Shorter antenna gets better range?

[LawrenceHill]

@whacky

So, in the end, the tiny wire antenna beats the large rod antenna

You are most likely suffering from overloading by out of band signals when you are using the larger antenna. You will probably need an additional filter.
Take a look at this thread:

Outdoor antenna works indoor only

Hi, Until now I’ve been feeding using a small cheap indoor antenna, and everything worked fine. Recently I moved to a new location, at a high floor apartment, and decided to upgrade my setup. I purchased a new outdoor antenna and some strange things started to happen. I use a Raspberry Pi with a FlightAware Pro Stick Plus, and this antenna: amazon. com/gp/product/B00WZL6WPO When I assemble the setup indoor and place antenna next to the window, I get an excellent reception, with 100+ nmi range…