Iridium HC610 antenna mount by airframes.io

 The wait was worth it.
The crew at https://shop.airframes.io have really done an amazing job with this antenna mount.

Backing up just a bit and sort of repeating a bit more of what's already on my GitHub Iridium page, but this time, we are just talking about antennas for Iridium.

Over the years I've easily tested about 8 to 10 antennas and 3 SDRs and a lot of combinations of them.
I guess an exhaustive blog should really photograph and list model numbers... And if the results had been close or nebulous in any way, IF that were the case, then yes, I would be listing everything I've tried and would be asking for sanity checks left and right.

But, as you can probably tell, there was no uncertainty; we have a rock solid clear 'winner' in the Iridium antenna world.

The winner first....

The HC610. Small in size, beast in Iridium ACARS.

Let's see some of who else was in the race...

The UFO and 'the stick'.
Both about the same. The UFO was active. The stick, passive, but I always test passive antennas with and without the nooelec iridium IR LNA.
The UFO is a BT-170.
The stick is this guy

I had hopes for the no-name little guy on the right....

But sadly, while it was active, it was mostly just deaf.

Here is another mini-UFO that sounded good on the spec sheet, but wasn't in the real world.

Proof that bigger is not always better.
The UFO, the bluecosmo and the HC610

I also tested several patch antennas.

Most patch antennas are L-Band, but some are promoted as specifically for Iridium.
I tested them as well. The 'taoglas' on the right is a perfect example of a patch promoted as being 'special' for Iridium. Yeah. Nah.

Including the RTL-Blog large patch antenna (that they promote as Ok for Iridium - I emailed them and asked they drop the iridium use case - they didn't).

So so so many horrible patch antennas. They just need to all go away for L-Band and Iridium. Use them on GPS if you must, but please, for your sanity and mine, just stop using patch antennas for pretty much everything other than GPS (The RTLSDR-Blog large patch is Okay for STDC and not much else).

I even stooped to the bottom of the patch options and gave this combo a test run.

Ok, enough with the patch antenna insanity.

I think my point is clear: I have tested a LOT of antennas and spent a LOT of money so that you don't have to. All done in the effort to get this interesting new satcom ACARS mode off the ground in the most effective and proven setup possible.

Small but mighty. This is THE Iridium combo.

I get my HC610 from Digikey most times, but depending on where in the world you are, there are a lot of different sellers. Just be sure to get the active option. They do sell a HC610 that is passive. So take your time and don't just click the 'buy now' on the first one you see. Google will guide you to a seller in your part of the world. (I've been harshly criticized for providing links and for not providing links - I'm just trying to help, honestly. I'm one guy doing all this. To link or not to link should not result in angry DMs, but here we are....).

Ok, so you have your antenna. How do you hold it in the air?
Well, it depends. 
Are you mounting it on top of a pole, on a flat surface, or on the side of a pole?
If you are going on top, the mount choice is clear...
Head on over to the HC610 antenna mount page  at airframes.io and click Buy with shop.

Here is what you are going to get....

Can't promise you will get a Lego piece, but it was a quirky, fun surprise.

The anodizing is spot on as is the drilled and machined holes. Just really a work of art.

The pole mount is made to fit a pole with an outside diameter of 32mm or 1 and 1/4 inches.

Do note that they also offer a flat surface mount option.

Be sure and select the correct one for your mount location.

I really like both / either of these aluminum mounts as it is perfectly flat. Why does that matter? Note the bottom of the HC610 antenna; it has a rubber O-ring to keep the water out of the coax. The flat mount of the airframes plates will ensure that the O ring can do its job.

Ok, what if you are not going to flat mount or pole mount your Iridium setup. Then what?
Well, at this point, we enter DIY land....

I used this 3D printed arm at our Idaho KCOE station and was pretty happy - with some gotchas.

Here is the print file that will get you started: https://www.printables.com/model/430130-25mm-pole-mount-for-hc610-iridium-antenna

Two traps. Firstly, be sure and know your pole diameter. Ours was under the size we printed it for and so had to shim the pole mount with some rubber to get the clamp part to grab the skinny pole.

Second trap, the mount print is for a thin coax with SMA connector. 
In KCOE case, we had a thick coax with N-type connector.

I had to drill and Dremel out the 3D print to get the N connector to fit up the guts.
The other issue is that the print is not perfectly flat and so I chose to put some silicon sealant under the HC610 in addition to its O-ring to help keep the water out of the coax.

If you are going to do wall wall-mount thing, here is a 3D print option for that (same coax trap hole size here) https://www.printables.com/model/960984-wall-mount-bracket-for-hc-610-antenna

Coffee mug has the VDL pre-amp in it. A blog for another time.

The upgrade was more than worth it. The range boost over the BluseOsmo that has been in play for about a year was astounding straight away. Probably more than triple the range.

As if we needed any more proof, the HC610 and AirspyR2 are the clear champions of Iridium.

If you want to take a deeper dive into setting up an Iridium station and adding your data to the global quest to catch ACARS messages, you can read more details here: https://thebaldgeek.github.io/Iridium.html
Drop me a comment here if you have any specific questions that are not covered. This is a brand-new mode, I don't have all the answers, more than happy to share all that I can about Iridium ACARS.