Antenna Selection Guide

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

GPS Antenna

During development, we used an inexpensive 3.3V GPS active antenna. The Web-888 provides the voltage bias required for active antennas. You can find similar antennas from many suppliers.

Warning

Passive GPS antennas may not provide optimal signal reception and are not recommended.

HF Antenna Options

Loop Antennas

Loop antennas provide excellent reception of long, medium, and short wave signals without the need for a ground grid or grounding system.

There are two types of loop antennas: passive and active. Active antennas are smaller and provide increased sensitivity, but they also increase background noise. Passive antennas have lower background noise but require more space for installation.

Depending on your usage scenario (urban buildings, rural areas), you can choose either active or passive antennas.

Recommended loop antennas for use with the Web-888 SDR:

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

Alternatively, you can try building your own loop antenna by following the information in our DIY loop antenna project.

Whip and Probe Antennas

PA0RDT Mini Whip

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

Some people believe that the PA0RDT Mini Whip is not a good performer, but this is often because many people don't install it correctly.

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/.

Long Wire Antennas

A long wire antenna is not just a random wire. An antenna is classified as a long-wire antenna when it is longer than one wavelength and an integer multiple of half-wavelengths.

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

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

VHF Antenna

A ground plane (GP) antenna is recommended for the VHF band.