I’ve been for years using a pigtail antenna which gives me a decent 200nm range in unblocked directions.
I saw some aliexpress cheap antennas claiming 12.5 db which conme with a 10ft coax cable, so I assumed the increased gain of this antenna conbinned with a larger height to place it some feet above the old one would provide me with an increased range.
To my surprise, the new antenna get about half messages per second that my old antenna and apparently misses the fardest messages because my map show the closer planes only.
Are these chinese antennas crap (I wouldn’t say that my original antenna is state of the art tech either) or or it just failed or am I missing something (maybe the larger negative number does not imply a higher gain, or the attenuation of the provided cable is larger than the increase in antenna gain?
Thanks for your comments.
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In my view the Chinese antenna’s are indeed crap. 9 out of 10 claim higher values on gain then actually achieved and the coax provided is also not a decent quality.
The longer and thinner the cable is the more you will lose on number of positions and aircraft.
I have 2 of these antennas my self but never use them (I bought them 2nd hand when getting dongles) due to their performance.
I have on with a 1,5 meter cable and one with a 3 meter cable. The first outperforms the second one just because of the cable length.
If you want to get better results then you might want to invest in a better quality equipment.
As an example:
https://vinnant.sk/
They have good antennas and cables for a decent price.
That being said, the most important factor for your reception is your location. If you are closed in by terrain then you can have the most expensive equipment in the world and still get limited results.
Would adjusting gain (currently at -10) make any difference?
That might improve you situation but that is something you have to do step by step and take time in between steps so you can see the effect clearly
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I more than doubled my messages and range with a 4 legged spider antenna if I recall. Was a wake-up call. Easy, no-solder designs out there. Built my first antenna and doubled my coverage - #416 by caius
