TL2T for 446mhz

[Whitstable]

I’ve used 1/2 wave T2LT’s for 11m in the past with decent success, so decided to get one for 446mhz

I ordered this one and it’s arrived, but it didn’t strike me till after I put it up, that is bloody long for a 70cm antenna!

I messagedthe seller to ask it’s electrical length was, and they said it’s a Full Wave (a concept that I though patently shouldn’t work!). Anyway, by my reckoning that would mean it was 67cm from the choke to the tip (a half wave element + a half wave ground plane = a full wave 67cm) Like I said, surely that wouldn’t work, the two half waves would cancel each other out

Anyway, it’s not 67cm it’s 86cm! The element is and the shield are 43cm each

Now, the seller doesn’t seem like a bad actor, they have 100% feedback, and the antenna itself is very well made, if they were trying to rip me off, they’d surely use LESS material, not more?

Anyway, this gets even more confusing by the fact that it seems to work rather well, if it was flawed in the way I suspected, it simply wouldn’t radiate, but I made a 28 mile contact last night on it (yes, a risk, but I figure these Baofengs are pretty.p much disposable any way, and not having a meter at hand I decided to just try and stick to short overs

Can anyone suggest a way 43cm or 83cm could possibly be an effective length for a 446mhz antenna that I’m just not seeing? It seems way too close to 1.25 wave to be a coincidence, or a mistake?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126002498932 ... media=COPY

[ch25]

RG58 and PL259 on 446MHz didn't raise red flag for you?
Correct length from coil to the top would be circa 30cm.
Chris

[paulears]

There seems no logical reason this should work. They mention its been set up on an analyser, but id love to see the plot. What i do know is that the clever antennas are very random of analysers. I sell some quad band antennas marketed as 28/50/145/435 and its simply not long enough to be great at 28MHz, but its clearly resonant. Its also resonant at a few other weird frequencies, but while its good at two and seventy the other bands are just OK. I assumed resonance meant efficiency, and that is clearly very different. I suspect that somebody put a lower frequency antenna on an analyser and noticed some higher frequency dips and thought wow, this works great at uhf, but then just tweaked the fundamental length to bring these dips into 446 territory. Effectively, have we just got a bit of metal in the sky, and thats what gives it some performance. Look at the big inductor coils, a technique usually found in antennas that are too short, making them extend lower in frequency? This is the reverse?