Taylor Made RF TMRF-ADSB Window Mount Mk2

[Anmer]

The Taylor Made RF Window Mount Antenna - TMRF-ADSB Mk2

Just before Christmas, I dropped in to see Chris Taylor at Elstree Aerodrome.  I happened to mention that I was still in rented accommodation and couldn't install an external antenna until we eventually move to our new house.

A few weeks ago Chris kindly sent me a new Mark 2, TMRF-ADSB Window Mount antenna to test. He knew I couldn't install a pole mounted antenna and thought the window mount would be useful.

This short, light weight antenna is supplied with a bracket and two plastic suckers for attaching to a window, or, in my case, the uPVC facia board.  Unfortunately, the property is about 30 years old, maybe more, and the facia is slightly pitted.  Although the bracket does attach to the uPVC, it can detach itself if it's windy.

As soon as I set it up, I noticed a massive increase in range compared to the SBS-3 magmount sitting on a pizza tray in the loft. The external is about 4 feet higher than the magmount.

To avoid climbing the ladder to reattach the antenna if it's been windy, I grabbed some clamps and a piece of wood to make a more permanent installation.  It may look fragile, but it's survived the recent high winds, partly due to the light-weight antenna and bracket.

Today I moved the antenna up towards the ridge to see if the extra height made any difference. It did, but not much.

My current location is near Haverfordwest, just south of the Preseli Hills in Wales, the highest point being 1,759 feet above sea level.  The polar diagrams show the effect of these to the north and the Brecons to the east, from approx 310 through to 100 degrees.  To my south and west the coast is about 15 miles away and this is where I'm getting my best range.

The rented property is a bungalow and the antenna is about 15 feet above ground level.  In my previous house I had a pole mounted antenna at approx 30 feet above ground level, where I was getting a range of 250nm.  Here I'm getting just over 200nm which I think is pretty good value from a GBP £49.99 antenna.   I paid nearly 10 times that for an Elad, pre-amp and 10 metres of Ecoflex!

I've attached some images of the antenna mount and two polar diagrams.

The first compares the loft magmount in yellow and the external in red.  Quite a difference.

The second has a new plot with the antenna moved slightly higher (yellow) compared to the original location in red.  Some improvement to the east but not too much.

Overall, I'm really impressed with the performance.  It clearly shows the difference that an external antenna can make, even without an expensive pole.  Location, location as they say.  The roof tiles may be blocking data to the magmount but I was getting some plots at 200nm.  Outside and higher is making a big difference.  Unfortunately I have no idea if the external antenna has a better spec than the magmount.

The TMRF-ADSB Mk2 is supplied with 5 metres of low loss, 6mm cable which I could easily feed through an airbrick in the loft which you can see in one of the photos.

I'm hoping Chris will let me hang onto this "little ripper" for a bit longer to let me compare it to my original Elad when we move to our new house in a couple of month's time.  At just GBP £49.99, the TMRF-ADSB Mk2 is a very good performer at a very good price.

http://www.tmrf.co.uk/product/tmrf-adsb-window-mount-mk2/