Hey Clay and the gang; I made my antennas out of pieces of very small hardline (approximately rg-174 size) that already had sma connectors attached at both ends.
I converted this hard coax to an antenna by first cutting the line to length (typically getting two antennas out of one piece of hardline) and then cutting through the outer condcutor using a small tubing cutter just above the connector. I also ran a dremel tool-cutter lengthwise down the outer conductor so I could remove the outer conductor being careful to not cut or otherwise damage the teflon dielectric or center conductor of the coax. Finally I placed a small dab of epoxy at the joint of the teflon and sma connector to keep things assembled AND at the end of the other end of the antenna to keep corrosion out. When dry these are very rugged and can easily stick up through a grommeted hole in the top of your electronics bay. As others have mentioned: a careful packing of the bay helps keep the antenna straight although these hardline based antennas are VERY stiff to begin with. Oh yeah did I mention they are rugged ? Anyways, I made up several of these and gave them away, lost some, etc. If you can find a friend in the electronic test business,old hardline hook-up assemblies can be had for very little money. I still have three of these antennas and they are essentially in the same condition as when I made them over two years ago. They all have been airborne several times. Hope this helps you out some and VERY best regards; - Bob F. On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 7:38 PM, Clay & Carly Dunsworth <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Does any one use the Q2G2 ignitors for ejection charges? > > I am down to two ematches and ordered some Q2G2 in hopes of using them for a > few flights this Sunday. > > Hopefully I can get them by Saturday afternoon for a bench test. > > > > Second, is the antenna…? > > There are a few ways I can think of doing this. Some may be better than > others, but all have problems as I would see it. > > > > My avionics bay is only 7in. > > > > is it best to mount the altimeter the furthest aft I can, and bend the > antenna at the top. > > Would protruding the forward bulkhead and allowing the antenna the extra 2” > enhance the link.? > > > > My thoughts here, are that just bending the antenna, would be best, so that > it isn’t damaged. I usually pack dog barf, a quick link, and a hefty 2 gram > FFFFG charge. *54mm* > > I don’t think protruding into the payload bay would assist in any way as the > packing of the materials would bend the antenna. > > > > > > Mount the altimeter as far forward as possible. This would allow the full > length of the antenna to be above the bulkhead. > > > > I think this would provide the best wiring setup, but again has the draw > backs of having the antenna in an active area, not safely in the av bay. > > > > > > In the future, I can just make a longer e-bay. But this is a retrofit, to > lighten up my sons rocket, and use the stock coupler tube. > > I welcome any comments… > > > > > > Writing this, I think one of those clear poly antenna tubes from the RC toys > may be the ticket… I can even put a dap of epoxy on the end to seal it off. > > Do the farthest back thing, and a short protrusion with the antenna tube… > > > > > > Thanks, > > Clay > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > altusmetrum mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.gag.com/mailman/listinfo/altusmetrum > _______________________________________________ altusmetrum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gag.com/mailman/listinfo/altusmetrum
