Abbree Antenna's Good, Bad or Silly

[Marvin VE3VCG]

It goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyway, antenna's are at the centre of HAM radio. The well worn phrase, "a good radio with a poor antenna is a poor radio".  .  Start a discussion with a group of HAM's about antenna's and everyone has an opinion and generally a favorite antenna. One antenna that has stirred controversy is the "tactical Abbree antenna. It's a very large folding VHF/UHF antenna which is styled on folding military antenna's, hence their designation as it being a tactical antenna. The antenna will be of little interest to most, aside from those looking to get more range from their HT. The question to answer is, does this antenna actually work or is it a gimmick? This video should be of interest to anyone who might want to find out. Even if you never want to use one, it's an interesting bit of antenna testing if you like that kind of thing. But then again, it might inspire you to dust off your HT and have a little fun. Enjoy!

[VA3KOT John]

I own an Abree and it does work well; but then a wet noodle would work well from my QTH. The video does make a good point about the "other half" being the user's head. I often get an RF tingle in my hand when transmitting with  my Baofeng. A rat tail counterpoise might help and it is probably a good idea to use a speaker/mic to keep the radio away from my noggin.

[Marvin VE3VCG]

Thanks for your reply. I agree that a rat tail counterpoise is a good idea. I bought a speaker mic for the Baofeng because I also got an RF tingle when transmitting on mine. I also found that the little beast gets darn hot if I transmit for any length of time. I suppose that's a good indicator to let me know I'm being to long winded . I think I mentioned that I used the ABBREE antenna to make a simplex contact with Jan, with me standing in front of the New Orleans Pizza store in Port Elgin and She at our home QTH. That is at least 15 K line of sight.

I own an Abree and it does work well; but then a wet noodle would work well from my QTH. The video does make a good point about the "other half" being the user's head. I often get an RF tingle in my hand when transmitting with  my Baofeng. A rat tail counterpoise might help and it is probably a good idea to use a speaker/mic to keep the radio away from my noggin.