Issues that pertain to beacons and witnesses are often antenna-related.
Causes
- Poor Grounding
- Low-Quality Antenna
- Insufficient coax diameter
- Antenna Short
- Coax Short
- Hotspot Short
- Poor Connection
- Damaged Connection
Get Help!
Name brand antennas will unconditionally outperform cheap knock-offs. You mine $HNT over radio, so select a quality antenna, like a RAKwireless antenna. When running a coax or electrical cable, the thicker the coax cable is, the more insulation it has from static accumulation, and thicker electrical wiring enables longer runs with less voltage drop.
LMR cable is a name brand cable produced by Times Microwave. You may see 'equivalent' LMR sold on other sites and antennas on low-price internet retail sites that claim they're finely tuned and high quality. It's important not to cut corners when choosing an antenna or coaxial cable.
Recommended: Although many folks will run LMR400 26 ft (10m+)+.
LMR400: up to 10ft (3m)
LMR500: 10-26ft (3-10m)
LMR600: 26ft+ (10m+)
Do not run coax longer than 50ft (20m), or it will accumulate too much static.
*You can use this Cable Attenuation Calculator to estimate a cable’s data drop
The ideal antenna location is outside as high as possible. The attic takes 2nd place. Indoor antennas can be optimized by relocating the hotspot and antenna to the top floor and removing any metal screening from nearby windows.
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