On Thursday, October 2, 2014 2:39:05 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Thursday, October 2, 2014 11:03:16 AM UTC-7, wrote:



Some people use a directional yagi antenna on the canopy and a omnidirectional one behind the main gear. This combination seems to work very well with otherwise problematic carbon fuselages.



I tried a Yagi and other directional/high gain antennas. The goal with this concept is to increase forward range out to 10+ miles with the directional antenna and use the second antenna as a complement for 360-degree closer-in collision avoidance. The directional antenna didn't seem to help nearly as much as getting the standard dipole in a good location right up at the high point under the canopy. Go figure.



Of course antenna design and placement is a bit of a black art. The range results from any flight are also dependent on the antenna arrangements of the other gliders you are flying with. A large number of gliders to generate contacts and consistent flying partners help in gauging your antenna performance. I did most of my testing during long contests where there was some consistency in this regard. Needless to say, my time would have been better spent focusing on the flying part. :-)



9B

Looks like my memory served me right. I found the following in the manual:

RFB: Second FLARM antenna connector
Devices sold prior to Software version 3.00 have pre-installed 'grandfather' licences for the features they were sold with (e.g., devices sold in the US prior to 2013 have IGC, TIS and RFB).

Ramy

RFB -