rcpilotny

Questions on Tin Foil

Stocking tin foil around radio antenna:

and i don't mean a little piece of it..

Will it produce more flying distance in meters?

Will it produce better reception and aircraft control?

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I seriously doubt that it will do anything but cause your airplane to crash.

LesUyeda

If your radio is working properly, you should be able to have it under control until you can no longer see what it is doing. Any more range than that??????????

Les

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

I have to agree with the comments that have been posted. If you are thinking that your radio does not have any range and needs the tin foil, please box it up and send it in for repairs. Good Luck, Dave

rcpilotny

well it's max range is about 200ft and but its kind of small, I guess I wouldn't be able to see it well unless it was painted a neon color at longer distance.

In all i was just wondering what effect foil would have on the flight distance and control

thanks.

PS. Nothing is wrong with the radio

Rodney

Putting foil around the antenna will DECREASE the range if not completely making the receiver unresponsive. If you now have a short range it is most probably a bad or insensitive receiver. Some of the less expensive park flyers have very limited range. Which particular transmitter and receiver do you have?

Jazzy

Rodney is right! Putting tin foil around any electronic device SHIELDS it from interference - in this case, from reception! Try it on the ground and see.

I purchased a single conversion micro receiver from GWS for my park flyer and it has a range of 1000'! Sounds like a cheapo park flyer. They usually work and are fun but the electronics... you get what you pay for. sorry, no range extensions here.

Paranoid about people tracking you with your cell phone or the ID strips in American money(yeah, right) ? Just put the items in an empty foil type snack bag and they can't find you! Of course the items won't work either...

rcpilotny

Ok guys, I guess foil isn't a smart idea as it shields the radio waves you need to fly the plane rather than adding more boost to your waves.

Thanks, I needed some other input on this and I have always been wondering about it.

question solved.

Thunderbolt47

My Feedback: (8)

What your calling "tin foil" is actually "aluminum foil". AL is real good at blocking RF. My Shop is a 12x24 with Aluminum siding. A cell phone will NOT work in it. I'm only two miles from the tower.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

F.Y.I. The average radio built today will have a range of about a mile and a half if the battery is charged or you haven't done something stupid like cut the antenna length.

Charlie P.

Save it for a hat (so the CIA can't monitor your thoughts).

stilltryin

OK, if any of you guys are paranoid about people tracking you through the ID strips in american money, just put it all in a manila envelope and send it to me.

rcuman

I think it would act as a Faraday Cage unless it actually touches the antenna. In this case I would believe that it may change the frequency a bit and may still cause your plane to crash. I have an electronics degree and have kinda messed with this type of situation before, but not with RC aircraft. Heck do a little experiment on your own. Leave the plane on the ground, not running of course, and setup the transmitter with some foil. walk away from it a couple of hundred feet away and see what it does. You never know until you try something.

Fredsterman

When I was little. I remember seeing foil added to indoor rabbit-ear TV antennae and moving them around trying improve reception
I've never seen it help, funny to watch though

Foil on an RC radio system antenna. Will most likely change its functional length, the frequency the antenna is tuned to.
Resulting in power loss at the transmitter, and poor reception at the Rx.

Experiment on the ground, not in the air please[8D]

Ed Smith

rcpilotny,

Ignore the naysayers, what do they know? Have any of them ever tried it?

Wrap the whole transmitter in aluminum foil and go fly. Just tell us when and where so we can watch!

Ed S

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

I'd like to see that......from a distance!LOL

Jazzy

The transmitted and received frequencies will not change. These are controlled by the crystal oscillators - the ones with the 'frequency' written on them.
Wrapping a TX in tin foil probably wouldn't do much. As long as the antenna is extended and essentially undisturbed. Adding length to the TX antennna via a bare copper or or other type of wire will probably not do much either. The transmitter is only so powerful and its antenna length has already been optimized. Wrapping a shield or Faraday Cage around the antenna WILL disrupt RF transmition.

The receiver's antenna is also already optimized. Do not shorten it or put a shield around it. Making it longer probably wouldn't do much other than make a streamer to get wrapped around someones shoe, prop, wheel, etc. The Dual Conversion receivers most of us use receive all types of RF. Only the frequencies that the primary and secondary filter passes (is tuned to) and is thus converted into usable signals gets used. While wrapping the RX in AL foil probably wouldn't do much either, why would one want to risk it?

I am simplifying a great deal of things here but the point should be relatively clear: DO NOT send me your ID'able American money without wrapping it in AL foil or passing it through a Degaussing field. Checks, bonds, money orders, etc. are ok fine!

I think it would be neat to see someone cover an airplane in AL foil instead of XXcote! What a nightmare!

sharpshooter223

you know, i believe it can help if done right, i tried it on a 5 buck rc submarine from ebay. since it was make for fish tanks, it only had a range of about 10 feet, i added a foot of aluminum foil around the antenna and i got it to go to 30 feet. if you really believe that it cant help and might even hurt it, then you really should go expirement with it. its really never been proven or disproven. i believe it can help, but im guessing only to a certain point. maybe this is something for mythbusters to try.