Hi Chris! Thanks a lot for your input!
I am checking my clockstats file to see how many satellites my current chinese made antenna placed indoors is seeing during a 24 hour period. If it sees enough an external antenna might not be needed. Do you agree? I know an external antenna on a mast is way, way more cool (I would say sexier, but I would be exagerating). Did you have a good laugh with my statement? :-) Thanks! Cheers, Miguel 2011/9/11 Chris Albertson <[email protected]> > 2011/9/11 Miguel Gonçalves <[email protected]>: > > Hi!! > > > > My Motorola Oncore UT+ is working fine and I am using a cheap magnetic > antenna. > > > > I want now to buy a better quality antenna for outdoor use. > > > > Any suggestions? > > Any of the "timing antenna" are good. Maybe they are better because > they are a helix type antenna but the most important part is the shape > of the plastic radome. It's pointed so snow and bird poop does not > accumulate. Also they are all designed to mound to a standard pipe > flange > so you can use a length of 1" galvanized pipe as a mast and run the > cable down inside the pipe. Be sure and ground the pipe and add a > lightening arrester to the cable run > > Look on eBay for "lucent GPS Timing Reference Antenna 26db Gain" > Expect to pay about $25, more or less plus ship. and it you are > willing to drill some hole inn the pipe flange they mount to a > standard hardware store $4 part. Otherwize you can spend $$ on a > custom stainless steel mount. Also you really do want a good cable > with a "N" type connector and not adapters. The N type is waterproof > and uses o-rings. After you get the cable indoors use whatever > connectors you like but N is best for outdoors > > That said. I thin there are better antenna that have higher gain and > can drive a longer cable, Here is one example > ebay #180721168817 > > But the Lucent parts are very common and cheap and you can always > place the UT+ close to the antenna, maybe right after the antenna lead > enters the building. That is what I did, then I run cat-5 wire to > carry the PPS and serial line to the computer. Antenna lead cable has > so many dB per door of loss. You have to look it up for your cable. > For longer runs (like 50 to 100 feet) you can get low-loss cable but > the stuff is expensive. > > It's an exercise in trade offs. Get a higher gain antenna and be able > to drive lower cost or longer cable, use a short cable and cheaper > antenna. As long as the gain at the GPS receiver is within spec you > care OK, the UT+ does not care how you do it. The big advantage of > the timing antenna is that you cam place it high on a mast and being > pointed "stuff" slides off. > > You will need to measure or estimate the cable delays > > > Chris Albertson > Redondo Beach, California > _______________________________________________ questions mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ntp.org/listinfo/questions
