Ham Radio - Tear down of the ABBREE tactical VHF/UHF antenna.

Several comments on the previous video asked me to tear it down, so here we go.
This is a link to the particular antenna I purchased. If you bought one from another supplier, it may not be made the same.
amazon link:
www.amazon.com/dp/B07GYKN6ZD?...
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[@larrybomber83]

Looks like me. I love taking stuff apart to see what makes it tick. thanks Kevin.

[@Ronl53]

I have an old Cushcraft AR-270, 2m, 70cm antenna. It had been out in the weather and was not performing correctly so I took it apart to see if I could clean it up. I found the same type matching network in the Cushcraft. The cap and the coil were obviously different values. I repaired a broken solder joint at the top of the coil and cleaned it up. I put it all back together and it is performing very well. I don't completely understand how it works, but it does. Thanks for the video.

[@norrinradd8952]

I have one of these I bought in 2020. The build quality on your antenna appears to be better than mine. On my antenna, the cap was barely glued on and came off in the summer heat. After an entire winter outside it was permanently folded over right above the base. It wasn't until I took it down that I noticed it was actually broken at the nut/bolt connection. Water had seeped in and it rusted through. After pulling off the single layer of heat shrink, I found two pieces of yellow tape measure steel tape.

[@VicGreenBitcoin]

there are a lot of fake Abbree antenna`s... you probably got one

[@fouroh5]

I put a 48.8" version of this on a 20' last and it worked great on 2 meters!

[@andresgongoraYT]

Thanks for the tear down!

[@HamRadioCrashCourse]

These always seemed hit and miss. I have a few which work wonderfully and compare well against other antennas. But lots of people online and in videos seems to get poor performance.

[@norrinradd8952]

In my limited experience, I've found that a great handheld antenna is really hard to pin down. Relative comparison is really all you get. The only antenna that I've connected to a handheld that I could definitively say gave noticeably better performance was a Diamond X300. Still working on the backpack mount for that 10 foot beast. In all seriousness, if I did have to pick my best all around HT antenna it would be the Signal Stick. KISS works.

[@stewartrv]

I've noticed the same mine works great (on analyser too). I think that there are some fake/clones too maybe they don't have any matching stuff inside that was why some fake Nagoya's were crap for example... It's also possible that they use the wrong coil for the radiator or visa-versa in the factory...

[@ahole5407]

So sad how people try to flex on brands yet when something comes out that's unequivocally better performing at half the price they get angry and immediately make fun of the name because they have nothing else to say. 😤 The reason you read negative reviews is those that bought an expensive antenna and just want to knock it. Others make money selling expensive antennas and don't like when a company takes away their profit 🙄

[@WoodyPhillips]

Very cool. I really didn't want to do this to mine so ... THANKS!

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

👍 Thanks Kevin, that was interesting. I often wonder what's inside these HT or mobile whips. This was like antenna CSI 😂. The matching part with the connectors certainly looks useful for homebrew antennas. In fact, it would be useful if you could buy parts like that for HT/mobile whip experiments. In the past, I have made various mobile whips and portable antennas using cheap fibre glass "Roman blind" rods. I covered the rod with self-adjesive copper slug tape and then put heatshrink over the whole thing. Not as flexible as sprung steel but very RF conductive, lightweight and hardwearing. In terms of the matching in this design, it just looks like an auto-transformer with shorted turns as you say to tweak the inductance for the radiator plus the series capacitor to make the match to the transmitter a resistive impedance - kind of similar to that used in gamma match?

[@TwoFeatherChannel]

I have the same length Abbree, it wasn't anywhere as good the Nagoya. but I bought it for its fold over ability. even though I read reviews on Amazon saying that it was a Tape Measure blade inside, it didn't matter to me because hundreds of people make those 2 meter Tape Measure Yagi's all the time.

[@victorb22622]

Nicely presented

[@pacquetman]

Another excellent video, Kevin! In fairness, I don't think these are marketed to amateurs, but rather to the folks playing paintball and who are using Baofeng's for 'tactical comms'. Many of the chest harnesses made for paintballers have a pouch for a radio and also a loop that the antenna goes through, designed to mitigate the forces on the antenna base when trudging through the 'jungle'!

[@DarkShadowCustoms]

I think it is mostly marketed for those into the whole prepping thing. I haven't seen many of these being used in paintball or airsoft. Most of the guys in paintball and airsoft either use the stock antenna or a NA-771 whip antenna.

[@allen_steel1236]

You hit the nail on the head, these are being marketed to people that want to play army, and have the look and feel of a combat radio for the price of a set of walkie talkies.

[@charlesschindler1971]

Another learning experience with/Professor Loughin. 👍🏻👋🇺🇸

[@doc5917]

My primary HT antenna for hiking in the boonies. I think the Abbree brand works and many knock offs are of questionable quality.

[@michaeledmonds3027]

Thanks for the "tear down", your assumptions were correct. Meanwhile, I've never understood why Baofeng couldn't make a decent HT antenna.

[@kd5inm]

Thumbs up for the teardown

[@TheHeadman]

If you look on Amazon at these antennas. They show what a authentic one looks like inside vs an imposter. The authentic one shows a base with about 25 wraps/coils. So either they have changed the design or this is an imposter?

[@thuff3207]

Thank you and that was interesting.

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

Thanks for the 2 videos, really interesting. It didn't work out for you but I'm sure it's given lots of people ideas on how to use tape measures in different types of antenna build. I'd like to find some time to build my own version. I wouldn't call it "tactical" though....probably call it "practical". 🤣

[@Hamradio54730]

Thanks for this video

[@glenmartin2437]

Thank you. I still love dismantling things. Near totally dismantled a large BW TV in high school. Thanks again. N0QFT

[@DarkShadowCustoms]

Just stumbled across your channel today. Interesting video. I have heard mixed reviews, but mostly bad, on the Abbree brand of antennas.

[@brentgilbert805]

I bought one, Thought it was pretty decent until I compared it to the stock rubber duck antenna that came with a baufeng. Honestly. The abbree could barely pick up NOAA without cutting in and out while the stock rubber duck seemed to be more consistent. Also, the abbree seems to work the same regardless of whether or not you have the flexible topper attached to the coil or not.

[@radiolinux45]

Well done Kevin make a dipole out of tape metal strips then shrink wrap the metals ?

[@rafaelthetall]

i tested the longer one and am amazed. gave 2s units over the VX-8 original antenna, both receive and xmit

[@loughkb]

Did you purchase it from the same supplier linked in the video description? If not, it's probably a different antenna than the one I have.

[@rafaelthetall]

@@loughkb i bought from a guy that brings them here in Brazil. it was 'green pack' (theoretically original). i tested it during a SOTA activation.and all the guys reported considerable improvement.

[@kenharvey9714]

I saw one teardown on youtube and the antenna actually had printed tape measure inside! I have a couple of these Abbree antennas and they work much better than the original rubber ducks.

[@loughkb]

I'm pretty sure it varies depending on which vendor you buy from. Or who they contract the build from. I'm only looking at the antenna I purchased from the vendor linked in the video description. Antennas purchased from different suppliers are likely to be very different internally. As shown, this one did very little over the stock duck in a controlled experiment.

[@DonzLockz]

I think they used a gas torch to burn off the tape measure paint.🔥🤔 Thanks for the autopsies, we were all very curious to see their construction. 👍🍻🤓

[@jiriwichern]

I have the 108cm version. On a quansheng UV-K5 for me it is the difference between being able to communicate on the local 2 meters repeater inside my ground floor apartment or not being able to open the repeater at all (with the standard rubber duck). I also bought and tried an Abbree 771 (clone)... It has a similar coil/capacitor construction in its base as you found inside. However that one doesn't perform that well on 2 meter, although NanoVNA measurements do show nice dips at 144 and 430 MHz.

[@sampamnl.8964]

Thank you so much.

[@franciscolopez3229]

I got mine to work 74km on simplex at roughly more than 200 feet above sea level at 4 watts using my old trusty Icom IC 02AT. By the way, my Abbree is the 72cm version.

[@loughkb]

There seems to be several manufacturers of it. I've heard for others who opened it up and they were different inside. I guess it's a roll of the dice when you buy one. It may be good, it may not. I got one of the latter. The link in the description is the one I purchased.

[@mikemcdonald5147]

lol i was expecting to see a real tape measure numbers and all. very cool. its actually better built than i thought it would be.

[@charlesstephens3660]

I have the 48" version. I ran an experiment with another ham 10 miles away on 2M simplex and it did work better that the spaghetti thin after market one I usually use. The problem is it is so long that it puts a heck of a strain on the HTs connector.

[@johnroberts6695]

Yes, but have you ever seen one break? I'm very careful with mine, so I've never stressed one. I've just wondered how much stress it would take.

[@franciscolopez3229]

I did some research about this antenna and found out from another video who tested all four versions and the conclusion was that the 28 and the 48 inch if I'm correct, has basically the same performance so I bought the 28 inch and it worked great and doesn't bend that easy and less strain on the HTs' connector. Read my comment on this video.

[@G0USL]

Thanks for the dissection, very interesting. I would guess that's a standard inductor that the manufacturers solder-short for various applications. 73 de GØUSL

[@OctavMandru]

The antenna seems to have good parts, I would experiment with the VNA to see if I can improove it's performance. The radiator is definitely resonant on 145M so you can't go wrong with it.

[@norrinradd8952]

I would love to see that journey in video form. Great idea.

[@stevenbrannen1568]

Still very new to ham but the first thought I had on coil was maybe it works like a jpole.

[@TwoDollarBill000]

Wonderful, can you say "Big Clive". How about more of these type of videos?

[@vicmiller7191]

Nice break down. I agree for 6 or so bucks there is some good experimental hardware for later uses. Thanks for taking it apart. Vic de KE8JWE

[@jeffreyeide7512]

From Jeff Eide WA7LFP: Thanks again for an informative video. (As usual for you. : )

[@aurtisanminer2827]

I got an abbree to use on my ft60. It only lasted a month before the loading coil failed internally.

[@aurtisanminer2827]

Huh, maybe my loading coil didnt blow out. I tested it’s continuity and didnt see any.

[@JxH]

Shorted turns on inductors are generally frowned upon, reason being that they add nothing but loss (circulating current).

[@cliffyoung5712]

I have a Model 771-3 137-174/400-520 12W High Quality Tactical Antenna TwayRdio Made In China on my FT70D. Probably the same kind of setup. I havent compared it to the stock antenna yet. I live a mile from the repeater. Any advice on a better than stock antenna ?

[@allen_steel1236]

The simplest thing to do, would be just to solder a straight wire from the feed point, to where it connects to the threaded lug. So that essentially the base is nothing more than a feed through insulator. Cut the spring steel down to 18 in. And give the whole thing a good coating of epoxy line heat shrink. Could make an excellent quarter wave antenna. If you wanted to go the extra step solder a piece of silicone coated or meter test Pro wire to the negative side or ground side of the coil form. And heat shrink that as well, to provide a counter Poise or ground plane to the 19-in vertical.

[@Pedro8k]

2 length of what the make tape measures our of if you look into the top of the loading base it is pushed on and glued I wish they made one for 50 or 70 mhz

[@johnwest7993]

I make it a firm rule to never by anything that starts with the word 'tactical'. It has served me well. Not that I would buy an antenna when I can build them for next to nothing and actually learn things. I'd guess the capacitor mostly bypasses the majority of the loading coil to operate on 440 MHz. Like most Chinese stuff it's a cheap kluge version of proper engineering design. BTW, once they have shorted a group of windings on the same side, if they need another half a turn removed they short it on the other side. I'm sure you're right. They use the same coil for all different lengths of antenna element, and they tune them on a test-fixture using blobs of solder because it's quicker than soldering on jumpers. I had a couple of those antennas come with a package deal on 2 cheap Baofeng radios and I found them to work not nearly as well as 1/4 wave pieces of stiff wire soldered into connector adapters I had in my junk box. I made 2 antennas, 1 for each band, (actually 3, if you count the one for the FM broadcast band.) They don't fold very well, but I can actually fold them in an emergency, then straighten them back out since they are just made from old copper house wire. The Broadcast band one I put a little loop in the end of and hang the whole thing on a nail on the wall, radio and all. It keeps the longer copper wire antenna vertical and keeps me from knocking over the radio.

[@Cardassiaprime]

Great Teardown Kevin. now I can make one with a bit more confidence in being able to tune it. I'm so glad you produced a "Dremel" i thought you were gonna try with that flimsy plastic razor knife( which i see used a lot i n the US) do you have what we call in England a Stanley Knife, very rugged and just as sharp- but in my opinion a lot safer to use. Keep up the great work. PS. would love to hear your take on matching an end fed mono band half wave antenna. Barnie 73 de M7PBX.

[@garyh8315]

A few grest vids there Kevin. Not all are confident to dissect stuff they have purchased. At least you have highlighted the risks of alternates. 73

[@thes764]

Modifying the transformer to proper 49:1 should make that a decent end fed half wave for 2m. Maybe removing the shorts and moving the tap would do the trick? I'd go that route. Actually thinking of making one from actual tape measure left from portable yagi projects.

[@loughkb]

If you want to go with a half wave, that's going to be a 38.45 inch radiator. Pretty big on a little HT.

[@thes764]

@@loughkb only now I see this is a bit too short for a half wave, used to metric. But as its lightweight and flexible it shouldn't put too much stress on the HT at 1m length. Think that was the original idea with that "tactical" antenna. Some of the windings might be intended as loading coil. There are longer ones available, too. Anyway, thanks for showing the inside of the thing!

[@allen_steel1236]

Remember these are not actual antennas designed to really work that well. The design for the people that want to look and feel of military radios. When playing weekend warrior with airsoft pistols. You could make a functional halfway out of it. However you would need to provide some form of crown playing. Either a vertical wire hanging from the base of the antenna or God forbid using the jacket of the coax. But you would need to put a very large lump amount of ferrite, near RF connector at the far end of the cable. After measuring out 19 in of coax from the base of the antenna. A coil of five or six turns about 4 in in diameter secured with zip ties. They provide a useful choke to stop our of current flowing back into the radio. But this is probably more than most people want to do and have strapped to them while trying to use a radio and remember when you put the antenna onto your back straps. You're putting it up against a surface that contains a large amount of water. So you will change the tuning of the antenna immediately. If you're putting it on to a plate carrier you're doing exactly what it sounds like mounting your antenna against a steel plate. Usually we would put our antenna and a 90° angle to a steel plate. And connected capacitively. But just dropping the antenna to your mole strap, will not really provide the correct capacity of coupling. Again these antennas are for Weekend Warriors and to give a certain look not be functional

[@AZREDFERN]

I was totally expecting to see various tape measures printed on the inside, like the factory in China was reusing waste from a nearby tape measure factory.

[@loughkb]

I heard back from some people that tore theirs down and did find tape measure markings. It seems there are several manufacturers making these and it's the luck of the draw as to what you get. I only could tear down and review the one that I ordered from the link I provided in the description. Yours might be different.

[@attilarivera]

thank u

[@peraperic535]

Please, how long is wired in coil wound on 8mm diameter plastic form 18 gauge mag wire? Do somebody know that?

[@leeparm45]

Good job, Kevin. Is it possible that, in the original video, by walking in a straight line away from the dummy load, you might have been in a minor lobe of the antenna? Or, by doing a 360 degree walk around your signal source, the performance might have improved? Just a thought...

[@loughkb]

Since I was comparing it to the stock rubber duck, what would it matter? Regardless of where I was in the signal path, it was one antenna vs the other and the abbree performed about the same as the stock duck.

[@WHNorthcote]

Often wondered what was in them antennas.

[@rohanwastaken4567]

Can u do more video about receiving image from satellite pls

[@MiddletonGuitars1]

I was also expecting to see actual tape measure inside. Those look a lot thicker or less flexible than a tape measure now that we can see it up close. I’m wondering if there’s still a use for those. Maybe as radials, or as part of a tape measure yagi?

[@heia633]

I was wondering if you would be interested in reviewing the TV antenna aspect?

[@briantheminer]

Excellent, everyone has wondered what’s in them 😂

[@marshallvanwagneriii1495]

Thank you for the video! Maybe you could "re-tune" the coil, and get it tuned for the proper frequency. Then try the range test again? That would be an interesting project and video!

[@ohmbug10]

Yes, or play with different lengths of radiator.

[@TheTAEclub]

sounds like the chinese engineers want a easy solution

[@WaynesWorld69]

At least the glue and heat shrink was good quality :)

[@stephenwalters9891]

You could try copper plating the steel radiator as see how it effects performance. G7VFY

[@hectorpascal]

Shorted turns is a good way to kill the inductor Q. So maybe that both "tunes" the transformer and broadens the bandwidth over the ranges the antenna claims to operate?

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

Good point, I have read a few articles concluding that it's best to avoid shorting RF inductor turns is you want to maintain Q. In this case, as Kevin suggested, it may just have been a quick and dirty method of matching the antenna.

[@AliReza-zx8km]

Nice.............

[@legallimitoutdoors9917]

What would happen if someone took the base and added like a 771 or a rubber 🦆y on Thank u

[@philamend4778]

Making a rough air core calculation for the inductance of the coil (0.05 μH?), an LC tank circuit resonance calculation would yield a resonant frequency of 205.5 MHz. Higher than the range test frequency of 146.46 MHz and Blue VNA sweep resonant frequency of 126.49 MHz shown in the other video. But perhaps my inductance calculation is off and the inductance of the coil is more like 0.13 μH which would yield a resonant frequency around 127 MHz.

[@WRJK988]

So what is the point of the coils and the capacitor? If I were to make an Abbree antenna, why couldn't I just go from the center wire to the tape?

[@unclejohn5012]

Probably wont get an asnwer but worth a shot. Can you run the lower half that was covered in plastic with the coils without that protection? Can I just throw thick heatshrink over it and keep running it?

[@loughkb]

Probably, as long as the coil isn't deformed.

[@randallrominski3559]

Ok now I am pretty new to gmrs and foolishly bought two of the 42” tactical folding antennas. Well I guess my newbness got me and yes out of the box no bueno swr was like 6+. Shoot screwed again.🤨. But wait a month later from watching KZbin and ham radio guys talk antenna tuning🤔. Guess what you can carefully remove the top cap with a dull knife or other tool. Then guess what you can cut them with a metal shears or tin snip.🤔…. A little math and calculations of the wavelength of the frequencies you wish to tx at. You can then trim and tune the antenna for your specific use case. It works try it. I trimmed mine for a full wave antenna for gmrs centered on 465.500Mhz. Come on ham guys you can do better. I am a newb. Back from the past of CB’s.

[@allen_steel1236]

Interesting all the components of an actual useful antenna are present. Just their way of connecting them is a little strange. If you were to change the configuration so that the feed point was at approximately turn three or four., leaving the bottom of the coil connected to ground. And then unsorted the turns above the feed Point leading to the vertical. Then solder the capacitor from the turn where the feed point is connected. To the top of the coil where the antenna connect. And in a perfect world using a very small trim capacitor. You could adjust the capacitor for the best possible match. And you would have a base loaded 5/8 wave antenna. This is essentially a copy of the antenna that's used on a lot of the military manpac radios. The antenna used on the PRC 152 is slightly different as the base is nothing more than a spring. With interchangeable whips. There is a tuning unit built inside the handheld, that automatically adjusts the antenna for Optimum matching. But the basic design, at least of the whip section is similar to what was used on Manny Pac radios from the Korean War on. The base load assembly is very similar to what is in a 5/8 wave antenna. Just a very strange method of using a capacity to feed point. The capacitive feed point, protects the radio from a direct short, by providing an AC float path along the coil. Also because the antennas ground system will be constantly changing due to the size of the radio and how the user is holding it.

[@cowboy6591]

No continuity? Sounds liike the're using capacitance to match the load.

[@madalinbetea9871]

hello please make a video about how to tune(trim) a HF antenna without analyzer or VNA ???.

[@loughkb]

Look at your SWR at the top and bottom end of the band you're cutting it for. If the SWR is lower at the bottom end of the band, the antenna is long and needs to be shortened. If the SWR is lower at the top end of the band, the antenna is short and needs to be lengthened.

[@byte1024]

I'm wondering what would need to be fixed in order to make this work as expected?

[@norrinradd8952]

Also wondering. I would watch a live stream of Kevin just tinkering with it.

[@thesavo]

More importantly. What schematic software drawing tool did you use? It looks like it came from an ARRL book.

[@loughkb]

I usually draw in Libra Office Draw. I'll copy schematic symbols from web image libraries and paste them in then draw the connecting lines.

[@davidevans6432]

The coil assembly looks like a useful junk box item. Maybe it might be worth desoldering the links one by one to see the effect on impedence/resonance. It seems to me that this is to enable multiple versions from a standard assembly. The reactance of the capacitor would make the element seem electrically shorter. In short, I am baffled. lol.

[@billbrown3414]

I bet if you replaced the spring steel with same-sized strips of copper, you’d find the performance would greatly improve. Skin effect pushes rf current to the surface of any conductor. That blued steel adds new meaning to “rubber dummy load”. de kg5ar

[@josmeach]

So... is the whip suppose to be empty? and the ABBREE did not advertise that as showed. there was suppose to be maybe 25 turns with copper wire.... is this a gimmick?

[@Mooff2]

That seems like a typical design for a half wave end fed. I can’t imagine why it would work at 18 inches. Perhaps someone designed a longer antenna and someone else decided to shorten it without paying attention to theory

[@debohannan4315]

That plastic cover on the coil could have been removed by placing over a socket of proper demitions and screewing a bolt into the top side then a hammer or press could slide it off saving the coil , looks like a typical end fed antenna . I do Wonder if there using 3 quater waves for 70cm if so bet its not to good , be interesting to see

[@loughkb]

Yes, in hindsight, now that we know what's inside, it could be pressed out. Beforehand, without knowing what's inside, that would not have been a safe approach. I did save the coil. I was careful to cut slowly and not deep, prying the plastic until it was thin enough to split from the pressure.

[@Screamingtut]

Its made with Spring Steel

[@JT-py9lv]

Thought.... make the tape measure pieces into a dipole

[@obtrunco]

I’m still wondering what the capacitor is for.

[@CadillacDriver]

Capacitance.

[@nayanjagirdar8408]

👌👍

[@fernandoscrenci4874]

Very interesting , discovery !!!🧐👉🏻 There is a 11 meter one from the same company !! 🤔

[@GodswillBDone4WeThePeople]

Why’s your work bench look burnt in random letters and numbers like mine for? I’d really like know how that happens

[@loughkb]

In my case it is dust and dirt that's pressed into the wood by a mouse that I use with my computer.

[@GodswillBDone4WeThePeople]

@@loughkb not mine but if was they need lower them Mouses power and stop using side my house do their clocking

[@TheSillyshyguy]

Same thing many Military portables use.

[@loughkb]

I'm certain the military antennas are built better, with a matching network that's actually tuned to the specific radiator length.

[@allen_steel1236]

The antenna They're copying is for the PRC 152 handheld. It comes with several different vertical radiators, as the Radio covers a frequency range of 30 to 900 mhz. And also the radio contains an antenna matching unit. The base of the antenna, is nothing more than a coil spring. With a capacitor in parallel between the top and bottom of the spring. It provides some loading when the radio is used below 110 mhz. To deal with the capacitive reactants of the antenna. If you look up the manual for the radio online, you will see it explanation of the antenna system. But yeah spring steel antennas that design have been used since the Korean War on VHF and low VHF man packs. There's enough components there to make a useful antenna it just requires having to reconfigure them. Although the outcome probably will not be what the user is hoping for. These antennas are really for those who want to play weekend warrior

[@AdamosDad]

Spring steel.

[@garylanders1470]

Desolder, reorient jumpers, cap and test. Would be good to se you make it right and perform as it should. Just saying

[@W6EL]

An 18" radiator? They should have skipped the matching network!

[@securemindsetofficial]

So basically it's a tactical tape measure! XD

[@joeblow8593]

FYI: Speaking of Abbree . The Abbree AR-869 was tested by FEPLabs Radio and it FAILED badly for spurious emissions for 2 meters. "Hero or ZERO?? Signal Check 1/8"

[@jonathancotner7040]

An antenna causing spurious emissions, or was the exciter creating spurious emissions, and they expected the Q of the antenna to be high enough to suppress those emissions? Technically, we prefer low Q antennas; no one likes to retune an antenna as they tune through the band, particularly on VHF. Perhaps their perfect antenna is a magnetic loop. I'd just say I find it highly suspect that any lab would test an antenna and say it fails due to spurious emissions and try to say they didn't have a bias towards the product. Do I think they're an excellent antenna? Not really. Do I own one? No. Am I going to say it's causing spurious emissions? Not a chance in hell. A proper exciter is required by the FCC on amateur bands. Tesing an antenna with anything other than equipment adhering to those specifications is at best just foolish.

[@joeblow8593]

@@jonathancotner7040 The Abbree AR-869 is an HT

[@norrinradd8952]

That's too bad. Not a terrible looking radio. On the plus side, when you failed to make contact after getting lost with that piece of garbage you can always stab the battery until it catches fire. That way you can be warm and lost.

[@johnroberts6695]

Hmmm. I wonder if there's a difference between this antenna and the Abbree _tri-band_ 18.89-incher? Something may be wrong with your components because these antennas actually test very well, not only against the stock antennas, but against the Nagoya NA-771 and 24J. The tri-band model looks _identical_ to the dual band model. Side by side there's no difference whatsoever. I suspect the Abbree dual-band AR-771 is the same as the tri-band AR-771 (the model numbers are the same). And I suspect the dual-band and tri-band flat-tacts are identical, the only differences, of course, being the price. To be on the safe side, I label them as I don't want to rip them asunder to test my theory. What do _you_ think?

[@johnkaelberer237]

As soon as you took off the shrink tubing and I saw two parallel radiators, I right away thought "V" antenna. Possible gain and directionality. Sometimes I think too much. Also. in other tests, I've seen the Abbree antenna slightly outperform quality aftermarket antennas. Every test is different and most likely every antenna is built a little different. In any case, not an antenna I'm much interested in using......yet I bought the long version......go figure.

[@unclebobthe1]

Its an old video' but what ty he hay. No one seems to understand how these are supposed to be used. This is not a super amazing antenna. Really its no better than the basic 6" ones. How it is used. You are in a trench or fox hole and shells are dropping all around you. Which do you want to do. Stick you whole radio and had out into the shrapnel filled air inorder to receive transmissions. Or.... deploy the extra length of the tactical wip and not have your hand blown off. 42" model is great for bunker. Small hole in roof. Slide it up so as to receive form within cover. Plus extra length means if it is hit, just tape it up and keep using it. Down side you still have to expose yourself to transmit.

[@loughkb]

I can't tell if you're being serious or funny, but either way that was a very entertaining comment.

[@janhenkins]

Don't throw away the radiators! Think "mini-yagi" for UHF! I bought the 28-inch model to go with my tri-band Baofeng UV-82. Admittedly it so long that there is very little "tactical-ness" about it, it borders on being too long to use. I shudder to think how awkward the 42-inch model will be... Anyhoo, the 28-inch actually does work rather well from a receive perspective, it can "hear" a lot better than any of my rubber-ducks. Transmit quality is also measurably better than the standard rubber-duck, but if compared to my slim-jim-on-a-pole it is still rather poor. In fairness nothing comes close to a roll-up slim-jim (mine is from Nelson Antennas) on a 16-foot pole, other than standing on a mountain top with a good Yagi. I'll take my Abbree with me when I'm out on the bike and keep it in my backpack as a backup, because it's better than my duckies and also easier to handle than a pole.

[@crashdsnowman1]

What do you think a normal round antenna is...yep a round piece of metal. Surprise!

[@DellFargus]

Buy a $0.99 Harbor Freight tape measure and make a full wave 2m resonator with the coil.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Most likely a Slim-Jim antenna.

[@protektwar]

hey man, how is life? Are you better?

[@loughkb]

Very very very very slowly improving. I hope to get back to work this spring.

[@ernie548]

We all know HT antenna is affected by other things. So hard to isolate variables.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

I would have left it for 2 weeks in a container of Acetone

[@JasonPullara]

that moment you realize your antenna is made of tape measure scraps.

[@hobojon44]

is it a real ABBREE

[@joemcmanus79]

Hey Kevin: 1) Thanks for the tear-down, I was wondering what was in there. 2) I was reading some of the comments where some of the guys were saying about using the radiator elements as an "Inverted Vee", I don't see how they could be as the tape measure elements are at the same potential considering they're bolted to the same feed point, the only thing I see is the two tape measure parts are in parallel and thusly reducing the radiation resistance of the radiating elements by 1/2. 3) I DO NOT understand the print of that coil base AT ALL, shouldn't the coil be in line with the center conductor of the feed point and NOT the ground for loading???? Unless they're using the coil as a counterpoise for the actual radiating elements???? Comments would be GRATEFULLY appreciated! Thanks again for ALL your work in bringing us these EXTREMELY interesting and thought provoking vids!! L8R Bro.

[@VladislavFomitchev]

The coil here is working double duty. It's necessary to match the impedance and force it to resonance. There are a couple turns at the top between the capacitor and whip effectively in series with the center pin bucking the excess capacitance of the short antenna. Having the end grounded allows you to "tap" the voltage gradient across the coil to obtain the desired resistance/impedance.

[@joemcmanus79]

@@VladislavFomitchev Thanks for the help trying to understanding this, I will be revisiting this when I'm not so knackered! Cheers Mate!