erichmadison wrote:

I'm relatively new to this--pardon any vernacular errors. I've a 50mW
veronica transmitter that I'm using around the house and yard. 9/12V DC
power source. It currently has two flexible wire leads serving as the
antenna and ground--each is 70cm in length and is directly soldered to
the PCB. I usually coil them up to keep the range at a minimum.

Is there anything I can do to change the existing antenna setup? I'd
like to be able to switch antennas to attain different coverages. I was
told the impedance on such a unit is different than that of common
connectors (BNC, F, etc). Is there any way to change this configuration
to accept a whip antenna or a rubber duck antenna? I tried wrapping the
existing wires around rabbit ears arranged vertically which seemed to
give me an option for increased range.

Thanks.


I'm guessing here.
It seems to me that if you have 140cm total antenna fed at the middle,
then you have a full size dipole (or close enough) at the FM-BC band.
That further suggests a 75 ohm output impedance.

It would take some work to match a rubber-duck antenna - and it wouldn't
be very efficient. However, you should be able to use a whip of about
70cm and not suffer too much for lack of the ground plane.

If increased range is the goal then 75-ohm cable to an outdoor antenna
(dipole, etc) would seem to be ideal. All would need to be done within
the regulations of your country, of course.

There's zillions of folks using the Veronica gear...keep asking around
and I'm sure you'll find something more definitive than my guesswork.

My 2c,

Bill