I've got a hold of a spectrum analyzer with a decent bandwidth and I'd like to do some passive signal hunting - pointing an antenna at things/places and seeing if I can see what is out there. Since it's purely for my enjoyment and curiosity, the budget isn't big, and to get something that will pick up as much as possible (of the bandwidth, I don't really need high signal strength), it seems like something like a PCB log periodic antenna seems ideal, especially considering how cheap some of them are.
So if I get my antenna and attach an SMA cable on a bit of rigid or semirigid coax, how do I house said antenna so that I can point it at whatever I think looks interesting? The analyzer is a battery operated one, so ideally I'd like to use something that will give me enough structural support to give me some sort of grip to point it at things and so that I don't damage the coax connection or the board when it shakes around while I carry it.
I've been looking around for materials that are fairly RF transparent up into the few GHz range (the analyzer goes to 7GHz), but I don't see all that much available data on what would be suitable. From what I can gather, standard plastic enclosures wouldn't be suitable, but perhaps plexiglass or fiberglass ones would? It's been recommended that styrofoam or low to mid density polyurethane foam are great choices, but I'm not sure they're really give me the protection or in-hand grip that I think I'm looking for. I also know that commercial versions of this exist, and at least from the pictures, they seem to be using some kind of plastic as the housing. While something like the Aaronia HyperLOG series looks like what I'm picturing, I can't justify $400-600 for my own playing around (some of that budget is already in the analyzer, after all).
So anyone have DIY experience covering your wideband RX antennas or making something like this? With my limited understanding, my best simple design is probably a piece of plexi bent in an L shape, with the antenna attached to one face and the SMA connector poking through the other. Then cutting down the SMA face or bending it to make something of a grip. Alternatively, a sheet of plexi with the antenna on it and a piece of PVC with a slit cut in the end to slide the sheet of plexi into to use as a grip.