Agile modulator antenna Q's

[AlanInSitges]

Sorry for sort-of hijacking this thread but figured it was better than starting a new one.

I'm going to be using UHF channel 25. Long story, can't really change it, that's what I've got to work with. I'm getting a usable signal with just a short piece of wire to the center conductor of the modulator's output, but of course want to increase my range and quality as much as possible.

I've been reading up on all the options for a transmitting antenna. It seems like I can either:

1. Make a dipole and connect coax to it, with element lengths of about six inches (it's 505MHz).

2. Use a UHF hoop antenna either connected to the coax directly or with a 75-300 balun in between.

If I want maximum gain it seems like I could experiment with building a yagi or a reflective array, but I'm not clear if all that I'm reading applies equally to transmission - most of what's online is about reception. Is it that simple? Make a reflective array with say four bowties and a reflector and then point it, say "down" from the top floor of my house?