3 EASY ANTENNAS FOR BEGINNERS

[abcd567]

3 EASY ANTTENNAS FOR BEGINNERS

The main disadvantages of stock antenna supplied with DVB-T USB Dongle are:

(1) It has a very short lead. Due to this, in most cases the antenna cannot be placed at an optimum location.
(2) The stock antenna is not optimized for 1090 Mhz.


SOLUTION FOR PROBLEM (1):
The short cable length can be overcome by connecting a MCX to F pigtail to the DVB-T USB Dongle, and connecting to the pigtail, the required length of commonly available RG6 cable with a DIY antenna at other end of RG6 cable.


Tip:
(1) For RG6 coax lengths in excess of 5m/15ft, coax attenuation will be high, and an amplifier may become necessary.
(2) Even with short lengths of Coax, use of amplifier increases plane count & range.


SOLUTION FOR PROBLEM (2):
The non optimized antenna can be replaced by a DIY antenna which has a ¼ wavelength vertical whip connected to core of coax cable, and a ground plane connected to shield of coax. The ground plane can be formed by a disc, a number of horizontal radials, a number of slanting radials, or a food/drink can.

Below are 3 different easy antennas for beginners, Spider, Platenna & Cantenna. These all have a ¼ wavelength vertical whip connected to core of Coax cable, but use different methods of providing ground plane connected to shield of coax

[abcd567]

EASY ANTENNA # 1 : SPIDER

Parts Required:

1. SO-239 Connector
SO239 standard.jpg

2. PL-259 UHF to F adapter (to connect RG6 coax to SO-239 Connector)
PL259 - F to UHF adapter 2.JPG

3. Copper wire pieces 10 cm long - 5 pieces for 4 Leg Spider, 9 pieces for 8 Leg Spider.

4. Small Nuts & bolts 4 pieces for fixing wires at 4 corners of SO239 adapter

Schematic & Dimensions
Spider Antenna SO239.PNG


Finished Antenna 4 Legs (Does not require soldering)
Built by jepolch
http://forum.planefinder.net/threads...nna.23/page-31
jepolch 4 legged spider.jpg


Finished Antenna 8 Legs (Requires Soldering - Performs better than 4 Legs)
Built by autok
http://www.atouk.com/wordpress/?page_id=237
atouk 8 legged spider.jpg

[abcd567]

EASY ANTENNA #2 : CANTENNA

Please see below photos, showing construction details.


Completed Cantenna

Designed & Built by Author of this post (abcd567)



The whip at top is ¼ wavelength i.e. 69mm (see dimension drawing below)
The whip is core wire of coax cable.
It can be bare copper wire OR copper wire + core insulation.
Shield (braid+foil) MUST be removed from the whip.



Coverage
The range rings are 50 nm apart, the maximum distance achieved is 250 nm from the receiver.



HOW TO MAKE

Image 1 of 6 : Construction Details 1



Image 2 of 6 : Construction Details 2



Image 3 of 6 : Construction Details 3


Image 4 of 6 : Fully Assembled



Image 5 of 6 : Details of whip, if insulated whip is used.
The whip can also be un insulated bare copper wire like core wire of coax




Image 6 of 6: Sketch of Pepsi Can Dimensions



Cantennas using other types of cans:


Built by giacomo1989 http://forum.planefinder.net/threads...e-25#post-1530


Built by jepolch http://forum.planefinder.net/threads...e-74#post-2607


.

[abcd567]

EASY ANTENNA # 3 : QUICK SPIDER
No Soldering Required, No SO239 Connector Required

Maximum Range Curve By VRS (VirtualRadarServer.co.uk)

Hardware Used for Range Curve Plotting:
Quick Spider >>
12 ft / 4 m RG6 Coax >>
Generic DVB-T (Black, RTL2832U+R820T) >>
Orange Pi PC





Trial Run - Indoor Near Large Window





HOW TO MAKE

Please see these posts also for previous Versions:

(1) May 2015

(2) September 2016




STEP 1 - Stuff Required





STEP 2 - Cut Coax Into Required Pieces





STEP 3 - Remove braid & Insulation





STEP 4 - Bend Wires





STEP 5 - Assemble Radials





STEP 6 - Bend Down Radials 45 Degrees


.


ENHANCEMENT FOR OUTDOOR USE
1) Apply a rapid setting (5 minutes) sealant like 2-part epoxy, or silicone, or hot melt glue, or similar at the point where radials enter the outer jacket of coax.
2) After installation. wrap the F-connector in tape to prevent moisture ingress. You may also use outdoor type F connector which are water resistant

[abcd567]

EASY ANTENNA #4 :
SIX LEG GROUNDPLANE/SPIDER ANTENNA
USES ONLY F-TYPE CONNECTOR (With Nut & Washer)



NO SOLDERING REQUIRED
NO SO-239, BNC or N CONNECTOR REQUIRED.


FINISHED LENGTHS
WHIP: From top of F-connector to top of whip = 69 mm

RADIALS: From Point of bending down to tip of radial = 69 mm

RADIALS BENDING DOWN: About 45 degrees below horizontal

WIRE DIA: Flexible. In this demo core wire of RG6 coax cable is used which has a dia of 1 mm (18 AWG), but wires with bigger dia can as well be used.


STEP-1



STEP-2



STEP-3



ON TRIAL RUN



DIRECTLY BUILT ON AN AMPLIFIER, INSTEAD OF F-CONNECTOR

[VOTV]

Hi,
Do you think these antennae are better than the FR24 provided regular antenna?
I host a F-xxxx device and hence curious to know if these DIY antennae can help extending the coverage area?

cheers
VOTV/TRV

[Patrick Reeves]

Do you think these antennae are better than the FR24 provided regular antenna?

Basically, no. I regularly get 320+ NM with the stock FR24 equipment.

That being said, I like this thread. I have an Airspy SDR and going to mess around with these antenna designs.

[abcd567]

SIMULATION OF 2 DIY ANTENNAS

Simulation 1 of 2: SPIDER (8 Legged )
Gain = 1.7 dBi
SWR (75 ohms) = 1.3





.

Simulation 2 of 2: CANTENNA
Gain = 1.9 dBi
SWR (75 ohms) = 1.5

[lockon]

which software are you using to capture the polar diagram? I'd like to run some tests but have no other quantitative way to make measurements.
Thank you

[slammer99uk]

which software are you using to capture the polar diagram? I'd like to run some tests but have no other quantitative way to make measurements.
Thank you

That looks like the one built in to Virtual Radar Server, SBSPlotter is another one will run stand alone and create .out plots that you can load into basestation etc.

Jerry

[abcd567]

which software are you using to capture the polar diagram? I'd like to run some tests but have no other quantitative way to make measurements.
Thank you

Virtual Radar Server on my Windows Desktop.

http://www.virtualradarserver.co.uk/

I can connect it to any of my receivers (DVB-T RTL USB Dongles) inserted into any computer on my home network (Desktop, Laptop & Raspberry Pi).

[DemonLee]

Virtual Radar Server on my Windows Desktop.

http://www.virtualradarserver.co.uk/

I can connect it to any of my receivers (DVB-T RTL USB Dongles) inserted into any computer on my home network (Desktop, Laptop & Raspberry Pi).

I am using FR24 supplied equipment, this supplies data from the receiver directly to the router, is it possible to use Virtual Radar with this?

[Amper]

Yes

In VRS enter IP of FR24 box,port 30034 for raw or 30003 for basestation.
here is example for raw. Replace X.XX in IP with your box IP
Screenshot_1.jpg

[DemonLee]

Yes

In VRS enter IP of FR24 box,port 30034 for raw or 30003 for basestation.
here is example for raw. Replace X.XX in IP with your box IP
[ATTACH=CONFIG]6508[/ATTACH]

Hi Amper I had just got it configured using the IP of the FR24 Receiver and using port 80.. I selected port 80 initially as the feed is not directly into the PC, seems to be working OK, the plots appear to match what I am seeing on the FR24 Feed data and it is actually giving me better feedback on how the Antenna is working as now I can see the distances, locations, etc. overlaid on Google Map...

I will make a note of the configs you suggested and have a play around with it to see what gives me the best output on the screen.

Many thanks.

245NMi.jpg

[T-SBAQ3]

Hi, abcd567, could you inform us about the specs of the amplifier that you've mentioned? Is that an standard digital TV amplifier?


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