Another attempt at 5.8ghz antenna

[forest]

Ah thanks that explains why I can';t find a calculator haha.  OK I';m going to have my fist go today at making some. Thanks Paul I will be back with pics of my likely monstrosity!

[Paul01]

Im sure you';ll do a good job.

[bazzerh]

skew planar and cloverleaf need slightly different lengths for same frequency. there are calculators out there for both though. something to do with the ohms, but thats as far as i know!

btw dont bother trying to build a ';tuned'; antenna for your fave frequency, thats beyond mere mortals. just go for the 5800mhz sizes and make all your antennas the same.

for bending the curves easily you need to find a plastic tube the right diameter, fill with epoxy and then drill a 0.8 mm hole most of the way through it. hacksaw off the tube/epoxy just a few mm above the hole and then insert your goalpost shaped half built lobe and pull.

watch this video at 11:40 to see what i mean

http://youtu.be/6VPVn4zqGCw

its all narrated in german but the guys build is super precise and worth a watch all the way through. ive built a few the exact same way and its tricky but do-able.

[quadfather]

its all narrated in german but the guys build is super precise and worth a watch all the way through.

That';s Norwegian, I';ll have you know!

[peter82]

Thought ive have a go at making an antenna. Got some 0.8mm mig wire from work and some cable from maplins. This was my very first attempt to be gentle. Lol. This was just a tester to see if i could actually solder it all together, without melting it all. It';s just stood in the connector at the mo. I welcome any suggestions.

[Paul01]

Nice effort, my only suggestion would be to make the lobes slightly longer so you can have some of the wire running along the coax for strength like ibcrazy does

Cloverleaf build tutorial mpg

[peter82]

Thanks paul01, so put another little 90deg bend in the lobe, so it runs parallel to the coax. Think i can see what you mean from the pics on first page.

[Paul01]

Yeah, so they can take but more of a crash

[peter82]

Tested my ariel out today, had it on the vtx and a cheap china one on the rx. Only went to about 600mtrs measured on google earth. The video looked loads better, no wishy washy colours. And hardly any glitching. Going to make a ';proper'; set now. To see if it gets any better. Well chuffed for my first attempt.

[forest]

well ive made a set over the weekend it took a few false starts and i see i need a jig to get them more precise. but im quite happy with these  ive tested them over short range and they do work yay..

for a bending jig i made the guys tube with epoxy and a .8 hole  it works very well and .8 mig wire at the 5.8 size was tricky to bend without the jig( made from 3 inches of the inner tube from a extending alloy landing net pole) as i made mine with a 90 degree leg for soldering (i made the leg the same 13.2 mm as the lobe) this made it all a bt simpler)
and for the leg end i cut a L shape in the end of the jig for the leg end to be bent in, it all works very well
thanks for the motivation from this thread guys heres some pics of them finished  not as good as they can be but it is a ok start and it was good to use my crimp tool at last 

[Paul01]

You';ve done a really good job of the curve on the lobes, nice work 

[forest]

thanks m8 it is all thanks to that handy little jig and very easy to knock up just need a .8 drill bit bit of epoxy glue and and a handy bit of tube around 15/16 mm OD and a dremel

do these made in 2.4 improve your tx  range by much?


for any one thinking of making the jig ive used for a easy tube to find the plastic tube that comes with maplin solder is spot on 16 mm od made for the job!!

[forest]

Thanks paul01, so put another little 90deg bend in the lobe, so it runs parallel to the coax. Think i can see what you mean from the pics on first page.

if you make it the same size as the legs are it will make it simpler to make

[peter82]

I guess the length or wire that makes the lobe needs to be made longer to account for the ';leg'; that is parallel to the coax.

[forest]

yes i added the length  of the legs 13.23mm  (i think it was for 5.8) to make it easy to use one setting in my vernier for all the bending   any other length made things harder to measure and some faffing about , and if you do want a shorter leg to solder on you can cut it down afterward before soldering

[peter82]

Thanks forest will give it a go tonight if i get some time. Going to make a little jig  to hold the angles whilst i solder them as well.

[forest]

yes a jig for that would make it so much easier

[Sweet Pickle]

As I smashed up the Skew I got from Gav last night I';m about to embark on a build session for my own antenna.
Bank bloody holiday means no delivery until Tuesday for some of the bits.
I do like the rubbery type stuff Gav uses to seal his soldered lobes in. Looks pro so I';ll have me a root around for some of that.

Great thread though. Some very good tips.

[gavnthat]

Try using liquid electrical tape on the centre of the antenna that';s what I use, it makes it loads stronger and it takes a crash really well. Pretty sure that';s what ibcrazy uses on his antennas. Pics are of my 1280 clover as I couldn';t find any pics of my 5.8';s

[forest]

i just got a tin of clear liquid tape  its great stuff,
today i splash proofed my nazes and a runcam board cam it works so well ,i now dont have to be afraid to land in wet grass which gives me many more flying days  ;D
on my next clover/skew build i will use it if you want a tin of red for a good price go here
http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/liquid-electrical-tape/ they only have  it in red

has any one got a jig that works well for building these? i make them the way ibcrazys builds them with the extra leg for soldering to the ground) if you have im in the market for one or share the plans please

[gavnthat]

Sotabeams is where I got mine from I use it on everything too, pdb';s, pz0420 cam, ESC connections my quad is covered in it. I recently crashed into mud so deep I nearly lost my trainers trying to get the quad back ( embarrassingly its in one of xxpitts vids me stuck in the mud ) the quad was covered and had to be stripped and rebuilt but all electrics were fine cos of the liquid tape :)

[Sweet Pickle]

Never one to dip my toes... all or nothing with me.
Ordered a sweet set of hex crimps, more metres of coax cable than a man is ever likely to need, several types of copper/stainless wire, stacks of SMA/RP-SMA connectors... don';t think I';ll be caught short with a damaged antenna ever again. 

[forest]

I';m the same pickles iv got enough for a few years lol I want to be able to swr them now. Oh and someone to print me a nice jig to get th angles right

[Sweet Pickle]

I';ll print you a jig if you want bud.
No charge they';re only small, drop me a PM with details of which one on thingiverse you think looks best and I';ll bang it in the post over the weekend.

[forest]

Thanks pickles ill look which looks best and send you the thing. But please charge for it . I';m out at sea fishing at the mo but ill get looking tomorrow

Cheers