Railfan Technology > Best Antenna for Fixed Location Radio Receiver

What, in the experience of those of you who know, is the best antenna for a fixed location radio for monitoring railroad radio traffic?

The J-pole. Also one of the cheapest.

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The "J-Pole" antenna has many problems:     http://www.w8ji.com/end-fed_vertical.htm

Better performance can be had with a "ground plane" vertical which is easier and less
expensive to build.    http://www.w8ji.com/ground_plane_verticals.htm

http://r.duckduckgo.com/l/?kh=-1&uddg=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.repeater-builder.com%2Fantenna%2Fpdf%2Fground-plane-antennas-for-146-220-440-mhz.pdf
Figure 25 shows a simple 1/4 wavelength ground plane.  The dimensions are for ham radio use, for RR listening, use 17.5" for the vertical element and
17.25" for the radials.

Where the coaxial cable connects to the antenna, make a 3 turn coil of coax @2-3"
in diameter. 

If you mount an antenna outside, be sure to follow the electrical code in your area.

I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Be Well,

Tim Colbert  K3HX
30+ years in the 2-way radio business
52+ years in Amateur Radio
 

Interesting discussion of the J-pole, certainly gets a bookmark and further review.

I'm a fan of the old fashioned 5/8 wave with a ground plane of some sort. Quite a few on the market. Also check the TO archives searching for 'gain antenna' or similar.

Id go with a 1/2 wave type myself, though 5/8 wavelength ground plane good too.

I made a J-Pole out of 1/2" copper pipe a few years back and it worked great. 

Danny Harmon
Tampa

The question is sort of like, "Which is better, GE or EMD?"  "Volkswagen or Toyota?"  It's sort of what you want to spend and what you like.  I have a Ringo Ranger made by Cushcraft.  I had it up for about 15 years and never had any problems with it until a storm brought it down.  It was slightly bent when I put it back up and it worked great.  It will tune to 161MHz.  There are three version for VHF, the AR-2, ARX-2, and ARX-2B.  They have 3.0, 5.5, and 7.0dB gain respectfully.  

Diamond makes a pretty decent antenna also.  I had a dualband made by them that was simple to assemble and install.  They are not tunable but are generally broadband enough to do well on railroad frequencies.

Review the advice of Tim, K3HX.  He has lots of experience in the field.  The J-pole can be a good antenna but it can also have problems.  A lot depends on the installation.  

Don't skimp on the coax.  It's something you are only going to buy once,   Don't spend the money for an extra 2dB of gain on the antenna only to loose 1.5dB of it in cheap coax.  

John

 

Hey, thanks for your great reply!

If you live in an area where you would like to receive trains at a considerable distance farther than local, try a yagi beam antenna with a small rotor.  Or you can get a collinear or stacked dipole model like the RRs use which is still omnidirectional but has higher gain.  TrainTenna sells some gain antennas for fixed use, tho they are rather spendy.  Check some other websites for antennas, they are out there for commercial use, tho again they may be more than your budget.  And as was said earlier, use a good quality coax like LMR400 to get the most out of it.  I prefer multi element yagis that I can point in the preferred direction.

My recommendations are geared toward distant reception in northern Calif, we like to hear the trains 40 to 60 miles away.