6 Meter Antenna for a HT

[AK4SK]

Has anybody had good results with any of the replacement HT antennas on the 6m band? There seems to be a variety of tri and quad band replacement antennas that are supposed to cover 6m but I haven't found any with good reviews.

[AD4U]

I own and maintain a very good (IMHO) six meter repeater.  It is a GE Mastr II, running 100
watts, brand new full size TX RX duplexer, 7/8 inch hardline, with a commercial antenna at 350 feet.

I have a couple of tri-band HT's and I have tried a variety of HT antennas.  NONE of them works well on six meters.  They are just too short. 

A 1/4 wave antenna on six meters is around 54 inches tall.  Shortening such an antenna so it can be mounted on a typical HT without breaking the antenna connector (especially those with SMA's) really adversely affects performance.

If you come up with anything that works well, let me know.  So far I have not.

Dick  AD4U

[G8YMW]

The only thing I can think of is similar to a 4 metre whip I got for my Wouxon, shame about it is the company that makes them do not do a version for 6 metres (DOH!!)
I dont know if anyone could roll one themselves?
The 4 metre one is approx 20 inches long with a loading coil about 8 inches up. Works a treat. Now the only problem I can see is would it have enough bandwidth?

[AK4SK]

Thanks to you both.

Dick,
When I did a search on the subject I seem to remember that you mentioned having an antenna that was about 30" that performed well, is that not the case?

[WB6BYU]

Antenna efficiency has always been one of the major problems with handhelds operating int the
VHF-LO band (30 - 50 MHz).

I have a 6m HT (converted commercial unit) that I haven't tried yet, but I'm considering using
a Larsen 2m 5/8 wave whip on it.  The whips are also resonant near 6m.  I have a couple of
the whips that fit a SO-238 socket, and can adapt them down to a BNC to fit the radio.  Otherwise
I'd use as long of a whip as possible (at least 36") with a tapped base loading coil and a hanging
radial wire (possibly also loaded at the feedpoint.)

[AD4U]

Thanks to you both.

Dick,
When I did a search on the subject I seem to remember that you mentioned having an antenna that was about 30" that performed well, is that not the case?

I guess "well" is relative.  It performs better than any other six meter HT antenna I tried.  It does not perform nearly as well as a 19 inch whip does on two meters, everything else being equal.

Bottom line is I am not happy with ANY of the six meter HT antennas I have tried.  However this one is better than the rest.

Dick  AD4U