THREE EASY ANTENNAS FOR BEGINNERS

ab cd

Senior Member
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.

DVB-T Dongle 2.PNG


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.
F to MCX Pigtail-RG6 Coax 640x301 px.jpg


Tip:
(a) For RG6 coax lengths in excess of 5m/15ft, coax attenuation will be high, and an amplifier may become necessary.
(b) 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
 
Last edited:

EASY ANTENNA # 1 : SPIDER

Parts Required:

1. SO-239 Connector

SO239 standard 240x240 px.JPG



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

PL259 240x240.PNG



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 640x640.PNG

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



Finished Antenna 4 Legs (Does not require soldering)
Built by beckerm13 http://discussions.flightaware.com/post153170.html#p153170
beckerm13  4-leg 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-R.PNG


 
Last edited:

EASY ANTENNA #2 : CANTENNA

Please see below photos, showing construction details.


Completed Cantenna

Designed & Built by Author of this post (abcd567)

DSC03181-480x640 px.jpg

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.


VRS Coverage
The range rings are 50 nm apart, the outermost blue ring is 300 nm from the receiver.
Cantenna + 12 ft 4m RG6 Coax + DBV-T (No Amplifier).jpg


HOW TO MAKE

Image 1 of 4 : Construction Details 1
DSC03173-640x480 px.jpg



Image 2 of 4 : Construction Details 2
DSC03174-640x480 px.jpg



Image 3 of 4 : Construction Details 3
DSC03175-640x480 px.jpg



Image 4 of 4 : Fully Assembled
DSC03176-640x480 px.jpg



DIMENSIONS

Sketch 1 of 2: Pepsi Can Dimensions
Pepsi Can Sleeved Dipole-782x950 px.png



Sketch 2 of 2: Whip Measurements.
Any one of the two connectors shown in the sketch below can be used
Whip measurements-R-632x684 px.png


Test Setup for CANTENNA

Picture 1 of 2


DSC03177-480x640 px.jpg



Cantennas using other types of cans:


Built by giacomo1989 http://forum.planefinder.net/threads/ads-b-diy-antenna.23/page-25#post-1530

giacommo-Beans Can Cantenna-480x640px.jpg



Built by jepolch http://forum.planefinder.net/threads/ads-b-diy-antenna.23/page-74#post-2607
16584897830_8fbda73e7f.jpg



.

 
Last edited:

EASY ANTENNA # 3 : PLATENNA

The indoor antenna shown below is very easy to make without any special tools

or special parts. It uses a pie plate made of aluminum foil as ground plane (disc), a 68mm (finished

length) whip made of core of coax, and a cheap & readily available coax F-type barrel connector with nut &

washers.

Completed Platenna

Designed & Built by author of this post (abcd567)


DSC03547-R-600x800 px.jpg



Maximum Range Achieved: 250 nm
Range Rings are 50 nm apart. Outermost ring is 300nm radius

Platetenna 24 hrs run 25 Feb 2015-RRing-1-640x599 px.jpg



HOW TO MAKE:


1. Collect the Stuff
One Large Pi Plate made of Aluminum foil.
One Coax cable connector (barrel connector) with one nut & 2 washers


F barrel connector female-240x182 px.jpg





DSC03542-R-640x480 px.jpg




2. Assemble the Platenna
The whip at top is ¼ wavelength (69mm)
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.

DSC03544-R-640x480 px.jpg



DSC03545-R-640x480 px.jpg



Whip Measurements.
Any one of the two connectors shown in the sketch below can be used

Whip measurements-R-632x684 px.png



.
 
Last edited:
Need to solder the rod?

NO, do not solder the rod to F Type Barrel Connector
After inserting the rod, you may use a drop of hot melt glue or silicone adhesive to fix the rod if you like, but these are not necessary

F barrel connector female-240x182 px.jpg





YES, solder the rod to F Type Panel Mount / Bulk head
F Type Panel Mount - 200x220px.png





YES, solder the rod to SO239
SO239 - 220x200px.png
 
SIMULATION OF 2 DIY ANTENNAS

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

Spider 8 Legs - view geometry.png

Spider 8 Legs -pattern-gain-swr.png




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


cantenna-view geometry.png

cantenna-pattern-gain-swr.png
 
Excellent link. Part of the fun is trying things especially when they cost very little. I have a serious question for you : can i use a beer can instead of Pepsi ? :rolleyes: If so I will have to empty one.
AB CD , by reviewing your post I realize that ADSBSCOPE is a must to validate our work. I got the excellent installation instructions by ''sonicgoose'' to do it. (The user name sounds like he lives in north america and close to an airport........)
My first quick try did not work..... Not receiving anything. I am on Window 10 and using an un-tried usb dongle so I will have to do some verifications.

Have a great day, and again thanks for the moral support.
 
I'm currently using a spider built on a solder-on female BNC connector. I have a whole bag of these, but unfortunately, they aren't panel mount style, where it would be easy to screw or solder in the radials. Fortunately, this is easily fixed by adding a 5/8" stainless washer that I've drilled mounting holes into:

J2zRm3Zh.jpg


I also asked my wife to start saving cans to build a cantenna...there's a olive can we used recently that I believe has suitable dimensions.
 
I'm currently using a spider built on a solder-on female BNC connector. I have a whole bag of these, but unfortunately, they aren't panel mount style, where it would be easy to screw or solder in the radials. Fortunately, this is easily fixed by adding a 5/8" stainless washer that I've drilled mounting holes into:

J2zRm3Zh.jpg


I also asked my wife to start saving cans to build a cantenna...there's a olive can we used recently that I believe has suitable dimensions.
Welcome to the wire bender's club.
 
IMG_6129_zpspxrzgfr8.jpg


Thanks to "blueskyspotter" for this antenna concept. To date the FA antenna is in fourth place behind the cantenna, soldered 8 leg spider, and by this "complicated" spider in first place. The construction alone of this antenna may be the reason it is 10-20% better than the soldered spider. Thanks to all for sharing ideas and providing direction.
 
IMG_6129_zpspxrzgfr8.jpg


Thanks to "blueskyspotter" for this antenna concept. To date the FA antenna is in fourth place behind the cantenna, soldered 8 leg spider, and by this "complicated" spider in first place. The construction alone of this antenna may be the reason it is 10-20% better than the soldered spider. Thanks to all for sharing ideas and providing direction.
Welcome to the Crazy Bandwagen of DIY Antennas
I have seen this photo of your "Complicated Spider" when you posted it on Flightaware forum few days ago. Nice built. I think in FA forum, you have mentioned that you will apply brass tubes over the Spider legs & the whip.
 
Thanks to "blueskyspotter" for this antenna concept. To date the FA antenna is in fourth place behind the cantenna, soldered 8 leg spider, and by this "complicated" spider in first place. The construction alone of this antenna may be the reason it is 10-20% better than the soldered spider. Thanks to all for sharing ideas and providing direction.

I like this design, what are the terminals that attach the radials? They look to me like ground rod terminals, but I have not seen one like that locally that has the side tab on it like that.
 
Terminals were bought at Home Depot. I think $1.77 for a bag of two.

Brand is: Thomas & Betts, Part # L35-B2 Terminal Lug.
 
Last edited:
I have been using a home brew 1/4 wave ground plane but I decided to try the cantenna.... And I had a tin lid laying around so I figured I'd try that too. So far the cantenna is doing slightly better than my 1/4 wave. Haven't tested the tin lid yet.

MrWgJQy.jpg


aJonxWF.jpg
 
Hi...i am a new user here. I have a TP-LINK TLGWN722N WiFi USB adapter. The adapter has a connector on it so you can attach different external antennas to it. The manufacturer's website states the connector is RP-SMA. However, I think the connector is very small; it's 3/16 inches in diameter. I would assume the connector is female since it's reverse polarity and has a pin in the middle of the connector.Would just buying a cable that's RP-SMA male allow me to connect to it?

https://www.7pcb.com/
 
Last edited:
Back
Top