Antenna wire
 

What do you do with the extra antenna wire in your 1/2 A models?

RE: Antenna wire
 

This just happens to be one of the many benefits of 2.4. For me this has always been a big deal it seams. From my pylon racing experience, it is not good to have the wire hanging out of the back of the plane as it could be stood upon by your caller.
So, the trick we used was to wrap it around a straw. This will shorten the length considerably. Just make sure it is not touching or going back over itself. You can, with tight wraps, get the thing down to 10" or less.
Or just get a module and RX and move into 2.4. You will avoid the common 1/2 A interference issues here as well.

RE: Antenna wire
 

Vetical; thanks for the input; my radio is a Futaba 7 ch 72MZ and does not accept a module, nor does any other of my radios from the past 37 years. I will give the straw trick with some web paper splicing tape on it.

RE: Antenna wire
 

For sport flying most of us just leave the excess to dangle out the back.

The winding around a form is a slick idea. But keep in mind that you'll severely reduce the range of the radio with this trick. It's not a bother for something like vertical's racing duties since the models never get far away. But it's not something you'd do on a 1/2A Texaco style model which often is found soaring in a thermal out at speck like distances.

I would ground check the range with both a straight line and the coiled setup. Take note of how much of a ratio it affects the range by. Then do not fly your model out farther than what the reduction indicates for a full antenna. I'd say you'd want to certainly keep the model in tighter than about 500 to 600 feet with the coiled antenna.

RE: Antenna wire
 

Here is a link to the Darrol Cady website. Lots of cool info here. This is the article with the straw trick. http://www.darrolcady.com/Racing_Inf...ch/Antenna.htm

You can also get those little whip antennas that the Heli guys used to use. I had one on a PCM RX that was in a 1/4 scale fokker. Never had an issue with it. I forgot who made them. Maybe Harry Higgley?

RE: Antenna wire
 

And I could go with the PMC, had never considered it.

RE: Antenna wire
 

Her you go, this is the one I used. Maybe it will work for you. http://www.wsdeans.com/products/antenna/index.html

RE: Antenna wire
 

Heres a pic of mine out in the wind....;)Gene

RE: Antenna wire
 

While I can't remember where I read it, some dude did some actual side by side testing in an electric setup with different antenna configurations and winding around a straw proved in his particular case to be worse than just running the wire straight and cutting it off at the same length as the straw.

Don't get me wrong, worse didn't mean "unacceptable" or "doesn't work", it just meant less received signal strength under his specific circumstances.......

I've never tried either method, I'll dig around and see if I can find the link as it was a very inteesting read.

Here it is, Your Milage May Vary.

http://www.rc-cam.com/ant_exp.htm

RE: Antenna wire
 

So ditch the old Futaba gear and get a new radio. All your servos, switches, and batteries will still be good, you just need a new TX and RX, be it Spektrum, JR, or Futaba FAAST. I was hesitant to make the switch too, but in retrospect it was the best investment I ever made in the hobby.

RE: Antenna wire
 

Just hang it out the back. The extra convenience of a short antenna isn't worth the extra expense of a 2.4 GHz setup. It doesn't affect flight performance and you can barely see it in the air. Some people swear by 2.4 GHz, but I've never had a single glitch or problem with 72 MHZ FM. 40 MHz FM is a different story.
The antennas can be cut shorter, and there are multiple threads on this in the radio gear forum, but you do it at your own risk and its usually not recommended. I have done it and not noticed any difference. There may be a reduction in range, but I haven't flown the plane far enough away 'yet' for it to be a problem.

RE: Antenna wire
 

My late brother was an electronics geek and had lots of background in ham, CB, RC, computers, guitars and amps, etc. He said the coiled-antenna didn't affect range, so long as it wasn't passed over itself. I've used it on small planes and helis as well as the dean's whip, never a bother and range is great, never a glitch. I also use a rubber ducky antenna on my heli transmitter, also with no range reduction. If using the deans whip, tape or secure the whip to keep it from vibrating. If not secured in some way, it will vibrate and fail from fatigue stress.

RE: Antenna wire
 

I have not noticed a reduction in range either. I have thoroughly range tested these setups and and while it might "seem" you would get a range reduction with the straw coil, you do not. It is imperattive to tape it in a few places to keep it from passing over itself, as I saw a guy with one that folded over during intall and he could not get a safe range check.
Despite another impression, our pylon racers are flown quite a ways away when we are not on the course. Especially when we loiter before landing after the race. It is hard to keep anything going over 160 mph close. Also if this was not a viable solution, we certainly would not trust it to such high performance aircraft.
Obviously you can just hang the antenna out the back, but it has always been a pain to me, and they are fairly fragile and get damaged over time.
Yes, 2.4 is the final solution on this matter. I guess it is a matter of choice as to whether it is worth it or not to drop a few bills for a new radio. The antenna is almost a minor benefit to 2.4. It is the greatest thing to hit our hobby since super glue!