MastWould this be compatible with my kenwood th f6a?  I would like to relocate my kenwoods antenna on my PC and thought this might be a good solution

This seems to come up every other month or so and the short answer is the MAST is a huge waste of money. Build or buy a male to female extension cable using the proper connectors (SMA/BNC/whatever) and stick the antenna into the MOLLE web of your PC.

So the MAST is not compatible or just ineffective. Still looking for an answer.

The MAST is nothing more than an overpriced cable and a mount, most likely with a TNC connector to put an antenna on since that is what most all .mil radios use. You could use an adapter from TNC to SMA/BNC and make it work, it's your money.

FWIW when I was still a hands on radio tech I made dozens if not more of these cables and the antennas were just stuck in the webbing, worked fine and everyone was happy.

It might help a bit to get the antenna away from the body and elevated a bit more but it's nothing special. The times it's most dramatic is when the radio is buried deep in a pocket near the body, under a rifle the user is holding or if the user is a fat guy with fat rolls pushing against it. Moving the antenna six inches from the body will dramatically improve performance in any low signal situation.You can do the same thing with the radio in a pouch up high and it will probably work a bit better due to the more proper ground plane the radio provides with the antenna mounted right at it along with a clearer 360 degree view from the antenna.

The device in the picture is marketed to the AN/PRC-148 and 152. Literally no antenna will work well across the range of those radios 30-512. Physics won't allow for it. The antennas they use are a compromise. They have small transformer and resistive networks in the base to keep the SWR under control but that results in even more loss. Add in the lack of a proper ground plane and it's amazing they work at all. The use of a handset helps more than anything due to the wire of the microphone acting as a counterpoise on the lower bands. At least, that's what I've experienced.

P. T. Barnum would be amused

The ones that really get me are the antennas you see woven through the molle carrier loops on the back comprised of nothing but a bit of coax with the center conductor exposed for a bit.

What really makes me shake my head is that the guys who ask about this really should:

A. Know what connectors their radio uses
B. Know how to make one.
C. Know how to make something that works Better.




Put then again...... Maybe I should just start making and selling them

You ought to see one of those on an antenna analyzer, move it in and out kind of like an accordion and the point of resonance shifts all over the place. My last shop bought a few for RDT&E because the guys were always complaining about the 1 meter blade antennas being in their way, needless to say they are still using the blades.