Receiver Whip Antennas
 

Now that these antennas have been out for a while, I'm considering trying one. It seems that laying our receiver antennas horizontal on the bottom of the plane is not the best way to do it, and can cause problems close to the ground or at certain attitudes, such as straight away or toward the transmitter. I personally never thought I would switch from a 1/4 wave "stock" antenna to a whip, but after a few glitches with the aircraft heading out or away from me (which are VERY nerve wracking) I've decided to explore a vertically mounted whip-style antenna.

Any advice or comments from INFORMED sources would be appreciated. Data concerning receptivity, setup, and range would also be VERY welcome.

TIA

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

I and other have put whip antenna's in planes for a long time. I trust them enough to put them in jets and giant scale. No loss of range here that I could tell. I use revolution whips.

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

I have 3 of them I threw the packaging away but I think
they are made by dean ./they make a one or 2pc (whip
mounts on loaded base) the way to go just unscrew and put in flight box during transporting great range no glitchs it does
add about 12 bucks to the plane but well worth it

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

I think you should investigate the cause of your glitching problem. That is not normal.

While lots of flyers do use whips with success, they are a compromise - not a fix.

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

That is true in most cases. BUT, sometimes it can be a fix. Easier to keep a whip away from things that cause interference.

Re: Receiver Whip Antennas
 

Well Kris,
I might not know much about oil, but I do have experience with these, and I found that the best is not a base loaded whip, but rather simply a whip antena. With this you don't lose any range since you are still using the full length antena, simply split between the wire inside the airplane and the piano wire (whip) outside. Like they do over in Europe.
whip

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

I have put 40 flights on mine and it is great. Range tests with zero loss (engine off/on)

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

Go to the top of this page and in the search box type in "Loaded Antenna" You will find more info than you want on this subject.
I make my own loaded antennas for thirty five cents each. Work great!

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

On an antenna test range, base-loaded or mid-loaded, less than 1/4 wave, whip antennas will always show less gain than true (or almost true) 1/4 wave antennas. This amount varies, but whips are always slightly less than unity compared to true, OEM extend-able antennas (whips have a less than 1:1 unity gain, regardless of the published specs). 1/4 wave physically-correct antennas are unity (what goes in, comes out) depending on phase angle of receiver vs. transmitter.

Difference between them? Less than 1/3 of a dB.

Will I notice the loss if I install a whip? Not within 1/2 mile range.

Modern high-gain R/C receivers render themselves in (almost) complete saturation with whatever your choice of antennas.

Will a whip cure a glitch? No.

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

Actually it will, Maybe not in a plane, but does in a heli.

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

You could be correct, John. I'd have to run a test at the range to be sure.

There is a lot more metal in a heli and the whip antenna changes the radiation pattern enough that it might help somewhat. I can see no advantages in an airplane, however.

Thanks for bringing up that point

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

well . .glitch, bobble, lockout. . whatever. . I do NOT like being scared like that!!!

Since the reciever setup passes a 400 foot antenna down range test with ease (LONG walk), and 300 feet with engine running. . .I am surmising that perhaps the "spikes" from the ignition at FULL throttle caused the problem. My ignition battery is about 10" from my receiver, though forward with no other RX system wiring near it. . .but perhaps, under full load the wiring gave off enough of an electromagnetic pulse (I'd just gone from 16 gauge to 22 gauge wire on the ignition battery leads) to drive the receiver into interference. This is what you get when you try to move all the major HEAVY stuff back as far as possible, and run out of room. I think I'll take my Fluke 98 dual trace scope and see if I can localize inductive spikes from the ignition wiring .. I'm waiting on some new landing gear to arrive anyway. . may as well see what I can find out when it gets here. it woudl be nice for everyone to know hwo this works, and how to alleviate these spikes. . if going up a size or two in wiring reduces ignition noise on the primary side, maybe it will help everyon in the fute to go that route .. you never know.

I'll keep looking for the REAL problem, but thanks again everyone for the input on the antennas . definitely worth a look. . .

Receiver Whip Antennas
 

It would scare the heck out of me, too, Kris! Black magic, yes?

I'm an antenna engineer, so my knowledge of interference is somewhat limited, however.....

If the problem surfaced after you changed from the larger wire to the smaller wire, I'd sure look close at that. Interference is generated by the collapsing field of the apparatus and one should be able to hear it on a traditional AM radio. You don't need anything fancy.


I'd wrap a mini AM radio in tin foil, stick a 8-12" piece of # 12-14 wire between the radio and the foil and "sniff" the wires (run it about). You'll hear the interference. Guaranteed. If it's continuous without nulls, just shorten the 8" wire, maybe to 1-2".

You will see graphically where the problem is (please be CAREFUL!).

Wire size, routing, spacing, the use of ferrite beads(!), grounding(!), will all make a difference. You will hear it.

Interference isn't generally a 5 minute fix. Might take hours.

But how many hours did you spend on that beautiful plane?

Please let us know your findings. Maybe there's a 'plan B'.

Good luck, my friend.

RE: Receiver Whip Antennas
 

Hi Kris. I would not suggest exploring antenna options as a result of glitches. I recently started to experience glitches (On multiple aircraft) with my Hitec Eclipse after 2 years and no problems. I tried changing transmitter antennas (I was using a Smiley Rubber Duck). I tried changing frequencies (thinking it was a local issue on that frequency). The glitches had reached a point where I could predict the next one!
You would think I would get smart and ground myself. No ...I finally lost a gorgous 1/5 scale Waco and sent the transmitter to Hitec and they found numerous problems.
They fixed it for nothing after two years! Cheers to Hitec support!
In short, don't mees with a radio that is starting to produce consistant glitching. I was able to cope with the glitches until it happened on takeoff! Changing from the stock antenna is not likely to improve performance unless the installation and location of the antenna is questionable. On the other hand, changing from a stock antenna could be a compromise? Get the radio checked! Flyboy1950