Popular Post parkgt Posted January 18, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 18, 2023 I had seen a vague reference that the antenna cable from the coil did not have to come all the way up to the RC to get a signal. I don't dive but, may want to detect the edge of fresh water streams, ponds and lakes. What I came up with will allow submerging the coil about 20" inches or so. It can be left in place for ground hunting and does not prevent quickly collapsing or taking apart the rods. So I bought a thin black RG174 coaxial cable to play with. I stripped the ends and used marine grade heatshrink to seal them back up. I made the length just long enough to extend past the end of the lower rod. Wire tied the lower end and just left the upper end loose in the lower rod. Two short clips show a testing using a penny off the side of a pond dock. I will need to do some more testing but the initial results look promising 12 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPT_GhostLight Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 That is absolutely brilliant! The antenna wire does just need to be above the waterline to work. It only has to touch the remote for diving. Well done, parkgt! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCtoad Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 Excellent! This setup is perfect for me as I rarely water hunt but would like to submerge the coil at the edge of streams or in springs, etc. Thanks for sharing! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkgt Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 It is also possible to charge the coil without removing the cable ties at the bottom end on the coil. Just be sure to get things positioned far enough away from the charging clamp area. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unox Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 What a great idea, this type of setup will work for me as well.... I don't go in deep on the beach, just on the waters edge and maybe a foot or so under at times. I have been using my 800 on the beach for this reason. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jed in NC Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Does the signal travel on the center conductor or the shield, or both? Just curious if you removed the shield on both ends under the heat shrink. Super great idea! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkgt Posted January 19, 2023 Author Share Posted January 19, 2023 23 minutes ago, Jed in NC said: Does the signal travel on the center conductor or the shield, or both? Just curious if you removed the shield on both ends under the heat shrink. Super great idea! I removed 1" of shielding from both ends. I don't know if more or less would make a difference in results. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPT_GhostLight Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Yep, the center wire is the RF conductor. The outer wire sheilds against EMI interference. I hope you don't mind that I post this here, Greg, but there's some useful info in this video showing Gigmaster doing his version of transmitter wire replacements that may help others interested in doing these kind of mods. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPT_GhostLight Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Just FYI, after doing a little research, I believe the XP stock antenna wire is RG179. The only practical differences between RG179 and RG174 are the following: RG174 typically has 50 Ohm resistance with copper clad steel conductor and copper braid shield, RG179 typically has 75 Ohm resistance with a silver coated copper clad steel conductor and silver coated copper braid shield. RF performance is practically identical, specially in the XP application, however there may be an EMI shielding advantage to RG179, but underwater that is negated. As a side note, the brownish black discoloration of the antenna wire reported by some beach hunters may be tarnishing of the silver coated shield wire caused by seepage of salt water, which over time would probably lead to corrosion and breakage. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Anybody know where to get the little tether that he uses for his remote module to the shaft that you can see in the video? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now