My question is - what’s the difference between a £20 ant from fleaBay, a c£60 from a “store”, and making your own?
Are you actually paying for anything different?
In my case, I’d be more confident paying a “few quid” for something someone who knows more about it than me had made (although I have successfully made my own in the past), but is there a difference between that and £60+ ant?
Antennas at 978 and 1090 Mhz can be finicky with tolerances. If you get it wrong then they may be no better than a random piece of wire.
A well tuned antenna can also act like a filter, weeding out some of the unwanted signals.
There is also the issue of weather proofing. If you live in a warm dry climate, this may not be much of a problem.
If you live in a wet climate that gets below freezing then water and ice could be a problem. Using water proof connectors and sealing them properly can make a big difference.
Location relative to aircraft can also make a difference. If you are in the middle of nowhere then a 1090 filter may only reduce your signal by a db or two and not help with your signal. If you live in a big city with cell towers on every apartment block, then it may help enormously.
I bought my antennas (FA 1090, 978/190 and DPD) because I didn’t want the hassle of building and tuning one. If I had an antenna analyser for 1090Mhz (expensive) then I would have considered building one. I may build a Yagi in the future to point out to sea for the Atlantic traffic.
This antenna in the URL looks to have the same specs as the FA antenna. 5dbi gain.
Antenna location is probably the biggest thing. Outside, above the local house roof line and tree line would be the best. I finally got mine into the attic and it makes a difference. When I move them to the chimney, above the house rooflines, it should make another significant increase in range. Inside can reduce the signal levels 5-10dbs.
Yes, that’s what I like about the commercial ones, in theory the build / tuning quality and the weather proofing.
I’ve made my own spider for use in the attic, which works really well - but it;s one thing tweaking an ant you can get at, it’s another if everytime I want to fix/improve/change the antenna I need to pay ££’s to get “ladder man” out to take it down again!
Hence why I’m thinking commercial ant for the external.
Prob thinking around £40 max.
I like the specs / quality on the fA one, but only ships from US from what I can find?
Dont suppose there’s any UK suppliers?
