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Transmitter antenna orientation

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RC Jets Discuss RC jets in this forum plus rc turbines and ducted fan power systems
View Poll Results: How do you orientate your transmitter's antenna?
Pointing right/ left (horizontally)
69
33.17%
Pointing vertically up
86
41.35%
Pointing downwards to ground in front of you
32
15.38%
Pointing horizontally away from you
11
5.29%
Don't care (however it came out of the case)
10
4.81%
Voters: 208. You may not vote on this poll

Transmitter antenna orientation

Old 04-20-2014, 05:24 PM
  #1  
Craig B.
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Default Transmitter antenna orientation

How do you orientate your transmitter's antenna when you fly?

Many guys don't seem to educate themselves on the polar nature of the radiated signal that we rely on and I am convinced this leads to unnecessary lockouts. Knowledge of this should be mandatory for pilots seeking certification to fly jets IMHO.

Bob, if you read this please post the info you did on the other thread.

guys, how do I add to/ edit the poll options?

Last edited by Craig B.; 04-20-2014 at 05:40 PM.
Old 04-20-2014, 05:32 PM
  #2  
gooseF22
 
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Orient
Old 04-20-2014, 06:07 PM
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Boomerang1
 
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Well ...... on my 36 Mhz radio it's straight up, otherwise it would poke the guy
standing next to me on the flight line.

I think the answer you are looking for is 45 deg, on my 2.4 radio.

Didn't give me that option, did you?

John.

Last edited by Boomerang1; 04-20-2014 at 06:11 PM.
Old 04-20-2014, 06:13 PM
  #4  
Edgar Perez
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No need to worry about that with the Weatronics system.
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Old 04-20-2014, 06:32 PM
  #5  
thailazer
 
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Since my two Goldberg Tiger receive antennas are mounted pointed forward in the aircraft and facing out toward the wing through the side of the fuse, I orient my transmit antenna at 90 degrees to the left. That way:

-As the plane flys from side to side on the strip, the forward pointing aircraft antenna has the same polarization/orientation as the transmit antenna.

-As the plane flys toward me or directly away from me, the side facing fuselage antenna has the same polarization/orientation as the transmit antenna.


I flew three long flights the other night with the Tiger and had only had a single fade for the whole session. My antennas on my other planes are not oriented orthogonally and I normally get about 6 fades per flight, so I think that following the manufacturer's recommendations on receive antenna positioning are worth reading.
Old 04-20-2014, 07:31 PM
  #6  
ira d
 
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I voted left right horizontally, On my Airtronics SD10G it has a antenna stop position about halfway between vert and horz that I use all the time with no problems.
Old 04-20-2014, 09:06 PM
  #7  
Ruizmilton
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+1 on the 45 degrees...
Old 04-21-2014, 04:03 AM
  #8  
CraigG
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Not exactly "vertically up" but more like, pointed at my head. Like this:
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Old 04-21-2014, 04:22 AM
  #9  
BlueBus320
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How a person holds the transmitter (& brand) is the missing part of this equation. 45 degrees pointing toward your face (weakest signal at your head & ground) works great, but you'd have to be careful not to hold your TX where it is angled for the top to point towards the ground with the 45 degree antennae tip pointing at the model.
The gentleman in the pic above is wearing a neck strap, that should avoid this.
Jay
Old 04-21-2014, 04:26 AM
  #10  
basimpsn
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It doesn't matter, you are not transmitting to a fix RX location. we would have had far more crashes if that's the case..

Disclaimer my opinion.
Old 04-21-2014, 04:48 AM
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BlueBus320
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Originally Posted by basimpsn
It doesn't matter, you are not transmitting to a fix RX location. we would have had far more crashes if that's the case..

Disclaimer my opinion.
i composed post #9 from reading my Futaba manual, the recent Futaba "alleged" lockout thread, & Carsten's ASSI data logging thread on this issue. There is a TON of great information between those sources along with a 3D pictorial view of the TX's transmit signal. I go 90 degrees right & hold my TX low & high, but always face my model.
Jay

Disclaimer: None of these are my personal studies, & there is some interpolation between the sources on my part, but that's my conjecture utilizing those three (mentioned sources).
Old 04-21-2014, 05:20 AM
  #12  
basimpsn
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" I go 90 degrees right & hold my TX low & high, but always face my model"
Jay

I start off my flight with the TX held in a up right position, and end the flight with the TX pointing to the ground I have no clue how I'm holding the TX during the flight. that's my bad habit from my 72Mhz to 2.4 and never had a problem. So I know tx antenna orientation is no big deal to ME
Old 04-21-2014, 07:24 AM
  #13  
flycatch
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Antenna pronation is the key to the question..
Old 04-21-2014, 07:40 AM
  #14  
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Does anybody follow the instructions that came with their radio? it seems to me that would make the most sense and make this thread mute. From my instruction book for my Airtronics SD-10
Before use, the transmitter antenna should be rotated and angled so that theantenna is as close to perpendicular to the ground as possible during use. Afteruse, to prevent any chance of damaging the antenna, the antenna should be
rotated and moved into the horizontal stowed position.
Old 04-21-2014, 09:37 AM
  #15  
DrScoles
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Oops, didn't read the tx part...

I hang to the right….
Old 04-21-2014, 09:39 AM
  #16  
lightningmcnulty
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Originally Posted by raptureboy
Does anybody follow the instructions that came with their radio? it seems to me that would make the most sense and make this thread mute. From my instruction book for my Airtronics SD-10
Before use, the transmitter antenna should be rotated and angled so that theantenna is as close to perpendicular to the ground as possible during use. Afteruse, to prevent any chance of damaging the antenna, the antenna should be
rotated and moved into the horizontal stowed position.
I was thinking the same thing, also if you call spectrum/JR they will tell you to point your antenna vertically compared to the transmitter itself, the weakest part of the signal is at the top and bottom of the antenna and since we tend to angle the TX to ourselves for the most part, the weak spots are in the ground right in front of you and in the airspace behind your head, given that we don't usually want to fly into the ground or over our heads this seems like the best option.


Also no part of me believes that many/any lockouts are caused by TX antenna orientation, I believe that most "lockouts" are caused by, in this order

1 the pilot lying to everybody to cover his/her mistake, this is by far the biggest one, its a great excuse for those who can't admit their mistakes.
2 poorly maintained equipment (so many people use crashed equipment without proper inspection, spill fluid on rx's etc)
3 poorly installed equipment (bad wiring, general mistakes with connections/selection of supporting equipment)
4 poorly positioned equipment in the airplane
5 cheap equipment, its important to remember that its not impossible for that cheap steering servo you installed to cost you your plane!


this is just what I have observed, I have defiantly seen equipment failures and almost unavoidable accidents but I do think that most crashes can be accounted for by one of the above, also I know that everyone here who flys at a busy field all know that its the same people week in week out who experience "lockouts"
Old 04-21-2014, 10:36 AM
  #17  
flycatch
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The answer is no and that keeps the hobby industry alive.
Originally Posted by raptureboy
Does anybody follow the instructions that came with their radio? it seems to me that would make the most sense and make this thread mute. From my instruction book for my Airtronics SD-10
Before use, the transmitter antenna should be rotated and angled so that theantenna is as close to perpendicular to the ground as possible during use. Afteruse, to prevent any chance of damaging the antenna, the antenna should be
rotated and moved into the horizontal stowed position.
Old 04-21-2014, 10:37 AM
  #18  
A10FLYR
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I have to agree with lightning here. My observations are close to the same.

On another note, the rf part of my system is cheap chinese but it has telemetry and starts beeping when rssi is getting low alerting me to the fact that I didn't rotate my antenna to my *favorite* position causing low signal strength. Just reaching down and moving the antenna stops the beeping. Flying low at the power field or high at the thermal gliding sod farm require slightly different orientation.

Last edited by A10FLYR; 04-21-2014 at 10:40 AM.
Old 04-21-2014, 11:34 AM
  #19  
FenderBean
 
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ooops wrong link

Last edited by FenderBean; 04-21-2014 at 11:40 AM.
Old 04-21-2014, 11:44 AM
  #20  
ravill
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45 degrees, JR 12x MV
Old 04-21-2014, 11:48 AM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by flycatch
The answer is no and that keeps the hobby industry alive.
Thats a good idea. Don't bother with the instructions and if you get a lock out you can than get on here and bag the S&$/T out of the manufacturer.

Il keep my one to the instructions which is to the left or right. Never had a problem.

Last edited by Justflying1; 04-21-2014 at 11:50 AM.
Old 04-21-2014, 12:41 PM
  #22  
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Point the antenna sraight at Your head. That way if You lose signal due to pointing antenna straight at the model, its best to put the TX on the ground and pull out the umbrella like the coyote does just before the big rock lands on Him. LOL Seriously, point the antenna at Your head!

Last edited by F-16 viperman; 04-21-2014 at 12:49 PM. Reason: spelling
Old 04-21-2014, 01:41 PM
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A10FLYR
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Originally Posted by F-16 viperman
Point the antenna sraight at Your head. That way if You lose signal due to pointing antenna straight at the model, its best to put the TX on the ground and pull out the umbrella like the coyote does just before the big rock lands on Him. LOL Seriously, point the antenna at Your head!
I can't do that because of location of my antenna but you are right as I found pointing away from my head to be the best overall regarding low rssi alert.
Old 04-21-2014, 02:08 PM
  #24  
Steve Collins
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OK. So if you buy into the notion that antenna pointing direction is important, how do you rationalize a transmitter, such as the Spektrum DX18, which has a rigid antenna?
Old 04-21-2014, 03:16 PM
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VF84sluggo
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Originally Posted by CraigG
Not exactly "vertically up" but more like, pointed at my head. Like this:
+1

This is also what "vertical" as far as antenna orientation means to me.

Sluggo

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