yep - this works for first test. be aware to not damage the antennas inner 4 circle-segments (that built the hole where normally the pin plugs in) by bending/cracking them accidentally too much …
Holy crap man, does all this trouble abcd567 is having mean the adapter in my first link is wrong?
There’s no impedance spec on any of this stuff.

Holy crap man, does all this trouble abcd567 is having mean the adapter in my first link is wrong?
There’s no impedance spec on any of this stuff.
don’t think so - in theory this adapter should be the right one.
but now had another idea what maybe went wrong. abcd are you sure that sma at the end of adapter fits to sma you connect??? in other words is one with pin and the other with hole. two with hole would produce similar bad performance near to no antenna …
see picture - right one together with left will work - but right one together with middle one will fit but not work:
He’s not changing anything near his SMA connectors – he’s only changing things at the F end of his cable.
So it can’t be that his SDA connectors are F to F.
alan

He’s not changing anything near his SMA connectors – he’s only changing things at the F end of his cable.
So it can’t be that his SDA connectors are F to F.alan
he now uses this n-type to sma adapter - he did not use before … or did i miss something …
I do not use any SMA connector.
The connector at DVB-T end is MCX, not SMA
What I use at FA antenna end is an adapter with N-male on one end and F-female at the other end.
The N-male (with pin) fits into antenna’s N-female. The F-Male connector at the end of RG6 coax fits int the F-female of adapter. Please see two sketches below.
SKETCH 1 of 2 : COMPLETED SETUP
SKETCH 2 of 2 : CONNECTORS AT FA ANTENNA END
OK, I made a temporary arrangement to test where the problem lies, and eliminated N-to-F adaptor by connecting RG6 cable directly to antenna without any connector.
Now graphs & VRS range plot show improvement, but still far less than Cantenna.
Not sure, but the improvement may very well be because RG6 coax length is now 1 meter / 3 feet instead of 4 meters / 12 feet, and the FA antenna is now closer to window, but about 6 feet / 2 meters lower than Cantenna.
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1482/24112432403_a6a5f4fa61_c.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1552/24645800311_0f0b9645d1_c.jpg
I ordered this cable, these adapters and these adapters, and this connector cable from Amazon with absolutely no issues.
abcd567, if it is of any help to you, I am using this N to F connector with the FA antenna and have no problems. It is also a Cdn source. http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B002Z8ZKKA Delivery was a few days.
This other outfit, unfortunately, is a rip off. The F connector end does not fit North American F connectors. It is very close, but you can’t screw the F male end on more than about 1/2 a turn. This is insufficient to work properly. I must have tried half a dozen different F cables and none fit. They refunded my money without question, but it wasted a month or more to sort it out. http://www.ebay.com/itm/N-Type-N-Male-Plug-to-F-Female-Jack-RF-Coaxial-Adapter-Connector-/131233021396?ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

OK, I made a temporary arrangement to test where the problem lies, and eliminated N-to-F adaptor by connecting RG6 cable directly to antenna without any connector.
Now graphs & VRS range plot show improvement, but still far less than Cantenna.
Not sure, but the improvement may very well be because RG6 coax length is now 1 meter / 3 feet instead of 4 meters / 12 feet, and the FA antenna is now closer to window, but about 6 feet / 2 meters lower than Cantenna.
It’s probably your adapter of very different impedance causing the major drop in performance due to a large SWR. You can’t measure it without some specialized circuity since impedance isn’t real.
Sorry you had so many issues with your antenna. I remember stressing over the N-type adapter quite a bit since FA don’t really help you out themselves. This is what I used: amzn.com/B00LSMQ6ZC
Try trimming 5mm off your feed line at a time. If the performance improves significantly its probably the antenna that’s not a great match, you know the theory behind it

abcd567, if it is of any help to you, I am using this N to F connector with the FA antenna and have no problems. It is also a Cdn source. http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B002Z8ZKKA Delivery was a few days.
Thank you. I have already ordered it a day before the antenna was delivered, but delivery is between mid February to mid March
. That is why I went to a local store (AA Electronics on Matheson Blvd Mississauga) and purchased two pieces of N-to-F connector.

Try trimming 5mm off your feed line at a time. If the performance improves significantly its probably the antenna that’s not a great match, you know the theory behind it
Thanks for the suggestion. I always wanted to perform this test on a bad coco, but was just lazy.
Theretically if feed coax length is exactly equal to even multiple of 1/2 wavelengths, common mode currents will cancel, and if it is exactly equal to odd number of 1/2 wavelengths, common mode currents will be worst. Any length in between will have severity zero to maximum.
If the antenna has built-in arrangement to isolate antenna from feed coax (like 1/4 wave sleeve), which I expect FA Antenna to have, length of coax will not have any affect whether or not it is exact multiple of even number of 1/2 wavelength.
In my opinion one of the reason for success of Spider & Cantenna is that the spider’s slanting radials/can’s cylindrical wall help in providing isolation of antenna from common mode currents in coax.
I will perform the trimming test suggested by you this weekend. It requires lot of time & patience. Possibly FA antenna I got was not properly tuned, or got detuned during shipments from manufacturer to amazon/amazon to me. The feed coax trimming test may reveal this.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1485/24113698523_d7f1f0a98f_o.png
abcd do you use an amplifier with your cantenna when comparing to fa antenna?

I ordered this cable, these adapters and these adapters, and this connector cable from Amazon with absolutely no issues.
Thank you for the information. Since I do not use any equipment with SMA connectors, these dont suite me.
However your information is very useful & helpful for those who use FA Filter, or Amplifiers with SMA connectors (like LNAforAll).

I will perform the trimming test suggested by you this weekend. It requires lot of time & patience. Possibly FA antenna I got was not properly tuned, or got detuned during shipments from manufacturer to amazon/amazon to me. The feed coax trimming test may reveal this.
I find helps even with the 1/4 wave spider / cantanas etc that aren’t performing quite as well as expected, probably where the impedance match isn’t as good as it could be the repeated timing and re terminating is worth the effort. After playing around with the coco a bit more now im not so sure now that the common mode currents are much of an issue when receiving.

abcd do you use an amplifier with your cantenna when comparing to fa antenna?
No, I dont use amplifier with Cantenna. The cable run from Cantenna to DVB-T dongle is only 4 meters / 12 ft, and amplifier is not required.
Comparing two antennas, one with and one without amplifier is an unfair and meaningless comparision.
Normally when I compare an antenna with my benchmark default Cantenna, I simply unscrew cantenna and screw in the new antenna in its place. This keep all other parameters identical. This is what I have done when I did my first test of FA Antenna day before yesterday. Please see below 2 photos of my first test.
i’d really go for these two items:
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B007PPHVFK
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00K85HFR8
→ and then would first test fa antenna against the small antenna delivered with dongle
→ next step fa antenna against cantenna without amp
→ last step fa antenna against cantenna - both with amp
if the first test shows that fa antenna is worse than the small one → obviously your fa antenna is defect …
[quote=“abcd567”]
No, I dont use amplifier with Cantenna[/quote]
. The cable run from Cantenna to DVB-T dongle is only 4 meters / 12 ft, and amplifier is not required.
abcd - my findings were that even with my supershort cable (2 feet) an amplifier improved things very much (5-10% more aircrafts and 40% more messages) - was the same with all antennas i’ve tested. and message-rate is what counts most when it comes to mlat …
this was my first amplifier test with one antenna in my office some weeks/month ago: