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Author Topic: What antenna ?  (Read 3371 times)

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MrT

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What antenna ?
« on: September 30, 2009, 10:58:53 AM »
Guys,

The answer is probably here in the many posts, but just quickly, what is the best outdoor antenna and pre-amp setup for RB.

One that I can source here in Australia?

Cheers,

Paul.

WiMo

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Re: What antenna ?
« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2009, 12:37:59 PM »
The 'best' antenna is
- any sturdy outdoor suitable antenna,
- tuned for the frequency of 1090MHz (not a broad band antenna),
- with not too much gain (3-6dB),
- located as high and as free of obstructions as possible,
- connected with good cable,
- as directly as possible (i.e. avoiding any adaptors).

The most important point of the above is probably "as high and as free of obstructions as possible".

A pre amp might not be necessary if the cable is of good quality and less than 10m length or so. A pre amp should be located right below the antenna, not at the end of the cable.

Give the supplied antenna a try, it works quite well. Put it in the loft or on a window sill, where ever it has a good 'view' of the area/direction you want to monitor.

Cheers,
Ekki/WiMo

cruiser01

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Re: What antenna ?
« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2009, 03:08:28 PM »
Hi to all,
pls what is the impedance of the original Radar Box antenna?
I built the vertical 1090 Mhz antenna with 1 metre RG58 - 50 ohm cable, but it seems not working well, today only one plane received at 34000 feet on the home vertical position.
Put back the original antenna, received almost 125 NM from my home, immediately many planes...
So if I want to built the antenna, are there some instructions bout the material, components and cable to be used for this purpose?
Or some link where to find out more info or instructions... jut to test.
Tnks a lot, I'm waiting for your help.
Ciao

WiMo

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Re: What antenna ?
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2009, 07:09:09 AM »
Hi to all,
pls what is the impedance of the original Radar Box antenna?

50 Ohm

I built the vertical 1090 Mhz antenna with 1 metre RG58 - 50 ohm cable, but it seems not working well, today only one plane received at 34000 feet on the home vertical position.
Put back the original antenna, received almost 125 NM from my home, immediately many planes...
So if I want to built the antenna, are there some instructions bout the material, components and cable to be used for this purpose?
Or some link where to find out more info or instructions... jut to test.
Tnks a lot, I'm waiting for your help.
Ciao

The web is full of DIY proposals for homebrew antennas, and there have been several reports here in this forum as well.

Cheers,
Ekki/WiMo

MrT

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Re: What antenna ?
« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2009, 10:56:27 AM »
Thanks guys.