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1/2 Wave Aviation / Airband Antenna

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b18c_ej8

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Looking for a half-wave antenna good down into the Aviation/Airband range. Installed an aviation radio into a full size John Deere tractor for an airport, and used a standard Q88 1/4 wave antenna. Complaint is very poor range though power out is good.

I think the plastic roof & structure of the top of the tractor is hindering performance on the 1/4 wave due to insufficient ground plane, so I'd like to try a half-wave but am coming up empty with off-the-shelf options from pretty much any manufacturer.

Ideas?
 

Ace9133uwu

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I assume it’s a mobile radio? If not, Smiley Antenna has good HT options. Try browsing The Antenna Farm’s website, they’ve got an excellent wide selection for all applications.
 

mmckenna

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Looking for a half-wave antenna good down into the Aviation/Airband range. Installed an aviation radio into a full size John Deere tractor for an airport, and used a standard Q88 1/4 wave antenna. Complaint is very poor range though power out is good.

I think the plastic roof & structure of the top of the tractor is hindering performance on the 1/4 wave due to insufficient ground plane, so I'd like to try a half-wave but am coming up empty with off-the-shelf options from pretty much any manufacturer.

Ideas?

Putting a ground plane under that antenna would probably give you better performance than a half wave without the ground plane.

The quarter wave pattern (with the ground plane) will give you a much more spherical pattern, which may be useful for hearing traffic from above the airport.
An antenna like a halfwave would certainly work on the plastic cab, but the radiation pattern may not work in your favor.
 

alcahuete

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so I'd like to try a half-wave but am coming up empty with off-the-shelf options from pretty much any manufacturer.
There are plenty of aviation antennas out there designed for use on fiberglass/composite aircraft. The problem is that they're extremely expensive, like all things aviation.
 

mrweather

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Larsen makes the NMO150HW 1/2 wave coil, but it's only spec'd down to 144 MHz so I don't know how will it would work in the aviation band (if at all).
 

jeepsandradios

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How are you measuring power and are you measuring with the tractor running ? Anyway I installed alot at Hancock over the years on tractors with fiberglass tops. Used alot of aluminum tape under them. Most were on a bar style mount over the top but the tape helped alot.
 

cbehr91

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Awhile back I asked about installing a longer whip in the Larsen wideband 1/2 wave coil and never really got a straight answer on whether it would work since the coil is only rated to 136 MHz. But I agree with others to just find a way to get a ground plane under the antenna you already have.
 

Ubbe

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Installed an aviation radio into a full size John Deere tractor for an airport, and used a standard Q88 1/4 wave antenna. Complaint is very poor range though power out is good.
What's the max distance that tractor goes from the tower, 1/2 mile over flat terrain? Seems impossible to get a bad coverage range. It would help to see a picture of that tractor to see if the antenna interacts with any metal objects and would also be interesting to know if it was bad coverage in both directions, TX and RX. The direction pattern must have been straight up to be that bad. Try and have some sheet metal under the antenna foot. 1/2 wave antennas are very sensitive to any nearby metal objects so probably better to try and get that 1/4 wave antenna to work.

/Ubbe
 

K6GBW

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I put 1/4 wave antennas on an ambulance with a fiberglass roof. A couple of pieces of metal foil tape on the underside of the roof did the trick.
 

a417

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I’m aware. At the time I made my comment they were still open. Unfortunate circumstances.
Yeah, i must have been to that site the day they put that up, then. I bought some antenna weeks ago, and ended up going to another vendor as I saw that warning.

It is sad, but at least they are being transparent and honest - too many other owner operators just fade away w/o telling people what's going on.
 
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