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tonyrenshaw268(at)gmail.c
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 Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 4:27 pm Post subject: Coax Advice for VHF antenna. |
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Gidday,
Ive got a bit of a hybrid, a classic with a few bits of XS thrown in. For example I've got a sternpost, premanufactured that I was kindly given, and I am now wondering if this is the structure I should be attaching my vertical VHF antenna to the front of. Now I've got the Europa kit, with torrodes or whatever they are called, and a bunch of COAX. I am wondering if anyone has an opinion on the merits of building up this antenna or whether I should just bin it and use the Z shaped Bob Archer VHF antenna that I also have, and put it on the side of the fuselage? I don't figure it would hurt to give it a try, but am unsure if the Europa one is worth building, and if so, knowing nothing about COAX fittings attachment and being a lousy solderer, does anyone have any specific guidance. Thank you in anticipation.
Reg
Tony Renshaw
Sydney Aussie
| | - The Matronics Europa-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
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steven.pitt2(at)ntlworld.
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| Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 12:31 am Post subject: Coax Advice for VHF antenna. |
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Tony,
Go for it - my 'Europa' aerial has worked well in 5 years of flying around
Europe. I fitted it including the soldering, but had it VSWR checked as per
the book. I am no expert on the subject and if you read through the database
of previous emails you will certainly get a variety of very clever and
technical replies. However, I can only speak as I find.
regards
Steve Pitt
G-SMDH XS Trigear with King KY97A radio
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| | - The Matronics Europa-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
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frans(at)privatepilots.nl
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| Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:30 am Post subject: Coax Advice for VHF antenna. |
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On 10/21/2011 02:23 AM, Tony Renshaw wrote:
| Quote: | bunch of COAX. I am wondering if anyone has an opinion on the merits
of building up this antenna or whether I should just bin it and use
the Z shaped Bob Archer VHF antenna that I also have, and put it on
|
Go for the dipole antenna, it outperforms the Bob Archer stuff. The
latter is a compromise to save space in case your airplane is too small
to fit a decent half-wave antenna (dipole).
A dipole is the most "natural" radiator. It has 100% efficiency and
produces a toroid radiation pattern, which is exactly what you need in
an airplane. If an antenna-manufacturer claims gain over a dipole, it
means that it has gain in a certain direction but also losses in other
directions (they often forget to tell you that). Consider the antenna as
a light bulb. Sure you can produce gain in certain directions, but
regardless how you do it (lenses, reflectors) it also implies you create
dark spots (shadows) in other directions. Which is fine for a static
setup but not for an airplane. As a dipole radiates 100% of the energy,
it is not possible to create any antenna that beats this AND retains an
omnidirectional pattern at the same time.
Also, another advantage is that the dipole antenna can be placed further
away from the cockpit and tailplane assembly, which minimizes interference.
Frans
| | - The Matronics Europa-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
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danny shepherd
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Posts: 117
Location: north Wales, United Kingdom
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| Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 2:11 am Post subject: Coax Advice for VHF antenna. |
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Tony,
I fitted the Europa kit into the tail fin as per the "good
book" and find it works perfectly. Like you I'm pretty bad at soldering
but it wasn't too hard.
Danny G-ceri tri gear xs. funkwerk atr 833.
On 21/10/2011 01:23, Tony Renshaw wrote:
| Quote: |
Gidday,
Ive got a bit of a hybrid, a classic with a few bits of XS thrown in. For example I've got a sternpost, premanufactured that I was kindly given, and I am now wondering if this is the structure I should be attaching my vertical VHF antenna to the front of. Now I've got the Europa kit, with torrodes or whatever they are called, and a bunch of COAX. I am wondering if anyone has an opinion on the merits of building up this antenna or whether I should just bin it and use the Z shaped Bob Archer VHF antenna that I also have, and put it on the side of the fuselage? I don't figure it would hurt to give it a try, but am unsure if the Europa one is worth building, and if so, knowing nothing about COAX fittings attachment and being a lousy solderer, does anyone have any specific guidance. Thank you in anticipation.
Reg
Tony Renshaw
Sydney Aussie
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| | - The Matronics Europa-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Europa-List |
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grahamsingleton(at)btinte
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 5:25 am Post subject: Coax Advice for VHF antenna. |
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Tony
you should put the dipole in anyway. We know it works, it radiates more energy in a horizontal pattern (toroid as Frans says) so energy going straight up or straight down isn't wasted. Half the radiation from a traditional aviation 1/4 whip goes straight up. You will need to trim it to length using an SWR meter, which you should be able to borrow. Not too difficult, Pity Kingsley is a bit far away!
Mount it on the outside of the fin spar and don't forget the ferrite toroids. Run the cable straight forward from the centre of the dipole to the leading edge of the fin then down. Bit of head scratching as to how you do that.
Graham
From: Tony Renshaw <tonyrenshaw268(at)gmail.com>
To: europa-list(at)matronics.com
Sent: Friday, 21 October, 2011 1:23:31
Subject: Coax Advice for VHF antenna.
--> Europa-List message posted by: Tony Renshaw <tonyrenshaw268(at)gmail.com (tonyrenshaw268(at)gmail.com)>
Gidday,
Ive got a bit of a hybrid, a classic with a few bits of XS thrown in. For example I've got a sternpost, premanufactured that I was kindly given, and I am now wondering if this is the structure I should be attaching my vertical VHF antenna to the front of. Now I've got the Europa kit, with torrodes or whatever they are called, and a bunch of COAX. I am wondering if anyone has an opinion on the merits of building up this antenna or whether I should just bin it and use the Z shaped Bob Archer VHF antenna that I also have, and put it on the side of the fuselage? I don't figure it would hurt to give it a try, but am unsure if the Europa one is worth building, and if so, knowing nothing about COAX fittings attachment and being a lousy solderer, does anyone have any specific guidance. Thank you in anticipation.
Reg
Tony Renshaw
Sydney Auss>
[quote][b]
| | - The Matronics Europa-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Europa-List |
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brian.davies(at)clara.co.
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 6:52 am Post subject: Coax Advice for VHF antenna. |
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I also found the Europa antenna perfectly satisfactory. Soldering the coax
fitting to the coax cable can be tricky so it is important to follow the
assembly instructions to the letter. They should be printed on a label
inside the packet containing the coax fitting. If you cannot find it let me
know and I will e-mail it to you. A crimped connector is much easier and
produces a more consistent result but you have to buy a crimp tool!
Brian Davies
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| | - The Matronics Europa-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Europa-List |
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jimpuglise(at)comcast.net
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:55 pm Post subject: Coax Advice for VHF antenna. |
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Tony-
Ditto what others have said. A dipole is the ideal antenna for a glass airplane. I put mine on the outside edge of my rudder post so that I can get to it if I ever need to. I used an AAE folded dipole, which would be another good answer for you, but the foil dipole as outlined in the book is just fine. Be sure to use an SWR bridge to tune it and you will have no problems. In my particular case, the coaxial cable furnished with my kit was garbage. It had an aluminum shield, which is hard to solder to. You need high quality 52 ohm coaxial cable. Some versions of RG-58 or certainly, RG-200 will be just fine. If you go this route, both the center conductor and shield should be multi wire copper, which means it is easy to solder to. Do not use cable that has a single conductor center. It is prone to breaking with vibration. Everyone tells me that crimp-on connectors are fine. I am sure they are, although I don't like them. I wouldn't even put a connector on the foil. Just clean it well and solder the cable directly to it. The rudder post is an ideal location.
Jim Puglise
A283, Florda
From: "Tony Renshaw" <tonyrenshaw268(at)gmail.com>
To: europa-list(at)matronics.com
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 8:23:31 PM
Subject: Europa-List: Coax Advice for VHF antenna.
--> Europa-List message posted by: Tony Renshaw <tonyrenshaw268(at)gmail.com>
Gidday,
Ive got a bit of a hybrid, a classic with a few bits of XS thrown in. For example I've got a sternpost, premanufactured that I was kindly given, and I am now wondering if this is the structure I should be attaching my vertical VHF antenna to the front of. Now I've got the Europa kit, with torrodes or whatever they are called, and a bunch of COAX. I am wondering if anyone has an opinion on the merits of building up this antenna or whether I should just bin it and use the Z shaped Bob Archer VHF antenna that I also have, and put it on the side of the fuselage? I don't figure it would hurt to give it a try, but am unsure if the Europa one is worth building, and if so, knowing nothing about COAX fittings attachment and being a lousy solderer, does anyone have any specific guidance. Thank you in anticipation.
Reg
T &nbs========================
[quote][b]
| | - The Matronics Europa-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Europa-List |
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