Chris, The wood desk opens up many possibilities, but it would be helpful to know if you're on VHF or UHF. If UHF, it should be possible to craft a simple antenna such as a J-pole made from flat twin-lead TV line, or even a dipole or loop made from conductive alarm-system window tape, and tape or glue it flat to an inside panel of the desk. Just make sure it's separated as much as possible from drawers which may be used to store metal objects, etc.
But if you're on VHF, you might not have room for that approach. A mobile mag-mount antenna on a file cabinet is also a classic approach to solving this issue, but less discreet visually. 73, Paul, AE4KR ----- Original Message ----- From: Bill Lang To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 4:01 PM Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Indoor antenna question Paul, Yes I have an AC power supply but sometimes, when we are busy, my handheld disappears. My desk is wood and so is much of the surrounding office. My concern is damaging the transmitter of a locally mounted mobile unit with the wrong antenna. Chris Paul Plack <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Chris, UHF or VHF? Is your desk wood, steel, or non-ferrous metal? Have you considered an AC power supply for the handheld? ----- Original Message ----- From: Chris To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 4:00 PM Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Indoor antenna question From my desk, I often answer radio calls from our four mobile units and to do that, I've been using a hand-held radio. Our repeater is only about 2,000 feet away and that works OK except that the portable has to be on all the time and eventually, the batteries have to be replaced. What I'd like to do is to mount a mobile radio - with appropriate DC power - on or near my desk. We have several extra Kenwood TK-760s and I could use one of those, dialed back to 5 or 10 watts. My question is what kind of antenna to use? I need something that I can mount under my desk. This is commercial service so the duty cycle is fairly low. Is there an antenna that would work in this application? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
