As you can guess by my callsign, I'm an amateur radio operator.
I'm wondering if anyone knows any companies offhand that produce an HF antenna that is usable on the J3 Cub? It's for a non-TSO radio application. The radio itself will be ran off of its own battery and will not be integrated with the aircraft's electrical system..not like a J3 Cub has an electrical system to be integrated with anyways.
I've seen two ways that HF aerials are commonly done:
1.) Trailing wire.
The only one I can find is the AVA-120 for the Piper L4. However, I'd like to avoid using something of such historical nature. This is the best option though, as a long piece of wire is a most efficient. It's excellent because a tuner is not required...you can lengthen and shorten the wire by reeling it in or out to alter the frequency of resonance.
2.) Attached wire
On Cessnas, I've seen them ran from the cabin to tail, to wingtip, to wingtip. This option isn't as good, because it requires an autotuner. The wire isn't stretched out straight, so more antenna loss on top of the autotuner would be incurred.
Lastly, is the option I would like to avoid.
3.) Coil loaded antenna.
It's that simple. A piece of wire or rod with a coil at the bottom. It's the least efficient of the bunch, and it would look plain awkward on an aircraft.
I'm wondering if anyone knows any companies offhand that produce an HF antenna that is usable on the J3 Cub? It's for a non-TSO radio application. The radio itself will be ran off of its own battery and will not be integrated with the aircraft's electrical system..not like a J3 Cub has an electrical system to be integrated with anyways.
I've seen two ways that HF aerials are commonly done:
1.) Trailing wire.
The only one I can find is the AVA-120 for the Piper L4. However, I'd like to avoid using something of such historical nature. This is the best option though, as a long piece of wire is a most efficient. It's excellent because a tuner is not required...you can lengthen and shorten the wire by reeling it in or out to alter the frequency of resonance.
2.) Attached wire
On Cessnas, I've seen them ran from the cabin to tail, to wingtip, to wingtip. This option isn't as good, because it requires an autotuner. The wire isn't stretched out straight, so more antenna loss on top of the autotuner would be incurred.
Lastly, is the option I would like to avoid.
3.) Coil loaded antenna.
It's that simple. A piece of wire or rod with a coil at the bottom. It's the least efficient of the bunch, and it would look plain awkward on an aircraft.
