best antenna

[IZ8292SWL]

Apply spray paint or some sealant over exposed whip & radials to prevent corrossion.

Uhm ok.
Another tiny bit of silicone?
Actually i don't think that tiny bit layer of natural copper oxide will affect that much.
Is like having a plastic cover over them, even thinner.
What do you think?

[wiedehopf]

Copper oxide on the surface won't degrade the antenna.

You might want to experiment with bending the top 0.5 to 1cm over, my spider needed quite a bit shorter of a whip to have optimal reception.

[abcd567]

RG6 cable comes in two varieties

(1) Low cost: Copper coated solid steel conductor.

(2) Better quality: solid copper conductor.

The copper coated steel one's steel starts corroding after the copper coating has corroded.

To check if the core wire is copper or copper coated steel, use a magnet


If core wire is solid copper, a thin layer of copper oxide on the surface won't degrade the antenna as already advised by wiedehopf.
Further oxidation of copper is also prevented by this surface layer.

However if core wire is copper clad steel, the steel will continue corroding. In this case it is better to apply spray paint (non-metallic) or apply a thin layer of some sealant over the exposed metal of whip and radials.

[IZ8292SWL]

RG6 cable comes in two varieties

(1) Low cost: Copper coated solid steel conductor.

(2) Better quality: solid copper conductor.

The copper coated steel one's steel starts corroding after the copper coating has corroded.

To check if the core wire is copper or copper coated steel, use a magnet


If core wire is solid copper, a thin layer of copper oxide on the surface won't degrade the antenna as already advised by wiedehopf.
Further oxidation of copper is also prevented by this surface layer.

However if core wire is copper clad steel, the steel will continue corroding. In this case it is better to apply spray paint (non-metallic) or apply a thin layer of some sealant over the exposed metal of whip and radials.

Thank you for this tips.
Well it looks like a coated solid stell... the magnet attracts it.
For the moment the antenna is working great and i'm waiting for the flightaware stick.
I also saw an antenna version with the protective plastic still attached to the copper elements.
Does it work well as this one?
Cheers!

[abcd567]

IZ8292SWL:

If you mean this one, it works equally good.

QuickSpider-Ver1.jpg

https://forum.flightradar24.com/thre...-or-N-Conector

It was my first version of Quick Spider dated 2015. Later I noticed people are so accustomed to bare copper radials and whip, they took it as a toy, and it was mostly rejected.

Therefore I released next version in which whip's & radial's insulation was peeled off, and this design was accepted immediately

[IZ8292SWL]

Hi! I updated my antenna with a foam covered spider (the one @abcd567 showed above).
I also bought a blue Flightaware stick.
Well, this setup made a huuuuge improvement over the one i used so far (a simple generic stick and a modded whip antenna, the one you have to cut to match the frequency).

This little antenna was a real suriprise
150-180 messages per second and almost a doubled range over the old setup.
I guess the final step is to put the spidy on the roof. Currently is outside on the balcony as the previous one.
Anybody used that grey pvc pipes?
They look ok to put the cable inside and leave only the spider outside on top.

tubo-pvc-filett-barra-da-6mt-pn-16-d1-1-2-.jpg

[abcd567]

IZ8292SWL:

Anybody used that grey pvc pipes?
They look ok to put the cable inside and leave only the spider outside on top.

It will be OK as the spider itself is outside the pipe, hence the grey pipe's RF attenuation wont affect the performance of Spider.

Spider by jploch.jpg

[IZ8292SWL]

Hi @abcd567 and thanks for all your tips.
Today i tried to move the antenna on the roof.
I had to set the gain settings to about 28 db because, i suppose, i have a very bad GSM signal interference.
Result were worse than the setup on my balcony.
I also tried to listen to some airband frequencies and they were pretty noisy and a lot of QRM.
On my balcony, i can clearly ear the ATIS but not on top of my building, even with a FM bandstop filter attached....
So this afternoon i ran the test that i found in a Flightaware forum post and those are the results:
scan.jpg

This test is coming from another USB stick that currently is in a box on the roof.
I left it there in order to analyze this situation...

I'm using the Flightaware PRO stick.
Alone it can't stop all the QRM coming from the GSM cell towers.

I suppose i have to buy a filter in order to use my antenna on the roof!!
What do you think?
Cheers!

[abcd567]

So this afternoon i ran the test that i found in a Flightaware forum post

You dont have to go to flightaware to find this how-to. I have posted the how-to in both Flightaware and Flightradar24 forums

Do I need a Filter? - Find RF Signals In Area

and those are the results:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]11197[/ATTACH]

This test is coming from another USB stick that currently is in a box on the roof.
I left it there in order to analyze this situation...

I'm using the Flightaware PRO stick.
Alone it can't stop all the QRM coming from the GSM cell towers.

I suppose i have to buy a filter in order to use my antenna on the roof!!
What do you think?

GSM800.jpg

GSM900.jpg.

You have cell interference in both GSM800 and GSM900.
Even if you use flightaware blue stick, the filter in it is after the LNA, so the filter will save the tuner from overload by these signals, but LNA will still get overloaded. You may need another filter between antenna and flightaware blue stick.

[IZ8292SWL]

Yes, i suppose....
Pretty strong GSM signal isn't it?
Do you think that the Flightaware filter will do the trick?

[abcd567]

I cannot read frequencies on your scan (scan image too small on my phone).
If the interfereing signal is around 900 ~950 Mhz, then you have to use FA's dark blue one. (1090 mhz only). The light blue one (978+1090) will not remove 900~950 mhz interference

[IZ8292SWL]

I cannot read frequencies on your scan (scan image too small on my phone).
If the interfereing signal is around 900 ~950 Mhz, then you have to use FA's dark blue one. (1090 mhz only). The light blue one (978+1090) will not remove 900~950 mhz interference

I have both interference from 800 and 900 mhz!

[abcd567]

Dark blue (1090 mhz) will remove both GSM800 and GSM900

https://discussions.flightaware.com/...s-filter/45287

.

[matysldn]

Has any of you used this LNA? range from 0.1 to 2000 MHz sounds great. I just instaled it but I can see a sudden drop from eg. 100 planes to only 30 and messages from 400 to almost 0. Ive tried with different power supply from 5v to 12v and doesn't make any difference. Any thoughts?

LNA.jpg

[petercr]

Amplification range is too broad and if you have any local interference (eg local GSM towers) it will more than likely make the situation worse. Dropping plane count and messages that low seems to suggest that maybe the amplifier itself is faulty or there's a bad connector on the pcb (it can happen).