Anybody ever use a blade antenna designed for aircraft for fixed, ground based use? Now and then I see blade antennas on eBay designed for the milair band or for milsatcom. I'm wondering if anyone has tried to use such a low-profile antenna with a scanner or wideband receiver for access to the milair or milsatcom spectrum. Thoughts/experience welcome.
Aircraft blade antennas for home use?
- Thread starter scoot99
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byndhlptom
Member
blade antenna
Should work OK. When I was in the USAF as a radio tech, we did this all the time for our base antennas. Most of the VHF ones need a ground plane to work well, the UHF ones worked well w/ or w/o plane (esp the flatter blade ones with a insulating center section.
Go for it.......
tom
Should work OK. When I was in the USAF as a radio tech, we did this all the time for our base antennas. Most of the VHF ones need a ground plane to work well, the UHF ones worked well w/ or w/o plane (esp the flatter blade ones with a insulating center section.
Go for it.......
tom
w0fg
Member
I'm sure it would work fine if your tower is more than 1000' or so. That's where aircraft mounted antennas are designed to function. I'd be more inclined to buy a GP and spend the savings on an extra section or two of tower or mast.
Blade Antennas
I'm already doing this and can tell you if you want Milair only or VHF airband only the blade antennas work great!! Sometimes you can get other bands as well but not awesome as these antennae are band specific. They also require TNC or N type connections so be ready for that. One other note the 400 digital p25 trunked systems used by USAF bases are also in band for the UHF antennas, I pick up the Nellis system no problem.
Check this post toward the bottom
http://forums.radioreference.com/antennas-coax-forum/169033-thinking-upgrades.html
And you can see what I did.
OBTW I now have the DPD LP and I'm working on my review to post.
I'm already doing this and can tell you if you want Milair only or VHF airband only the blade antennas work great!! Sometimes you can get other bands as well but not awesome as these antennae are band specific. They also require TNC or N type connections so be ready for that. One other note the 400 digital p25 trunked systems used by USAF bases are also in band for the UHF antennas, I pick up the Nellis system no problem.
Check this post toward the bottom
http://forums.radioreference.com/antennas-coax-forum/169033-thinking-upgrades.html
And you can see what I did.
OBTW I now have the DPD LP and I'm working on my review to post.
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prcguy
Member
zguy1243
Member
Hey Dave,
I would say that you would have better luck with a UHF 225-400Mhz blade antenna than most of the off shelf "scanner" antennas. The antenna will be properly tuned to the frequency band and have a low loss connector installed and all military stuff is just constructed nice and holds up better over time. I have many military 225-400Mhz antennas and I can say there is nothing that has ever came across the consumer/hobby market yet that performs like purpose built military antennas made for the UHF 225-400Mhz band.
I would say that you would have better luck with a UHF 225-400Mhz blade antenna than most of the off shelf "scanner" antennas. The antenna will be properly tuned to the frequency band and have a low loss connector installed and all military stuff is just constructed nice and holds up better over time. I have many military 225-400Mhz antennas and I can say there is nothing that has ever came across the consumer/hobby market yet that performs like purpose built military antennas made for the UHF 225-400Mhz band.
w0fg
Member
Nothing. But tower height will gain you more receiving range for the terrestrial (i.e., ATC) stations and a GP can be built with gain, which a blade antenna will not have. $500-$1500 will buy a lot of tower. If the blade antennas worked better than a good GP as a base station antenna, you'd see them in use at FBOs and ARTCCs. You don't.
Blade Antennas
Blade antennas are good for the bands they are designed for, good for high wind conditions, and good for HOA's because they are low profile and harder to see from a distance.
Blade antennas are good for the bands they are designed for, good for high wind conditions, and good for HOA's because they are low profile and harder to see from a distance.
\
Nope, you don't. You see a lot of discones, though.
Isn't a blade just a quarter wave whip in an aerodynamic housing?
N
N_Jay
Guest
All antennas are compromises.
Why take a antenna that is compromised for high speed survivability and use it for stationary use?
Why take a antenna that is compromised for high speed survivability and use it for stationary use?
nd5y
Member
It depends on what type of antenna it is and what band it is for. Some of them are just 1/4 wave whips but there are other types and some multi band ones.
Many thanks for all the helpful replies. I'll post results to the forum when I give it a try.
I have a 225-400 Blade antenna that I have used both mobile and fixed.
Mobile in a P/U truck worked ok.
Near Eglin AFB laying in a chair about 1 foot off the ground worked great.
No problem hearing A/D,Tower,Ground Control.
Air to Air in the Gulf Warning Areas was loud and clear.
Threw it on the roof this morning and naturally nothing flying.
BMT
Mobile in a P/U truck worked ok.
Near Eglin AFB laying in a chair about 1 foot off the ground worked great.
No problem hearing A/D,Tower,Ground Control.
Air to Air in the Gulf Warning Areas was loud and clear.
Threw it on the roof this morning and naturally nothing flying.
BMT
majoco
Stirrer
Some of the wideband antennas have quite complex printed circuit boards inside the fibreglass housing and also need quite large ground planes to work well. Localiser, glidepath and early VOR antennas are directional - especially those NAV antennas that people fitted to car trunk lids!
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