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V2 SYSTEM 1/8th wave “EXTENDED LOCAL RECEPTION RANGE’ HOME OMNIDIRECTIONAL

“FM / AM / DAB / sw / tv(vhf/uhf) / amateur / scanner / SSB” (RX) RECEIVE ANTENNA

(29.5” / 52cm housing F-type connector – 0.55 Kg rigid) 19 Oz


INSTALLATION SETUP *(weight spec correction update Mar 2019 [700 grams] )

(Note: Some home stereo systems as do also some portable radios require to have a switch
activated on their back panel to activate the external aerial connector port)

(Note: this antenna can be used by alligator clipping the coaxial core to the base of a telescopic
antenna on a portable radio e.g. SW world band receivers) * some SW gather

RG6 -F-type connector : uses the coaxial core as the centre pin on the male cable connector
Typical performance (mounted properly is with element above roof level with no more than 5 meters of
standard RG6 (10 meters is ok but some minor signal loss) and no major signal blockage (e.g. tall close hill “or
high/medium rise or simply next door tall roof or within 40 meters”) within 100 meters nb: yachts boats re –
cliff faces) in a city environment for listening to a local 200 watt community stations has maximum 12 Km as
good reception listening quality in good weather (around 10km in rain) [tested through city-scape]
th
With the 1/8 wave, another 200 watt community FM station through city-scape is 17 Km away and can
receive it with good listening quality at consistent level during good weather with the station receiver light
on constant (drops to least quality in rain storm). (another 200 watt community FM stereo station is 10Km
away and receiver light is on reasonably consistent in rain storm).

Rule of thumb of Quality loss from rain storm: A receiver aerial has 2/3rds its’ maximum good weather
listening quality distance during rain to receive good listening quality signal, although the distance listening
quality ceases is more abrupt (sudden signal inefficiency) and closer to the maximum reception distance for
(related) the transmitter power the lower the power “something like” below 10 Kw.

E.g. “Holding good listening quality during different weather types” rough estimation examples from real
world receiver(s) usage :

(receiver light on strong consistent)

V2 SYSTEM 1/8th wave “LONG RANGE RECEPTION’ ROOF OMNIDIRECTIONAL “FM / AM / DAB / sw /
tv(vhf/uhf) / amateur / scanner / SSB” (RX) RECEIVE ANTENNA (29.5” / 52cm housing F-type RG6 connector
– 0.55 Kg rigid) 19 Oz

Quantity (Distance) loss of


Maximum good weather Maximum listening quality
Station transmitter Power maximum quality signal
listening quality distance signal distance in “rain
(Kw,Watt) service from rain storm (Km,
Km storm” Km
ratio leftover)
40 Kw 90 Km 55 Km 25 Km (3/4)
10 Kw 60Km 40 km 20 Km (2/3)
2 Kw 45 Km 35 Km  10 Km (3/4)

200 watt 14 Km 8 km  2 Km (4/5)

 Denotes “sudden” signal quality degradation by distance in rain storm (maximum good
weather distance is similar to rain storm distance)
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NOTE: To the right of the diagonal black line, with a meter: reception signal level fluctuates mildly

Unreal world example...


* 150 Kw FM station (* 150,000 watts) 80 km (120 Km ?) good quality reception in good
weather (reception quality undefined by terrain and other possible obstructions over such extents
- reception quality fluctuates mildly at 90 km – but will become lost during rain at 60 - 90 Km)
[ nb: Guess whos' broadcasting company ! is allowed to have a high hill top location and massive
high powered transmitter reaching over 2 city size locality zones - R... N... ]. Transmitter (DA)
Directional aerial. 2PNN Knights Hill, Wollongong NSW.

Following are "Real world" reception examples with this antenna...


(receiver location: Sydney Park, St. Peters NSW )

(Huge commercial FM) 40 Kw station (40,000 watts) is heard at 90 Km with OK listening quality and
little or no background static hiss and is listening quality in good weather (reception quality
undefined by terrain and other possible obstructions over such extents - reception quality
fluctuates mildly at 80 km – but will become lost during rain at 80 Km) . I98 FM , 2WIN FM Knights
Hill, Wollongong NSW.

(Standard commercial FM power) 10 Kw station (10,000 watts) is heard at 60 Km on basic


"(enjoyment) listening quality level" in good weather. At 60 Km the reception is good quality in good
weather. 2GGO FM Gosford NSW.

*note: Many commercial FM stations have less power than 10Kw so have less distance
range below 10kw. (Many usually 2kw to 5kw, some 10Kw rarely larger)

(community "non profit" FM) 200 watt "Towered / hill top ( note of interest: Friis calc does involve
altitude)" located transmitter station with good LOS characteristic is audible (AKA legibly audible)
with none / not any "(enjoyment)listening quality" under background hiss 1:1 to sound at 50Km (is
clearer than using the 1/16th wave aerial version) . 2MCR FM Campbelltown NSW (Listed in ACMA
as Transmitter (OD) Omni-Directional aerial Mount Prudhoe NSW “333m elevation”)

! The previous are consistent results of tests with a lower sensitivity receiver set in a city
area with undulating terrain and only physical mount position optimal (3 meters high – NOTE
results not much difference at 1 meter above ground without nearby heavy obstructions) below
terrain crest but not serious impeding.
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Use an online (search for titles) "Degrees Minutes Seconds to Decimal Degrees converter" to find a
transmitter position and power level in the list from the ACMA in its' online PDF "Radio and
television broadcasting stations Internet edition 2019" Use “dd mm ss.s” fields in

https://www.geoplaner.com/ -34.10379°N (is 34” 6’ 13.6 S) 150.62222°E (is 150” 37’ 20.0 E)
Note: Many broadcast transmitter aerials are directional (DA) casting over only a sector (pie slice V shape)
transmission area, the transmitter location will be off to one side of the locality geographic service area, this
makes the idea that a receiver aerial twice as long is able to perform properly at twice the distance, in this
case (DA) it’s OK to think that but not quite an efficient guess ! Omni directional (OD) transmission is NOT an
efficient guess with that idea! Reception of a DA antenna transmission is not efficiently that far either.

Q; Why does an OMNI DIRECTIONAL AERIAL twice as long at twice the distance of final clear reception signal
transmission COMPAARED TO an aerial half the length at half that distance NOT HEAR the broadcast station
transmitter with any clarity ?

A: [ Simple basic (aberration) explanation without “Friis, gain, Db, loss and spacial 3D parameters” ] Apart
to some minor loss to the atmosphere as diffused static electricity during transmission, a simple explanation
without using “Friis calculation” is to understand an omni directional aerial or inclusive circular polarity omni
directional antenna transmission by signal travel along radius (signal path distance to receiver aerial) within
circular (broadcast) area-radius is each doubling of distance as radius of a circle shows that each time the
transmission to the aerials’ distance doubles it has much less than half the signal available every additional
comparative “set unit increment of distance as radius”.

Example: You would think that transmission signal strength to 10 Km would halve the signal strength by 20
Km (2 x 10). NO, it will be at around 14 Km the ‘signal is now half strength’ it was at 10km and at 20 Km is
only around ¼ the strength !

Double the broadcast area of a circle (distributed wattage) IS NOT (transmission to receiver aerial path) a
radius distance twice as far , “2 X AREA” RADIUS IS much less distance!

Pi(3.142) x radius squared = circle area (omni directional broadcast signal distribution)

10 x 10 x (3.142) = 314.2 sq Kilometres of distributed transmission signal

2 x 314 = 628 sq Km twice the distribution of wattage (waning – getting thinner)

So approx 628 sq. Kilometres of distributed transmission signal is required to know the signal has been
distributed to half its strength (wattage).

The following is the radius (distance from transmitter to receiver) for half transmission power in this scenario.

628 / 3.142 = 199.87 –do square root of 199.87 = 14.1 Kilometres approximately the transmission is half
strength ! NOT at twice the distance !

20Km x 20Km x (Pi 3.142) = “1256.8 sq. Km’ divide by 314.2 = a denominator of 4 meaning ¼ of signal strength
(wattage) available for the receiver antenna.

MOUNTING:

WARNING: Use only the bottom 10cm for mounting the antenna, Safely, Only the bottom first ten
centimetres 10cm of antenna housing tube base (approximately 3.8 inches) can be clamped for mounting !
Above that level on the antenna DO NOT clamp for mounting !

WARNING: Do not locate the mount position within 3 meters of other metal roof objects e.g. tin ducts or
steel guy-wires or particularly roof air-conditioner housings (the antenna should be mounted higher than
this) – “follow this requirement as best possible”.
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(when cutting coaxial around the core DO NOT leave shield wires or foil touching or near the core – brush
them back out of the way)

If you need more than 5 meters of coaxial, DO NOT extend with ordinary RG6 types (if you can use loss), use
a low loss cable such as

(in order of best version for insert) RG213 , Special RG6 low loss, HFELX 2000, RG214.

Ideally use of as short coaxial length and distance as possible to the receiver set is best e.g. 5 meters
maximum, (between 5 meters and 10 meters has some minor loss of signal), so if you need a longer
coaxial

DO NOT EVER open the antenna housing! , “in basis it is waterproofed with sealant except the F
connector hole” , ”The base of the antenna has an F-type connector”, after choosing the mounting
location on the eaves of your house and placing the antenna on its pole (DO NOT allow the mount
pole to extend more than 10cm up beside the base of the antenna housing tube for clamping!),
THEN cut the RG6 Quad core coaxial 1 meter from the antenna to ensure ability to work with the

coaxial end to join to a low loss coaxial cable to lay to within 3 meters of the receiver and rejoin
with the originally removed section of RG6.

- Great trick for joining RG6 to RG213/U

Go to a hardware store and purchase two “straight tube – 240 volt twin screw conductor wire joiners of
around 1 ½ inch length” that will take the RG213 core diameter. Then cut the ends of the RG6 and
RG213 so core protrudes at the same length (approx 1 ½ inch) of the joiner device. Use a hammer to
gently beat the RG213 protruding core mildly flat.

Loosen the two screws on the joiner and place the RG6 core end completely through the pair of internal
screw down clamp faces protruding its end tip, then place the RG213 core completely through
protruding its end tip sitting over the top of the RG6 core. Tighten down the two screws crushing the
RG213 on top of the RG6. Seal completely by wrapping with electrical tape. Remember DO NOT allow
shield wire or foil to contact the cores !

After wrapping with tape, wrap a covering sheet of cooking foil over the complete joint expanse “four
times”, then seal over the top of that foil wrapping with electrical tape (makes a reasonable shield –
NOTE: do not wrap foil on the joiner directly, wrap foil over after the joiner is in place and sealed over
with electrical tape).

NOTE this antenna is not designed to be mounted upon a vehicle , for or while vehicle transit occurs !

Uses of this antenna are semi portable for caravans, motor homes, or permanent for home radio/stereo
systems, minor transmitter black-spots behind hills or minor transmission signal black-spots among buildings
with radio stations classified as servicing inside that location in cities and for outlying fringe suburbs minor
FM reception improvement. It is also ideal for hearing “adjacent local” community FM radio stations that
typically will have a low powered broadcast transmitter (generally only 100’s of watts transmission power
reaching only 5km to 10km absolute maximum useful audio quality after receiver set decoding of the signal).

Advice on installation:

If this antenna is used for AM reception on a standard home FM/AM non portable receiver the coaxial cable
central wire core should be plugged into the AM single slot.

If you need both AM and FM to receive local emergency or warning broadcasts (home radio/stereo sets often
do not offer an AM aerial / antenna socket) to increase reception reliability and signal. However, use of a car
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radio system and matching voltage accessory power pack powered by mains to operate it, this roof eaves
mounted antenna can be used for both AM and FM reception with a car radio set.

Use of a portable radio receiver with telescopic aerial for FM can also benefit from this antenna by fastening
an “alligator clip” to the coaxial core and clipping the alligator clip to the telescopic aerial base. Middle range
cost SW (world band radio) sets often offer at least the ability to use an external antenna for either FM and SW
and usually are a higher quality receiver for public broadcast FM radio.

If the coaxial from the antenna to the sets location exceeds 5 meters in such remote rural situations it is
advised/suggested that low loss coaxial cable of a type such as RG-213/U, the cheapest (expensive), special
low loss RG6, or H 2000 Flex (more expensive) or RG-214 /U (immensely expensive) be used until the cable
reaches the set or to 5 meters from the set, then swap with special connector adapter between to RG6 quad
shield for remainder distance. A suitable car radio coaxial plug terminator is required (for use of a power pack
and car radio indoor) but will generally only fit over a coaxial size of RG6 quad-shield and alike, so the latter
choice of transferring by either soldering together a joiner of the two cores between low loss heavy-duty and
RG6 for the last 3 meters is the better choice than fiddling an odd terminator plug (“perhaps”, it does not need
to be perfect shield termination at the end of the low-loss coaxial, the core and its wrapper insulator is
joinable into a standard car radio antenna plug by cutting back the shield covering sections sufficiently leaving
core and its insulator).

If you intend for a home radio/stereo system to use this FM/AM antenna for that purpose, when locating it,
mounting it into position, be sure that all of the antenna element tube is above the house roof level (base of
the element above house roof level where the eves meet rain gutter and roof-top). The antenna is designed
to operate directly vertically upright

If your home radio/stereo system has dipole wire-antenna terminals (two terminals for a long wire for the
radio), then you can clip the central single copper wire of the coaxial cable of the RG6 Quad shield to one of
the two terminals, However (while quite rare), some of the systems require a bridge piece of wire from one
dipole terminal to the other also, not simply clipping the coaxial central conductor wire to one of the terminals
alone.

DO NOT confuse the antenna “set coaxial/wire connector port” clips/screw-downs with one particular
clip/screw down port often labelled ”GRND” , this is the antenna GROUND wire port from set to exactly
that, ”earth” outside. (often referred to as an earthing wire)

If it is an “antenna ground” specified by your receiver set manual, then it replaces the Balun loop circuit system
of the receiver oscillator if used.

Most modern home radio/stereo systems usually now at least have a “standard plug type socket for use of
coaxial cable and plug” for either an AM or FM antenna (generally only for FM) rather than the dipole wire
system connectors (for this, refer to your home radio/stereo manufacturers’ instructions manual for that
model if both connector types present).

If you have a camper van / caravan or motor home and use a car radio system, you will need to terminate
the coaxial cable with the required plug for the back of your car radio / stereo system or whichever radio
stereo system you wish to couple this antenna to. If it is a home radio/stereo system in your camper van /
caravan or motor home you should refer to the above information.

Install Mounting:
...”be sure that all of the antenna element tube is above the roof level (base of the antenna element above
roof level where the eves meet the rain gutter and roof-top cover level)”...

“The lower 10 cm of the antenna mount base” can be used to U- clamp (U-bolts) to an antenna pole. In the
Eaves drill holes for the mount pole for suitable mounting methods such as coach-screws onto wooden
eaves or washers and masonry bolts to attach the base to a brick wall to a ready mounted pole or antenna
mount bracket for a pole.
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Coaxial Cable install handling (WARNING):

NEVER attempt to straighten or remove looping from a coaxial cable !, it must be laid into place by holding
it in position with a cable mount such as cable saddle clip/clamp and then “progressively setting the next
mount clip at intervals” of thereabout 30cm (one foot intervals), and so on...

NEVER stretch coaxial cable, it has zero tolerance at attempts to stretch it length ! The core wire will likely
break rendering the whole length useless for radio reception!

NEVER bend coaxial cable to a right angle or such like to go through holes or change direction when doing
layout into its permanent position !, it requires a 5cm(2 inch) radius minimum change of direction turn.
Sharp bending of coaxial causes severe signal distortion and loss of db gain. That would bring this antenna s’
reception output back to worthless effort to buy it !

nicephotog@yahoo.com.au
NOTE: Paint work on the antenna is PURELY for protection of the plastic pipe from direct
sunlight and can be a little scratchy !
Touch the portable’s antenna with the coaxial core only
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Last things last:


When the antenna is fastened to the pole ,
 be sure the pole is ‘not more than’ 10 cm (3.9 inches) against the bottom of the
antenna or it will start to obscure the internal reception element. Also do not have
the U – clamps positioned above that length of the base (simply the bottom end of
the antenna – the bottom of it is where the female F Connector is)

 When the coaxial is connected to the antenna by its F – Connector pair (as shown
in the pictures) ‘be sure that there is a small curve of coaxial from the antennas’
connector to the first tied down point of the coaxial cable on the pole’ NOT a
stretched or straight piece of cable between those two points, if it is too taught the
coaxial can pull out or be stretch damaged in high wind !

 After the coaxial cable is fastened by its’ connectors , be sure to wrap good quality
outdoor electrical tape from the base of the antenna at the female connector
“around the female connector continually all the way onto the coaxial cable below
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to seal the connection from rain , moisture , humidity” that can cause signal loss
from corrosion.


 The connectors are not weather proof until they are sealed with outdoor/electrical
plastic tape
 When mounting with the two U-clamps use eight nuts 4 tightening and 4 lock
down nuts to tighten against the first fastening nut set to prevent loosening.
o Tighten firmly to mount pole, do not crush !

o Ideally the pole should reach the antenna above “all roof obstacles” to a
height of 4 to 6 meters above the ground final elevation.

Other considerations
Note: “A mild rain storm near the receiver geographically is worse” against signal than “a
heavy storm near the transmitter” because the signal weakens as it travels outward to the
receiver, so “it is at its weakest for purpose” near the receiver and cannot reach if too
weak from a mild rain storms’ blockage of path.
If you want to be sure that the “maximum distance rating” can be obtained or are
attempting to hold as much reception quality of a station below 40Kw over a long distance
for as long as possible, use of 1. A “larger size long distance receiver set” with more and
better quality refined signal extraction stages should be used WITH 2. at least some
reasonable “low signal loss” (low attenuation) coaxial cable type such as “Special low loss
RG6”.
A good example of better quality receiver set with more refined signal stages is any large
multi band SW (Short Wave) radio at the top end of price OR any reasonable quality brand
name permanent (large non portable) located home stereo “AM/FM/DAB radio receiver –
amplifier “combination section.
The previous often are a point with manufacturers they are able to have the internal
space to add all the required extra refinement stages and filtering unlike cheap portables
and pocket size radios, sometimes inclusive good booster stages for varied levels of weak
stations to produce near good quality sound signal decoding.
Although “large multi band SW radios” have only one speaker and sometimes no bass
treble or tone knob, these for most, do output stereo through a jack connector and switch
that can be connected to a dual input channel audio amplifier (e.g. AUX input connector
pair) and audio equalizer set (5 band or more for good discrimination) to produce high
quality sound or improve weak station audio output for use.
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nicephotog@yahoo.com.au
Private home builder (no ABN) Sydney NSW Australia 2000 (PH 0499 279 780)
NOTE: DO NOT USE international message bank , IT’S A SEPARATE FEATURE YOU WILL
NOT BE ANSWERED !
This document: https://www.scribd.com/document/396824710/FM-AM-Antenna-Setup-
Standard-50-cm-Unit
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