This is a great explanation! I worked for a manufacturing company who wanted to use RFID labels to check if boxes had the correct parts and quantities as they were being shipped. The issue was the parts were large, in large boxes, stacked on top of each other made of half metal half plastic. The antennas were mounted at the loading dock's entrance to the trucks. Between the all-steal fork truck absorbing all the energy and the metal shipping containers turning the antennas into satellite dishes, those radio waves bounced everywhere and were reading parts sometimes 20 feet away but missing parts right under its nose. Both the onsite manufacturing engineers (that put it in and then expected me to get it to work) and the RFID salespeople.. they were both on the same page of a magical perfect world that didn't exist.
Wow, that sounds like a really complicated RF scenario. Normally RFID antennas are made so they provide a very short range for that type of reason. I hope it got sorted in the end.
@@ElectronicsNotes 100% Yep! After telling our biggest customer it was working, the guy who put it in originally went down every day and counted by hand! 🤪
Yes, I'd like to suggest Plasma Antennas. The one that I think I saw looked like a fluorescent tube but with a twisted wall shape, seemingly not symmetrical, and the tube appeared pink outdoors in daylight. It stood vertically, and appeared to have a motorized perhaps stepper motor base upon which it could spin. I thought it looked as if the partly spiral shape, when spun, would allow a moving slit in the tube to scan about a five foot vertical beam. I believe it may be a means to view at high resolution inside structures from about 20 meters or more away.
Thank you for presenting this simplified form of radio antenna theory. I love it. I am trying to learn as much as I can about ham radio but, the information is so overwhelming. Besides all the theory, I am trying to learn how to solder and put all the wires together. I wish there was a book on putting it all together in a simplified form. I have no electric background so, I am having to learn all that so that I don't blow anything up or ruin my radio. Thank you so very much for presenting this video. KO4UWU
Thank you for your comment - I really appreciate it. I know that electronics can become overwhelming when you start, so I do try to provide videos that expain the concepts. I am hoping to make a few more in this series before too long. Are there any other things you would like me to cover?
@@IanPoole Well, let me give that some thought. I have all the ARRL books but reading through them is a little overwhelming also. Someone suggested that I buy The Art of Electronics book. I will give more thought to your question about some other questions I may have. I think sometimes I over think some things. I am going to practice putting ring terminals and power poles on a scrape piece of power cable. In purchasing insulated connectors does it matter what material they are made of? I see a lot of Amazon that are tinned copper and some that aren't. Does this make a difference? Thank you again. One other thing, my elmer gave me a MFJ-4125, do I really need this piece of equipment for running my radio?
Thanks for thinking if there are any other topics you might like me to cover. I am looking at covering some of the aspects of antennas such as matching, impedance, polarisation, etc in more detail. As for the connectors, often the part you solder onto is tinned to make it easier for the solder to take. You want to make sure the solder does not flow onto the contact itself. Normally this isn't an issue, but they are often gold plated to ensure the best ohmic contact. As for the MFJ-4125, it looks like a rather nice power supply. It could be used to power a transceiver or transmitter running of a nominal 12 volt line. It supplies 13.8 volts at up to about 25 amps. Rather nice.
I am still using my outside tv antenna. For some reason my channel 5 signal strength is lower in the daytime and stronger at night. I remember when AM station had to follow rules on their Broadcast power based on sunrise and sunset. Does the FCC have some rules like that for TV stations? 5:53
I'm curious on how the various Martian rovers etc are communicating with Earth based receivers. I have always been under the impression that interplanetary space is a noisy electromagnetic environment, and the considerable physical distances involved would require a substantial remote transmitter and antenna array.
Yes signal levels are low because if the distances involved. High gain antennas are used at the earth end. Receiver front end noise is one of the main limiting factors on the frequencies used.
This is a great explanation! I worked for a manufacturing company who wanted to use RFID labels to check if boxes had the correct parts and quantities as they were being shipped. The issue was the parts were large, in large boxes, stacked on top of each other made of half metal half plastic. The antennas were mounted at the loading dock's entrance to the trucks. Between the all-steal fork truck absorbing all the energy and the metal shipping containers turning the antennas into satellite dishes, those radio waves bounced everywhere and were reading parts sometimes 20 feet away but missing parts right under its nose. Both the onsite manufacturing engineers (that put it in and then expected me to get it to work) and the RFID salespeople.. they were both on the same page of a magical perfect world that didn't exist.
Wow, that sounds like a really complicated RF scenario. Normally RFID antennas are made so they provide a very short range for that type of reason. I hope it got sorted in the end.
@@ElectronicsNotes 100% Yep!
After telling our biggest customer it was working, the guy who put it in originally went down every day and counted by hand! 🤪
Yes, I'd like to suggest Plasma Antennas. The one that I think I saw looked like a fluorescent tube but with a twisted wall shape, seemingly not symmetrical, and the tube appeared pink outdoors in daylight. It stood vertically, and appeared to have a motorized perhaps stepper motor base upon which it could spin. I thought it looked as if the partly spiral shape, when spun, would allow a moving slit in the tube to scan about a five foot vertical beam. I believe it may be a means to view at high resolution inside structures from about 20 meters or more away.
That’s certainly an interesting idea.
Thank you for presenting this simplified form of radio antenna theory. I love it. I am trying to learn as much as I can about ham radio but, the information is so overwhelming. Besides all the theory, I am trying to learn how to solder and put all the wires together. I wish there was a book on putting it all together in a simplified form. I have no electric background so, I am having to learn all that so that I don't blow anything up or ruin my radio. Thank you so very much for presenting this video. KO4UWU
Thank you for your comment - I really appreciate it. I know that electronics can become overwhelming when you start, so I do try to provide videos that expain the concepts. I am hoping to make a few more in this series before too long.
Are there any other things you would like me to cover?
@@IanPoole Well, let me give that some thought. I have all the ARRL books but reading through them is a little overwhelming also. Someone suggested that I buy The Art of Electronics book. I will give more thought to your question about some other questions I may have. I think sometimes I over think some things. I am going to practice putting ring terminals and power poles on a scrape piece of power cable. In purchasing insulated connectors does it matter what material they are made of? I see a lot of Amazon that are tinned copper and some that aren't. Does this make a difference? Thank you again. One other thing, my elmer gave me a MFJ-4125, do I really need this piece of equipment for running my radio?
Thanks for thinking if there are any other topics you might like me to cover. I am looking at covering some of the aspects of antennas such as matching, impedance, polarisation, etc in more detail.
As for the connectors, often the part you solder onto is tinned to make it easier for the solder to take. You want to make sure the solder does not flow onto the contact itself. Normally this isn't an issue, but they are often gold plated to ensure the best ohmic contact.
As for the MFJ-4125, it looks like a rather nice power supply. It could be used to power a transceiver or transmitter running of a nominal 12 volt line. It supplies 13.8 volts at up to about 25 amps. Rather nice.
@@ElectronicsNotes Thank you so very much.
I am still using my outside tv antenna.
For some reason my channel 5 signal strength is lower in the daytime and stronger at night.
I remember when AM station had to follow rules on their Broadcast power based on sunrise and sunset.
Does the FCC have some rules like that for TV stations?
5:53
I confess I’m not familiar with FCC regs as I am based in the UK.
Does anyone else know?
@@ElectronicsNotes thanks for the response and checking around with your subscribers.
I'm curious on how the various Martian rovers etc are communicating with Earth based receivers.
I have always been under the impression that interplanetary space is a noisy electromagnetic environment, and the considerable physical distances involved would require a substantial remote transmitter and antenna array.
Yes signal levels are low because if the distances involved. High gain antennas are used at the earth end. Receiver front end noise is one of the main limiting factors on the frequencies used.
@@ElectronicsNotes OK, thanks for the comment.
said it on X and say it again fantastic easy to follow and understand thank you
I’m really glad you found the video accessible and useful. Thanks for commenting here and on X.