Improving signal reception on VHF transceiver

Hi

I'd like to know if there is an easy way to improve the reception on a Yaesu Pilot Pro V transceiver.

Since VHF is a "line of sight" broadcast, I know that going to higher grounds will improve the signal (pretty basic)...

But, if I cannot do that, will an external antenna help ?

If it does, what kind of antenna do I need ?

Thanks

Cute little radio. External antennas (mounted as high and as clear as possible) are almost always better than the "rubber duckies"

You want an antenna that's tuned for the frequency of interest. In this case, VHF air band. You can surely buy a mast-mount aviation antenna thru any number of aviation supply houses. Question is what kind of antenna connector is on the radio vs. what comes with the antenna. You also have to consider the losses in any cable to the antenna. But generally you'll hear a lot more with a proper 1/4 wave antenna in the attic thru 20' of coax than you will using the rubber antenna. If the antenna is up 100' on a mast - so much the better.

Ground plane.

Thanks for the info.

Could you supply a link for such an antenna ?

These are not the only choices. Look at these to see what you're trying to find from other sources too.

True aviation antenna (with price to go with). For transmit and receive. (tuning of the antenna matters most on transmit)
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/av1_ant.php


This is a general-purpose (ham mostly) antenna-
http://rffun.com/catalog/hamants/2063.html

Or this;
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103641&cp=2032052.2032075.2032078.2032098&allCount=24&fbn=Type%2FScanner%26%23047%3BHAM&f=PAD%2FProduct+Type%2FScanner%26%23047%3BHAM&fbc=1&parentPage=family

or this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103160&cp=2032052.2032075.2032078.2032098&allCount=24&fbn=Type%2FScanner%26%23047%3BHAM&f=PAD%2FProduct+Type%2FScanner%26%23047%3BHAM&fbc=1&parentPage=family

Or you could hit up the pilot shop where you bought the radio and see what they might have in their catalog.

IIRC, that handheld has a bnc jack as the antenna port. If such is the case, I would recommend a 5/8 wave loaded coil antenna with an NMO base connector to a magnetic mount base running RG-58/u coaxial cable no more than 15 feet long to a N-male plug. The N-males provide superior shielding at the connector and are a push on fit for the bnc female. The 5/8 wave seems to do a pretty good job at VHF and really brings in the weak signals well, plus it provides over 6db gain for transmit when the whip is cut to the correct length. That setup isn't too expensive.

If all you want is just a good receive antenna and you aren't going to transmit, then spool out 8 feet of 20 gauge solid copper wire, suspend it vertically and stick the end in the center pin receptacle of the antenna jack. You may have to trim the length a little to find the sweet spot, but it should be somewhere between 7 1/2 and 8 feet length for that frequency range.

Go to your local library and get the ARRL Antenna Handbook, it covers antennas extensively and has lots of antenna designs and the formulas to calculate what length to make your antenna.

It’s a great book for those of us that love to play with radios.

Thank you all for your help :-)