hello all,

I currently have the antenna wires routed out of the fuselage and pinned to the vert. stab. on all my aircraft. I'm not a big fan of this arrangement however... Would there be any problems with signal if I were to run the wire through a pushrod tube or just route it back through the inside of the fuselage? What if I ran it all the way back and just had the last bit of the wire coming out under the tail?

I do that all the time.

The antenna routed externally to the fin is a remnant from the days when radios were not very dependable (I'm talking 40 or 50 years ago), but old habits die hard.

The best and most functional method is to have it going straight out from the receiver so that it is not folded back, or wrapped around anything (especially wrapped around something). If you can figure out a way to do that, then you are good to go. Folding it back will reduce it's effectiveness somewhat. Passing it through a pushrod tube is a good idea, as long as it's not metalic. In fact many models provide a tube to pass your antenna through to the rear.

If you pass it through a tube, tie it off somehow so it does not snake itself back into the fuselage and form a ball, which is what it would do if you didn't secure it somehow. You can put a very small tie-wrap on the end as it exits the tube outside the rear of the aircraft if you wish, or some other method of prevening it from snaking back into the fuse. Vibration does that.

JUST don't cut it! Leave it the same length as it was when you got it new.

As you suggested, run a tube so it comes straight out the rear and tie it off and let the bitter end dangle back there. It won't hurt anything.

CGr.

I've noticed on several occasions that my range check results have been somewhat on the crappy side when I've routed my antenna inside the fuselage in a pushrod tube. When I've subsequently re-routed the antenna outside the fuselage (to the fin, for instance, or simply attached to the bottom of the fuselage), the range check results have been noticeably better. Sure, inside the fuselage the antenna might be somewhat closer to metal pushrods and stuff, but it's hard to see why such a small change would have such noticeable results. It surprises me every time (and apparently, I'm a slow learner )

One thing I've done on occasion, and it seems to work fine, is to run the antenna along the base of the fuselage then cover it with matching covering. What I did was make a small hole in the fuselage just aft of the wing saddle, then make a strain relief to pass the antenna wire through. I pull the wire through this strain relief and anchor the antenna wire inside the fuselage somewhere that it will be out of the way of linkages and servo movements. Then I put a very slight dab of CA on the antenna wire right at this strain relief where the antenna passes through on the outside.

I cut a length of covering to match the bottom of the fuselage.. or you can use contrasting colors for appearances if you wish. I stretch the antenna wire straight, right down the center of the bottom of the fuselage then hold it down on the rear with a piece of tape, then iron the covering right over the antenna wire all the way back to the rear.

It hides the antenna, yet does not give any problems with any sort of blockage or that sort of thing. Looks neat too.

CGr.

The problem with that system is that if you crash, you can pull the antenna right out of the Rx

One of our guys routes his antenna in the wing. He uses gold contact plug and jack to plug it in to the receiver. The total length is kept the same. He has never had a radio problem. Of course, he builds his plane, as this won't work with and ARF very well.

Don

Thanks for the info!!

I could see a problem with the antenna in the wing when it comes to flying the 'standard' pattern. You are generally flying around in a circle and often the wing tip is pointing directly at you and theoretically you get a loss of signal, like if you were to point your Tx anntenna directly at the model.
Does anyone concur?
Curtis

I see your point. If you do fly around in a circle and, on top of that, constantly aim your antenna at the aircraft as you follow it around, then you might not get the best signal, but it will still be good enough not to matter. However, I'm not sure that people 'generally' fly around in circles.