Guys
I mentioned before that I had bought a Monarch AM/FM/DAB ((
www.rgtech.tech) antenna to improve reception on my Bose Wave
FM radio. It works great on my Bose radio and improved the clarity on some stations and pulled in some stations I didn't hear
before.
I was so impressed that I decided to buy another Monarch and give it a try for VHF aircraft monitoring.
My Monarch ribbon antenna is located about 20 ft off the ground up in my attic. I also have a Diamond D-130J discone in my attic. I
placed the Monarch close to the discone. It's hanging vertically attached to 25 ft of RG-8 coax feeding into my RS-2045 receiver.
The Monarch is advertised to improve reception of FM radio up to a range of 60 miles. According to the literature provided with the
antenna it's designed for receiving signals from FM (87.5-108 MHz) & DAB (174-240 MHJz)
In the VHF aircraft band I'm receiving clear VHF (118-136 MHz) signals as far as 200 miles from my location. Of course, it all depends on the aircraft's altitude. The reception I get from the Monarch compares favorably with the discone.
Although only listed for up to 240 MHz, to my pleasant surprise, I'm getting clear signals from controllers at BWI airport which is
about 7 miles away. The signals range from 254.35MHz to 360.7 MHz.
All in all I think this antenna is a great piece of RF engineering. It would be a great antenna for anyone with a limited space, i.e.
an apartment. It could be put up by a window or high up on a wall, It would also be great to put out on a balcony since it's very
stealthy.
I would also be a great little addition when traveling on vacation. It rolls up into nice little roll and has a 15 ft coax. Easily fits into
a suitcase or stash in the car and pull it out and set it up.
The antenna has two pieces of foam tape attached so it's easy to stick up on a wall. It also has two holes at the end of the
antenna so you can easily attached it with push pins or a small nail for temporary installation.
I bought mine on Amazon for $19.99. It comes with 15ft of coax with a F-type connector. It also includes two F to PAL (male & female) adapters.
Antenna specifications:
22.4 ins long, 2.8 ins wide & 0.33 ins thick. Advertised to provide 2.2 dbi gain.
