Is it OK to turn on Reach RS(+) without antennas attached?

Reach RS / RS+ Getting started
1

Hello!
I have heard it can be harmful to VHF radios to transmit without an antenna attached, so I wondered about the Reach RS(+).

Best regards,
Lars

2

I believe that’s the case for higher-powered systems like CB’s. I am glad you brought it up though because I have been doing my configurations at home with them off. Of course I am not really transmitting and receiving a high amount.

Something I found…
The main purpose of a VHF antenna is to provide a radiator for the power that the transmitter in the radio produces, and to radiate this energy in the correct direction.

3

I would like to get a definitive answer as well. Originally I would leave the antennas off when doing configurations and downloading the log files. But I did find that the Wi-Fi signal sometimes was really bad when the antennas were off and I wondered if it was bad for them, so I now just screw on the antenna and flip it sideways and set it on the table.

4

Side note: Are the antenna just for LoRa?

5

I guess Emlid can say for certain but I think so. I used this app recently to finda lost Jetpack. Tomorrow I will do a quick test to compare signal strength with and without.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wifibooster.wifisignalbooster

1 Like
7

The antenna is for LoRa only and you can safely use Reach RS/RS+ without LoRa antenna on.

The requirement to have the antenna attached all the time comes from very high power radios, which generate a lot of heat without the antenna. LoRa radio inside Reach RS is really efficient and consumes only a a fraction of the power of typical radios in RTK receivers. Also, if you disable corrections output to LoRa in base mode tab the radio will not transmit anything at all.

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8

Thank you very much!