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Ext antenna connection for handheld radio
This is one for Jim Weir I guess...
I had one of the Icom antenna switchboxes in my airplane until this week when I needed the panel space to let my handheld use the external antenna. I never really cared for that set-up, it appears it just uses a 1/8 inch phone jack with the switch in it to disconnect the aircraft radio when you plug in the handheld. The thought of the handheld's RF passing within a few mm of the unshielded antenna lead for the panel mount always bugged me. Anyway, I'd still like to have the ability to use an external antenna with the handheld. So far, it looks like the options a 1) The Icom or similar switch box 2) An extra antenna that is dedicated to the handheld 3) A set up where the antenna cable comes out the panel or near it so that you can disconnect the antenna and connect it to the handheld. The switch box takes up more panel than I'd like, and I have the reservations already stated. The dedicated antenna might be a problem because it is only used when your other radios are already down, and since it is not used regularly you may not know it is broken until you need it and have no other backups (other than the rubber ducky antenna on the handheld). The antenna cable coming out of the panel and going back in seems a bit hokey and prone to failure because of the tight radius bend needed. It also looks like hell. SO what other options are there? Ideally, I'd like to have some sort of set up where there is a dedicated connector on the panel and a select switch that lets me select either the handheld or the panel mount. It would also be nice to have the plane's ptt come out to an adjacent jack so that once the switch is thrown you can communicate normally (after also plugging into the headphone adapter on the radio). As I recall, the PTT is a switch closure to ground, but I'm not sure if I can just connect to the ship's PTT without first disconnecting it from the ship's radio (Jim?). What is an appropriate antenna switch that provides enough isolation to protect both radios from damaging overload due to the other one transmitting? How about impedance matches, seems that Icom box does little to make sure the impedances are properly matched. -- --Ray Andraka, P.E. President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc. 401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950 http://www.andraka.com "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin, 1759 |
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