Ugly Antenna?
Thursday June 18, 2009
Douglas poses a good question in the forum about antennas. He writes, "seeing it [the antenna] tower above my ride is just plain annoying. Im wondering if I could just stick the antenna in the interior?"
The main things you have to watch out for are range and damage to the antenna. You don't want to cut the antenna, ever. That can adversely affect the range. You also don't want to wind it around too tight or put it anywhere (such as near moving parts or near a hot engine or battery) where it can be damaged. If you have more tips or ideas for hiding or camoflaging an antenna on a RC, join the Antenna Mayhem discussion.
Also see: Installing and Using Antennas for Your Radio System
Comments
I race and direct 1/10th scale electric races, and we race on a large high speed bicycle velodrome in Southern California.
On my personal cars, I do NOT have an antenna sticking out of the body.
I use a piece of .030 thick lexan approx. 1 inch wide and about 5 inches tall (when using FM Crystal Radios) and only 3 inches tall with DSM/Spectrum type radios.
I wrap the antenna wire around the lexan (which I use two sided tape to mount the lexan to the actual receiver)
Range has never been a problem as long as I’ve been using a good high end radio. (The AM style crystal radios do NOT like this at all)