Hello European Motus researchers,
We occasionally find ourselves here at Motus Central being asked for suggestions for where in Europe some of the antennas and associated mounting equipment may be obtained.
While we have lots of suggestions for North America, we don’t have much knowledge of options in Europe.
If anyone in the EU has comments or suggestions, please feel free to let us know!
Specifically for:
Cheers
Josh
I have bought antennas for my USA station from Innov Antennas is Essex England they make a superior antennas at a reasonable price. Also the Funcube pro+ is made in England
Josh,
In the UK we (Lucy and myself) are recommending the following:
Antennas:
Siro WY140-6N. https://www.sirioantenne.it/en/products/vhf/wy-140-6n-wy-155-6n
This recommendation is based on the early WUR receivers installed in the UK. They are 6 element Yagi with N-type connectors. I guess we have about 100 installed now, they are very robust and have been installed at some very exposed locations. Available from a number of UK suppliers but also available in mainland Europe as well.
Coax: Messi & Paoloni Hyperflex 10
https://messi.it/en/catalogue/50-ohm-cables-ham-radio/hyperflex-10.htm
This provides a good compromise between cost, flexibility and signal loss. We also use Messi & Paoloni connectors. Available from a number of UK suppliers but also available in mainland Europe as well.
Masts:
Most of our installations have used “Scaffold Poles” secured to buildings.
e.g. https://www.scaffolding-direct.co.uk/scaffolding-tube/
These are available as galvanised steel or thick walled Aluminium in lenghts up to 6m (19ft). They are ubiquitous in the construction industry so widely available. There is a wide range of clamping options available all of high quality and relatively low costs.
We don’t have ready access to conduite like you have in North America so scaffold poles are often used for pop-up temporary towers as well as permanent installations.
Commercial alternatives populare with amature radio enthusiasts are:
For the receiver itself we recommend a CTT SensorStation with enclosure + 4 x FCD Pro +
As the FCD are manufactured in the UK these are sourced locally rather than having them shipped to CTT in the USA then re-exported back to the UK.
We have yet to deploy the V2 SensorGnome software but I’m looking forward to when this can be deployed in production systems.
I have a spreadsheet of recommended parts and suppliers that I can share if anyone is interested, along with photos a build up instructions for the Antennas & pop-up towers.
All the best.
EAP
Ewan A. Parsons
PI projects #291 & #307
+44 (0) 790-8010-830
I’ve had a UK company design and build Motus antennas (9el & 5el 166MHz, and 7el 434 MHz). I find them to work nicely.
The DX Shop - https://thedxshop.com/
Although they’re not available online. If you contact Roger Banks (esales AT thedxshop.com) and inquire about Motus antennas, he can help you out.
Cheers,
Adam
Hi all, thanks for the info; very helpful!
Hi all,
Very well suited answers by others. The Sirio antennas are robust, but their reach in gain is not the best to get. And I get already in Belgium some that are “gone” in some years by salt. Therefore, the LAIRD 1505 is with 5 elements, 182cm and 9.2 dBd = 11.35 dBi crazy and with the goldish shine a lot of swag; het for your money: http://assets.lairdtech.com/home/brandworld/files/ANT-DS-Y(B)1505%200115.pdf and can by ordered by www.richardsonrfpd.com
www.WiMo.de has already made cables from N–> SMA. That saves some problems.
René