I have the lower part of the connector taped now.
I received a better dongle about a week ago (it’s AirNav, but that probably doesn’t make much difference) and just replacing my old DVB-T dongle with that and using the little antenna my range shot up to 215NM and what’s more is I got a lot more range to the sides and even a pretty decent range directly behind the building (running my RPi on balcony, so only can get 180 degree FOV anyway). Really happy with those results.
Anyhow I ordered an ADS-B antenna from a local supplier (EmaxIT ADS-B 1090 MHz 9 dB Antenna พร้อมสาย 5 เมตร หัวต่อ SMA-MALE | Lazada.co.th) because I’m really not keen on waiting for another couple months for that to ship in from the US right now, but I’m having really bad results. Barely having range over 50NM and message rate plummets as well. I am getting massive amount of single message tracks though, does that mean something? Now I get that it might just be a bad antenna, but what should I try to do to fix it, if that’s even possible?
Sorry for dumb questions, completely new to antennas and all.
Antenna may be OK, but is performing bad because it is picking Cell/Mobile phone signals strongly, and these signals overload the dongle (flightstick). In this case adding a filter will help.
To find out what interfering signal exist in your location, use method given in this post:
Do I Need A Filter?
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When I visited my aunt a couple of years ago, she just got installed a satellite dish outside, on the wall above the window (flat block construction). She asked me why after rain she gets water pooling on the table that holds the TV and receiver. She said that the reps laughed at her when she complained over the phone that the receiver is leaking water.
When I asked where she sees the water she pointed… right under the cable connector!
The outside dish cable connector was not sealed, water was entering there and leaking down trough the cable (cheap cable have enough spacing to allow capillarity or water) and then leaking on the lowest point.
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Ah, right. Yeah I did run that test before and after the new dongle and it did make a difference, but there’s still quite a lot of cell phone interference. Guess I just need to buy the extra filter and try again in couple months when it arrives.
It’s been a while, but I’ve found some ace clamps!
Something like This:
US - Amazon.com
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Very good idea. Suggest checking your local dollar store. Mine has a good assortment of bicycle accessories. One never knows. 
Looks fantastic but unfortunately about four mm to small to fit the Jetvision aerial. That’s a real shame as otherwise it would be perfect for fitting mine to the smaller pole I’m using at the top of the hexbeam.
That might be useful if the mast/aerial diameters are the same!
In my case the aerial base is 22mm and the mast 25mm.
You can get those hydraulic pipe clamps as singles to… Premium Manufacturer of Hydraulic Port-to-Port Solutions | STAUFF
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I use mast extension clamps. About $US10 the pair in Australia.
Each mast can be from about 15mm to 50mm
or these in the UK
S.
edited for a better image
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Stauff clamps are really good - I’d need to get the 38mm version and pad both sides out. That’s a real possibility though.
The problem with a lot of these is that the threads don’t go far enough and so you can’t use them with small poles.
Has anyone tried this 1090MHz aerial from UK?
CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE LARGER SIZE
CLICK AGAIN TO SEE FULL SIZE
I’ve not tried it, but I think the choice of a BNC connector for external use to be questionable. It has limited weather resistance.
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Agreed.
This is not a perfect solution, but may help:
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Yes and no. I’m slowly moving to BNC and F, if not for all, for most of my uses. I would rather deal with weatherproofing, rather than the multiple connector types out there.
Granted that I’m not lured by ‘excellence’, only by ‘functionality’. ‘Cheap’ is beautiful. 
The antenna looks pretty similar to what i bought last year from an ebay-seller in Germany.
custom made, fine tuned with an analyzer to 1090MHz, gain approx 3dB, Price was 23 Euro
The device is also using a BNC connector and it was challenging to find an adapter which fits to my SAT cable with F-connector. Finally a local shop had one in it’s box of old connectors under the rack 
I sealed it with that self-welding tape. It was outdoor the whole winter, after that i bought the Jetvision antenna.
Quality aside - it’s hit and miss - eBay is the place to look for these adapters. To get it much faster, at a slightly higher price, Amazon is another place to check.