Ebay Antennas

[shirsch101]

Are any of the home made antennas sold on EBay any good?

 

[dave3825]

Maybe link the ones of interest for a better response. Some are good from what I read and some are crap.

 

[shirsch101]

How about the Maxx-Tenna MT-1

 

[dave3825]

Here are a few threads on that antenna and most of them are negative.

Maxx-Tenna MT-1 site:forums.radioreference.com - Google Search

 

[prcguy]

Are any of the home made antennas sold on EBay any good?

No. Look for a recognizable name brand made by an actual antenna company with antenna engineers. Not from a guy who can't even get a ham license and makes antennas in his garage with no clue what he's doing.

 

[pb_lonny]

What do you want to receive that you currently can't? Tell us the problem and we might be able to help with a solution.
I personally build my own aerials but these are only for my use.

 

[NewJerseyOldListener]

Comet and Diamond are always my first choices. I don’t trust anything homemade. Especially my chili.

 

[dave3825]

Nothing wrong with homemade, as long as it was made correctly. I have made a few Yagi's and they compare on my Nano quite close to yagi's bought online. Made a few Moxon's also with very good results.

But some of the ebay stuff is pure crap.

 

[K5MPH]

How about the Maxx-Tenna MT-1

PVC pipe and a piece of wire .......

 

[N4GK]

Has anyone tried one of these antennas? Kind of reminds me of the Archer (Rat Shack) ones.

 

[xms3200]

I tried that antenna you posted, not impressed at all

 

[N4GK]

I tried that antenna you posted, not impressed at all

Thanks. What did you get that worked for you?

 

[xms3200]

For handheld...Smiley antenna rubber ducky, or Icom FAB02AR...huge difference in performance.

 

[dave3825]

Those are pretty easy to make. A different item from the same seller though looks like it would have a limited lifespan unless one weatherproofs it.

 

[UTE-GE]

DPD OmniX and your done. Sure, it costs more but buying 2, 3 or 4 elcheapos that aren't great and you could have had an OmniX.

Been there, done that...sheesh did i do that.

 

[xms3200]

I have heard very, very good reviews about the Omni X, I agree, get an Omni will be the cheaper route, rather than several cheap, poor performing antennas and you eating the costs

 

[UTE-GE]

I have heard very, very good reviews about the Omni X, I agree, get an Omni will be the cheaper route, rather than several cheap, poor performing antennas and you eating the costs

Just for kicks.
I am messing with Frequency Manager Suite/SDR# and a Airspy R2 setting up air freqs in a group scan.
I decided to try a long shot and enter in Offutt thinking I am fooling myself.
I got their approach freq from my location, 156 miles according to Google Distance.
I don't even have the OmniX 10 ft off the ground. Offutt is west of me and my house is blocking a direct line of site to boot!
Yeah, the OmniX works "OK".

 

[dave3825]

What exact freq did you have. The Omni is good, but not that good unless it was one of the uhf freqs..

 

[Ubbe]

A remote transmit site could be right next to you. You usually have one transmit site for approach many miles from the airport in one direction and another site miles away in the other direction for approach from the opposite direction.

/Ubbe

 

[xms3200]

With a good antenna, 210 miles with aircraft at FL 350 is normal. Depending on atmospheric conditions and the aircraft radios which is 25W, they sometimes come in weak, or with some static.