Radar Rama antenna help

[sasa1000]

Thanks for that Andrew, at least I'll be able to try it on shed roof with coax in through window of house. Going to look online tonight and see if I can source all I need. Can get all the connectors here in Shetland, and low loss coax (LMR 400) from marine electronics company but they don't have the RG-174 for the patch lead.

Sandy

[smcm]

Hi Sandy

The LMR-400 is similar loss to Westflex 103 so good that you can source that locally.

I wouldn't worry about 174 for patch lead, you can use one of the 5mm cables like UR76 or RG58 which I'm sure you will get locally as well.  It's just to take the strain off the SMA connector on the back of the Radarbox as the 10.3mm cables can be a bit less flexible.

[smcm]

Sandy, forgot to say that I don't think that the supplied antenna that comes with Radarbox will be sufficiently weatherproof to be used outside - particularly with our weather !

It does perform remarkably well - I used it in the loft space for a few months with quite good results

[sasa1000]

Thanks for that smcm, handy info about the 5mm cable and also the LMR-400, I'll phone the marine electronics place in the morning and see if they have 5mm or one of the other places in town as that will let me work with it at the weekend. I am only trying the supplied antenna on shed roof if it is a nice day (Non starter up here then) Just a case of siting it on for as long as it takes me to see what kind of coverage I can get. This is just so I have some idea as to site of outside aerial, I think it will prob end up on pole on gable of house. Loft space seems like an easy option if I could get longer USB cable.

Sandy

[smcm]

My external antenna is just about 3 feet above the ridge line of the roof of the house and it gets quite good coverage - not so good out west due to local hills but ok towards you and Norway.

Radarbox produces a polar diagram which builds up over time and shows your coverage as lines radiating out from your location

[Runway 31]

Sandy,
I have a DPD aerial and mines is in the loft, I suppose i would get a bit better coverage with it outside but I reckoned the gain would not be worth the additional hassle,  I have enough Westflex cable to take it outside but its staying in at this time.

Alan

[sasa1000]

Thanks for the polar diagram smcm, are you sited at the red cross on the coast there? You are getting really good coverage and even though you have hills to your west you still seem to be getting a fair range, any idea what distance west you are getting?

Sandy

[sasa1000]

Alan

Thanks for that info. It is good to know that you can get good coverage with the aerial in the loft, and having read your post and similar one from smcm I am going to try and source a USB extender & cat 5 cable with RJ45 connectors tomorrow/Fri. If I am lucky enough to get these and I get my box by the weekend I'll be able to try siting aerial in the loft and running cable downstairs to PC.

Sandy

[smcm]

Hi Sandy

About 50 nautical miles out west but nearer 230nm towards Norway.  House is single storey and about 40m asl.

I'm about 250nm west of Norway and have shown location on enclosed diagram

[orkney]

hello

here is our polar diagram in case you are interested.

Andrew

[KSMF]

Hi Sandy,

I'm quite happy with my Radar Rama antenna. I used Buryflex low loss cable for my antenna feed. I mounted the antenna on top of a flat roof (2 stories up). Antenna is
roughly 36' above ground level.

[sasa1000]

smcm thanks for that , and the figures it's a bit of a confidence boost to see the range you are getting. Our house is storey and a half but we are probably about 3-5 metres above sea level with a big hill running e-se beside us but I am thinking that as the traffic from that direction is usually in cruise I should be able to pick them up a piece away. It's going to be really interesting experimenting.

Sandy

[sasa1000]

Andrew, thanks for your polar diagram also. You too have really good coverage, and if i get 75% of your coverage I will be delighted. I see you are just catching west side of Shetland and extending quite a piece up. I am impressed with the coverage of these RadarBoxes.

Sandy

[sasa1000]

Thanks for the polar diagram & picture of your antenna KSMF, again I would be pleased if I get range in some directions approaching the range you are getting , or the other lads that have posted polar diagrams. Out of curiosity, is your antenna secured to anything? I assume it must be and is it affected much by wind?

Sandy

[KSMF]

Hi Sandy,

I built an H shaped platform using some 4'X6" beams I had on hand. Then bolted the tripod stand to the platform. Due to the weight, it doesn't budge at all. So far the antenna has withstood winds of 80 kph with no damage.

Jim