AirNav Systems Forum

AirNav Radar => AirNav Radar Discussion => Topic started by: jaskel on April 05, 2012, 12:13:25 PM

Title: Watson Radar Rama Antenna v Cell Antenna
Post by: jaskel on April 05, 2012, 12:13:25 PM
Well I got my radar rama, I dont understand but i am only getting  altitudes down to 1800 feet but when I ran a cellphone antenna in the same spot I was getting down to 750 feet with similar high altitude range...I dont know why id get less with a tuned mode s antenna than with a cell 900mhz antenna.

Any thoughts??

The first pic is with radar rama, 2nd pic is cellband antenna

Title: Re: Watson Radar Rama Antenna v Cell Antenna
Post by: CoastGuardJon on April 05, 2012, 12:28:21 PM
Hi Jaskel, my guess would be that your RadarRama has nulls below 1500', you need to study some antenna theory to get some understanding of the whys and wherefores of lobes and nulls.
Title: Re: Watson Radar Rama Antenna v Cell Antenna
Post by: jaskel on April 05, 2012, 12:34:11 PM
yeah I understand...I just find it weird that I get better performance from a out of band antenna..

Im getting a better spread from the radar rama...but distance is not as good....
Title: Re: Watson Radar Rama Antenna v Cell Antenna
Post by: jaskel on April 06, 2012, 12:35:47 AM
here is my latest screen with the rdar rama, as you can see i have timeouts at 1775 feet...very odd!

Title: Re: Watson Radar Rama Antenna v Cell Antenna
Post by: jaskel on April 06, 2012, 08:09:36 AM
so u think a masthead amp would improve this
??

Would a digital tv one work?
Title: Re: Watson Radar Rama Antenna v Cell Antenna
Post by: CoastGuardJon on April 06, 2012, 12:15:17 PM
Hi Jaskel, unfortunately, I don't think a masthead pre-amp would help in the least - they're best used to overcome losses on long co-ax runs, they can only boost the signals being received.
Title: Watson Radar Rama Antenna v Cell Antenna
Post by: jaskel on January 27, 2013, 09:36:12 PM
Ok gotcha, thanks mate.

I'm thinking of getting a bigger antenna as I want further range
Title: Watson Radar Rama Antenna v Cell Antenna
Post by: Kenny on January 28, 2013, 05:07:38 AM
Hi,

I usually get around 150-170nm with RadaRama 10m high with 14m RG-8 no preamp, further range on direction to water.  Not sure how is your set up but any chance that you got loose connection?
Title: Watson Radar Rama Antenna v Cell Antenna
Post by: jaskel on January 28, 2013, 05:14:44 AM
Mine is set up high with coax thicker than RG8( the name escapes me) I've posted a pic in the users pic section.

I'm getting 160-180nm with the odd pop to 220