KGraham045 Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 (edited) I have been using whips with my Zaxcom Qrx100s and Mic Plexer 2 and want better range and am interested in getting some Dipole antennas ( any specific recommends?). I Know this has been covered before (I'm having a little trouble finding exactly what I'm looking for) but before I buy them just wanting to ask if anyone has any tips and or pictures of how they've had success and how they mount them to their harness or get them out of the bag as I mainly do bag work. Edited June 11, 2015 by KGraham045 Quote
Tony Johnson Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 I recommend Lectro SNA 600 dipoles. They made a huge difference to my bag rig range and fit into the pouches in my Petrol bag. Tony Quote
RadoStefanov Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 (edited) SN600 here. Work Great. Edited June 11, 2015 by RadoStefanov Quote
KGraham045 Posted June 11, 2015 Author Report Posted June 11, 2015 Thanks, can you guys show me a pic of how you mount them? Quote
pindrop Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 SNA 600's as well. Mount either side horizontally so antenna are vertical, to match tx antenna quite often also vertical. Quote
michaelmoote Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 Also would love to see photos of how folks are mounting SNA600 to harness. Quote
cjh Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 I'm running a bag rig with 2 x QRX100 and a mic plexer fed by one SNA600 and one whip. Way better range even with one SNA, even when working in dual mode. On whips alone I wouldn't really use dual mode as range was to unreliable, I will mod to two SNA's soon but even if only one it makes a big difference. C. Quote
RadoStefanov Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 I'm running a bag rig with 2 x QRX100 and a mic plexer fed by one SNA600 and one whip. Way better range even with one SNA, even when working in dual mode. On whips alone I wouldn't really use dual mode as range was to unreliable, I will mod to two SNA's soon but even if only one it makes a big difference. C. mod how? Quote
cjh Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 mod by disconnecting the whip and attaching a second SNA600! - similar looking rig to TJ (which I copied) but mine a bit more compact as the BNC/main part of the SNA sits inside the front pouch. I never tried this for ages as always got hung up on thinking the antennas needed to be higher up, clear of the bag like on the harness or some sort of rig. Not needed at all, they work very well at bag level. Quote
JonG Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 Another alternative, which works well for me, is to run BNC up your harness with the lowest block of whip antennae that you use at the top. Just the act of raising your antennae will increase your wireless performance, but you all knew that right? Quote
Jim Rillie Posted June 11, 2015 Report Posted June 11, 2015 Another alternative, which works well for me, is to run BNC up your harness with the lowest block of whip antennae that you use at the top. Just the act of raising your antennae will increase your wireless performance, but you all knew that right? YMMV, but this goes against common RF practice. A whip needs a ground plane, which is normally the receiver case, a car roof etc. Dipoles sort of supply their own ground plane, therefore will work attached to a cable, as will a shark fin, or a Comtek phase right antenna. The senator would not approve of mounting a whip on the end of a cable with no ground plane, nor would I. Regards, Jim Rillie Quote
RadoStefanov Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 (edited) whip on a jumper cable works fine with digital transmitter Edited June 12, 2015 by RadoStefanov Quote
Derek H Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 A more bag-oriented dipole could be a good product for someone to develop. Something a little more compact maybe with a clip or bracket of some sort to clip onto a bag. Rubberized antennas maybe? Less metal edges to get caught on stuff. The SNA600 has all that extra length... Maybe a good project for RF Venue? Quote
Shastapete Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 Lectro's diy dipole how to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5pkmrzsPHs Quote
John Blankenship Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 Lectro's diy dipole how to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5pkmrzsPHs Peter beat me to the punch of posting Gordon's video. Here's a companion link to go along with it: http://www.ebay.com/itm/321479756826?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Buy one of these for seven bucks, cut it in two, pick up some proper heat shrink tubing, follow Gordon's instructions, and for a real bargain price you have two antennas, each with a proper ground plane and a two foot extension terminated with the needed SMA connectors. Being primarily vertical wires, they're easy to attach to a harness. They can also be rolled up and easily carried in your bag. You can cut them shorter, prior to fabrication, if that works better for you. Quote
Glen Trew Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 Lectro's diy dipole how to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5pkmrzsPHs Yes. This was standard issue for the Bag Venue, probably performs about as well as the SNA600 in a bag, but otherwise better in every way. gt Quote
RadoStefanov Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 (edited) sna600 work a lot better then Lectrosonics manufactured coax antenna. I don't know if the bigger antenna surface area or the impedance matching in the circuit board is the reason why... Edited June 12, 2015 by RadoStefanov Quote
John Blankenship Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 An SNA600 is tuned by the adjustable length of the elements, the cable version is tuned by the length its cut to. Quote
Simon Paine Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 If I were making the DIY antenna as demonstrated by Gordon in the video, and I was going to use it on a Venue receiver unit that spans multiple blocks, would I be better off cutting the antenna length to the highest block in the Venue or the lowest block ? or could I cut one antenna to the lowest and the other the highest ? I know receiver antenna size isn't as critical as transmitter antenna size, but for the sake of argument, if we were going for the most ideal situation, what would be best? Quote
jason porter Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 If I were making the DIY antenna as demonstrated by Gordon in the video, and I was going to use it on a Venue receiver unit that spans multiple blocks, would I be better off cutting the antenna length to the highest block in the Venue or the lowest block ? or could I cut one antenna to the lowest and the other the highest ? I know receiver antenna size isn't as critical as transmitter antenna size, but for the sake of argument, if we were going for the most ideal situation, what would be best? I would cut it to the centre frequency. Quote
Derek H Posted June 12, 2015 Report Posted June 12, 2015 Yes the SNA600a has some circuitry embedded, RF choke or impedance matching like Rado said or something.. Not sure what the advantage is but it is definitely not present in a home brew coax dipole. Maybe someone who understands these things better than I can comment. Quote
Valentine Posted June 13, 2015 Report Posted June 13, 2015 I also wanted better range and started bolting an RF Venue sharkfin to the bag. I chose this because I have receivers spread out over many blocks. It's a bit cumbersome but it certainly improved my range big time. Quote
Ze Frias Posted June 13, 2015 Report Posted June 13, 2015 Not really easy to see, but I have coax dipoles sown along the edge of the orca harness shoulder straps. Works great, but in my experience, the Lectro SNA600a does yield slightly better performance overall. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.