>Can anybody suggest a good, easy to make at home, cheap, makeshift antenna
 >for a handheld?  All I have is the stock antenna and a lot of broadcasts
 >barely break the squelch and are really broken up and hard to understand.
 >I have looked into a pre-amp and I cannot use it due to the fact that a few
 >frequencies are very strong and would cause problems.
Probably the cheapest and easiest to make is just solder a piece of wire to 
the center conducter of a BNC connector. Not only will it pick up pretty 
good, it's also inconspicous and doesn't get on the way when your walking.
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