Many hand-held personal communication transceivers in use, such as cellular and PCS phones and two-way radios, each has a relatively small attached antenna. When such hand-held transceivers are used in a radio frequency-shielded place such as the interior of an automobile, there is high attenuation of incoming and outgoing signals, resulting in poor performance. Although it would be possible to connect the transceiver to an antenna on the outside of the vehicle by plugging in a connector at the end of a cable, many hand-held transceivers have no provision for connection to external antennas.
Prior art couplers for coupling hand-held transceivers to outside antennas, have used inductive coupling to transfer radio frequency electromagnetic energy between the transceiver and a coaxial cable that extends to the antenna, without direct connection through a plug-and-socket connector. Such inductive couplers have included cradle-like holders that surround the main housing, sleeves that can be slid over the antenna, or combinations of the two, to provide coils that surround one or more radiating elements of the transceiver. Inductive coupling to the antenna only, is inefficient because it involves only a small portion of the total radiator circuit. Furthermore, the inductive coupling schemes are often cumbersome. It is noted that it is generally undesirable to provide amplifiers to amplify signals picked up by the inductor prior to transmission by the auxiliary antenna or to amplify signals picked up by the auxiliary amplifier prior to inductively coupling the signals to the transceiver, since the need to supply additional batteries or a connector to the cigarette lighter of an automobile results in increased cumbersomeness and cost. Apparatus for transferring energy between a hand-held transceiver and an auxiliary antenna, which transfer a greater proportion of the available energy than heretofore, using a coupler which minimizes restrictiveness on the use of the hand-held transceiver within the vehicle, would be of value.