Will panel antenna=better performance in rain for bridge network

[CDM]

Hello all,

I have wireless bridge setup between two houses, thanks to all the knowledgeable people in this forum. Any way whenever we get a good steady rain I have lots of loss packets and sometimes no connection at all. My bridge is about 125-150m clear los I have a 14dbi yagi on one end and the stock antenna's on the other end. In searching of the forums I thought that this would be enough antenna to do the job. Question should I get a panel antenna say 8.5dbi to replace the stock antenna's, would I have too much antenna for my short distance, would this help when it rains or do I have another problem.


Thanks in Advance

[M/Q]

Having too much gain in an antenna is not ever a problem, unless you refer to directionability. For example where a highly directional antenna is buffeted by wind and looses connection due to its being not pointed correctly.

The panel antenna should help the signal condition in any case. But, I would like to know the condition the coaxial cable and connectors as well. Did you make the coaxial cable yourself? Are the connections weatherproofed? I have not had too many problems signal-wise from rain, unless it was a huge deluge.

[CDM]

I seen a thread about a guy who had two 14dbi yagi's for a 100m link and everyone replied saying he had to much antenna that is where I got the information ,dont know if that was case. The cables were purchased and I use self amaginating tape wrapped with 33+ electrical tape per one of the threads. I could go back a make sure everything is still in place.

[M/Q]

That might be a good idea, as any moisture will create many problems.

I would appreciate hearing any reasons as to why an antenna can have too much gain. That may apply to devices that have a great deal more output power, but I no of no valid reason for that statement.

[spiderbite]

I have heard that too. I remember hearing that if the antennas are too close for long periods of time you can burn up the radio.

I have also heard that Elvis frequents the neighboorhood Burger King, so I have no idea on the validity of that statement.

I have however, taken measures to combat that issue just in case.

If you think the antennas are too close (100m is not too close - 10 might be) then instead of placing them outside pointing at each other or even inside through the window, slide them over and point them through the wall. Let the wall attenuate the signal.

as a test, if you can still get a good signal through the wall you are probably using too much power

As M/Q said though- gain is gain and it shouldn't matter. Power would be your issue.

Also as a note, the only time I have ever experienced rain outages in 2.4GHz, the problem is water in the connectors or some other connection related issue. Particularly if it works when it is sunny outside.

[golfnut]

I've been told and shown how too much gain over a short distance can overload the receiver in the radio affecting bandwidth.

Proxim bridges will automatically throttle back the power output to compensate for this if necessary.

Greg

[M/Q]

I maybe wrong, but I believe most equipment has dampening circuits to protect the receiver section of the device.

I guess, I should have injected the common idiom to use common sense when determining what is required. I also base this on my amateur radio experience, where it is driven home that you only use the amount of power required to get the job done.

[interl0per]

so many interesting topics here!

a yagi with an enclosed radome will give you more consistent performance across weather conditions. and as M/Q mentioned your connections have to be utterly weathertight. we are talking microwave at very low (QRP eh M/Q) power levels so everything needs to be low-loss. a panel antenna on the client side will really help your link consistency too. my personal rule of thumb is to use moderate to high gain antennas and light them up with just enough power to get a 'good' to 'very'good' signal reading. if your only using 30mW you will need all the antenna you can get. if your AP can crank 400mW, well you might want to cut it back a bit.

a gain antenna on one side of the link will give you only half the working range.