Radio Reception

>>1051989
I would doubt it, but who am I to say? The only true way to know is if you try it yourself.

Are we talking receiving only or are you also transmitting? If the antenna is not the correct length and width you'll burn out the finals in your radio quickly. Tell me the frequencies you'll be using and I can tell you the length you'll need.

>>1051997
I'm only looking to receive, though I'd like to be able to transmit if I need to. I'm using: 162.400 for weather, 151.820/151.880 as alternates in case I'm with a friend.

To clarify: the tape measure would not replace anything on the radio. You would take the tape measure, and "seal" it to the antenna with a heat shrink sleeve. The tape measure basically sits right next to the antenna, there will be no power going to it whatsoever.

After reading/translating a bit, some people are saying the steel tape inhibits the antenna, and makes signal worse rather than better.

>>1051989
No.

>>1052003
If the tape isn't replacing the antenna then it won't do anything but interfere with the signal. Also if you try to tack on to the end of a factory antenna it won't work as the factory antenna is tuned and adding on will just add harmonics that will be destructive to the signal.

If you do want to replace that factory antenna with a tape then 3 feet is perfect for half wave 155 mhz. Fold it in half for quarter wave. That's the reason military used to use spring steel 'tape measure like' antennas. Back when they used the longer wavelengths that needed 6-8 foot whip antennas you could fold them in half for a perfect half wave antenna. Now a days they just use shorter wavelength radios.

>>1052020
Thanks for the info. I'll look into a bit more so I understand more what I'm playing with, as there seem to be a lot of legal issues involved with radios and frequencies. There are a million and a half different antennas for the Baofeng, I'll rig up something at some point. Thought about getting one of the massive car antennas and lashing it to my pack, but I've had bad ideas before.

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>>1051989
Oh fuck yes it would(if you design it properly). There is no reason why you can't use tape measure tape as an antenna. It's a well documented amateur radio technique for making antennas.

In fact satellites have used tape measure tape, yes from actual tape measures, as self-deploying antennas. Pic related is the NASA Nodes spacecraft which used tape measures, it's in orbit RIGHT NOW!:
http://nodes.engr.scu.edu/

With your baofeng, you might be able to decode transmissions from it if you really tried: http://nodes.engr.scu.edu/NODES_20160302.pdf

Here's some hot antenna deployment action action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_H4WxTIesE

>>1052003
You really do not want to do that anon. You will make things worse if you do that. If you're gonna make an antenna for your baofeng, use a proper RF connector and directly hook it up to the tape, and make sure to tune it using a SWR meter. If your antenna's impedance is not matched things will be bad.

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>>1052031
Bonus self-erecting tape measure antennas going boing IN SPACE!

>>1052031
>>1052032
Man that is some awesome shit. I bet it's less a budget thing and more a "Yea our craft has steel tape measures for its antennas."

>>1052040
Usually antennas are made to suit the radio operating range. They are made out of ratios of the original wavelength. That is why AM radio has xboxhueg antennas. (AM band goes from 500 meters to I don't remember, 70m). I guess that if you put that tape there it'll act as some sort of antenna and get some dank noise and the desired frequency, and then passes it to the radio antenna through induction. Then it's left for your radio to filter the rest. Some crystal sets people do have a large aerial+ a coil coupled to another coil that goes into the radio. Something similar must happen. But as it's a measuring tape you won't be able to control it very much aside from cutting it.

>>1052032
can someone explain please, i just see three cubes that seem to separate, where is the tape in this and where is the deployment?

>>1052165
there is a tape measure sticking out the right hand side of each of the 3 cubes.

>>1052165
They are cube sats. Made by organizations, people, teens, undergrads with no money and know how to build a whole space program. They hitch hikes on other rockets.

>>1051989
I remember that those antennas are pretty fucking expensive. So probably no.

>>1051989
Make a simple dipole antenna, throw or hoist it up in a tree.
Use 37 inches for each element of the dipole. This should match well enough for both freqs you listed.

>>1051989
>Would a steel tape measure increase a handheld radio's reception?
Antennas do not work like that.

Optimally you want you antenna to be the same length as the signal wavelength. Half or quarter length is also somewhat effective.

Outside of that, a reflector or amplifier is the simplest way of increasing reception.

>>1052437
Came here to post this.

>>1051989
Ex-Army commo guy here.

>Would a steel tape measure increase a handheld radio's reception?
If the original antenna is well suited to the radio, no, you won't see any improvement. If it is a shit antenna then you can DIY something better. Folding vs non-folding isn't really a thing to worry about. Both types get good reception. It's the shape and length of the antenna that is more important.

>can't seem to find whether it's just something that looks cool, or actually increases a radio's incoming reception.
They are used on radios that are man carried instead of vehicle mounted. The only reason they are foldable is because antennas become caught on everything when you have them fully deployed while walking around. Every god damn thing. So you fold them up when walking around and unfold them when you need to use the radio. Their reception is poor when folded up and their transmission is worse.

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Search for "antenna cutting chart"

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y'all niggas need 2 fractal yo

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>>1051989
Make a tape measure yagi m8. Directional antenna so you'll need to be able to move it around.

Receiving anything is legal it's transmitting that you need a license for depending on the band etc.

>>1051989
>>1054447
Forgot to add

>reduced the power and narrowbanded my Baofeng to keep it legal.

You don't need to do any of that put it back to normal. You could have a 1kw receiver and it's still lega, you're not transmitting.

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>>1054447

whats the blue thing in the center of the drawing?

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>>1054454
http://theleggios.net/wb2hol/projects/rdf/tape_bm.htm

Something to do with impedance matching by the sounds of it.

http://www.dj0ip.de/vertical-antennas/hairpin-match/

I'm still new to radio, especially with antennas, and yagis are fucking complex so I can't be more help sorry m8