News

We are delighted to introduce Harxon UAV and surveying antennas to the UK. Harxon offers a full range of high quality, high precision, multi-constellation GNSS antennas for many applications including precision agriculture, UAVs, geo-surveying and portable and mobile positioning systems.

Included in the range are low profile GNSS helix antennas as well as anti-shock and vibration surveying antennas.

Featured antennas are the HX-CH7609A, the HX-CHX600A and HX-602A. Visit the product pages to check them out!

For more information on Harxon GNSS antennas, pricing and availability, please contact us.

If you need 5G 4G outdoor antennas for deployments all year round, here are a few quality antennas to consider.

AllDisc 5G – a high gain, low profile dome antenna for permanent mounting. A best-in-class antenna offering 5G and 4G support for mounting on a flat surface (or with an option wall bracket). The AllDisc is fully weatherproof and robust offering superb gain figures across the bands, ideal for sites on the fringes of the network where a tough, discreet antenna is required such as security, CCTV and site applications.

MHO5GFR1 – a fully wideband 5G/4G  antenna. This omni is a high-performance omnidirectional antenna series is designed to cover frequencies from 617 – 5925 MHz for broadband access applications. With its integral N Female and N Male connector options at the base, this antenna can be directly mounted on the radio equipment or pole mounted depending on which model you order. This antenna is great for access applications requiring a compact, but consistently performing outdoor omni.

BMLPV5000 – an extremely rugged 5G antenna for mobile applications such as utility vehicles, transportation as well as fixed deployments in harsh environments. This antenna is ground-plane dependent and should be used with either a magnetic or permanent mount terminated in a cable and connector of your choice. Durable to withstand impacts and all the weather can throw at it, this antenna is especially neat for telematics and ITS installations.

VerStack 5G – a high performance MIMO 5G +GNSS antenna ideal for private 5G networks and small cell applications. A design based on vertically stacked 5G and GNSS elements, its ruggedized materials provide maximum durability, and performance for mobile data and video communications.

These 5G 4G outdoor antennas offer unrivaled performance and build quality from world-leading antenna manufacturer PCTEL.

Please feel free to contact us to discuss how to integrate these antennas in your 5G outdoor deployment alongside low loss coaxial cables, surge protectors and mounting accessories.

The SMP-5G panel antenna manufactured by Sirio is a compact, directional antenna covering 2G/3G/4G and 5G frequency bands.
Ideal for multi-band 5G outdoor installations as well as indoor deployments, the SMP 5G offers 4-6 dBi gain in the low band, 9-10 dBi in the middle band and 11-12 dBi in the upper two bands respectively.
It housed in an UV resistant radome and can be pole or wall-mounted with pole clamps included in the package. For discreet applications, the SMP is ideal as it is compact, but offers exceptional RF performance.

The SMP-5G panel antenna is stock item, please contact us to place your order!

For UK customers, it can also be ordered via the Connex webshop.

EAD is pleased to introduce an improved LPO6938-4P-WB antenna based on a new UV-resistant ASA bracket. With possibilities for wall, pole and rail, mounting, this antenna is designed to complement 5G routers.

Our new ASA bracket offers more mounting options for external applications such as security, wireless CCTV, leisure marine and network resilience. With solid gain figures across the bands, the LPO6938 offers robust performance in a reduced height form factor. We have also added a strain relief plug where the cables exit the antenna for durability and to protect against moisture ingress.

For quotes and lead times for our improved LPO6938-4P-WB antenna, please contact us or your local EAD distributor.

Effective 15th August 2022, EAD has moved to new premises on the Osney Mead business estate in Oxford.

Our new contact details are as follows:

Embedded Antenna Design Ltd
Unit 19, Kings Meadow
Ferry Hinksey Road
Oxford
OX2 0DP

Tel: +44 (0) 1865 548185

Helium Outdoor Antennas FAQ

1. What is an omni-directional antenna?
   • a omni-directional antenna is an antenna that radiates in every direction.
2. What characteristics does a good helium omni antenna need?
   • A good outdoor helium omni antenna needs to combine effective RF performance with excellent build quality. Reliable gain figures are important for planning your deployment and the use of quality materials such as fibreglass tubes to ensure longevity when exposed long term to UV from sunlight and the weather.
3. What mounting options are possible?
   • A good helium antenna will offer multiple mounting possibilities. Limiting the mounting to only pole mount or only wall-mount is restrictive therefore an antenna that offers both mounting options is preferred.
4. Is the choice of RF cable important for Helium deployments?
   • The selection of quality RF cable is important for Helium antenna deployments especially for longer cable runs where it is critical to minimize signal losses (attenuation) over the length of the cable. For 10M or 20M cables, look towards 240 or 400 type cables respectively to mitigate signal losses.
5. Is a surge arrestor required for Helium installs?
   • This is really a question for the installer. In the UK lightning strikes are very rare, so typically surge protectors are not used as the chance of a strike is so low. However, a “belt-and-braces” approach might be considered where a surge protector is used.
6. What the best advice for choosing a Helium outdoor antenna?
   • Use a quality antenna from a reputable manufacturer where you can be sure that the specifications published match the performance of the antenna. Ensuring that the antenna is made of quality materials means that the antenna is unlikely to fail with a few weeks of installation. Select high quality low loss cables that mean you do not lose all the gain offered by the antenna over the cable run.

We hope this short Helium Outdoor Antennas FAQ has been useful. Check out the Helium antennas at our web shop.

The Trooper II Six Port 5G antenna from PCTEL has been introduced. This antenna is compatible with the leading 5G OEM routers, featuring six high-efficiency 5G FR1 antenna elements that deliver fast and reliable connectivity for voice, video, and data transmissions. It also contains PCTEL’s proprietary high-rejection, multi-constellation GNSS L1 L2 L5technology for high precision location tracking

With excellent RF performance, low profile form factor and slim footprint, it is ideal for industrial IoT, intelligent transportation, public safety and enterprise applications.

Check out the Trooper II product page here.

For more information on the Trooper II Six Port 5G antenna, pricing and availability, please contact us.

The Helium network offering low power coverage across the world is rapidly growing in popularity. Across the world, as Helium miners are being deployed, people are looking at outdoor omni-directional antennas to optimise coverage from each miner installed.

This brief comment is going to focus on build quality.

There are quite a few outdoor antennas on the market, but selecting one with build quality good enough to be permanently installed outdoors without falling apart is critical.

Many low (and very low) cost antennas are available from online market places. Ignoring poor RF performance for now, many of these low cost antennas suffer from poor build quality or inferior materials and are unlikely to survive one average winter outdoors.

Our suggestion is to look for European-manufactured Helium outdoor antennas that tend to focus on quality materials and not solely on price. One particular area to focus on is the sheath or tube as poor materials weather and crack very rapidly leading to unit failure. A proven, durable option is an antenna with a fibreglass tube which will withstand many winter’s deployment without suffering weather or UV-degradation.

Also check the brackets/clamps that come with antenna. Are they fit for purpose? Is the antenna secure enough when mounted?

There is nothing worse than having to replace the antenna you took the trouble to install three months ago due poor survivability of the materials.

Just in case you’re interested, here is a link where you can purchase quality fibreglass tube 868 MHz antennas.

RF400 offers LMR400 alternative for very low loss cable runs to complement 4G and 5G router installations. It is quality 50 Ohm coaxial cable manufactured in Europe and directly comparable to LMR400.

For custom cable runs beyond 10m, RF400 is a cost-effective and high performing cable solution. Here at EAD, we measure and the cut the RF400 cable to your desired length and terminate with your choice of connector. We typically terminate with N-Type, SMA, TNC, RP-SMA, RP-TNC or BNC.

For finished RF400 custom cables, we offer competitive pricing and rapid turnaround from point of order. Ideally suited to complement high gain outdoor antennas, either directional or omni-directional, using RF400 enables you to install the antenna further away from the router.

RF400 is not only used for 4G / 5G installations. RF400 offers LMR400 alternative for LoRa at 868 MHz or 915 MHz, for GNSS or UHF applications.

For specific requirements, please contact us. Alternatively, you can order selected RF400 cables online here.

Please note we do not supply bulk cable, only finished and terminated custom cable assemblies.

For smaller diameter cables, check out RF195 or RF240.

The MiniBlade wideband compact WiFi blade antenna from Smarteq is a new release covering 2.4 GHz to 6 GHz. It is an adhesive mounted omni-directional ultra-wideband antenna. Ideal for applications such as indoor WiFi coverage, internet onboard buses and Wifi zones, it can be easily installed on on glass or other non-conductive surface.

With compact dimensions of 55.6 x 23.6 x 6.6mm, the MiniBlade offers gain ranging from 3.8 dBi at 2400 MHz to 7 dBi in the 5 GHz band. It’s flexible and slim construction makes mounting straightforward, even on curved surfaces.

For more information and pricing on the MiniBlade Wideband compact antenna and other Smarteq products, please contact us.

Check out other Smarteq antennas like the AllDisc and the SmartDisc.