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Dual Band antenna

deej

Well Known Member
I'm thinking about installing a dual band amateur radio in the plane (144/440Mhz), which may be used for APRS and/or voice communications.

I'm looking for recommendations for an antenna to use. I'd love to find a dual band antenna that would fit in a wingtip if possible.

Any suggestions?

-Dj
 
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I used the Phantom Elite 144 MHZ antenna and get amazing results on my APRS tracks.

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The Lowly Twin-lead J-pole

Theoretically it won't work worth a darn, but cheap to make, fits in the wingtip, and seems to track just fine....... Plans all over the web.

There are some dual band versions out there

In use for APRS - have not tried it for 2M voice.

Ice Fishing and Photo Patrol last week.

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Tracks right to the hangar door....

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The antenna mounts through a 3/4" hole with an NMO mount. The mount is a two piece nut that sandwiches the skin of the plane. The antenna is attached to the outer portion of the NMO mount by a quarter turn (similar to a BNC). The inner portion of the NMO has coax with appropriate connection to your radio.

So the short answer is - all you need to order is an NMO mount with appropriate pigtail.
 
Theoretically it won't work worth a darn, but cheap to make, fits in the wingtip, and seems to track just fine....... Plans all over the web.

There are some dual band versions out there

Hi Pete,
Both of these seem to be very long (over 4 feet), and I'm not sure would fit inside of my wingtips along with the HID landing lights, nav lights, and closed off area for the aileron counterweight. However, I can build a J-Pole designed for 440Mhz which is only 18 inches long, and I might be able to get the SWR below 2:1 on 2m for use there as well. It will not be optimal, but given the height of the plane when flying, I don't need much of an antenna to get a signal in or out.

Plans for a 440 Mhz J-Pole:
http://www.qsl.net/wa3yxk/jpole.html

It is certainly cheap enough to give it a try.

Thanks!

-Dj
 
Dj - we just curl them around the leading edge and it seems to get the signal out pretty well - once again not optimal, but functional. The 18 incher should be great for 440.

Hi Pete,
Both of these seem to be very long (over 4 feet), and I'm not sure would fit inside of my wingtips along with the HID landing lights, nav lights, and closed off area for the aileron counterweight.
 
Dj - we just curl them around the leading edge and it seems to get the signal out pretty well - once again not optimal, but functional. The 18 incher should be great for 440.

Hi Pete,
The entire leading edge of my wingtips are taken up with HID landing lights, and the aft part of the wingtips are blocked off and contain the counterweight for the ailerons. I don't have the tips here to measure but my best guess is that I have about 2 feet of space internal to the wingtip to fit the MT-RTG, puck GPS, and the antenna.

My hope is that I can make the 440 Mhz version of the J-Pole and I can tune it "good enough" on 144.39 Mhz to work for APRS.

I suppose if that doesn't work I can take a rubber-duck handheld radio antenna and use that instead, mounting it horizontally with a sub-optimal ground plane on the "wall" that blocks off the aileron counterweight section.

-Dj
 
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