RE copper tape patch antenna: "Tell me more" :-)
Specifically, how do you attach (say) a sma cable to the the copper tape? And would I just tape 7" of the copper tape to the inside of the altimeter bay? I guess I can figure this out with a bit of web surfing, but ... Is "Copper tape" something that is sticky like masking, er I mean rocket tape or is it more like cassette tape (copper on some sort of plastic film?) BTW love the pics of "Behemoth Bertha" rocket on your Google+ page Peter "A 'real' rocket would be fun" Hackett On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 1:53 PM, Joe Zawodny <[email protected]> wrote: > Why not consider building a patch antenna out of the copper tape that > hobbyists use in making stained glass. Patch antennae are what they use on > "real" rockets. > > Joe Z > > > On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 4:42 PM, Peter Hackett < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Casey and Bdale, thanks for the info! >> >> RE " ... when another newbie ham asked a similar question" >> :-) you! >> >> Ok, I think I understand most everything. >> >> I did some more poking around (Casey's thread and a little Googling) >> >> Which got me to thinking about moving the altimeter from rocket to rocket. >> >> I found a web page which seemed to suggest I could strip off (in my >> case) ~ 7" >> of the outer casing and outer conduct of a coax cable to form the >> equivalent of >> a 7" wire antenna. Does that sound right? >> >> Give that it is true (works reasonably well) I was thinking I could buy a >> (say) 5ft >> sma male to <anyConnector> coax cable cut off the <anyConnector> end, >> drill a cable diameter hole in the "main" side of the altimeter bay >> thread the cable >> through leaving enough slack to easily connect the sma male connector to >> the >> TeleMetrum. I would then epoxy the cable as it passes from the inside to >> the >> outside of altimeter bay. Then I would cut the cable to (say) 8" long on >> the outside >> of the altimeter bay and strip 7" of the outer case and out conductor to >> form the >> wire antenna. >> >> *Seems* like it should work. Thoughts? >> >> This seems like it would be a good solution because I could install a >> cable/antenna >> in each rocket for the price of a sma male to xx cable (~$10) >> >> >> >> On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 9:30 PM, Bdale Garbee <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Peter Hackett <[email protected]> writes: >>> >>> > Can I just bend the whip antenna into a horse-shoe shape to get it to >>> fit >>> > into the altimeter bay? (I guess the really question is "Will this >>> > significantly compromise the performance of the antenna?") And if it >>> > is "a bad idea" what should I do? >>> >>> It's a bad idea for two reasons. One is that it'll dramatically impact >>> the radiation pattern, as you surmise. The second is that doing that >>> will put strain on the SMA connector's attachment to the board, which >>> isn't a good idea. I've had to repair boards that had the SMA damaged >>> or sheared off because of loads put on the connector by such an antenna >>> setup... sadly, one was one of my own boards that I stuffed in a 54mm >>> airframe in a hurry at a launch a couple of years ago .. /o\ >>> >>> > My first thought was to find a short SMA male to SMA female cable so >>> that >>> > the whip antenna can be straight. Is this "a good idea"? (necessary?, >>> > etc) >>> >>> That's a better plan. >>> >>> > Next: in poking around the Altus Metrum and gag.com web sites while >>> > researching about my altimeter question, I saw a link to a "SMA To BNC >>> > adapter" on the Teledongle page. >>> > >>> > I bought an Arrow II Hand Held Portable Antenna 440-3 and in looking >>> more >>> > closely at the product description page, it looks like it has a BNC >>> > connector. >>> > >>> > So it looks like I'll need to get either the SMA to BNC adapter or get >>> a >>> > coax cable with a male SMA connector on one end and a male BNC >>> > connector on the other. Have I got that right? >>> >>> Yes. >>> >>> > If so, any recommendations? >>> >>> Ok. The SMA-BNC adapter is the optimal way to attach a TeleDongle to an >>> Arrow antenna. It puts the receiver as close to the antenna feed point >>> as possible, which minimizes the loss between the antenna and the >>> receiver, giving you the best possible system noise temperature. >>> >>> On the rocket end, I really prefer the wire whip. The only reason to >>> use an SMA is if you're installing the board in something like an >>> aluminum or carbon fiber airframe section (both are more or less opaque >>> to RF signals) where you need to remote mount the antenna(s). >>> >>> Given that you have the SMA connector on the board, the two most >>> plausible choices are to use a short SMA male to female cable to remote >>> the whip, or to make up a simple wire whip with an SMA on it to use as >>> an antenna. >>> >>> > Peter "I just got my ham radio technical license, so *clearly* I'm an >>> > expert on all things RF" Hackett >>> >>> ;-) >>> >>> No worries, we all started somewhere! >>> >>> 73 - Bdale, KB0G >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> altusmetrum mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.gag.com/mailman/listinfo/altusmetrum >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > altusmetrum mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.gag.com/mailman/listinfo/altusmetrum > >
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