TomW
Member
I have completed the first portion of my first side-by-side antenna tests.
First, the gear: I purchased two complete sets of gear, in order to make two identical trains. These consist of RPi 2s, power inserters, diplexers, amplifiers etc (details in photos below). The software is identical (except for ip address and hostname). The RPis each reboot once a day at the same time via crontab. The antenna masts remain in my home office (approximately 20 feet above grade), but still inside the house. Their locations differ only in about 24 inches in longitude, and throughout the testing will be called "West" and "East", and in all screen captures, the systems will display as if looking North (West on Left, East on Right). The systems are completely interchangeable, allowing for example, swapping one amp for the other to see if differences are contributing to results. Each test will be two runs of at least 3 days, the second of which will be with the antennas switched between East and West.
My location is approximately 23 NM northeast of DFW and 18.4 NM north-northeast of DAL.
I set up a number of tests and let the systems run unmolested for 3 full calendar days. The test indicators are shown in the attached photo (from Flight Aware, Dump-Mut, and Plane Finder).
So Test #1, run 1: West = 8 leg spider, S0-239 whip, legs measuring 69mm from teflon in So-239. East = 8 leg spider with N whip, legs measuring 69mm below the copper disk.
And the winner is East
Antennas have been swapped and the second half of Test #1 will begin tomorrow.
Comments and suggestions will be appreciated
Tom

First, the gear: I purchased two complete sets of gear, in order to make two identical trains. These consist of RPi 2s, power inserters, diplexers, amplifiers etc (details in photos below). The software is identical (except for ip address and hostname). The RPis each reboot once a day at the same time via crontab. The antenna masts remain in my home office (approximately 20 feet above grade), but still inside the house. Their locations differ only in about 24 inches in longitude, and throughout the testing will be called "West" and "East", and in all screen captures, the systems will display as if looking North (West on Left, East on Right). The systems are completely interchangeable, allowing for example, swapping one amp for the other to see if differences are contributing to results. Each test will be two runs of at least 3 days, the second of which will be with the antennas switched between East and West.
My location is approximately 23 NM northeast of DFW and 18.4 NM north-northeast of DAL.
I set up a number of tests and let the systems run unmolested for 3 full calendar days. The test indicators are shown in the attached photo (from Flight Aware, Dump-Mut, and Plane Finder).
So Test #1, run 1: West = 8 leg spider, S0-239 whip, legs measuring 69mm from teflon in So-239. East = 8 leg spider with N whip, legs measuring 69mm below the copper disk.
And the winner is East
Antennas have been swapped and the second half of Test #1 will begin tomorrow.
Comments and suggestions will be appreciated
Tom







