Use NAV dipole for comm?

[flytoday]

I don't use my VOR receiver at all. Could I add an additional comm radio option by disconnecting the VOR antenna lead in the panel and connecting it to a handheld comm radio? My current VOR antenna is a dipole on the tail.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

 

[Bob Kuykendall]

I don't use my VOR receiver at all. Could I add an additional comm radio option by disconnecting the VOR antenna lead in the panel and connecting it to a handheld comm radio? My current VOR antenna is a dipole on the tail.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

I think that that might seem to work over short distances, but would likely have shorter range and poorer reception than you want. At issue is that the nav signals are horizontally polarized, while com signals are vertically polarized. That's why VOR antennas stick out sideways and com antennas stick up or down. Also, the length of the nav dipole is optimized for lower frequencies than those used for com signals.

Thanks, Bob K.

 

[BobTurner]

Above post is correct. You'll probably see better performance if there is some way you can rotate the cat's whiskers so they both point down (or up). Then you'd have some vertical component.
Com frequencies are about 10% higher than nav frequencies, so you'd get a better match if you trim the length of both elements by 10%.

 

[flytoday]

Thanks

More investigation, decided to disable Comm 2 and use that belly antenna. Must not xmit with antenna disconnected.

Thanks for information!