Looking to replace the mediocre stock FT-60R with a high-gain aftermarket dual band antenna.
Antenna gain is basically a function of length.
Unless your antenna is poorly built, you aren’t going
to get much additional gain without going longer.
A half wave is as long as you want to go. That also
adds height above ground, in addition to any antenna
gain. (A 5/8 wave is actually worse in this application.)
But you don’t want it extended while you are walking
around.
So far, the full size 1/4 wave whip is the best I’ve found
when I need max signal. In the forests in Alaska our
radios had telescoping whips: they could receive well
enough with the whip down, then we would stop and
raise it when we needed to talk. But they didn’t last
very long if you tried to walk through the bush with
the whip up - I learned that quickly!
... Also curious about adding rattails (commercial or homebrew)...
Years ago I ran a test with multiple antennas, and a
single hanging radial added an average of 9 dB to
any antenna under 3/8 wavelength on 2m. (And HTs
we’re bigger back then, too.) Whenever I’m in a
difficult area, that is one of the first things I add to
my radio - it’s just a thin piece of wire.
But it isn’t a panacea. Other tests haven’t always seen
such a difference. I think modern designers have
tailored antennas better to the various radios. But it
is easy and cheap enough to test: find a weak distant
repeater that isn’t full scale on your meter. Attach a
length of wire to the ground of the antenna jack and
prune it for maximum received signal. (You should
have the radio sitting in a fixed spot, and make sure
your body isn’t affecting the signal.)
...Looking to hit those distant repeaters.
Are you trying to chat through them while walking
around? Or just listening, then stopping to talk?
Or sitting at your desk?
Because I’d recommend a different antenna in each
situation.
For casual talking while walking through the park, the
2m 1/4 wave whip is probably your best bet. Use
a tail if it seems to help your radio.
If you are stopping to talk, the 1/2 wave telescoping
antennas will do better, and you can monitor with the
whip down.
For serious outdoor use in the back country, I mounted
a half wave whip on my packframe, using the radiator
from an old CB mag mount. That ran rings around any
other antenna back in the canyons with Search and Rescue.
The downside was that it knocked the dew off the
overhanging branches and down the back of my neck.
I tucked the radio in a pocket of the pack and used
a speaker mic. As a backup, I also carried a roll-up
j-pole that I could hoist in a tree if it wasn’t convenient
to move to higher ground when necessary to maintain
contact.
If you are operating from home, then use something
like a Diamond X-50, j-pole, ground plane, etc., mounted
outside above the roof. Height makes more difference
than anything else for VHF/UHF signal strength. I used
to talk through a repeater 100 miles away on low power
(1/4 watt) on 2m using an Isopole up 30’, and a beam
would be even better: they are cheap enough to make
that I have had multiple ones pointed in different target
directions rather than using a rotator. (There wasn’t
room to rotate them in the attic anyway.)
At the current house, the antenna is in an inaccessible
portion of the attic. I cut a hole in the ceiling of a closet
and stuck it up through the blown-in insulation. You can
only see it if you walk into the closet, turn around, and
look up over the door. When we sell the house, I’ll
just patch the wallboard.
Even though the antenna isn’t outdoors, or up very
high, it is still way better than anything mounted
on an HT on my desk.