Rail Car Cell antenna for Verizon

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 5:25 am

i need to install 2 hands free kits into cars at the rail road here in essex ct

i am thinking about going with a antenna Specialist "transit antenna"

but i think a whip with gain may work out better juts not 100% shure yet

any ideads

k2hz · Post by **k2hz** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 11:53 am

While the gain whip will work slightly better for communications, it may not survive in the railroad environment.

In addition to the breakage problem, there may be safety issues.

I recently did a RR VHF installation in a privately owned Pullman car.
The car owner informed me that there was a warning from Amtrak against use of whip antennas due to danger of arcing to the 25 KV catenary.

I used a Radiall/Larsen Mirage low profile antenna.

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:20 pm

i use a sinclair locomotive on the rail road frequency thay work good

SlimBob · Post by **SlimBob** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 9:24 pm

k2hz wrote:I recently did a RR VHF installation in a privately owned Pullman car.
The car owner informed me that there was a warning from Amtrak against use of whip antennas due to danger of arcing to the 25 KV catenary.

I used a Radiall/Larsen Mirage low profile antenna.

I'd say that's a strong incentive not to use a whip.

JohnWayne · Post by **JohnWayne** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 9:32 pm

Sounds like a perfect application for the Antenex Phantom antennas. They are low-profile and won't (or shouldn't) arc to the catenary like a normal whip would. You can check them out at http://shop.waltel.com under Mobile Antennas.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Jeff

tvsjr · Post by **tvsjr** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 11:32 pm

Considering you're looking at rail service, I wouldn't use anything based on a standard NMO mount. Use a real transit antenna... they ain't cheap, but they'll hold up to that kind of service.

Arcing to the catenary would be a bee-itch.

k2hz · Post by **k2hz** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:36 am

I selected the Larsen Mirage instead of an Antennex Phantom for the Pullman car because the Larsen is factory tuned to 160.2-162.7. Field tuning a Phantom mounted on top of the car would have involved a lot of trial and error and climbing on and off the top of the car to check each adjustment.

I agree that NMO mounts may be a problem in RR service if the antenna is in a vulnerable location. Some RRs require that anything mounted on a car or locomtive in a location where someone is likely to climb when doing maintenance must be strong enough to support the weight of a man in case someone tries to grab it for a handhold.

The Sinclair Excaliber is the "gold standard" for RR use. It is a pain to install but it is indestructible. Transit antennas are a second choce but the radome is still subject to damage.

I was told the Amtrak warning was due to an actual incident where a combination of low catenary and a high antenna on a private car had disasterous results.

wa2zdy · Post by **wa2zdy** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:26 am

k2hz wrote:I was told the Amtrak warning was due to an actual incident where a combination of low catenary and a high antenna on a private car had disasterous results.

Yep, the catenary is lower in stations, etc. I'm thinking Penn Station in NYC where the catenary is very low and the pantographs are almost in the fully down position. So Amtrak is correct; the whip is a VERY bad idea.

Good luck.

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:45 am

umm well our cars never leave the short line only worry is trees ( the cars dont have rollser Bearing)

i might just go with the antenna specialist tranist or the sinclair randome

i wish they made the excailibur in 800mhz

spareparts · Post by **spareparts** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:59 am

KitN1MCC wrote:umm well our cars never leave the short line only worry is trees ( the cars dont have roller Bearing)

Family friend is a part owner of a Private Car. They have a RR Spectra and a low profile Sinclair antenna.

Fully FRA Compliant, set up for Head end power, 27 pin trainline connector, with a 100 KW genset for the hotel load when HEP is not available. BTW, They just spent a ton of money on the PC2 inspection where they lift the car off the trucks. It was even more expensive to abate the asbestos prior starting the restoration.

Too rich for me....

Martin