Antenna installation question

[[email protected]]

I am installing a regular rod type antenna on the wooden turtledeck of
my plane where it will attach to only wood. I got the antenna from a
friend who didn't have the attaching hardware.
Do I need to do or know anything special to attach this antenna to
make sure it operates correctly? Does it need to have a metal plate
on the inside of the airframe to attach to or does it need to somehow
be connected to the metal part of the airframe for proper reception/
transmission? Can I just use local hardware store parts?
I will be running the cable to my handheld radio.
Thanks for any assistance.
Stan
(mechanical novice)

[[email protected]]

On Feb 27, 8:27*am, wrote:
> I am installing a regular rod type antenna on the wooden turtledeck of
> my plane where it will attach to only wood. I got the antenna from a
> friend who didn't have the attaching hardware.
> Do I need to do or know anything special to attach this antenna to
> make sure it operates correctly? *Does it need to have a metal plate
> on the inside of the airframe to attach to or does it need to somehow
> be connected to the metal part of the airframe for proper reception/
> transmission? Can I just use local hardware store parts?
> I will be running the cable to my handheld radio.
> Thanks for any assistance.
> Stan
> (mechanical novice)

Stan,
The metal plate you're thinking of would be called the Ground Plane I
beileve. I've run into this issue putting an antenna into my wood
glider. What I did was make a simple ground plane antenna that uses 4
wires for the ground plane. I got a BNC connector from Radio Shack (I
could give you the number) and 5 thin welding rods. 1 rod gets
soldiered on top as the antenna and the other 4 project downward at
roughly a 45 degree angle from each corner. You might have seen
antennas that look like this on top of airport hangers or FBOs. You
clip the rods to the proper length for glider frequencies (I could
also give you that number). The great thing is that these are really
cheap, really lightweight, and the whole thing is flexible enough that
you can wedge it in some pretty tight places. Mine fit right into the
space under the turtledeck of my Woodstock which is a pretty tiny
glider. Zip ties hold it in place. With my ancient Narco handheld
plugged into this thing I can talk to people 200 miles away when I'm
at altitude. Once while landing out I was still talking to my crew
when I was down to 300 ft and they were over 20 miles away on the
ground! So, these cheap antennas really work.

Matt

[Tim Mara]

please see my page http://www.wingsandwheels.com/page14.htm
The basic math for 1/4 wave antenna is quite simple
1/4 wave = 234 divided by frequency or to arrive at a proper antenna length.
As an example for 123.5 would be 234 / 123.5 = 22.8"....this length should
however also take into effect the distance from the ground plane to the
antenna mast tip. Considering this though an antenna cut for 118.00 would be
23.88" and one for 136.00 MHz would be 20.64 so the total difference is only
just over 3" to cover the entire aviation band and 1/4 wave antennas are
fairly tolerant and will function with fair results several MHz off from the
"ideal" antenna length.

tim

--
Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com


> wrote in message
...
>I am installing a regular rod type antenna on the wooden turtledeck of
> my plane where it will attach to only wood. I got the antenna from a
> friend who didn't have the attaching hardware.
> Do I need to do or know anything special to attach this antenna to
> make sure it operates correctly? Does it need to have a metal plate
> on the inside of the airframe to attach to or does it need to somehow
> be connected to the metal part of the airframe for proper reception/
> transmission? Can I just use local hardware store parts?
> I will be running the cable to my handheld radio.
> Thanks for any assistance.
> Stan
> (mechanical novice)

[Malcolm Austin]

One other thing to do is to use more than 4 wires (multi stranded computer
ribbon cable say) and cut them to suit the whole spectrum of frequencies you
will use. This way at least your ground plane will be more closely tuned..

Running the wire at different angles will also vary the impedance (50 ohm
required for a 1/4 wave) so again the different lengths will get you to a
much closer result..

Malcolm...



"Tim Mara" > wrote in message
...
> please see my page http://www.wingsandwheels.com/page14.htm
> The basic math for 1/4 wave antenna is quite simple
> 1/4 wave = 234 divided by frequency or to arrive at a proper antenna
> length. As an example for 123.5 would be 234 / 123.5 = 22.8"....this
> length should however also take into effect the distance from the ground
> plane to the antenna mast tip. Considering this though an antenna cut for
> 118.00 would be 23.88" and one for 136.00 MHz would be 20.64 so the total
> difference is only just over 3" to cover the entire aviation band and 1/4
> wave antennas are fairly tolerant and will function with fair results
> several MHz off from the "ideal" antenna length.
>
> tim
>
> --
> Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com
>
>
> > wrote in message
> ...
>>I am installing a regular rod type antenna on the wooden turtledeck of
>> my plane where it will attach to only wood. I got the antenna from a
>> friend who didn't have the attaching hardware.
>> Do I need to do or know anything special to attach this antenna to
>> make sure it operates correctly? Does it need to have a metal plate
>> on the inside of the airframe to attach to or does it need to somehow
>> be connected to the metal part of the airframe for proper reception/
>> transmission? Can I just use local hardware store parts?
>> I will be running the cable to my handheld radio.
>> Thanks for any assistance.
>> Stan
>> (mechanical novice)
>
>

[Tim Mara]

I have also used Foil Tape on wood gliders with good success.....foil tape
can be found at any local hardware (home depot and Lowe's also have
it)....in the heating departments, used as a "duct tape".....but don't use
common silver colored "Duct ""Duck"" tape....has to be metal
tim

Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com

"Malcolm Austin" > wrote in message
...
> One other thing to do is to use more than 4 wires (multi stranded computer
> ribbon cable say) and cut them to suit the whole spectrum of frequencies
> you
> will use. This way at least your ground plane will be more closely tuned..
>
> Running the wire at different angles will also vary the impedance (50 ohm
> required for a 1/4 wave) so again the different lengths will get you to a
> much closer result..
>
> Malcolm...
>
>
>
> "Tim Mara" > wrote in message
> ...
>> please see my page http://www.wingsandwheels.com/page14.htm
>> The basic math for 1/4 wave antenna is quite simple
>> 1/4 wave = 234 divided by frequency or to arrive at a proper antenna
>> length. As an example for 123.5 would be 234 / 123.5 = 22.8"....this
>> length should however also take into effect the distance from the ground
>> plane to the antenna mast tip. Considering this though an antenna cut for
>> 118.00 would be 23.88" and one for 136.00 MHz would be 20.64 so the total
>> difference is only just over 3" to cover the entire aviation band and 1/4
>> wave antennas are fairly tolerant and will function with fair results
>> several MHz off from the "ideal" antenna length.
>>
>> tim
>>
>> --
>> Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com
>>
>>
>> > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>I am installing a regular rod type antenna on the wooden turtledeck of
>>> my plane where it will attach to only wood. I got the antenna from a
>>> friend who didn't have the attaching hardware.
>>> Do I need to do or know anything special to attach this antenna to
>>> make sure it operates correctly? Does it need to have a metal plate
>>> on the inside of the airframe to attach to or does it need to somehow
>>> be connected to the metal part of the airframe for proper reception/
>>> transmission? Can I just use local hardware store parts?
>>> I will be running the cable to my handheld radio.
>>> Thanks for any assistance.
>>> Stan
>>> (mechanical novice)
>>
>>
>
>

[Dan[_4_]]

On Feb 27, 3:32*pm, "Tim Mara" > wrote:
> I have also used Foil Tape on wood gliders with good success.....foil tape
> can be found at any local hardware (home depot and Lowe's also have
> it)....in the heating departments, used as a "duct tape".....but don't use
> common silver colored "Duct ""Duck"" tape....has to be metal
> tim
>
> Please visit the Wings & Wheels website atwww.wingsandwheels.com
>
I echo Tim. I have metal foil tape on the inside of the turtledeck of
my Austria, and it works great. You take ground from the antenna and
connect to the foil tape. It lasts a long time (it was like this when
I bought in '95) and works cheaply.

You could also put the ground plane and antenna internally, which
would be less prone to damage, look better, and slightly improve
aerodynamics, assuming you have room for the antenna; wood is
transparent. Just a thought...
Dan

[[email protected]]

On Feb 28, 5:09*am, Dan > wrote:
> On Feb 27, 3:32*pm, "Tim Mara" > wrote:> I have also used Foil Tape on wood gliders with good success.....foil tape
> > can be found at any local hardware (home depot and Lowe's also have
> > it)....in the heating departments, used as a "duct tape".....but don't use
> > common silver colored "Duct ""Duck"" tape....has to be metal
> > tim
>
> > Please visit the Wings & Wheels website atwww.wingsandwheels.com
>
> I echo Tim. *I have metal foil tape on the inside of the turtledeck of
> my Austria, and it works great. *You take ground from the antenna and
> connect to the foil tape. *It lasts a long time (it was like this when
> I bought in '95) and works cheaply.
>
> You could also put the ground plane and antenna internally, which
> would be less prone to damage, look better, and slightly improve
> aerodynamics, assuming you have room for the antenna; wood is
> transparent. Just a thought...
> Dan

Yes, my Woodstock antenna is completely inside the glider as is the
Cherokee Kids installation.