THREE EASY ANTENNAS FOR BEGINNERS

[ab cd]

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:
(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

 

[ab cd]

EASY ANTENNA # 1 : SPIDER

Parts Required:

1. SO-239 Connector

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

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

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

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

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

 

[ab cd]

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.


VRS Coverage
The range rings are 50 nm apart, the outermost blue ring is 300 nm from the receiver.

HOW TO MAKE

Image 1 of 4 : Construction Details 1

Image 2 of 4 : Construction Details 2

Image 3 of 4 : Construction Details 3

Image 4 of 4 : Fully Assembled

DIMENSIONS

Sketch 1 of 2: Pepsi Can Dimensions

Sketch 2 of 2: Whip Measurements.
Any one of the two connectors shown in the sketch below can be used

Test Setup for CANTENNA

Picture 1 of 2

Cantennas using other types of cans:

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

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

.

 

[ab cd]

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)

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

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

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.

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

.

 

[kucengemok]

Need to solder the rod?

 

[ab cd]

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

YES, solder the rod to F Type Panel Mount / Bulk head

YES, solder the rod to SO239

 

[kucengemok]

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
View attachment 1615




YES, solder the rod to F Type Panel Mount / Bulk head
View attachment 1614




YES, solder the rod to SO239
View attachment 1613

Thanks Master.....to use hot glue..im not sure if it can stand the hot weather and wind....

 

[ab cd]

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

 

[Jean Yves Dionne]

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 ? 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.

 

[kucengemok]

don't use the sin can to feed the plane finder..

 

[Eleventeen]

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:

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.

 

[ab cd]

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:

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.

 

[Eleventeen]

Welcome to the wire bender's club.

Thanks! I read with great interest the antenna megathread that you and others contributed to while working on these and testing them.

 

[F1Rocket]

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.

 

[ab cd]

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.

 

[Eleventeen]

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.

 

[F1Rocket]

Terminals were bought at Home Depot. I think $1.77 for a bag of two.

Brand is: Thomas & Betts, Part # L35-B2 Terminal Lug.

 

[k3who]

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.

 

[AlfySande]

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/

 

[ab cd]

@AlfySande
Yes, a cable or an antenna with RP-SMA Male will perfectly fit to a RP-SMA Female.

.