whoa.. no kidding about how the lower the mhz the larger the antenna.. Has anyone put one of these 900mhz antennas on a plane? Any issues with durability from regular flying?

Originally Posted by Grips

whoa.. no kidding about how the lower the mhz the larger the antenna.. Has anyone put one of these 900mhz antennas on a plane? Any issues with durability from regular flying?

lots of people have, great antenna.

As far as durability, most people just bend them back after a big crash. They tend to stand up well, depending on where you put them. Even a slightly out of shape CL still works great, and at 900mhz it's alot easier to "eyeball it".

That picture does make it look larger than it is The shape of the thing misleads you about it's size.

Originally Posted by RaptorAP

My new portable ground station, works good!!

That's what I use

-Alex

Originally Posted by Grips

whoa.. no kidding about how the lower the mhz the larger the antenna.. Has anyone put one of these 900mhz antennas on a plane? Any issues with durability from regular flying?

The antenna will hold up fine if you use .035-.045" welding wire. Making it at 900 MHz is a real pain. It is not easy trying to get all the lobes to stay put. This is why I no longer make them. It's takes me entirely too long.

-Alex

Originally Posted by Grips

whoa.. no kidding about how the lower the mhz the larger the antenna.. Has anyone put one of these 900mhz antennas on a plane? Any issues with durability from regular flying?

I use a 910mhz cloverleaf on the top of the stabilizer on my Skywalker and it does not affect the flight in any way.

pc_pilot

I've got a 900Mhz SPW that I'm planning on mounting on a quad. Big antenna on a small quad, big problem right?

2 questions;
A)will a gopro within 10cm affect it too much?
B) As I'm still waiting for a SMA-F adaptor, I'm keen to play around with it. I was planning on running a short distance (<300m) with CP to linear. I should expect about 3db of loss is that correct? Is there any other reason I shouldn't be doing this?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by smarm

I've got a 900Mhz SPW that I'm planning on mounting on a quad. Big antenna on a small quad, big problem right?

2 questions;
A)will a gopro within 10cm affect it too much?
B) As I'm still waiting for a SMA-F adaptor, I'm keen to play around with it. I was planning on running a short distance (<300m) with CP to linear. I should expect about 3db of loss is that correct? Is there any other reason I shouldn't be doing this?

Thanks!

A) -> possible. GoPros are notorioiusly know for their IME radiation. Pack it in silverfoil if needed. If I'm not mistaken, there are sides of the GoPro which are radiating heavier than others, so maybe placing it differently helps. By all means make a serious range test!

B) Nope, nothing wrong with trying. You loose the 3dB, that's it.

Markus

Alex, I read on one of the posts on Hugo's thread I think that you have to remove resistor from the airwave rx module inside the sharks for any of the Closed Loop antennas. Because of DC bias used

Is that true? Does it make much difference?

I ask, because I only tested my antennas on the sharks - and I very carefully made several including 3,4 and 8 lobe variations of SPW,Turbine and clover. Didn't really notice any improvement over omni with 2.4.

Originally Posted by IBCrazy

That's what I use

-Alex

Originally Posted by Shikra

Alex, I read on one of the posts on Hugo's thread I think that you have to remove resistor from the airwave rx module inside the sharks for any of the Closed Loop antennas. Because of DC bias used

Is that true? Does it make much difference?

I ask, because I only tested my antennas on the sharks - and I very carefully made several including 3,4 and 8 lobe variations of SPW,Turbine and clover. Didn't really notice any improvement over omni with 2.4.

Im using the skew on my FS Dominators and it works fine, must be the older FS models.
I noticed less dropouts/multipathing over the stock dipole omni.

Originally Posted by Shikra

Alex, I read on one of the posts on Hugo's thread I think that you have to remove resistor from the airwave rx module inside the sharks for any of the Closed Loop antennas. Because of DC bias used

Is that true? Does it make much difference?

I ask, because I only tested my antennas on the sharks - and I very carefully made several including 3,4 and 8 lobe variations of SPW,Turbine and clover. Didn't really notice any improvement over omni with 2.4.

It's only an issue with the FatShark Aviators.

-Alex

sorry but i read earlier about lawmate receivers not doing good with spw or cl.
i could not find info on that and solving the lawmate vrx issue... or is it still an issue ?
i have recently acquired a lawmate vrx since i heard about how good it can be vs generic chinese vrx.
thanks

Originally Posted by QiW

sorry but i read earlier about lawmate receivers not doing good with spw or cl.
i could not find info on that and solving the lawmate vrx issue... or is it still an issue ?
i have recently acquired a lawmate vrx since i heard about how good it can be vs generic chinese vrx.
thanks

That was an isolated special problem. There is no problem with LMRX and these antenna.

thanks...

Well, here it is, my first attempt at an SPW antenna for my RX. It's 910 mhz. Works so far on the bench, so I went ahead and gooped it up with hot glue.

This antenna was made from a Rubber Ducky antenna from HK. I had to do this because the connectors on the HK VRX are not SMA connectors; so I disassembled the dipole part of the RD and used the coax that was inside. I kept the joint on the connector and hot glued the top end. Then I mounted the clover-leaf end inside a GLAD container.

I'm going to try a ground test today and see how it does with my cloverleaf VTX antenna.

Stand by!

Bob

Originally Posted by Chairwolf

Well, here it is, my first attempt at an SPW antenna for my RX. It's 910 mhz. Works so far on the bench, so I went ahead and gooped it up with hot glue.

This antenna was made from a Rubber Ducky antenna from HK. I had to do this because the connectors on the HK VRX are not SMA connectors; so I disassembled the dipole part of the RD and used the coax that was inside. I kept the joint on the connector and hot glued the top end. Then I mounted the clover-leaf end inside a GLAD container.

I'm going to try a ground test today and see how it does with my cloverleaf VTX antenna.

Stand by!

Bob

Bob,

Nice work! The drag of that GLAD container will be enormous though....

Markus

I don't think my receiver will even notice!

Originally Posted by Chairwolf

I don't think my receiver will even notice!

It will if the wind picks up

Very nice, Bob! Nice work!

Yesterday I made my first 5.8 Ghz circular polarized antennas. Cloverleaf turned out nicely but Skew-Planar Wheel was a bit messy. I put too much epoxy on Skew-Planar Wheel. Now I need to test these antennas to see how they perform. Used RG58 coaxial cable.

Originally Posted by Lauri1000

Yesterday I made my first circular polarized antennas. Cloverleaf turned out nicely but Skew-Planar Wheel was a bit messy. I put too much epoxy on Skew-Planar Wheel. Now I need to test these antennas to see how they perform.

Looking at the fourth picture from the right makes me wonder what may remains in those what it looks 2.4Ghz whip antennas? Usually such antennas are so called pot antennas where there is a metal tube forming one part of a dipole and the center wire the second pole. Now, since your antennas are what seems to be at the far end of the original antenna, I truly wonder if you took the tube out?

Markus

Originally Posted by Lauri1000

Yesterday I made my first circular polarized antennas. Cloverleaf turned out nicely but Skew-Planar Wheel was a bit messy. I put too much epoxy on Skew-Planar Wheel. Now I need to test these antennas to see how they perform.

Ok, I recon that this is eventually just RG58 cable?

It's just RG58 cable, nothing more

Originally Posted by volto

It will if the wind picks up

Hopefully not! Here's a shot of my brand-new BMGS. (That's Belly-Mounted Ground Station ) I wear the GS with a strap around my neck, right above my belly. My RC Transmitter is strapped below it TO the GS. I can fly with my hands in the "normal" position, and hold my RC TX up above the GS if I need to look at my RC Transmitter (or use it to block the sun).

Flight tested this system yesterday, and it works like a champ!

The SPW and Clover Leaf antennas are performing EXTREMELY WELL, at least in the eyes of this FPV Noob!

Thanks Alex, and everyone else for your help and support!

Bob
aka
Chairwolf

Originally Posted by RaptorAP

Very nice, Bob! Nice work!

Thanks! I feel like I'm bringing a cake to the field every time I put that thing in the car! ha ha

Originally Posted by Lauri1000

Yesterday I made my first circular polarized antennas. Cloverleaf turned out nicely but Skew-Planar Wheel was a bit messy. I put too much epoxy on Skew-Planar Wheel. Now I need to test these antennas to see how they perform.

The shape looks good! Nice work. (I can really say that, because mine are the result of about 4 feet of wire going into the trash can first!!! )

Bob

edit - I just noticed that you mentioned using epoxy. I was thinking - I broke my SPW on the bench right after I bench tested it, and had to re-solder the top (signal) connector. If you use hot glue, and the antenna breaks later, you can melt the hot glue off and fix the antenna. It would be difficult to do (maybe even impossible) with epoxy. So you may want to give hot glue a try for your next one!

No criticism, just food for thought if it might be of some help.

Great work!

Bob

I would use hot glue if i had any

Alex or Hugo

Based on the last couple of posts, will epoxy or hot glue detune the antenna--- especially on 5.8?

Thanks,
Neal

Originally Posted by Nobert

Alex or Hugo

Based on the last couple of posts, will epoxy or hot glue detune the antenna--- especially on 5.8?

Thanks,
Neal

I'm Neiter Alex nor Hugo, but what makes you think the antenna was tuned in the first place?

If you change the velocity factor of the surrounding medium of an antenna you will change the resonant frequency, and in almost all cases lower the efficiency of the antenna. So strictly speaking the answer is yes. By what degree is another question.

Have you bought a fine tuned antenna that is optimized for a given freuqency? If so you can be concerned. If not why would you botter? If you build an antenna on 5.8Ghz to measure, chances are you are ~100Mhz or even more off anyways. So, applying the hot glue or epoxy does change it, but if you are lucky it could be to the better, maybe to the worse. Nobody will be able to tell you unless you measure your antenna out with apropriate equipement.

Markus

Markus is absolutely right.

I found that hot glue affect tuning more than epoxy which affect more than CA.

-Hugo

Can anyone tell me the effect of lengthening the gap between the in/out solder pints on the antenna (that is, where the lobes connect to the SMA center shaft)? I made a 2.4 SPW/CL combo, and worried about a short, made the gap about 8mm on the SPW. What effect does this have as opposed to a 1mm gap?
Thanks

Originally Posted by TheNiceGuy

Can anyone tell me the effect of lengthening the gap between the in/out solder pints on the antenna (that is, where the lobes connect to the SMA center shaft)? I made a 2.4 SPW/CL combo, and worried about a short, made the gap about 8mm on the SPW. What effect does this have as opposed to a 1mm gap?
Thanks

I'm no expert, but the posts I've seen say that the smaller the gap, the better. You could insulate the joints with, say a little piece of electrical tape or something to keep them from touching each other.

Bob

Originally Posted by TheNiceGuy

Can anyone tell me the effect of lengthening the gap between the in/out solder pints on the antenna (that is, where the lobes connect to the SMA center shaft)? I made a 2.4 SPW/CL combo, and worried about a short, made the gap about 8mm on the SPW. What effect does this have as opposed to a 1mm gap?
Thanks

Not 100% sure I understood you right, but if the center conductor piece is just longer up until it meets the lobes, that would increase the resonant frequency slighty and at the same time lower the efficiency of the antenna. However, that's a generalisation. Depending on how your lobes are repositioned because of this it also could have the oposite effect. What's clear thoug is that the efficiency will drop because the shape is not ideal.

That does not mean though that the antenna is unuseable. Just that you don't get the optimum possible. For a first attempt it's ok, so fly your antenna (after makeing some range tests) and see for yourself how good it is.

Markus

My first SPW attempt turned out pretty nicely. I'll put up pictures in a little while. One question: In the below video, the angles that are supposed to be about 17 degrees turned out to be about 40 degrees in mine. Is this okay or should I redo it?

The Skew-Planar Wheel (SPW) circular polarized omni antenna by IBCrazy (1 min 11 sec)

Originally Posted by TexasAggie

My first SPW attempt turned out pretty nicely. I'll put up pictures in a little while. One question: In the below video, the angles that are supposed to be about 17 degrees turned out to be about 40 degrees in mine. Is this okay or should I redo it?

That sounds like either the length of your arcs is way too long, or your ground legs are not at 90 degrees to each other. I am a rank noob at this, but with 40 degrees of overlap, something must be wrong somewhere.

Can you give us a good top-down pic?

I did it with 4 separate leaves, each of which had the same geometry as the cloverleaf that I have already completed (according to http://rcexplorer.se/page14/CPantennas/SPW/SPW.html)

Originally Posted by TexasAggie

I did it with 4 separate leaves, each of which had the same geometry as the cloverleaf that I have already completed (according to http://rcexplorer.se/page14/CPantennas/SPW/SPW.html)

This is 910mhz, right? The only thing I can think of is that Alex's measurements for the cloverleaf antenna on the long piece of wire was 26.5" and the SPW shows 26.0" which might explain why your SPW has a bigger overlap. I would also check your measurements on the legs; they should be 84mm each.

I'm just guessing here, but checking those measurements is where I'd start.

Then again, if the antenna works well, maybe you can just go with it!

Bob

1280 MHz. I'll just do some experiments with it and see its performance.

Originally Posted by TexasAggie

1280 MHz.

ok, then my numbers don't apply. (oops) But if you look at the lengths on the 2 different RCGroups threads, they may be slightly shorter on the SPW antenna than they are on the Cloverleaf.

My SPW didn't perform as well as my cloverleaf with another cloverleaf on the Tx so I'll take that one apart and try again.

Originally Posted by TexasAggie

My SPW didn't perform as well as my cloverleaf with another cloverleaf on the Tx so I'll take that one apart and try again.

I just checked the lengths on Alex's posts -

for 1280mhz:

Cloverleaf:

Long wire: 18.9" or 479.5mm for the Cloverleaf on 1280mhz.
Short wire: 9.44" or 240mm for the Cloverleaf on 1280mhz.
Quarter Wave: 2.36" or 60mm for the Cloverleaf on 1280mhz.

Skew Planar Wheel:

Long wire: 18.49" or 469.8mm
Short wire (not listed, but 1/2 would be 9.245") or 234.82mm
Quarter Wave: 2.31" or 60mm

I don't know if this was the cause of the problem, but I hope it might help!

Bob

The wire length he lists for 1280 (18.49"/469.8mm) and the quarter wavelength (2.31"/60mm) do not work out. He says the 60mm should be an eighth of the wire length. I'll try 235mm for each leaf (I was using 240, which the CL dimension) this time and see how that ends up.

Originally Posted by TexasAggie

The wire length he lists for 1280 (18.49"/469.8mm) and the quarter wavelength (2.31"/60mm) do not work out. He says the 60mm should be an eighth of the wire length. I'll try 235mm for each leaf (I was using 240, which the CL dimension) this time and see how that ends up.

Sounds good! I hope your trash can has less wire in it than mine!!

Well I bought a 2lb spool of welding wire, so it has the potential to be stuffed...

Here's where the discrepancy exists: his quarter-wave metric calculations are screwy. 75168/1280 = 58.7 NOT 60. The lengths in his photos also don't agree with his computations.

Originally Posted by TexasAggie

Here's where the discrepancy exists: his quarter-wave metric calculations are screwy. 75168/1280 = 58.7 NOT 60. The lengths in his photos also don't agree with his computations.

Don't forget to add a little for the hooks and the tail on the ground side.

I'm leaving the hooks off of this one, and the tails don't matter since they're attached when the center conductor is shielded.

Originally Posted by TexasAggie

My first SPW attempt turned out pretty nicely. I'll put up pictures in a little while. One question: In the below video, the angles that are supposed to be about 17 degrees turned out to be about 40 degrees in mine. Is this okay or should I redo it?

40 degrees is a lot. Try it out. If they perform good enough for what you are after - who cares! If not, you found one point to improfe.

It seems like the relation of the arc length compared to the two legs is not ok then. Usually the arc should be about half the wafelength, the legs about a quarter. Note though that the correction factor to apply differs between the SPW and the CL antenna.

HTH

Markus

TexasAggie - You might find the little hooks help a lot. They won't harm anything at 1.3GHz. I make them as long as the feedpoint gap so the overall lobe lenght is consistent.

The lobes should be .5% longer than 1 full wavelength depending on the wire thickness you use. Wire thickness will change resonant wavelength, so the little details will change. Generally the thicker the wire, the higher the resistance (I know this sounds backwards but we're talking RF, not DC). My calculations were done with .035" wire. if you use thinner wire (say .030 or .025) you will need the lobes to be slightly longer than my calculations.

-Alex

I've got .030 welding wire. So do I need to add the length of the hook to the lobe length, or get the lobes correct and then just bend the last few mm into the hook? Also, how important is that 105 angle? Without another dimension, I find that it can be physically anywhere in a fairly large range. Seems 115 gives a nice-looking lobe. That dashed line on the left is tangent to the arc at the corner.

Edit: I'm going to be doing the trick in your YouTube video with the legs, so I'll make 4 independent lobes.

Since you're here, Alex, can you take a quick look at my FPV test flight from yesterday and give any troubleshooting tips you can think of? 1280 MHz. Tx is a generic 400 mW from RMRC. Rx is Lawmate unmodified. Both antennas were cloverleafs. The transmitter antenna was slightly better-made than the receiver antenna. I highly doubt the problem is due to the Tx turning off in flight, since I replaced all my wiring.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7lb99DZL4I

Texas Aggie - I bend my hooks after I strip the cable. The length of the hooks = feed gap length. The reason is that the feed gap counts as part of your lobe length. Therefore by bending the hooks in the end you remove that length from the lobe itself but it gets added back in the soldering stage due to the feed gap. If you had no feed gap at all you would need to add a little wire for your hooks.

The arc isn't too critical. Just be sure it doesn't touch the adjacent lobe.

When I look at your video, your problem appears to be external interference. Perhaps a pulsed transmission? I can't tell. Your video is rock solid and then suddenly loses the frame sync. This would indicate an outside source.

-Alex

Thanks for the tips. I really appreciate your help. I'm kind of surprised at video interference since that park is basically in the middle of a forest with no built-up areas for several miles.

Also, when you say "slightly longer" for the .03 wire, can you quantify?

TA

Here in Tucson the public services all use the 1280 band. They have a lot more power and can interfere with FPV setups.
Hope this helps.

Neal

How did you find this out?

I have friends in Police, Fire and EMT.
Neal

Well, here's #2 for 1280 MHz. How's it look? I ended up getting the lobes to be positioned such that I didn't need the hooks to solder the middle.
Edit: I used 107 degrees for the lobe angle. The overall length of each lobe was 245mm and I bent at 60mm from each end.

Originally Posted by TexasAggie

Well, here's #2 for 1280 MHz. How's it look? I ended up getting the lobes to be positioned such that I didn't need the hooks to solder the middle.

Looks great. If you were precise with the measures, I'm sure it will perform nicely.

Markus

Originally Posted by Nobert

TA

Here in Tucson the public services all use the 1280 band. They have a lot more power and can interfere with FPV setups.
Hope this helps.

Neal

Neal, I am sorry, but this isn't possible. In the US, Amateur radio operators have exclusive use of 1240 Mhz to 1300 Mhz.

Now, it is possible there is a repeater in the 1.2Ghz band for Amateur use*, and that is causing the interference you refer to, but again, 1240-1300Mhz is allocated by the FCC for exclusive Amateur use. We do share some of our allocations with other groups, but not this one.

see http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/p...3-allochrt.pdf for the breakdown of allocations in the US

Tim
AG4RZ

I just looked, and there is an Amateur repeater located at 9200 ft atop Mt Lemmon neat Tucson, Arizona - This is a D-Star machine. It is on 1298.25...

Originally Posted by TexasAggie

Well, here's #2 for 1280 MHz. How's it look? I ended up getting the lobes to be positioned such that I didn't need the hooks to solder the middle.
Edit: I used 107 degrees for the lobe angle. The overall length of each lobe was 245mm and I bent at 60mm from each end.

Darn good if you ask me. Now fly it

-Alex

Originally Posted by IBCrazy

Darn good if you ask me. Now fly it

-Alex

Thanks. First I have to hot glue it a bit and then make another cloverleaf since I stepped on my best one yesterday.

Ok so I built the SPW for the first time and it looks alright but performs awful. I recorded a LOS flight and upon reviewing the vid, there is no way anybody could fly fpv with this.

There are slight problems with my antenna. After reading I think the problem is my feed gap. I measured mine to be 9.5mm and I did not incorporate any hooks into the center joint.

Both Tx and Rx antennas are RHCP (RHCP = tractor prop, LHCP = pusher prop?) and the Tx antenna is a CL. I am on 1280 MHz.

should I bend hooks to be ~10mm or should I just shorten the feed gap or both?

I have a 5-turn helical that I just set flat on the ground and that works fine for flying around LOS or ~ 300-700 feet without pointing it - I have not flown far yet but at least I know my other components are working.

Hi.
Congrats for IbCrazy ant his valious contribuiton here and for the amazing jeweller work some of you are sowing here for us !!

Can somebody tell me a supplier ...Home Depot or were you guys in states are buying the " Copper coated steel wire " ....serched the net and noyhing ..

Tks
FRED

2 kinds of plated wire:

Gold plated 'memory wire' - found in ladies DIY jewelery stores.

Copper plated 'MIG welding wire' - found in lots of places that sell welding equipment.

HTH

Nigel.

I got a 2lb spool of welding wire at Ace. They also had it at Lowe's.

Originally Posted by asaloca

Hi.
Congrats for IbCrazy ant his valious contribuiton here and for the amazing jeweller work some of you are sowing here for us !!

Can somebody tell me a supplier ...Home Depot or were you guys in states are buying the " Copper coated steel wire " ....serched the net and noyhing ..

Tks
FRED

Harbor Freight has it for cheap, too. And Home Depot.

I found it at radio shack marketed as antenna ground wire. It is copper clad steel wire and had a cost of about $1/foot or something like that.

$1 A FOOT??? You can get 10 miles of it for $11.47 at Home Depot, or $8.50 at Harbor Freight!

Originally Posted by chemnut842

Ok so I built the SPW for the first time and it looks alright but performs awful. I recorded a LOS flight and upon reviewing the vid, there is no way anybody could fly fpv with this.

There are slight problems with my antenna. After reading I think the problem is my feed gap. I measured mine to be 9.5mm and I did not incorporate any hooks into the center joint.

Both Tx and Rx antennas are RHCP (RHCP = tractor prop, LHCP = pusher prop?) and the Tx antenna is a CL.

A pusher prop behaves the same as a tractor one.

RHCP is the conventional clockwise screw thread type.

I have 5.8 system on order and came across this:

http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=596

Do I need 2 antennas, one for Tx, one for Rx or just for Tx is fine? Thanks in advance for your help.

Originally Posted by IBCrazy

That will do 1000+ feet with ease.

-Alex

Originally Posted by k0mputer

I have 5.8 system on order and came across this:

http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=596

Do I need 2 antennas, one for Tx, one for Rx or just for Tx is fine? Thanks in advance for your help.

You need a pair. A cloverleaf on the transmitter and skew planar wheel on the receiver usually works best.

Markus

Originally Posted by markus123456

You need a pair. A cloverleaf on the transmitter and skew planar wheel on the receiver usually works best.

Markus

Hey there, cool thanks. Where can I get the skew planar wheel for 5.8 though? I googled it, no sellers found.

Originally Posted by k0mputer

Hey there, cool thanks. Where can I get the skew planar wheel for 5.8 though? I googled it, no sellers found.

Alex sells them:

http://videoaerialsystems.com/

So does Hugo

http://www.truerc.net/canada/

I make them upon request, but I currently have a too big backlog to help you out unless you like to wait.

Markus

Originally Posted by markus123456

Alex sells them:

http://videoaerialsystems.com/

So does Hugo

http://www.truerc.net/canada/

I make them upon request, but I currently have a too big backlog to help you out unless you like to wait.

Markus

I've seen that site http://videoaerialsystems.com/ but no option to add product to cart.

For http://www.truerc.net/canada/, they had the wind mill for 5.8. Is that the same as the skew planar wheel?

Originally Posted by k0mputer

I've seen that site http://videoaerialsystems.com/ but no option to add product to cart.

For http://www.truerc.net/canada/, they had the wind mill for 5.8. Is that the same as the skew planar wheel?

The windmill is not the same, but they work the same. In a sense they are interchangeable (Hugo forgive me)!

I've seen on the webpage that they are "on vacation", maybe you have to wait for some days more, but again, Hugo's antennas work equally well.

Markus

I will second the work of Hugo (www.truerc.net/canada). His work is exceptional which is why he and I design together. All of our products are compatible. The True Wire windmill/fan combination will do the same as my BluBeam set and both are compatible with eachother. You can get my BluBeams from here: http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=550 I know he's out of stock, but I am sending him a shipemnt this afternoon so he'll be back in stock in no time

-Alex

Thanks for all the good information. So for a 5.8, I can get the cloverleaf for the TX and make the SKP for now, which is my first time, so I could mess it up. Should I just get the Bluebeams Alex mentioned?

Originally Posted by IBCrazy

I will second the work of Hugo (www.truerc.net/canada). His work is exceptional which is why he and I design together. All of our products are compatible. The True Wire windmill/fan combination will do the same as my BluBeam set and both are compatible with eachother. You can get my BluBeams from here: http://www.readymaderc.com/store/ind...roducts_id=550 I know he's out of stock, but I am sending him a shipemnt this afternoon so he'll be back in stock in no time

-Alex

Finished my first SPW, for 1180MHz. I've made it from 1mm steel wire.

Now I have to test it with the CL against stock antennas.

I'll keep it in a foam box (raw foam melt and cut to fit the antenna) to protect during transport. I think I'll keep it during running as well, the foam shouldn't affect it much would it.

^ Wow! That is some nice work there. You will really like your new antenna system.

-Alex

Hi everybody, I’m new to the forum, I do practice FPV with a Multirotor MK, in France, I have been reading your post here on antennas from A to Z, and I have found it fascinating.
I did create, thanks to yours informations, my Pinwheel and Cloverleaf antennas and they do work unbelievable (only itch is: to be careful the way you land not to make a pancake out of it)…

My question: how important is the length of the feed point, should it change with frequency, does it change impedance, does it matter at all?

Second question: should the length of the lobes of the Cloverleaf (for a pair of matching antennas) be longer than those of the Pinwheel?? (I have found contradictory opinions on the matter)

Mike

Originally Posted by Vertige

Hi everybody, I’m new to the forum, I do practice FPV with a Multirotor MK, in France, I have been reading your post here on antennas from A to Z, and I have found it fascinating.
I did create, thanks to yours informations, my Pinwheel and Cloverleaf antennas and they do work unbelievable (only itch is: to be careful the way you land not to make a pancake out of it)…

My question: how important is the length of the feed point, should it change with frequency, does it change impedance, does it matter at all?

Second question: should the length of the lobes of the Cloverleaf (for a pairs of matching antennas) be longer than those of the Pinwheel?? (I have found contradictory opinions on the matter)

Mike

Mike,

Yes, keep the feedpoint as short as possible and yes, the CL lobes should be about 2 - 3% longer than the lengt of the SPW.

Markus

Originally Posted by markus123456

Mike,

Yes, keep the feedpoint as short as possible and yes, the CL lobes should be about 2 - 3% longer than the lengt of the SPW.

Markus

Thanks Markus for the info.

Mike

Does anyone know where i can purchase the Cable to build this antenna? Home depot,radio shack, Im not trying to order online.

Thanks

Home Depot

Originally Posted by thehaw24

Does anyone know where i can purchase the Cable to build this antenna? Home depot,radio shack, Im not trying to order online.

Thanks

Originally Posted by k0mputer

Home Depot

What is it called, Im looking for the cable not the copper coated wire..

Hi Guys, I'm very new to FPV. Sorry if this question was already asked 1000s of times and also answered that much I just cant find the answer.

I've got Fat Shark Predator RTF FPV Headset System 5.8GHz. It comes with 100mW transmitter and 3dBi antenna. If anybody use it, how far is the operation range of this system?

How much is Skew-planar wheel antenna capable to extend the range?

Thanks,
Ruben

Originally Posted by thehaw24

What is it called, Im looking for the cable not the copper coated wire..

It's RG316 coaxial, but any 50 ohm coaxial will do. Radio shack is probably the only one likely to have it, I get mine on ebay with the SMA connectors already crimped on.

Originally Posted by volto

It's RG316 coaxial, but any 50 ohm coaxial will do. Radio shack is probably the only one likely to have it, I get mine on ebay with the SMA connectors already crimped on.

Radio Shack will probably have the SMA connectors, but likely not the RG316 wire. You may find it at a local ham radio store?

Originally Posted by thehaw24

What is it called, Im looking for the cable not the copper coated wire..

Here you go...

item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=150590703162&index=21&nav=SEARCH&n id=22318907212

Bob

Thanks for the info guys, I ended up buying everything i needed from radio shack, I got the sma connectors and the cable is a RG58,Here is a picture.
And video with the antennas, Im verry happy with them now i can go anywhere i want without problems..

Witespy quad FPV with clover leaf antennas (3 min 34 sec)

got my cables form eBay

spent last night making them

Skew Planer Wheel and Cloverleaf Build (1 min 42 sec)

Hopefully they work good.

a little bit of my creativity....

building Cloverleaf and Skew-Planar antennas (16 min 3 sec)

Alex, Markus, Hugo

I'm interested in building a 2.4g SPW for my Frsky Rx but would like to use the existing coax because of the ufl/ipx connectors on them. The other coaxs mentioned are very heavy and I'm afraid that moving the antenna around could disconnect it without my noticing. The diameter is 1.13 mm [OD insulation] and I can't find a name or label for the stuff. So the question is; what effect would this smaller diameter coax have on measurements, lengths etc? I have .031 brass rod for this use.

Richard

Originally Posted by The Tellurian

Alex, Markus, Hugo

I'm interested in building a 2.4g SPW for my Frsky Rx but would like to use the existing coax because of the ufl/ipx connectors on them. The other coaxs mentioned are very heavy and I'm afraid that moving the antenna around could disconnect it without my noticing. The diameter is 1.13 mm [OD insulation] and I can't find a name or label for the stuff. So the question is; what effect would this smaller diameter coax have on measurements, lengths etc? I have .031 brass rod for this use.

Richard

Richard,

You can use this cable as it's also 50 ohms. The difference to the bigger ones is that it has a much higher damping factor, alas make sure to only have it as short as possible. Good luck with soldering it to the antenna lobes!

Markus

Originally Posted by markus123456

Richard,

Good luck with soldering it to the antenna lobes!

Markus

Thanks Markus

Yes I've been mulling over how to do that, must make a jig of some sort. I have some brass tubing that just a hair larger than the outer diameter of the cable and will try soldering to that [lot of heat] then solder that to the shield [gentle heat]. I plan to solder only the top and have the tube go down over the outer insulation. Is this good or no?

A second question regarding that is if this brass tube is extended down over the outer insulation about 20mm [28mm maybe better?] similar to the balun on a linear dipole will it adversely affect the antenna? The idea is to use it as tension relief.

Last resort is to use a ufl/ipx to sma adapter cable Frsky others but I've not found one yet.

Richard

Originally Posted by The Tellurian

Thanks Markus

Yes I've been mulling over how to do that, must make a jig of some sort. I have some brass tubing that just a hair larger than the outer diameter of the cable and will try soldering to that [lot of heat] then solder that to the shield [gentle heat]. I plan to solder only the top and have the tube go down over the outer insulation. Is this good or no?

A second question regarding that is if this brass tube is extended down over the outer insulation about 20mm [28mm maybe better?] similar to the balun on a linear dipole will it adversely affect the antenna? The idea is to use it as tension relief.

Last resort is to use a ufl/ipx to sma adapter cable Frsky others but I've not found one yet.

Richard

Richard,

ufl/ipx adaptors can be found on ebay.

The idea with the tubing is not a good one as in fact would form a balun which you don't want with CL and SPW antennas. You could make a very small washer though. That's what I actually use on my antennas. You could cut off about one milimeter of the mesh and route that through the washer, then bend the mesh out and solder it onto the washer. This gives you a platform that is cabable of dissipiating some of the heat onto which you can solder the GND connections of the lobes. The HF influence with this "horizontal" little ring is acording to my experience negletable.

HTH

Markus

Thanks for the reply Markus

The tube idea started to look like more of a pain the more I looked at it so thats good to know, I like the washer idea. Copper washers are available here if a small enough one can be found. There was also someone who made a Y or X out of copper that I could do otherwise. Been playing with it today making jigs etc. The real pain is the feed wire which is microscopic in gauge.

Richard

So what’s the best way to mount a 980mHz SPW antenna for a receiver? I like to do FPV from inside my car – comfy seats and am wondering what the requirements are for a simple solution. Do I need to have the antenna up on a pole, or can I have it on my ground station box on the car’s roof or hood?

Cheers, Michael.

Originally Posted by subsonic

So what’s the best way to mount a 980mHz SPW antenna for a receiver? I like to do FPV from inside my car – comfy seats and am wondering what the requirements are for a simple solution. Do I need to have the antenna up on a pole, or can I have it on my ground station box on the car’s roof or hood?

Cheers, Michael.

I'd recommend up on a stand about 2-3 feet above the car's roof. This will minimize reflections from the car.

-Alex

Originally Posted by markus123456

Richard,
. The HF influence with this "horizontal" little ring is acording to my experience negletable.Markus

Would that also be true at the other end? The wire on the active side is micro size as in 3 or 4 strands of 46 gauge or something. Hooking the ends as Alex does just overwhelms this little wire and any tension on it from the elements can snap it off at the exit from the shielding. I'm thinking that if I put hooks on facing down and out, bring them into the washer from the top, solder as such then that could be squeezed down to the center wire and soldered, this could work.

Richard
PS. would like to avoid buying separate u.fl to SMA adapters cables

Originally Posted by markus123456

You could make a very small washer though. That's what I actually use on my antennas. You could cut off about one milimeter of the mesh and route that through the washer, then bend the mesh out and solder it onto the washer. This gives you a platform that is cabable of dissipiating some of the heat onto which you can solder the GND connections of the lobes. The HF influence with this "horizontal" little ring is acording to my experience negletable.

HTH

Markus

Markus,

I've been thinking about doing this on my next antenna build. I could probably make a tiny washer out of a piece of copper or brass, using a drill press, by just drilling the proper size hole, trimming the O.D. to the rough shape, and then mounting the piece in the drill chuck on a screw and sanding or filing it round.

But I'm wondering if anyone knows of a source of pre-made small washers of the size we'd need to use on RG316 cable?

Thanks,

Bob