3 EASY ANTENNAS FOR BEGINNERS

[andrewh_85]

Make a Spider or Cantenna (see beginning of this thread), and you will find these two much better than J-Pole.

For indoor use, Cantenna is particularly good & easy to make, and unlike Spider, it does not require any special connectors like SO239 & PL259.

Got my Cantenna made and indoors its giving me an extra 20 miles over the stock antenna.

Wish I had made it before ordering a antenna lol

[abcd567]

I just built a J Antenna, from a piece of 2,5mm˛ cooper wire.
It was very easy to build. It is now taped on the window and works much better than the T, that I have built before.
The nice thing with that antenna, is that it shortcuts all low frequencies very well.
That is important since the reciever is broad-banded.

Make a Spider or Cantenna (see beginning of this thread), and you will find these two much better than J-Pole.

For indoor use, Cantenna is particularly good & easy to make, and unlike Spider, it does not require any special connectors like SO239 & PL259.

[RIN67630]

I just built a J Antenna, from a piece of 2,5mm˛ cooper wire.
It was very easy to build. It is now taped on the window and works much better than the T, that I have built before.
The nice thing with that antenna, is that it shortcuts all low frequencies very well.
That is important since the reciever is broad-banded.

[abcd567]

@jrf:
Nice to see your innovation. You are the first one I know who has used a F barrel connector (F female - F female) with a rectangular plate, instead of SO239 or N connector.

Using a 52mm copper wire soldered to a nut with the whip antenna is also very innovative.

The other alternative was to cut the original whip to 52mm, as shown in my post #8 in the thread "Optimize the Whip Antenna Which Is Supplied With DVB-T Dongle". CLICK HERE

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[jrf]

I made my first spider and will put it to the roof asap. Actually I am using a modified DVB antenna in the attic under the insulated roof: removed the whip, soldered a copper to a nut and attached to the antenna foot so that I have the recommended 52 mm, respecting the "antenna" inside the foot.
Next:
2016-03-18_0929.jpg
Old (you can see the pole on the right side that is going through the roof for SAT antenna where my spider will also be attached to):
P1040690.jpg

[andrewh_85]

Cheers abcd567 will give it another go and see how I get on.

[abcd567]

@andrewh_85:
1) Few mm more or less in tin height is not critical.
2) Reducing height of whip by 2 to 3 mm i.e making whip height 66 or 67 mm instead of 69 mm gives some noticeable improvement. This is due to the phenomenon called "end effect" which causes this.

[andrewh_85]

This has been a great read always veered off making antennas as I'm new to this stuff.

Made my first cantenna last night think I need to do it again as the tin is just shy of 69mm.

[abcd567]

@abcd567, yes! I think that 1 or 2 meters higher will help and is not hard to do! Let's see! Besides, today arrived from China (AliExpress) a antenna that i bought by 3US$! I'll let VR do the range plot and see if its better than the original one that come with the dvb-t! I'll test in the other Radar, the T-SBCT6 that are inside my house!

This is the antenna!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]7160[/ATTACH]

I also purchased similar antenna for $5 (price+shipping) from eBay last month. Not so good as advertised.
The the original one that come with the dvb-t, when cut to 52 mm, proved better, Click here: Post #8, Optimize the Whip Antenna Which Is Supplied With DVB-T Dongle


Also see this one:
Click here: My post in Flightaware Forum

[abcd567]

SOME MORE EXAMPLES OF OUTDOOR INSTALLATION OF CANTENNA

[dudesjp]

@abcd567, yes! I think that 1 or 2 meters higher will help and is not hard to do! Let's see! Besides, today arrived from China (AliExpress) a antenna that i bought by 3US$! I'll let VR do the range plot and see if its better than the original one that come with the dvb-t! I'll test in the other Radar, the T-SBCT6 that are inside my house!

This is the antenna!
IMG_3555.jpg

[abcd567]

Some Examples of Outdoor Installation of Cantenna

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[abcd567]

A Cantenna made of iron food can, instead of aluminum drink can. Mechanically stronger and better suits outdoor instalattion without any casing.

Note the Silicone sealant/adhesive at the F connector where whip wire enters it.
The sealant/adhesive helps in keeping moisture out of electrical components, and also prevents the whip from getting blown away by strong winds.

The finished cantenna may be spray painted to prevent rusting.
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[abcd567]

Cantenna up & high. No enclosure.
By forum member "trigger".

Click here: Post #1465, page 147 of thread "best antenna"

[abcd567]

@dudesjp:
To get a 100% no-obstruction, you may need substantial height. However raising by using one or two meter long pipe or wooden stick will not be difficult, and will bring substantial improvement in range. Raise it as much as you can conviniently do, and dont worry about length of coaxial cable, 4 or 5 meters extra wont make any difference.