Hi, I like that this antenna seems to be an "all in one" antenna, so I was wondering how does it preform....
against the FlightAware 1090 (+ filter) ADS-B antenna?
against my discone? (25 - 1300 MHz, 0dB gain, with long RG6 coax run to radio)
against the LAA++? Okay, well obviously this is omnidirectional vs the directional loop.
I love the fact that it's small and amplified and the newer version can be powered by my SDRPlay radio. Heck, I would like to see if I can take down my FlightAware ADS-B antenna and discone, and replace it with this.
The thing about my discone is that I've tried using the LNA4all --> LNA for all (lna4all.blogspot.com)
and it tends to overload my RSP and create a lot of ghost images since I have a fair bit of strong local signals in the area. That's my only concern about an amplified antenna for VHF/UHF, though maybe the RSPdx can handle it better than my RSP2pro.
How much gain does this antenna have, anyway? People say I should replace the discone with an dual band 2m/70cm but this one looks a lot better since it has a wider range.

Is the bias T powered version available now?

The current plan is to start production of a new version of the Broadband Active Antenna in January if we can still source the fibre glass tube used in the original design.

We have decided to go with a 5 V powered version so that it can be powered directly from the bias tee on a SDRPlay receiver.

Regarding comparisons with other antennas I don't have the antennas mentioned in your post so I cannot comment.

The performance is good because the low noise amplifier is mounted directly at the wideband antenna element terminals.

The amplifier gain is not excessive as it only needs to overcome the typical cable loss and an attenuator is included after the amplifier to reduce the overall gain and give the antenna a good broadband match to the coax feed. This avoids overloading SDR receivers with simple RF filtering schemes like the SDRPlay and avoids high standing waves on the coax feeder which will affect input RF filter response in the receiver.

Regards,

Chris

I'm always on the lookout for a better low-noise receive antenna, but this looks rather VHF/UHF. Any idea how it would perform compared to the LAA++ with a 1m loop on 40m?

Martin (G8FXC)

Om medium wave and HF it works as a short high impedance dipole.

Performance is similar to the MiniWhip style of electric field antenna without the excessive noise pickup.

Rather a lot of ferrite is used to isolate the antenna element from the feeder coax to make sure that it doesn't use the coax as an antenna unlike the MiniWhip.

We used to make the HF Active Antenna that used a similar principle some years ago. That antenna was used for the RSGB Noise Measurement project.

Compared to the LAA++ on 40m it has a low angle of radiation so it's more suitable for DX listening. A loop antenna has a NVIS radiation pattern so it will be better for distances out to 250 miles on 40m.

The original idea behind the Broadband Active Antenna was to make an antenna for airband listening enthusiasts so that with one antenna they could hear VHF and military airband, ADS-B and HF transoceanic traffic.

We did make a version using an antenna element for VHF airband only. We sold a good quantity to a contractor who installed them in remote airstrips in Australia. It allowed them to hear distant VHF traffic better than their standard discones with added feeder loss. Apparently this increased the receive coverage so that they could hear emergency calls from aircraft in difficulty.

Regards,

Chris

Hi Chris,

That's great news.  When I enquired about the Broadband Active Antenna last May you weren't sure when (if?) it would go back into production.   Can I presume that 5V will be a minimum voltage input (eg 5-15V) or that it will be an option?  All my other active antennas run nicely off a 12V supply and it would be good to be compatible with them (including the HF Active Loop V4 I've just ordered from you in the last few days).

Hopefully you manage to source the fibre glass tube!

Cheers,

Richard.

Meanwhile I'm looking forward to receiving

The new version of the antenna will be 5 V only so that it can be used directly with a SDRPlay receiver.

There will be some over-voltage protection but it won't accept being powered from a 12 V supply.

Once we release them we will look at making a bias tee unit with a 5 V regulator inside to work with 12 v supplies.

Regards,

Chris

Great news thanks Chris. Is the addition of a bias tee to the multicoupler still on the cards also?

Merry Christmas!

Chris, what connector are you thinking of using on the new batch of broadband active antenna's, still N female? I might need to get an N male to F female adapter for my coax. Other than that, I am looking forward to seeing it. I suppose you will publish more information about it with a spec sheet on the website when the time comes?

Chris.  That´s what I want as an airband HF-UHF listener. Can you make it again? /Mike SM5WPW

UHF airband listener? I didn't know that they used UHF. (still have a lot to learn). Yeah, HF is pretty neat for sure!

UHF is used by military

Tom G6PZZ

 

 

In the US, at least (and I think NATO standard) military aircraft radios and ground forces being supported by air cover the spectrum 225-400 MHz.  Of course, the actual frequencies used in a given area depend on what freqs are being used for other purposes.

---

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Skype:        WA8LMF
EchoLink:  Node #  14400  [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]
Home Page:          http://wa8lmf.net

-- APRS over FLdigi Modes  --
   <http://wa8lmf.net//FLdigiAPRS/index.htm>

60-Meter APRS!   HF NVIS APRS Igate Now Operating
   <http://wa8lmf.ddns.net:14447/>

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   <http://WA8LMF.net/FlyingDigi>

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Live Off-The-Air APRS Activity Maps
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Surly military uhf is data encrypted/ encoded audio by now!!!??? Even 446mhz can be/ is!!

Simon g0zen

Most UHF military activity is still in plain voice, certainly in the UK at least, plenty of action can be heard using a standard VHF/UHF airband receiver or an sdr with just a modest outdoor or loft antenna.

Paul

How would this antenna be for receiving the satellites ran by AMSAT? I like receiving the Digipeater from the ISS and the telemetry from the Fox and Funcube sats. My discone is okay for the VHF downlink but with the lack of gain, it doesn't really hear the 70cm signals that well. I also like decoding the NOAA and Meteor downlinks. 

I have 92 feet of RG6 coax running from my SDRPlay RSPdx to my discone used for VHF and UHF. I know that might have some loss at the higher frequencies, that is why I'm looking forward to this antenna.

On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 07:13 AM, Chris Moulding wrote:

Om medium wave and HF it works as a short high impedance dipole.

Performance is similar to the MiniWhip style of electric field antenna without the excessive noise pickup.

Rather a lot of ferrite is used to isolate the antenna element from the feeder coax to make sure that it doesn't use the coax as an antenna unlike the MiniWhip.

We used to make the HF Active Antenna that used a similar principle some years ago. That antenna was used for the RSGB Noise Measurement project.

Compared to the LAA++ on 40m it has a low angle of radiation so it's more suitable for DX listening. A loop antenna has a NVIS radiation pattern so it will be better for distances out to 250 miles on 40m.

The original idea behind the Broadband Active Antenna was to make an antenna for airband listening enthusiasts so that with one antenna they could hear VHF and military airband, ADS-B and HF transoceanic traffic.

We did make a version using an antenna element for VHF airband only. We sold a good quantity to a contractor who installed them in remote airstrips in Australia. It allowed them to hear distant VHF traffic better than their standard discones with added feeder loss. Apparently this increased the receive coverage so that they could hear emergency calls from aircraft in difficulty.

Regards,

Chris

So how does it receive on the HAM bands? I am unable to find any information on this antenna, just that it's made for listening to the airband on HF/VHF/UHF. Does that mean that all the non-aviation frequencies are nulled out with filters?

MF
630m,160m

HF
80m/60m/40m/30m/20m/17m/15m/12m/10m

VHF/UHF
6m/2m/1.25m, 70cm/33cm/23cm

The original Broadband Active Antenna with the standard wideband element covered from 200 kHz to 1400 MHz.

We made special versions with narrow band elements for VHF air band or the marine band for certain customers.

When the new version is released it will only have the wideband element, Tests on the prototype shows that it covers the same range 200 kHz to 1400 MHz including the amateur bands.

Regards,

Chris