Following on from my posts here:
http://www.aussiescanners.com.au/forum/ ... 267&t=7733
http://www.aussiescanners.com.au/forum/ ... =73&t=7734
After a bit of a dismay at the, ah, shall we say, major lack of adequate reception, I decided to resolve my problem using DIY.
I'm mostly listening to stuff around 165 meg. i.e. CFA/RMR, SMR, VicPol, so I decided on making an antenna that would perform better than the stock ducky around those bands.
Now, let's be straight, this is my first build, i've never designed o built an antenna before.
I've probably done lots of thing that'll make many of you experts cringe and scream.
But hey, it's working a hellva lot better than what I had.
I resolved to make a simple loop antenna, tuned around 165 ish.
I can't remember where, but I found the perfect calculator online that would calculate the required length, for a conductor diameter and tuning frequency,
From the required length, I applied some pi, and got the required diameter.
It turned out to be (from memory), about 6 feet in length, or 28" diameter.
Apparently that would land me somewhere close
Anyway, I cut the required length of copper pipe I had laying around (conveniently in a near perfect circle form).
made a support, some mock terminals, and connected her up.
Well, lo and behold, I got great, directional, clear, static-free reception.
I hung it up inside from the picture rail for about a week while I evaluated the best direction and performance.
At this stage, it was so much better than the stock antenna, I was happy to run with this jerry-rigged setup.
It was awesome.
But, it got the better of me; I wanted amazing, not just great reception.
So, I spent about a day out the shed fiddling.
I made:
A custom roof mount (for my corrugated iron roof)
A proper mast thing
Two struts / supports.
The actual antenna support mounting thing; insulated at the top.
A custom acrylic terminal block for connection of the coax to the antenna.
And various other bits and pieces.
The next day, it was up onto the roof to actually install the thing.
It was put up in about 10-15 minutes.
The coax was run, up under the eaves into the roof, and down a free section of wall, to a custom blank faceplate with cable grommet.
A bit of wiring later and ta-da, it was done.
There is one RMR site quite close to me, with amazing reception.
But I chose to face it towards a further away location that carried both RMR and SMR frequencies.
The best of both worlds; country & western, shaggy & scooby-do, AC & DC, fish fingers & custard.
Anyway, I learnt lots, and now my reception is bloody brilliant for pretty much 95% of what I listen to at home.
Pics:
Sorry, no up-close or construction photos.
What do ya' reckon?
