reconrider8
Member
How would something like this work on a scanner or USB sdr dongle? Mini Whip HF VLF Active Antenna 10kHz to 30MHz Full Complect | eBay
mini whips on ebay
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On the usual "scanner" frequencies (above 30 MHz).... likely not at all. And within the stated range of 10kHz-30MHz... probably marginally. OTOH, maybe the "magic antenna" has finally been discovered and you can get it for $30 on eBay. If you get one, let us know how well it works.
reconrider8
Member
well i was thinking about maybe up to 50 mhz for fair reception may not be the best tho
50 foot wire would be much better...
It is an 'active' antenna.. Which should mean that it has a built in RF amplifier stage.
There are a few commercially available receiving antennas with amplifier stages, but they use loops rather than whatever that is they're showing in the eBay picture of the mini whip. I'd rather see a loop style receiving antenna.
They say it covers up to 30 Mhz, but it also goes down to 10 Khz in the operating range. I doubt it would work that well at higher frequencies.
There are a few commercially available receiving antennas with amplifier stages, but they use loops rather than whatever that is they're showing in the eBay picture of the mini whip. I'd rather see a loop style receiving antenna.
They say it covers up to 30 Mhz, but it also goes down to 10 Khz in the operating range. I doubt it would work that well at higher frequencies.
reconrider8
Member
Yea I figured that but I've heard they work very well and heck its just $30 but I guess I need to get another sdr dongle and a ham it up converter
Actually, the price had me very tempted. You don't have a lot to lose if it turns out to be junk. But I've recently sworn to cut down on buying stuff from eBay
reconrider8
Member
But one and let me know how it works lol
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
It *may* work well if the USB SDR Dongle is along the lines of a Funcube or one of the RTL-SDR dongles with a HF downconverter...however, since these whips come from the 'Russian Federation', it's quite possible it's a knock-off from someone else's design :.>>
Mike
Mike
reconrider8
Member
yea i had thought of that also. do you have a better alternative? or a better setup like an indoor wire or something of that note
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
If you plan to use this antenna with a dongle, be very wary of active antennas. Most of these dongles don't have much in the way of front end filtering - put another way, if you have nearby AM or FM stations, chances are good you will experience overloading, causing these signals to show up in places that they don't belong.
So something lo-gain is needed here. By definition, that's a discone (wide coverage, very little if any gain). However you may not have the room to use it. Indoor antennas don't perform nearly as well as their outdoor cousins - however, if you have an attic space to work with, that's an acceptable alternative. Be more specific about your situation
Mike
So something lo-gain is needed here. By definition, that's a discone (wide coverage, very little if any gain). However you may not have the room to use it. Indoor antennas don't perform nearly as well as their outdoor cousins - however, if you have an attic space to work with, that's an acceptable alternative. Be more specific about your situation
Mike
reconrider8
Member
i was thinking of an indoor wire but like you say there isnt so much you can compare to outdoors but i just wanted something to play with and learn on
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
Again, more specifics about your situation are needed. If you're stuck without an attic, about the best you can do would be a wide band mag mount on top of a ferrous surface, or building the wire version of the off center fed dipole we have in our wiki
Get it as high as you can, and as far away from the PC as possible to minimize picking up junk from that or one of the peripherals. Mike
Get it as high as you can, and as far away from the PC as possible to minimize picking up junk from that or one of the peripherals. Mike
n0nhp
Member
I have built my own Mini-Whip.
It is an amazing antenna! However, It is not for frequencies above 30MHz (depending on the filter caps used, the transistor I used is specd up to 200MHz). It is not for urban / suburban areas. Man made noise will swamp it.
When I go out camping, it will out perform a 100' random wire and find signal the random wire doesn't even see.
I have not tried the ebay version and a price of $30.00 is not bad considering the work to make one. Components are about $15.00 retail so he is not making a killing making them.
A quick Google search will get you many build it yourself instructions for the PA0RDT Mini-Whip.
For the scanner, stick with a vertical or discone.
Bruce
It is an amazing antenna! However, It is not for frequencies above 30MHz (depending on the filter caps used, the transistor I used is specd up to 200MHz). It is not for urban / suburban areas. Man made noise will swamp it.
When I go out camping, it will out perform a 100' random wire and find signal the random wire doesn't even see.
I have not tried the ebay version and a price of $30.00 is not bad considering the work to make one. Components are about $15.00 retail so he is not making a killing making them.
A quick Google search will get you many build it yourself instructions for the PA0RDT Mini-Whip.
For the scanner, stick with a vertical or discone.
Bruce
reconrider8
Member
Yea I had read about those before and just wanted to try one as I live right in front of a power substation
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
I couldn't think of a worse place to try to listen to HF from....the RF field coming from that station would likely be immense. It would almost certainly swamp a mini whip with noise...Mike
reconrider8
Member
that was my thoughts but i could take it mobile with me
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