I mainly use VHF and UHF for local communication within maximum 30 miles range, so I don't need serious antenna system. A dipole in the attic is more than perfect.
What I needed for that project:
-copper rods
-plastic box
-pl259 connector
-ferrite choke
-some cable
-13 minutes
Tuning is easy, I needed to cut tiny pieces from the elements and check SWR on the meter.
Later I added plus UHF elements to the VHF version to make it dual band. The VHF part is wider than the UHF, but both cover the whole band with reasonably good SWR.
Test shown the antenna is like an average vertical dipole. The test station was located in the crowded town about 15 miles away from me. He had his antenna on the roof among tall buildings. With my 0.5 W and the improvised dipole I produced 2-3 S signal on his radio on the VHF band. I was also able to reach a repeater standing on a hilltop 60 miles from here. Of course it really depends on the location, mainly the height of the station. Anyway, it is the best price-value ratio. I did not have to buy anything, just used some stuff from the junk.
Next time I will try the same with some telescopic whips to make it easier to tune.
If you need a reasonably good aerial for VHF-UHF bands, it is one of the best choice.
Inside the plastic box. The shiny stuff in there is hot glue.
The UHF version. There you can see a ferrite on the cable.
It behaves as an RF choke to prevent current on the cable.
You can also use a 4-5 turns coax cable coil instead.
Diameter is about one and a half inches.
The VHF version.
Later I added UHF elements to the original dipole. I has not changed the VHF performance.
No retuning was needed no the VHF band.
Finally here is the dualband version. You can see the UHF element growing from the main dipole.
Looks so strange, but does the job...
