knightmagic

My Feedback: (1)

can rx antenna come out side of plane or can it be totally enclosed in nyrod inside fusealge

Phi3l

knightmagic,

Either way works.

I have some planes with the antenna coming outside (some out the side and some out the bottom) and also some with the antenna completely inside the fuselage. They all work fine. Sometimes the end of the wire sticks out the back when the fuse is shorter than the wire, just let it stick out DO NOT cut it off

On my Twist I had to run the antenna wire out the top in front of the canopy. It was the only way to avoid the radio interference caused by the long servo extensions inside the fuse to the tail mounted servos.

Hope this helps,
Phil in MN[8D]

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Also make sure that you don't double the antenna wire back on itself. This has the same effect as if you cut the antenna, it shortens the usable length of the antenna wire. This will reduce the range of the antenna and could cause loss of control of the plane.

Hope this helps

Ken

gboulton

My Feedback: (15)

While we're on the topic...

If you have an antenna on an older receiver that got cut off, can you solder another piece of wire to the end to restore it to original length?

If so, should the wire be exactly the same guage, or will slightly different wire do?

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Yes, you can solder on a piece to restore the length of the antenna. You should try to get the same gauge and type of wire as the original wire.

Ken

Jimmbbo

On a similar vein, how about replacing the existing antenna wire with a smaller diameter wire of the same length? Want to use a smaller dia black wire for warbird antenna....

Cheers!

Jim

bruce88123

Electrically you should be fine but the physical strain on the wire should be considered. You obviously don't want it to break too easily and have NO antenna. Use magic marker to dye your antenna wire.

Rodney

Yes, you can just solder on a piece of wire to restore the original length, it need not be the same gage. Yes you can replace the entire wire with a smaller gage as long as the strength is sufficient, you don't want it to break if the wire is strained by any means.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

I normally replace either a section or the entire length when the need arises with a good quality strandedn #26 AWG wire from a bulk roll this is smaller than that used by Futaba or Hitec but I beleve is what is used by JR (I'am not a JR user). The smaller less stiff wire has proven in some cases more durable for me than the heavier wire used by some brands.

John

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

The only thing that really matters with the antenna is that it is the same length. Thickness does not matter (except for the additional weight a thick wire would give).

There are kits (antenna kits that is) out there that provide for antenna replacements that are short whip type antennas that mount somewhere on the fuselage and look authentic. These are made long electrically by matching components internally. What this means is that the wavelength is matched electrically rather than by a physical length of wire.

The wavelength for a receive (or transmit for that matter) at 72 MHz is 13.6 feet. That is impractical. But, oddly enough, increments of that are acceptable provided they meet certain criteria.. they must be in increments of 1/4 wavelength but become somewhat less efficient than full wavelength.

The best and most efficient are full wavelength antennas, but we can't have 13 feet of wire hanging out the back of our models. So, quarter length or wavelength divided by 4 = quarter wavelength or 3.41 feet which is what we normally have on our receivers.

Probably more information than I really needed to provide, but perhaps this will help with a bit of understanding of antennas and lengths. This is why range is severly limited with a transmitter antenna not fully extended, but if a range check IS made, the antenna is down. This is because if it works with the antenna down, from say 200 feet away, you will have no problems with the antenna fully extended (theory.. other issues can cause problems, but this is basically true).

Hope this helps.

DS.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

A picture is worth a thousand words.. I could not upload the pix in the above post but here is a picture that may help understand wavelength (or Lambda as it's technically called).

n0kjf

Does anyone know what gauge wire Futaba uses for the receiver antenna?

Thanks

Lew Heifner