I have a question about reciever antenna length. I see some guys running a short antenna wire with a tube and some arent using a antenna tube at all, I was wondering is it really necessary to use the antenna tube considering the technology of modern day radios, the main reason I am curious is when racing if u flip on your lid enough the antenna tube tends to bend then eventually break. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I have a Futaba 2.4GHz system and do not run a tube. I put a piece of 3M Dual Lock in the chassis near the Rx and thread the antenna wire through it. Keeps it in place and I've never had any reception issues.

There are two main purposes to using the tube.

1. It keeps the antenna straight for best reception/range
2. It protects the antenna from abrasion/tearing or getting caught in moving parts.

A good alternative is to use the tube but instead of mounting it vertically you could mount it horizontally. However if you're running carbon fiiber or grapite it's best not to lay if horizontally.

I use a lighter to bend to tube to keep it under the body...

I'm curious about antenna routing, too.

My Cen Matrix R2 came with a fairly long antenna tube; most of the antenna wire fit in it with just a little extra to run around inside the receiver/battery box. I can see the antenna tube takes a beating in roll-overs and sometimes it gets abused when I'm working on the buggy, so I ordered a couple of spare tubes from A-Main. But the ones I got from them are much shorter than the tube that came with my car.

Is it best to leave the end off the tube and let the excess antenna wire hang out the top, or better to just keep the excess inside the receiver/battery box?

The R2 is my first foray into nitro cars. I've been flying R/C airplanes for many years (and proper antenna placement is very important with them).

Take it easy,
desmobob

You can see a diff in range when you range check with the antenna wire completely run thru the tube and hanging out versus bundling the extra in the rcvr box or somewhere inside the rc.

I push maybe a 1/4" back in the tube then put the cap on it to hold it. I use a piece of heat shrink to secure the rest of the antenna wire rather than let it just be loose. I used to use a piece of fuel tubing, but the heat shrink is 'cleaner'. It makes it less of a hassle taking body on/off. I thionk its also less likely to get damaged or torn off this way too.

One other thing I've started doing to help save the antenna tube a little - I drill a new antenna tube hole at an angle so when a rollover happens the tube isn't at 90degrees to the slide. Seems to help. I use nylon tubes made by Yokomo - they're longer than most of my rtr tubes and they don't kink as easily as the rtr tubes do.

I do the same thing. I still run FM and my antenna wire is almost twice as long as my tube. So I run my antenna wire all the way thru the tube then place the cap on. Then I cover the tube with heat shrink tubing. This makes a very neat install.


Pass you soon...