Chris Wolcott wrote:
> I'm planning on mounting my receiver under the cab in a psuedo-firebox
> and running the antenna around the frame to the front pilot and back on
> the other side. Will this work OK, or will the metal of the frame block
> the signal?
Chris, everything I've read indicates that this is probably the worst place to
put an antenna, for the reason you mention.
Did you read Terry Schellenberger's articles on battery power and radio control
in sparkies (Garden Railways, the first several issues this year)? In it, he
mentioned that the best way he's found to "shorten" the antenna and still get
good reception is to cut a piece of cardboard or stiff plastic with pinking
shears, when wind the antenna wire around it so it is in a flat spiral, without
crossing over itself. (Did that make sense?) Jeff Young's upcoming article
about installing R/C in his Ruby used the same technique, which gave him a flat
panel that was pretty easy to mount in the cab.
regards,
-vance-
