mini-whip for sdrplay ??

[geraldw3210]

Hi everyone

Im slowly getting back too the raio hobby, ive been playing with sdr dongles , But I upgraded too an sdrplay and dont think the little extendable andtnne from the dongle will work all that well.
So i ordered a miniwhip kit::
MiniWhip Active Antenna HF LF VLF mini whip ham radio receiver shortwave swl sdr | eBay

and im hoping this will work better, Id like too cover all the freqs. that sdrplay can do , i moght need multiple antennas for that .???

any info or suggestions on antennas that would work well for me????

i have been reading all i can here on sdrplay . sdr's and antennas but im going into overload

 

[br0adband]

That antenna claims to work well on frequencies that would be considered to be "shortwave" by most people and while the SDRplay can do that readily by design, the antenna may not work worth a damn for anything into the higher frequencies above say about 30 MHz according to the specs into the typical kinds of frequencies that we've used physical scanners for decades now. While it might work to some degrees on the VLF/LF/HF bands aka shortwave/longwave I wouldn't expect it to work well at all on those upper frequencies since you did say you wanted to be able to monitor everything the SDRplay can in terms of what it's designed to be able to receive (10 kHz to 2 GHz or something similar).

For the higher frequencies above 30 MHz then yeah, you're going to need some other antenna or potentially antennas to handle those as that "active" one is mainly for longwave/shortwave reception by design.

There are literally hundreds of such makeshift 'active" antennas on eBay and unfortunately a lot of buyers that don't spend much time doing research into antennas at all end up regretting the purchases. I see that antenna is shipping from the Ukraine so, I hope it proves useful in some respect or else you can kiss that ~$23 goodbye as getting a refund could be naught.

 

[wa8pyr]

That antenna claims to work well on frequencies that would be considered to be "shortwave" by most people and while the SDRplay can do that readily by design, the antenna may not work worth a damn for anything into the higher frequencies above say about 30 MHz according to the specs into the typical kinds of frequencies that we've used physical scanners for decades now. While it might work to some degrees on the VLF/LF/HF bands aka shortwave/longwave I wouldn't expect it to work well at all on those upper frequencies since you did say you wanted to be able to monitor everything the SDRplay can in terms of what it's designed to be able to receive (10 kHz to 2 GHz or something similar).

For the higher frequencies above 30 MHz then yeah, you're going to need some other antenna or potentially antennas to handle those as that "active" one is mainly for longwave/shortwave reception by design.

There are literally hundreds of such makeshift 'active" antennas on eBay and unfortunately a lot of buyers that don't spend much time doing research into antennas at all end up regretting the purchases. I see that antenna is shipping from the Ukraine so, I hope it proves useful in some respect or else you can kiss that ~$23 goodbye as getting a refund could be naught.

Agreed, do some research. Many people have had good luck with those antennas, but there are a few qualifiers, primarily to get it out and away from the house (and the electrical interference within) whenever possible; up on the roof is a good place to start, and out in the yard on a pole is even better. Well-shielded coax and installing a choke at the point where the coax enters the house are also on the list.

I've seen at least one similar design for the VHF/UHF bands (and even into the low GHZ range), but for the life of me can't remember where. A Google search for "VHF/UHF mini-whip" might yield results.

 

[ka3jjz]

I must point out that we have separate forums for scanner and HF antenna discussions, so at the risk of going too far OT, Gerald, what are you trying to hear? Be very specific- the more specific you are, the more folks can recommend the right kind of antenna. And say something about whether you can get something outdoors or not, and how much area you have to work with. These are the kind of details that will help in getting a good match for you

For antennas in the HF (2-30 Mhz) area, post questions here;

https://forums.radioreference.com/receive-antennas-below-30mhz/

For scanner antennas;

https://forums.radioreference.com/scanner-receiver-antennas/

I would try getting your feet wet in one application (HF or scanner) first so you don't end up fried...

Mike