Antenna

A good pair of antennas can greatly improve the reception of the Web-888 SDR.

GPS Antenna

We used an inexpensive 3.3V GPS active antenna during our development. Web-888 provides the voltage bias to antenna. It can find a similar ones in many channels.

Warning

Passive GPS Antenna may not give the best signal reception. It is not recommended.

HF Antenna

Loop Antennas

A loop antenna provides excellent reception of long, medium and short waves without the need for a ground grid or grounding.

There are two types of loop antennas, passive and active. Active antennas are smaller and provide a certain degree of sensitivity, but they also increase background noise; passive antennas have a lower background noise, but require a larger site to set up.

Depending on the usage scenario (urban buildings, rural areas), users can choose to use either active or passive antennas.

Below are the recommended loop antennas for use by the Web-888 SDR Project.

W6LVP Active Magnetic Loop Antenna
MegaLoop MLA-30 Active Magnetic Loop Antenna
Wellbrook ALA1530 Active Loop Antenna
K-180WLA Active Loop Antenna

Or you can try to DIY a loop antenna by following the information of the DIY project.

Whip and Probe Antenna

PA0RDT Mini Whip

The PA0RDT Mini Whip is an active antenna that is lightweight and portable, and can receive the frequencies covered by the Web-888 SDR with good reception, making it suitable for installation in tight spaces such as balconies.

However, there are some who believe that the PA0RDT Mini Whip is not a good performer, and in fact this is because many people do not install it in the correct way.

For information on how to properly install a PA0RDT Mini Whip antenna, please refer to the installation guide at swling.com/blog/2020/10/how-to-properly-install-a-mini-whip-antenna-in-an-noisy-urban-environment/ for the installation guide.

Long Wire Antennas

A long wire antenna is not a random wire. In fact, an antenna is called a long-wire antenna when it is longer than one wavelength and an integer multiple of its half-wavelength.

A quarter wavelength matching wire can be used to tune a long wire antenna. For example, to receive a shortwave broadcast of 49 m, a long wire of 49 / 4 = 12.25 m will give good results.

Please note that long wire antennas need to be used with a 9:1 Barron to match the impedance to receive medium and long wave broadcasts.

VHF Antenna

GP antenna is suggested in VHF band.