Emergency Bag Antenna

[Dshel61]

What would be a great antenna to stow in my emergency backpack that I could connect my Btech GMRC-V1 walkie talkies too? I've seen videos of something called a Rollup Slim Jim antenna that can be hung from a tree or outside balcony.

 

Thoughts?

[berkinet]

It really depends on your needs. Who/what will you be connecting to, at what distance, and terrain?

[Dshel61]

Just some thing that can work better than the walkie talkie antennas. Emergency purposes

[berkinet]

If you only need to talk to the local repeater, the stock antenna will probably work fine. I am not understanding what you think will be different between daily operations and in an emergency situation. If you will be crawling through collapsed houses after an earthquake, you will want the smallest antenna possible. If you expect the local repeater to fail and need to talk simplex to another station 10 miles away, you will want a directional antenna you can mount in a tree. You pick an antenna based on your specific communications needs, not on normal vs. emergency conditions.

 

On the other hand, you should consider how you will power your radio in event of a long term power failure. I would strongly recommend an alkaline battery pack and a lot of spare batteries.

[WRFP399]

Google N9TAX. It's small, well built, and cheap. If you are sticking to GMRS frequencies have him make you a single band version tuned to 465mhz. You can get the one with a 16 foot lead. They are only 30 dollars and usually arrive in a week.

 

The work very well to help get the antenna clear of ground clutter. I found that it will help you get through when you are nearing the edge of reception.

[Linus]

Less is more. I would concentrate more on power for emergency uses. You could go for a longer antenna such as a half wave but you’re taking a valuable space in your emergency bag that is needed for other things.

Some of the radios that I’ve seen lately can be charged with a USB charger. That is attractive if you have a solar panel that has USB output. You can use that solar parallel to charge your radios.