Posted: 5/8/2026 1:53:32 PM EDT
| I am taking a beginners Tac Comms / Signal Intelligence / Direct Finding Day & Night class in a few weeks and they suggested buying a few antennas if you have the rescouces. The 2 antennas are a hand held yagi and a fox hunt UHF loop antenna. They are going to used with a UV-5R. Can anyone recommend any cheapa antennas for this use. I know jack shit about radios which is why I am taking this class. |
This one works pretty well for me. I use it to DF bad power poles. 
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foxhunting's gonna suck with a uv5r... bring earphones. Really need a signal strength indicator to get a good azimuth. An adjustable attenuator is nice. An offset attenuator is even more nicer. A yagi's really all the antenna you need. I've chased a few foxes, as well as rogue BDA's & transmitters before. 
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Just go an email from them and these are the 2 the instructor is recommending to buy. I would love to spend less if possible. https://www.arrowantennas.com/main/fhl.html https://a.aliexpress.com/_mM5wE0r |
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Originally Posted By caduckgunner: Just go an email from them and these are the 2 the instructor is recommending to buy. I would love to spend less if possible. https://www.arrowantennas.com/main/fhl.html https://a.aliexpress.com/_mM5wE0r you can make a hand held antenna with PVC pipe and a harbor freight cheap tape measure. let me see if I can find a link |
Mach
Nobody is coming to save us.
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Nobody is coming to save us.
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One of our local clubs does an on foot foxhunt a couple of times a year and we use to do a driving transmitter hunt with a 5 mile radius of possible hiding spots - ( Imagine teams of grown men with driving around on a Saturday afternoon, periodically stopping and piling out with all sorts of weird antenna, furiously spinning in circles taking readings and triangulating on maps until the transmit window ended only to load up and speed off to another spot and another transmission window - good times...  )I have the the VHF version of the Arrow loop you mentioned with the offset attenuator - DM me an address and I can ship it out if you'd like to borrow it. It's an expensive toy if you're only going to use it once. This is a great no nonsense video on how that antenna works:  Arrow Antenna DF Equipment That said I love the tape measure yagis. They are fun to build and work really well. I suppose you could rattle can the PVC and make it more tactical. |
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Originally Posted By caduckgunner: Just go an email from them and these are the 2 the instructor is recommending to buy. I would love to spend less if possible. https://www.arrowantennas.com/main/fhl.html https://a.aliexpress.com/_mM5wE0r That specific dual-band yagi design has been around for a loooong time and can definitely be had easier (Amazon link ), or MUCH cheaper (different Aliexpress link ). If you are willing to wait, the $24 Aliexpress offering is an absolutely unbeatable deal. Even at $100 that antenna is a deal. Unless you have a well stocked "junk pile" of parts, you'll need around $50 of material by the time you are done building a tape-measure version of that design. As for the loop, that design is known as a "shielded loop". You can literally take a small coaxial cable (typically called a "jumper"), an appropriate T style adapter to mate with the ends of the cable and your radio, make a loop out of it, attach it to your radio, and you are done. These antennas are VERY simple, and Arrow is "very" proud of their design  Take a look at this video to see how the Arrow loop is built and a little fancier way of building your own. But I'd just get a small coax jumper of reasonable size and a T adapter.  Ham radio VHF shielded loop antenna build from old coax cable for radio direction finding |
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum."
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Originally Posted By seek2: This one works pretty well for me. I use it to DF bad power poles. www.amazon.com/dp/B08PSKNMDF What is the difference between that one and the other options on the same add? Sorry, I really know jack shit about radios which is why I am taking this class. |
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Originally Posted By Mach: looks like it will be ham bands you can make a hand held antenna with PVC pipe and a harbor freight cheap tape measure. let me see if I can find a link Originally Posted By no_1: One of our local clubs does an on foot foxhunt a couple of times a year and we use to do a driving transmitter hunt with a 5 mile radius of possible hiding spots - ( Imagine teams of grown men with driving around on a Saturday afternoon, periodically stopping and piling out with all sorts of weird antenna, furiously spinning in circles taking readings and triangulating on maps until the transmit window ended only to load up and speed off to another spot and another transmission window - good times... )I have the the VHF version of the Arrow loop you mentioned with the offset attenuator - DM me an address and I can ship it out if you'd like to borrow it. It's an expensive toy if you're only going to use it once. This is a great no nonsense video on how that antenna works:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zur10c29ZUMThat said I love the tape measure yagis. They are fun to build and work really well. I suppose you could rattle can the PVC and make it more tactical. Originally Posted By aa777888-2: You can pick up very high quality JFW rotary attenuators on eBay for short money, typically $30 if you are patient and wait for a good deal. Get one with the 10dB per step knob. Simply search eBay . That specific dual-band yagi design has been around for a loooong time and can definitely be had easier (Amazon link ), or MUCH cheaper (different Aliexpress link ). If you are willing to wait, the $24 Aliexpress offering is an absolutely unbeatable deal. Even at $100 that antenna is a deal. Unless you have a well stocked "junk pile" of parts, you'll need around $50 of material by the time you are done building a tape-measure version of that design. As for the loop, that design is known as a "shielded loop". You can literally take a small coaxial cable (typically called a "jumper"), an appropriate T style adapter to mate with the ends of the cable and your radio, make a loop out of it, attach it to your radio, and you are done. These antennas are VERY simple, and Arrow is "very" proud of their design Take a look at this video to see how the Arrow loop is built and a little fancier way of building your own. But I'd just get a small coax jumper of reasonable size and a T adapter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4CXJ68sbUQThanks for the info. Unfortunately the class is this coming Saturday and I will be in California for work all week so I won't have time to build anything. But these all look like fun things to do with the kids. |
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Originally Posted By no_1: One of our local clubs does an on foot foxhunt a couple of times a year and we use to do a driving transmitter hunt with a 5 mile radius of possible hiding spots - ( Imagine teams of grown men with driving around on a Saturday afternoon, periodically stopping and piling out with all sorts of weird antenna, furiously spinning in circles taking readings and triangulating on maps until the transmit window ended only to load up and speed off to another spot and another transmission window - good times... )Couple antennae on the roof to a doppler receiver, feeding into a computer, backhauled to the office with starlink and/or LTE. If we use radio, it needs to be out of band from what you're hunting. 2 or 3 outfitted trucks and we gotcha in an hour or two. |
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Could DIY... https://www.ar15.com/forums/Outdoors/Interesting-antenna--Collapsible-Moxon-Yagi/22-697040/ Agree that a UV-5R type is a poor choice for lack of usable signal strength metering. |
This is...a clue - Pat_Rogers
I'm not adequately aluminumized for this thread. - gonzo_beyondo
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I'm not adequately aluminumized for this thread. - gonzo_beyondo
CO, MI, OR - Please lobby your legislators to end discrimination against non-resident CCW permit holders