Posted by rfboy on May 22, 2001 at 03:47:43:
In Reply to: AIRPLANE posted by Dave on May 21, 2001 at 10:22:21:
You probably are having issues with an annoying attenuation effect that exists in most planes today.
I sort of call it the window effect, and it applies to both transmitted and received signals in the cabin.
A general rule of thumb is to get a window seat and to make sure that your receiver (or transmitter) is less then 6 inches away from the window. 7 inches away will probably lead to complete radio blackout (its a pretty sharp cuttoff) and an antenna pressed to the window will have nearly no loss. Goes to show how heavily they shield those damn planes...
line-of-sight from 3x,000 feet is pretty amazing if you ever get the chance to play up there. ham, AMPS, CDPD, etc. work like a charm -- CDMA breaks *big suprise* along with BSWD (it will receive however). And of course traditional receiving works ok, but there is quite a bit of noise from the plane and electronics. I never got my GPS to work, but it has a cheapo internal antenna; i didnt expect much out it.
If you play with any txing, and you have permission of course!!! keep it 600mW or less.
: Ok I have a question. Ok I got permision from the Captain of the Airplane I was on, to use my 245 XLT,during the flight. How come at 38,000 ft I could not pick up any aircraft comunication? till I got back onthe ground and in the termenial??
: Dave.....