Riddle me this… Antenna question

Mining & Hardware
#1

I have a two piece 15dbi antenna. Basically the two halves screw into each other to form one long antenna. My question is can you only hook up the bottom half and use that as an antenna? I mean it should still work, right? And does that mean it’s a 7.5dbi antenna? No one online that I’ve come across has had a definite answer.

I was about to email RAK wireless since I got no response in their discord but I thought I’d post something here first. Any antenna experts here know?

Before you tell me “just hook it up and see”, just know that my current antenna was a pain in the a$$ to set up so replacing it would be a big hassle I’d like to avoid

#2

Guess not, haha

#3

go on the discord helium section. i know a bunch about helium, but antenna info i very much lack.

#4

I got banned from that discord server, haha

I got into an argument with a mod, and rather than agree to disagree he decided to ban me :joy:

#5

You need to connect both parts in order for the antenna to function correctly. Don’t forget to put a robust Lighting plug and properly ground the cable before attaching to your mining unit.

A simple way to boost your antenna is to buy a 10’ section of chain link fence support bar and then strap it to your chimney.

I did this a week ago and it totally rocks helium.

1 Like
#6

I’ve been mining HNT for a year now. Got myself a few hotspots as well. I also heard from RAK stating that the antenna would work very poorly due to noise bleeding into the cable

#7

HI,
No, it doesn’t quite work like that with lengths of antenna although, depending on the antenna length out of the box. You are trying to mix antenna gain with frequency match. The first thing you have to do is figure the operating frequency of the HNT miner for your country As I recall, Helium broadcasts in the 33cm, 902mhz band in the US. So, you have to figure out the type of antenna you want. A full wave, 5/8th, half wave or quarter wave. Depending on that will determine the gain. Of course, the thicker the antenna for example effects frequency bandwidth and I think gain to some extent. The dbi gain is then effected by which antenna you choose (length), then how high off the ground, type of soil, counter poise (radials) used. Also keep in mind HNT miners are operating in mostly line of sight so it’s important to not have obstructions and the reason everyone just says get it as high as you can is there are less line of sight obstructions the higher you install. If you know a Ham Radio person, they should be able to help you with antenna selection. Look on line for LORA WAN antennas, some will tell you what I think you are trying to do. Good Luck Howard