec stuff (not to mention I use it at work, and know the radios inside and out.. plus having the test equipment and maintanance books on hand is a boone)
Thanks guys.

And yes, I know Im only authorized a certain frequency range in the HF spectrum with my tech license, which is why Im now studying for general. Thanks guys!!

Good morning gents,
 First to start off with, Im a new operator, waiting for my callsign to show in the ULS (took my exam and passed technician yesterday, missed general by two questions) Ive been doing radio work for the Navy and Marine corps for 12 years now.
Ok my question is this- I have an old Hughes PRC-104 HF field radio, works great (Ive hooked it up to our test equipment Ive got at work, passed all the maintanance checks I could find)
Are these radios good for the amatuer operator? Ive used them before, but since Im new to the amatuer world, what do you guys think?
I know most new operators start out with VHF/UHF HT's, but Im alot more comfortable with good old fashioned HF lol.
Thanks
Mike