Tagged: antenna

Improving Reception with the Stock RTL-SDR Antenna by Building a Corner Reflector

Last week a reader of RTL-SDR.com wrote into us to let us know about some experiments that he had been performing with the telescopic stock antennas provided in our RTL-SDR dongle packages. The reader had built a corner antenna reflector in order to improve reception in one direction. We are posting his write up and results below:

This tutorial will discuss the use of a Corner Reflector with a monopole antenna, i.e. the stock RTL-SDR antenna. To keep this tutorial concise, the reader is encouraged to study the Wikipedia pages for details about Corner Reflector Antennas, Dipoles and Monopoles.

Corner Reflector Antennas are very easily constructed from 2 A4-sized cardboard panels, covered with tinfoil. This allows for a foldable and transportable external reflector to the built-in wifi antennas of a laptop, which are located on the upper corners of the display. 

The reader is pointed to the fact that corner antennas are based on a Dipole, where the stock RTL-SDR antenna is a Monopole, so some adjustments will have to be made, which is discussed and explained later in this text. If there are real antenna specialists reading this, they are encouraged to do a more thorough writeup on the exact mechanism of a monopole-based corner reflector antenna, as there was little information to be found on the internet.

The experiment started as an attempt to receive a DVB-T signal centered around 506 MHz, from a mast about 10 miles away. Indoors. This should have given a clear and strong signal, but alas, the signal was very weak.

Initial reception of the DVB-T signal with the stock antenna and no modifications.
Initial reception of the DVB-T signal with the stock antenna and no modifications.

Reading up on Monopoles and their need for a ground plane, the magnetic base of the 14 cm long antenna was placed on a metal cooking pot. The signal was a lot stronger. (The middle part of the waterfall plot above.) Clearly a wooden table is not much of a ground plane.

Next a Corner Reflector was made from tinfoil and a cardboard box, much to the dismay of the resident Feline Overlord that had seized it. 🙂 A triangular piece was added for rigidity and as a ground plane. The Monopole antenna was placed on the ground plane triangle in the middle of the 90° corner and at the correct distance from the fold in the reflector. i.e. the Focal Axis, but the gain was less than the theoretical 10dB so this setup was unsuccessful. (Upper part of waterfall plot above.)

The breakthrough came when I wanted to study the effect of a larger ground plane. For this I put the corner reflector sideways and put the monopole on the outer edge to reduce possible reflections from the standing panel. There was only a slight effect compared to the cooking pot, so I decided to progressively move the monopole towards the back panel in order to see if the additional reflection would get some more gain. When I reached about 10 cm distance from the panel, the waterfall plot exploded with a very powerful signal! See the picture below for the transition from wooden table to the sideways configuration. (On top of the waterfall plot there is some residual from the ground plane cooking pot test.)

DVB-T signal with corner reflector.
DVB-T signal with corner reflector.

The setup looks like this:

04-sideways-setup
For a few days I was baffled as to why the corner reflector behaved this way. It had already dawned on me that the diagonal distance from the fold till the antenna tip was 14 cm in this configuration, so 1/4 WL. It was only after I visualized how a monopole works, that I understood: a 1/4 WL monopole is physically a quarter wavelength open ended resonator. i.e. at the base/feed point the electric current is maximum and the voltage minimum. At the tip it is reversed, with maximum voltage and zero current. See this page for details: http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/antennas/vertical-antennas/quarter-wavelength.php

Alternatively, the polar plot of a Corner Reflector Antenna also shows that the signal is weakest/zero in the direction of the panels, where the monopole base is located, while the maximum signal is along the center line between the 2 panels, which is where the tip of the monopole is located. Hence the signal *difference* over the monopole is thus maximized and this way it works best. As stated in the beginning, if an antenna expert can write up a better explanation, please contact the maintainer of the RTL-SDR Blog.

In retrospect, the original setup I tested could not work optimal since the entire monopole is irradiated equally if it is aimed along the Focal Axis. Moreover it was suspected that the mirror image antenna that makes a monopole work, was distorted because of the electrical contact between the triangular ground plane and the reflector panels. A test with an isolated triangular ground plane was planned but has now been permanently shelved.

For those who want to re-create the experiment, these are the reflector dimensions:

  • 2 panels of 42*25cm, joined along the longest side.
  • 36*25*25cm triangle at the bottom. This should give a 90° angle between the 2 largest panels.
  • The tinfoil can be wiped smooth and attached with some glue.

So to summarize;

  • Make sure you have a good ground plane!
  • A Corner Reflector Antenna can be constructed at frugal cost with a cardboard box and tinfoil. Larger reflectors are better, especially in the plane perpendicular to the Monopole, so it is better to have wide reflectors in stead of high reflectors.
  • Make sure the base of the stock monopole antenna is located in an area with low signal strength and the tip is located in an area of maximum signal, therefore maximizing the *difference* between base and tip of the Monopole. Usually this means perpendicular to the Focal Axis of the reflector panels.
  • Distances and Monopole lengths can easily be adjusted for various frequency ranges, making this a very versatile modification or enhancement to the stock antenna.

Speculation: Since there is a focal Axis rather than a Point (i.e. like a Parabolic Dish), the sideways configuration might be more suitable for tracking a moving satellite across the horizon, ideally at 45° azimuth.

Instructables Post on Building a Discone Antenna

A Discone is a wideband antenna that is a great starting antenna for general RTL-SDR use. Over on instructables.com, user cyfus has created an instructable showing how to build a 55 MHz+ home made discone antenna for his RTL-SDR dongle. His instructions show how to build it out of parts and tools sourced entirely from hardware and electronics stores.

Using this antenna cyfus was able to receive signals from 25 MHz to around 900 MHz.

Home made Discone Antenna
Home made Discone Antenna

Interest Check for an ADS-B Folded Monopole Antenna

Adam, manufacturer of the LNA4ALL and LNA4HF is putting out an interest check for an ADS-B folded monopole antenna. The antenna can efficiently cover the 1030 MHz to 1090 MHz frequencies that are used by ADS-B.

The major advantage to Adams antenna is that it uses a DC grounded design, eliminating static build up problems that can potentially fry your LNA or RTL-SDR dongle.

If there is sufficient interest, Adam will sell the antenna for 20 Euros.

ADS-B Folded Monopole Antenna
ADS-B Folded Monopole Antenna

Antenna Performance Comparison for the RTL-SDR

Akos from the SDR for Mariners blog has put out another post this time comparing various antennas cut for 121 MHz with the RTL-SDR. He tests monopole, dipole, two radial and rubber ducky antennas on their signal to noise ratio performance on an ATIS signal in SDRSharp.

It is important to note that different antennas will have different gain directionality, so your own experimentation may still be required for your own RF environment.

Main Antenna Comparison Results
Main Antenna Comparison Results

YouTube: Unboxing new Antennas for use with the RTL-SDR

On YouTube Eric William has posted a video showing him unboxing two new antennas that he intends to use with his RTL-SDR. He unboxes a new QFH antenna for use with receiving NOAA weather satellite images, and a new Discone antenna for general wideband receiving. If you are interested in buying commercial antennas for use with your RTL-SDR, this video may be useful at giving you some idea of what’s available.

New Antennas for my SDR Setup- Mailbag Monday

Eric also recently posted a video showing an overview of his RTL-SDR setup which is also an interesting watch.

USB Software Defined Radio- PC Software & Cloud Storage

Beginners Antenna Guide

Akos from the SDR for mariners blog has just written another post that is a guide on constructing and buying beginner level antennas for the RTL-SDR. The post shows how to build a simple ground plane antenna out of wire coat hangers, and also discusses monopoles, telescopic antennas, rubber duckys and discone antennas.

Simple Coat Hanger Groundplane
Wire coat hanger ground plane Antenna

Homemade ADS-B Collinear Antenna

Earlier in the week a video comparing a Discone to a Coax Collinear antenna for ADS-B reception was posted. The author of that video has now posted on his blog a tutorial on how he made the coax collinear antenna. Check out the video tutorial below.

Making an inexpensive 1090MHz ADS-B collinear antenna