Making an inexpensive 1090MHz ADS-B collinear antenna

[@kelvinearwicker5891]

I have been using a commercially made ADS-B antenna at a height of approx 25ft above ground and I was achieving reception from around 80-100 miles. I built this antenna and followed the design exactly (16 elements). My range is now 200-250 miles. RG6 for the antenna and RG58 for the feeder and don't join the end. Great design thank you.

[@abhayp9]

Kelvin Earwicker shall i cut the excess exposed copper from top end, or we need to leave it exposed

[@kelvinearwicker5891]

Hi, Happy new year to you. I trimmed off the copper at the end and fitted a small plastic cap that I found in my toolbox. Don't forget to get the antenna as high as you can. Good luck.

[@abhayp9]

Kelvin Earwicker Happy New Year and thanks a lot for the input :)

[@miller4th502nd]

I was able to improve the antenna a bit. At the end of the antenna cable, where the first antenna element is plugged in, I attached four radial half wavelengths to the shield. Depending on the antenna placement, the radials are bent down 90 degrees or less. Everyone has to find out for themselves.

[@TheGeeMan]

I'd love to see photos of this improvement you made, or any information regarding it if it helps make a huge difference.

[@nerdsville]

Thanks for all the kind comments, and the not so kind comments. Seriously this is what is says it is an inexpensive antenna... I make no promises for it being 'technically' perfect. Getting hung up on 75ohm/50ohm impedance is irrelevant - it is a receiver only so the attenuation losses in the coax is more important than a trivial small impedance mismatch! The satellite/rg6 coax I used is low loss (6dB/100ft loss at 1GHz) compared to RG58 (25dB/100ft loss at 1GHz) - a massive difference! Interestingly nice to see Hak5 making the same antenna! revision3.com/hak5/how-to-build-an-ads-b-antenna/

[@GABHR]

I have 5 of this style of antenna ... and they all go very well with 4 sections, you can spend 60 on another antenna and receive the same !!

[@mikesmith4926]

After several experiments I found that RG59 works best. It seems to connect better with the shielding they use. You also have to check each measurement carefully and get the right velocity factor for the cable your using. Also check each connection with a meter attached and wiggle the connection to see if the ohm's change, if it does reinsert. Doing this I got a 180 mile connection with a X12 collinear antenna and I am not very high up being in Tampa Florida. My longest connection to date was 137 miles away at an altitude of 37k. Not bad for only being 47 feet above sea level. W1MDS

[@miller4th502nd]

Done this, it works fine. Distances till 350km are now normal. Sometimes more than 400km. 15 meters above ground on a balcony. Thanks for your tutorial. :-)

[@tw12a34nkl]

New to sdr, radio in general, as a hobby. Figured this would be a fun way to start. With the little antenna that came with the dongle, I was picking up a few ads-b transmissions all within the 50 nautical mile range. I just finished this antenna, took it out on the deck to see how much of a difference it would make. Pretty impressive! From Kansas City, I can see aircraft as far away as Des Moines! Can't wait to get this thing permanently mounted!

[@jamdigital9530]

the end of a coaxial collinear is usually terminated in a short and a 1/4 wave on top

[@rjgarnett]

Hi All, I spent a day trying to make one of these. I used decent Belden RG58 coax and got pretty good return loss, but I couldn't tune the thing to 1090 MHz. I cut it long and resonance was too low. I unsoldered it all shortened it a very small amount then the resonance was too high. I started again but same problem. I checked for shorts and opens with multimeter and microscope but no problems there. there is not much room for error because the bandwidth is pretty small. I ended up wasting about two meters of coax which ended up with lots of little pieces all over my floor. In the end I tried a classic quarter wave with the four legged ground plane. Dead easy to tune. Great return loss. I also tried a center loaded dipole, the one with the single turn inductor half way up. Again easy to tune and great return loss. I am using a Tektronix RSA607A with the tracking generator and antenna bridge ex eBay to do my measurements so I'm pretty confident of them. I also have a good Keysight cal kit. I kind of like the coax version, but it's so damn hard to tune. What do people think I'm doing wrong. I live about 120 miles from the nearest large airport (Melbourne) so I need a good antenna. I am building a TMA with a hairpin filter on the input and 20 dB of gain to crank things up, but the first priority always has to bee the antenna.

[@MdmKamen]

Hi, it happened to me. Wasting hours and meters of cable with poor result. Building a quarter wave is damn simple and yield a better result, 200nm average. p/s: not sure if you notice this, commenting a year old post

[@ademgdk6573]

Strip outer insulation and copper mesh shield. And buy a copper pipe used for installing air conditioner systems. You can use liquid line pipes, vapour line pipes too thick for this use. Cut the pipe into pieces the lenght of the pieces. Put the cable pieces you cut into the pipes. Solder first piece's core to the next piece's outer copper pipe, first piece's outer pipe to next piece's core. solder the others same way. The signal quality and strenght will increase.

[@anthonybateson1339]

Thanks for video, I made an 8, 3 and 1 element and used a discone body to house them. Just decoded an aircraft 185.3 miles over Tullowmacjames, Thurles Templetuohy Ireland. Great stuff. Even my Kinetics sbs-3 antenna is only giving a max of 50nm indoors. (I'm in Lancashire, UK)

[@thoko]

I really thought this was a gimmick. But I was pleasantly shocked if actually worked! Doubled my aircraft count from the same location indoors! I don't understand why it how this works. But it does!

[@hoagelectronicsproductdesi56]

Fantastic video and great job! Just for those interested in a little antenna theory from an engineer, more elements might not always be better! More elements will allow for receiving more distant transmissions on the horizon. The downside is that you may not be able to receive transmissions from directly overhead.

[@serverguy2]

I found my heavy hand on the Xacto tended to cut the center conductor too often so I got a stripper designed for this very job. No more cut center conductor. Otherwise, good vid. Thanks!

[@GergelyBarta]

Hi! What to do with the top end of the antenna, at the last element? Leave the center wire exposed (if yes, how long should the bare wire be?), or cut it to the insulator lenght?

[@Vtrontv]

Hey thanks for the video but i made a similar with RG6 satellite TV cable and i cant even get the reception that i'm getting with stock antenna and i checked the SDRSharp while i connected stock antenna there is blue waterfall and there are hits while airplanes around.. but with the antenna i made in SDRSharp the waterfall is turning to yellow to some places red.. and i cannot see any hits.. all tests are performed in auto gain active...

[@electechyt]

You can change the colour of the waterfall and the offset too you know.

[@userfortytwo]

Simple design. It works - made one and using with ADS-B - planning to make one for FLARM (868 Mhz) :)

[@twong689]

Finally, I am able to get the antenna working out to 200 km. 8 elements. Initially, I did not get much more than the stock whip. Then I followed someone's suggestion here by joining the ends and extending out 5cm, it is a success.

[@Schmattek85]

What type of connector is at the other end, where it comes into the ADS-B Receiver? I have an ADS-B USB Dongle with a MCX connector and a MCX/SMA adapter. I'm just wondering how to get this antenna connected to the dogle. All SMA connectors I find are 50Ohm and for RG174/RG316/RG178/RG196. Which one is the right and recommended?

[@glen4cindy]

Hello, did you leave the top end of the antenna just cut off at the coax end? I've seen some designs with a 50-ohm to 75-ohm resistor across the tip to sleeve. Thanks for a great design video!

[@marvk]

The resistor is not needed. I did a bit of googling and many people say it makes no difference. I run my antenna without resistor and it works just fine.

[@VidaSimplesSempre]

Nerdville, to connect two conductors... no have problem to connect on the Copper braid shield or on Inner dielectric insulator ?

[@ryansk]

When using a multimeter to look for shorts, what, exactly, am I looking for? Where should I be putting the leads, and what indicators from the multimeter should I be looking out for?

[@utubeaccess7]

+ryansk When using a multimeter to look for shorts, you are determining whether the shield (outer layer) and center conductor are touching eachother electrically. -Set the multimeter to 'resistance' or the Ω sign. When the probes are not touching anything, the meter will indicate 'OL' or 'out of range' or 'inf' (infinity). -Touch a probe to each inner and outer conductor at the same time. -If the meter indicates continuity (it will display the resistance level) - then you have a short. -7

[@swlstation1]

I wonder, how to connect the feed line ? ( inner cable to shield ?? ) or the other way around ?

[@JROrg2009]

What's important is to CLEARLY show and tell people where the center conductors wind up when you use the electrical tape and push them through. Where they wind up and what they do NOT touch is vital. Replay that portion of the video at full screen size, and stop the action to see that.

[@jonkershaw3601]

great video thanks for helping us, one question, I just had friend make my anatena for me I think he said six parts, I'm not getting as good a range as I was hoping for, if I make one with more segments would it be better or not make a difference, thanks for your help.

[@VidaSimplesSempre]

Joseph, to connect the conductor no have problem to conect on the Copper braid shield or on Inner dielectric insulator ?

[@Swede_4_DragonBeliever]

Greetings from Sweden! You just got yourself a new subscriber 🎉

[@robman501a]

When it says 'make as long as you wish', is it really necessary to cut and use so many 11cm pieces? Why not just use a long coax? Also at the last part to seal the pvc pipe, would duct tape work?

[@nerdsville]

Rob Q Each 11cm piece is an antenna in itself resonant to the frequency, they combine to increase the gain, how you seal up the end of the pipe is up to you, you can use an end cap, or tape whatever but if outside it needs to be waterproof.

[@michaelriordan9834]

How is end of antenna terminated

[@robman501a]

When connecting the 11cm pieces together, is putting tape in between the two when joining really necessary? There is no way I can see what I am doing.

[@nerdsville]

Rob Q If you get a short between the centre conductor and the braid it will render the antenna useless - the tape is an attempt to prevent this as it stops any stray wires from braid - read the article I linked to to explain everything www.balarad.net/

[@peterdavidowicz4374]

Tape prevents the ground-sheathing shorting to itself on the other side, while the central conductors obviously won't short, the ground sheathing could.

[@kissingbanditt]

what is stoping the coax becoming part of the antenna, i dont see a transformer or balun...

[@nerdsville]

Why do you need a balun or transformer? It is a receiver only antenna..

[@kissingbanditt]

i thought baluns are only needed to transmit so the power can be transmitted out and not bounced back to the amplifier...no?

[@nerdsville]

***** The antenna is being used to receive not transmit - impedance matching isn't critical

[@linuxranch]

The greater the number of sections you coaxial 1090 antenna has, the higher the gain, but, the pattern flattens out, towards the horizon.. so you may get better performance at long range, at the expense of poorer performance, directly overhead. 73

[@alomari82]

i just finished doing one, i cant wait to try it. thank you man.

[@GregoryBaber]

Good technique, nice focus on your hands.

[@robman501a]

Also how do you prevent the center of the coax from piercing through the jacket?

[@electechyt]

Take off your jacket whilst working.

[@paulsleighty]

I think this looks like a fairly easy antenna to make yourself. I am thinking of having a go. Just trying to figure out where the wires are going when you join them together, I think it looks like the centre wires are being pushed into the outer braids, is that correct ?

[@Cashpots]

Half an hour with some old TV Co-Ax and I have the strongest signal I have ever seen! Well done. I reckon that with the cheaper cable that I was using I should have made each element a bit longer. I will try when I am in the mood. You did not mention the best number of elements or is it literally "the more the merrier"? Oh by the way as usual with my devices I placed the USB dongle in the base of the aerial and ran it on a long (amplified) USB cable to lessen cable losses. Might be worth recommending to others.

[@hoagelectronicsproductdesi56]

+Cashpot That is a great idea and eliminates all the loss from the coax that can sometimes eliminate the advantage of having a high gain antenna. As for the number of elements, please see my other post. -RF engineer

[@MatHelm]

I read that 16 segments was about the limit of improvement. But that the difference between 8 and 16 was so minor, that 8 is considered the optimal number because it comes out to about 1 meter.

[@glen4cindy]

Can you explain how you used a USB dongle for this antenna? If I am to get this antenna as high as possible, I am going to need something like this to avoid 80 feet of cable!

[@batoniarz]

what if my receiver has 75ohm input impedance? can i use 50ohm coax with twelfth-wave transformer just before the RX? or should i just use 75ohm coax instead?

[@zanem7eww]

Great tutorial! I knocked one up in half an hour without any problems. However, in another tutorial there was mention of attaching a 50 or 75 ohm resistor to the last segment. I didn't see that part in your tutorial - is this required to finish off the antenna or not necessary? Thanks =)

[@jamdigital9530]

at the end you place a short circuit. inner to outer and solder a 1/4 wave long stiff wire the the short. 1/4 wave without the velocity factor of course so its 69mm long. This assumes your using an even number of elements such as 4, 8, 16 etc

[@rtv1369]

i built this yesterday a 10 element and it works great. how much gain are we talking here do you know ?

[@johnfavaloro9700]

For every two elements in a series is about 3 dBi.

[@mikesmith4926]

Your reading was out of the camera view, what should it be?

[@ADelGallegoH]

i got a question, im building this antenna at home and i dont get any 1090 mhz signal, its a 8 elements antenna, but my question is... you made a 10 elements antenna + the base (feeder cable)? that would be 11 elements ? i think you may have continuity. Im using 8 elements and in the end of the 8th element its the feeder cable should i add one more element? so theres 8 elements + the feeder cable? is that right?

[@nerdsville]

Keeping the number of elements even is optimal I believe, but doubt having one extra would make much difference - if not getting a signal just check you have good connections and no shorts, a fault in one of the lower elements would stop it working.

[@ADelGallegoH]

i just did... not shorts but still my coverage isn't that much even with a 16 elements antenna... i get only 50km or less with a 12 elements, something is wrong

[@nerdsville]

***** What type of coax? are the elements cut to correct length? Is the connector fitted correctly? What receiver? Is receiver set up correctly? Where is antenna fitted? Are you getting interference? Could be any number of reasons

[@ADelGallegoH]

Its a RG6U 75ohm cable, the length, according to the formula is 116mm, I'm using an USB dongle R820T Nooelec, And yes the connector is fine... Im starting to think that is the feeder cable, another coaxial RG6 75ohm but its like 10 mts long... could be that? And about the interference... Its like 95mts amsl and it's in a rooftop from a 4 floors building... its between 2 directv antennas tho... could be that too?

[@twong689]

@@ADelGallegoH I am using 75 Ohm TV cable, 8 elements, each 117 mm, no short or open circuit, did not get better range than the stock whip out to 60 km. Call this an experiment.

[@deagle94]

is 75 ohm cable fine?rg59?

[@guitarfreakozzy]

does it matter how many elements you use? i got 4 so far.

[@myjokerandlouie]

Hi ,Not good on numbers but can this design do 136 480mhz ?

[@electechyt]

Yes but the size will be huge. Remember that bandwidth is very wide so you can stack different multiples / sizes of quarter wavelengths. Or, just use a discone or bi-cone as these are designed for it but without any apparent gain (more like a loss) So as always even with receivers, use a very good coaxial cable like L400.

[@mikecauser]

Does the PVC pipe / conduit have an additional velocity factor that should be taken into consideration?

[@MarkPentler]

yep!

[@Vtrontv]

awesome one but be careful while connecting each other i got two hole on my fingers :( but it worth it :D

[@MKhanfar-MWK]

Does need to put resistor at the top ?

[@miller4th502nd]

not really, some says yes. But mine works fine without a resistor (regular range over 220nm, Antenna mounted 15 meters above ground). If you plan to use a receiveamplifier or a USB Stick with integrated amplifier it's better without resistor, otherwise your amplifier or usb stick will be toasted. With the resistor the antenna is shorted!

[@BHZAero]

one doubt: I mounted this antenna and cable just like, however I used to complete the range of cable until the cable receiver RGC58. this correct? this cable "fix" the input impedance?

[@doffpv1854]

Thanks for this incredible antenna. It's working perfectly with 8 elements :)

[@greenrefrigerator]

What mode does ADS-B use, or rather, what mode should be selected when receiving on 1090 MHz?

[@electechyt]

Its a data signal so NFM but at least 12.5Khz B/W !!!

[@moonfestmadness]

just made you antenna and "bloody hell" it works really well :)...but how big can i take this could i use more elements to make it a little longer..cheers for your video 73 M6PNP

[@maxpommier3786]

What is the connector's name at 6:30 please

[@miller4th502nd]

looks like a F-Type connector

[@electechyt]

Why would anyone use an "F" connector when comms receivers use either BNC or SMA? "F" connectors are for the domestic "TV" market.

[@zoolkhan]

[300/1090]/2 is 0,137 .. not 0.11 - so it should be 13,7 cm per element. Schouldnt it?

[@fubbytucker2848]

That was addressed in the video.

[@MarkPentler]

Trying this! Do the segments have to be perfectly offset from one segment to the next? Like left to right slant than right to left slant? Pretty sure mine are just inserted in at any orientation

[@MarkPentler]

With many photos of these the diagram suggests you have to do alternate sides | | | | | | Mine may be more | | | | | |

[@wokeupandsmellthecoffee214]

Excellent tutorial thanks

[@oscarwylder]

Spot on dude - Thanks.

[@fiorenzomass827]

Complimenti semplice e valida !

[@pschonmann]

Yay, Underworld :)

[@ifell3]

Ha nice work mate, i was reading up on these bad boys and everywhere i have seen said about soldering, yeah right not now!!

[@LordGryllwotth]

ifell3 I was trying to make a collinear antenna for DAB radio. 75ohm coax Where the braid is aluminum. Wouldn't solder at all. Didn't try to flux it doh. Going to try this out tomorrow.

[@ifell3]

After doing some research on ham radio forums they are not supposed to be all that great. I never bothered in the end!!

[@ifell3]

www.rason.org/Projects/collant/collant.htm

[@zoozolplexOne]

hi mate, thanks for sharing !!!

[@blade9z]

thank you for the video, very helpful indeed

[@AndreySmirnowGAMEtv]

Nice to video! Thanks

[@inthenameofjustice8811]

Hey thanks for this.

[@fabiotozzi7419]

+InTheNameOfJustice idiot - this video was made before that one

[@inthenameofjustice8811]

Fabio Tozzi Making a mistake does not make someone an idiot. Idiot.

[@dougier8093]

Geniuses

[@M.O.R68]

Con un cuter no se pela un cable,marcas el alambre lo entallas y se rompe,aprende a pelar cables ..

[@sentaoloo6794]

不错不错

[@BHZAero]

one doubt: I mounted this antenna and cable just like, however I used to complete the range of cable until the cable receiver RGC58. this correct? this cable "fix" the input impedance?