why does everything have to be sooo confusing. Help please. I am looking at the Deck Tech Omni directional antenna, trying to decide between 2 They are both 30db gain (which I believe is good) one is 24cm dia the other is 30.5cm. I would prefer the smaller one but is bigger, better?? Thanks (Paul)
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You can't get lost, if you don't care where you are going.
Omni, directional antennas work best in areas with a good signal, but am not sure about this one, and having 30db gain is much better then mine at 15db. Mine is an omni directional and does not work in weak signal areas, but I bought it from Masters, so maybe it was just a cheap Chinese made one.
We have this one. Performs better than the Winegard. Receives vertical n horizontal signals. Bought a painters telescopic handle n modified it slightly.
Hi Paul & Hazel,
With the two you are looking at, check the frequency bands that they receive (they may be different). Generally smaller units are suited more to the higher frequencies - the reason why a UHF CB aerial is much smaller than one suited to HF.
Wavelength (lamda) in metres = Velocity (speed of light - 300 million metres per second) divided by Frequency (in Mhz) eg a low UHF freq of 300Mz would give a wavelength of 1m but as you get peak power at 1/4 of a wavelength, you could get away with an aerial 250mm long (a 1/4 of a metre) - that's the basics anyhow.
One of the technicians based at Normanton 13 years ago made up an aerial for tracking a rogue TV amplifier that had gone faulty (a caravaner was the suspect). It knocked out the Mobiles base at Karumba. His aerial worked (was better than waiting for an official one to be sent from Brisbane) - there are a few more mathematical formulae involved for spacing of the dipoles on the yagi antenna.
Hope this is not too confusing.
Chris & Sharyn's aerial looks good, price is reasonable.
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
Hi,thanks for the info but yes very confusing it made no sense to me at all, sorry I think I must be a bit thick
Is it possible to just let me know which one would be better, there is only $50 between them just need to know which one.
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You can't get lost, if you don't care where you are going.
They are made for boats (& caravans) but do they cope with road speeds up to 120kph? Or can they be removed after use & stored away? The cable end/connector will need to be protected somehow if the aerial can be removed.
Both have the same specs so I guess it's heads & tails as to which you buy. I'm not willing to say which is the better unit.
Also is there a warranty? I know Whitworths are a good firm to deal with but I think you need to ask more about them before you buy.
Have a look in the Search - General Forum & Techies as well - there might be something useful there for you.
BOL - Warren
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
Hi Paul,
This afternoon we pulled into Lake Monduran CP, just NE of Gin Gin.
The manager offered us a cord to plug into their TV antenna as "the one on your van may not pick any signal up".
While there might be something wrong with my internal wiring, the cord did not work but my Wineguard antenna worked well! Not certain whether I should leave my antenna up as there is an electrical storm around.
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Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
