Accessories For Your Handheld Transceiver

In the training session for the last net on December 7, we encouraged everyone to have a AA alkaline battery pack for his or her handheld radio, and to keep on hand at least 3 dozen AA alkaline cells. In an emergency that lasts several days, you’ll want all the battery power you can get. There is little likelihood that you’ll be able to recharge nicads or nickel-metal-hydride cells, at least in the first 72 hours of a disaster. There won’t be time or resources available. Alkaline cells are the best solution. The full text of the training tip is posted on the new ARES web site.

The training tip for tonight covers other accessories for your handheld that will make emergency operation more successful.

The first accessory you need to have is a good antenna. You can have a sophisticated handheld radio these days, and a boatload of batteries for power, but if you don’t have a good antenna, your signal won’t be heard. That short rubber antenna that came with your unit is a compromise antenna at best. It’s shortened for convenience, basically by winding the antenna wire in a helix inside. Its efficiency is poor, and although it may work ok in normal circumstances, in an emergency, you’ll be a LOT better off to consider alternative antennas that are much better. In a disaster involving bad weather, you’re likely to have your already weak signal further attenuated by rain or snow. If there is a lot of RF activity in your environment, you need to have a competitive signal. That short rubber ducky just won’t do.

So what are the alternatives? As a rule, the longer the antenna, the better. A full-size 2-meter quarter wave whip antenna is about 19 inches long. You can buy one ready made or make one yourself easily enough. You can buy telescoping antennas, too. Depending on the make and model of your handheld, you should be able either to buy or make something. You won’t believe the improvement that you’ll see in the effectiveness of your operation. It’s the difference between night and day. If you do use a longer antenna, be careful not to get it in your eye or in someone else’s eye. That’s a major precaution you need to be aware of. If you use a thin steel wire, make sure it has a ball on the end of it. Keep safety in mind.

If handheld portability is not an issue, a lightweight and packable J-pole antenna made out of 300 ohm TV twin lead can be made in less than a half hour and hung up anywhere. You’ll need a short length of coax and the appropriate connector for your HT. It’s cheap, simple, and very effective. Plans are readily available on the Internet: just search on “j-pole antennas.”

Other base-type antennas can be part of your go-kit, too, but they’re bigger and heavier and not as easy to use.

The 2-meter antennas in the go-kit I have include: (1) a telescopic quarter-wave whip antenna with a BNC connector on it, (2) a 5/8 wave telescopic whip antenna with a bit more gain (and length and weight) with a BNC connector, (3) a light duty magmount, (4) a very light duty magmount, (5) a rolled up portable J-pole like I just described, and (6) a 3-element beam and mast that can be used in a really remote location to provide directional RF. You never know what you’ll need.

Another note on antennas, or really on coax. Carry a bunch of common connection adapters. If you have access to a fixed or mobile antenna with a PL-259 connector (also called a UHF connector, even though it’s lousy at UHF frequencies), it won’t fit on your handheld’s SMA or BNC connector. Carry connector adapters so you can use your handheld with other common antenna connectors. If you have a handheld with a BNC connector, for example, get an adapter for a PL-259 connector. Or if you have a handheld with an SMA connector, get an adapter for BNC and another one for PL-259. They’ll come in handy someday. You won’t regret it.

Keep in mind that your handheld, even with an effective whip antenna, isn’t going to get your low-power signal out from inside a vehicle. If you’re riding shotgun with a law-enforcement or FEMA officer and you try to use your handheld inside the vehicle, you won’t be heard as well as if you had a short length of coax to a magnetically mounted quarter-wave whip on the outside of the vehicle. I have both a light duty magmount with RG-58U coax and a PL-259 connector with BNC adapter, as well as a very light duty magmount with a magnetic base about the same size and shape as a Hershey Kiss with a thin steel wire, RG-174U mini-coax, and a BNC connector that goes right onto my handheld. Yes, the mini-coax is lossy at 2 meters, but in a vehicle, any external antenna is more effective than an inside one.

Ok, so now you have a good HT, a reliable and sustainable source of power, and an effective antenna. They can hear you. But can you hear them?

The next accessory you absolutely need to have is a headset or earphones. In a quiet setting, you’ll have no trouble hearing people you need to communicate with on your handheld’s speaker. But in a disaster situation, you may find yourself in an environment that is anything but quiet.

You may be in a room with lots of people talking, or outdoors with people shouting and using megaphones, or with heavy equipment like fire trucks with loud horns and sirens, or other big trucks, helicopters, or even just pumps and motors which make noise. Ever tried to use your handheld in a hamfest? Unless you can find a quiet corner some place it’s impossible to hear anything. So get a headset. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does have to be comfortable because you’re going to have it on for an extended period of time. There are lots of choices.

You can buy cheap earbuds or headsets for CD players, tape recorders, and MP3 players. You can get more expensive and better quality headsets with boom mikes that are made for computer, telephone, or ham radio applications. I have a Yaesu lightweight headset that has one earphone and a boom mike. With it on, I can monitor the radio traffic as well as what’s going on around me. Plus it’s legal to drive with, whereas a two-earphone headset is not. At the top of the line, you can get a noise-canceling headset, but they’re expensive and bigger and require power (usually a AA cell). As a back-up, I also carry an inexpensive transistor radio earphone with a long cable that will extend from my radio mounted on my belt, up under my shirt to my ear.

Three other good reasons for wearing a headset or earphone are: (1) to reduce the noise and commotion in the immediate environment - dont contribute to other people’s stress by adding to the noise level with chatter from your HT’s speaker; (2) to prevent people from hearing sensitive radio traffic. You don’t need to give an elderly couple at a shelter and within hearing range of your handheld’s speaker increased stress when they hear the news that the medicine they need is going to be delayed; and (3) your precious batteries will last considerably longer without having to drive the HT’s speaker. So plan on getting a good headset for your go-kit.

A boom mike is also a very handy accessory to have in addition to the headset. A boom mike allows you to keep your handheld on your belt or on the table without having to keep it lifted near your mouth. It makes operating much easier. I recommend it if you can afford it. True, you can also operate hands-free with VOX or voice-operated transmit if your handheld has that feature. But operating VOX is not a good idea in emergencies. External noise (and there’s lots of that) can trigger the transmitter and lock up the frequency, preventing emergency traffic from being passed. So keep the VOX off.

A speaker mike is an accessory that is passé. With older heavier HTs, the speaker mike can be positioned nearer to your ear than the HT on your belt, but a headset is far better. A speaker mike is easier to hold in your hand for long periods of time than an HT, but with the lightweight handhelds today, a speaker mike no longer makes as much sense as it used to.

In summary, take the time soon, this week if possible, to get the right accessories for your handheld. Get that AA alkaline battery pack and a supply of at least 3 dozen AA cells if you haven’t already. Get a full size antenna for your handheld so you can put out an efficient signal. Get some connector adapters so you can use your handheld with other coax and antennas when available, and get a headset or earphones and perhaps one with a boom mike, for privacy and convenience.