Yes, it is a wire, but NOT A SIMPLE WIRE.
It is wire collinear, with a phasing coil between upper & lower straight sections, and a decoupling sleeve at feed point.
Looks very simple and easy DIY stuff, but nearly impossible to tune by a hobbyist without proper test equipment & technical know-how.
Tuning is the main bottleneck for all DIY collinears:
Coaxial Collinear.
Wire Collinears with Coils.
Wire Collinears with hairpins (stubs).
photo courtesy david.baker
thx for the Info
photo courtesy david.baker
http://i.imgur.com/spG8CYc.jpg
I would like to see a similar photo of the 49" FA antenna.
This probably should be a pinned post (no pun intended). I just received an SMA to N cable, and the connector seems to be a 75 ohm connector, going by your picture. I ordered the product because of the high rating and indication the cable was a low-noise cable. Unfortunately, it did not specify resistance of the connector. I found an alternative that specifies 50 ohms, so I just ordered it. But now I need to wait for another delivery. Interestingly, the 50 ohm one was cheaper.
I ordered the FlightAware antenna on July 12, 2015. I was having issues last month with not picking very little to no planes up on it. After doing some troubleshooting to make sure it wasn’t my Pi or dongle or a cable issue. I was just able to get a ladder to remove the antenna from my roof. I turn the antenna upside down and water came dropping out of the black cap that is on it.
I didn’t know if this had a warranty or not? Can FA answer this?
Thanks,
sjacket99.
Must agree on the voluntary aspect of participation. Maybe it is not a great analogy -baseball and other sports fans invest large amounts of their personal time and wealth supporting teams which have private owners (and highly paid players). It is just something that we want to do. As an amateur radio operator, who is mostly inactive, participation in FlightAware provides some fulfillment. Also, there is a public service element. I do believe that we are making air travel better and safer for everyone.
sjacket99, we’ll follow-up with you directly about a replacement antenna. Thanks.
Thanks.
I just confirmed this also. After a rain it is failing. I confirmed it just now with another antenna. However I cannot see any water coming out.
There are some hairline cracks in the sealant near the bottom where the fiberglass connects to the metal. Ideas??
Pretty certain it is a moisture issue due to eventually drying out and working again. This was the first time I was able to get on the roof with the laptop and swap antennas to watch it correct with my old antenna before it dried out.
Do you guys have any type of replacement program if I were to send it back?
I have put some sealant on it in hopes of drying out and working again. I am just leaving my homemade antenna up for now.
I noticed that one that failed on the attached post was shippedin July. Mine was just days earlier. Was there a defect happening during this time in production? Mine has done this many times. I had always been troubleshooting hardware in the past. It would eventually start working so I never could confirm why it started working again.
Hey everyone,
I’m interested in buying one of this antenna for my Pi setup. I’m kinda new and just started but i feel a lot of enthusiasm and I start thinking might be a good idea to make some improvements. So apart from antenna what other cables do i need in order to connect to a dongle that i use in Pi ? Would be a good idea to buy a filter also provided by FA ?
Thanks !
Hey,
I’m using a NooElec NESDR Mini 2 blue . 
I guess i cannot get the FA orange one as I can see it’s not available in Europe!
That’s a pitty…
thanks! how long its that rg6 coax between antenna and dongle?
I would try to find the components and assemble something like that!
I have only 2 meters, as antenna is inside my apartment (see image 2 below)
Image 1 of 2
Image 2 of 2
cool! Looks good!
thanks a lot for help!
If you plan to purchase ProStick when available, you will need cables for it as shown in sketch nelow. Note that since both the ProStick and Filter have identical connector (SMA-female), same cable will be ok with & without filter.
Also note that although LMR400 cable is shown in sketch, LMR240 will also be ok if your cable length is less than 15 meters.
Has anyone done a comparison of the 26" FA antenna (the only one now available) to this DPD Productions antenna?
dpdproductions.com/page_vhf_air.html#adsbout
The DPD antenna is significantly more expensive, and claims 9db, but I’m curious if anyone has an real-world figures.
looks like the 26" FA antenna is sold out in Europe …
I use the DPD antenna and love it. I can get 50-250 hits at 200+NM at about 60ft AMSL.
I have used it for over 6 months and can’t recall what the difference is. It is too high for me to do it now.
I plan to put the FA dual band antenna outside(not in the attic) in the next week or so. It won’t be as high as the DPD antenna as the DPD pole is 14’ and the FA pole is 9’.
