Antenna Question - Reduced Performance without Extension Coax

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

I have a cheap roof mounted antenna with a magnetic base feeding my ADS-B receiver. I had an ~6-10’ long coax extension cable between the antenna and the blue Flightaware receiver. Everything was working fine. I could see aircraft on the ground at an airport about 1 mile away, as well as airborne AC up to 100 miles away.

I had a new air conditioner installed a couple of days ago, and the installers destroyed my extension cable. I now have my antenna plugged in directly to the blue ADS-B receiver. I no longer see any AC on the ground at my local airport, nor can I see any airborne aircraft >25 miles away.

I’m baffled. I would have thought that eliminating the extension cable would have increased my performance. Any ideas?

2

Where is your antenna located now?
With extension cable gone, you have most likely done one of the following:

Either moved your antenna from roof to inside your home near RPI

OR

Moved RPi to roof near antenna.

3

The antenna is still in the same location on the roof. I moved the ADS-B receiver closer to the antenna so I didn’t need to use an extension cable.

4

Seems extensiin cable sheath was acting as antenna and picking signals.

5

I doubt that as the extension coax was in my attic and I have a metal roof.

6

Another possibility is the cable/antenna was affected when the extension cable was destroyed. Check the cable and connectors over for possible damage…
Is the magnetic mount antenna sitting on any kind of ground plane, like a cookie tin top? that can help the antenna receive stronger signals.

7

The antenna is sitting directly on my metal roof. It hasn’t moved.

8

I finally bit the bullet and ordered a professional grade 1090ES antenna and cable from Flight Aware. What a dramatic improvement. I went from 7 AC with a max distance of 24 miles to 148 AC with a max distance of almost 150 miles!

5 Likes
9

Great you have it running with good performance, but for interest, check the SMA connector on your original antenna to make sure it’s the ‘normal’ SMA

10

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