Links to VX-150 Antennas & Batteries

[Scott]

A few people this weekend asked about the whip antenna I had on my VX-150. For anyone who's interested, the one I have is a Comet SMA-24 17" flexible whip antenna. I bought it after hearing that it's superior to the standard duck that comes with the VX-150, and I've found that to be true.

Here's a link to a page of reviews on eHAM.net:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/1839

And here's where you can buy one for $20 at Universal Radio:
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ ... /3937.html

Flying with the 17" whip is a bit more challenging than a duck. In my case, I simply inserted my VX-150 upside-down (knob-end first) into my Z5's radio pouch (on the side of my chute), and punched a small hole in the bottom of the pouch so the whip would extend to the rear while flying (and not whip my face!). This worked fine (I just set my frequency, volume, and squelch and locked the keypad before inserting the radio.) You can also coil up this whip without harming it (it just pops back), so you could fly with it that way too (though it might not work as well). You could also just buy a mini-duck for flying and swap it with the whip for improved ground use.

Also, FYI...the stock battery that comes with the VX-150 is lame---it's a ni-cad, 700mah battery that doesn't last long. I picked up a replacement battery pack from Maha/Powerex that's awesome---it's a NiMH, 1500mah pack that lasts many times longer than the stock battery. Here's the link to buy it for $50:
http://www.mahaenergy.com/store/viewIte ... roduct=280

Finally, Maha/Powerex sells a nice universal quick battery charger. It has an LED readout (so you can monitor charge progress), will power-cycle batteries by discharging then recharging, and even has a temperature sensor that goes on the battery while charging. The charging contacts are movable, so it accommodates a huge variety of batteries of all kinds (Li-Ion, Ni-Cad, NiMH). Here's a link to buy it for $75:
http://www.mahaenergy.com/store/item.asp?idproduct=185

Hope this is useful for some of you (took me a while to research this stuff!).
Scott

[Paul Tjaden]

I carry a telescoping one meter antenae in my harness that I can swap for my rubber ducky after landing to help with reception. I haven't done this myself but many comp pilots have home made antenaes consisting of flexible wire that they install in their harness that runs up the riser to the carabiner. They then connect the radio to the antenae when they install the radio in the harness. I have heard that this can dramatically increase reception and you don't have anything extending out of your harness.

Paul

PS. Thanks for the lead on the better battery. Think I'll get one.