Aerial for inside use?

[toString]

I live in a block of apartments... I have no access outside for a 'proper' aerial. Inside the flat I have little space, and installing something inside wouldn't pass the 'girlfriend' test.. Just wondering what options I have other than the free tiny aerial that came with my USB dongle.. I'm very close to the approach to Heathrow, and so far can pick up 1-3 aircraft at a time.. I.e. those that are flying past the window!

My wonder is if I get an MCX to coax converter and try it with my buildings digital freeview aerial (we all use a shared aerial in the roof of the tower (30 floors). Any chance or would that not be the 'right kind' of aerial? (I know very little about all this..).

Thanks for any tips or help!

toString
London, SE1

[wxmeddler]

Welcome to FR24 forums! There are lots of people just like you who live in apartments, myself included. So far, the best "bang for the buck" in terms of size, range and cost seems to be something we call the "cantenna". I suggest that you dive into the "best antenna" thread to get yourself framiliar and bring questions.

[nzradar]

The FreeView antenna would probably yield more than the tiny whip so give it a try by putting a splitter (or just disconnect the TV!) in the socket and running a coax from there to the dongle. If you can get a cable that terminates in an appropriate connector for your socket and an MCX at the other end, all the better but there should be plenty of adapters on the internet trade sites to cobble something together.

An alternative is a window located antenna, there's a purpose built indoor antenna available at http://www.dpdproductions.com/page_v....html#adsblade plus a plethora of other types that you can either buy or make. I'd go for the blade if you have the money and desire to see as far as your window's horizon will let you.

[toString]

Thank you for the information guys!

I connected the freeview aerial, and would you believe I've so far got 0 planes in 30mins, I would get 2 every.. 10mins-ish usually? Why would this be? As I say, it's a shared aerial and is on the 30th floor..

[trigger]

Most TV signals in the UK are horizontally polarised whereas ADS-B needs to be vertically polarised. Slip onto the roof and turn the aerial through 90 degrees. Nobody will notice

I tried the same as you when I first got my dongle but I did get a lot of planes. You should get loads even with the supplied tooth pick living near Heathrow As wxmeddler says, take a look through the best antenna thread. It might take you a week to read it but there is a lot of useful information there.

[toString]

Ah ok, thank you / I live about 2 miles north of the ILS at heathrow and an aerial 30 floors high, facing south, picks nothing up... Gotta love physics! lol

I have a few hours to read the thread tomorrow so I will give that a go, hopefully find something I can put inside - that won't be too visible and told to throw away ().

[Barbagris]

I connected the freeview aerial, and would you believe I've so far got 0 planes in 30mins, I would get 2 every.. 10mins-ish usually? Why would this be? As I say, it's a shared aerial and is on the 30th floor..

Hello. Rookie inside, but...

In my country, in a case as yours, typically be filters and single-channel amplifiers to deliver TV signal to the different floors... the ADS-B signal (1090 MHz) would be filtered at the beginning and can not reach your receiver (the upper UHF channel, 69, is near 855 MHz)
And it's also highly directional, so would be receiving very few signals (which are aligned in horizontal and vertical with antenna orientcion)

I think is not a good idea to use the TV common antenna in your case.

[toString]

As someone who knows nothing about aerials - your theory seems to make perfect sense. I would imagine they have put a filter and other items as yours is. Especially as the aerial is for 300 apartments, it's probably boosted too.
Would certainly explain why I get no aircraft from it! Gone back to the free whip one that came with it, for now until I can make one from a coke can or something...