My understanding is that an external antenna is not inherently better at all. The advantage of a dipole antenna like the bowties is that it generates a synthetic ground plane. In other words, you can place it wherever you'd like. A whip antenna needs a ground plane, ie. the receiver. The Betsie bowties are very wide band, and that also means it captures a wider spectrum than a whip antenna - that's not really an advantage. Your only advantage with the Bowties is remote-ability. But in a bag? With an additional compact, inefficient low current RF distro? I would say it creates more problems than it solves. But, being able to remote an antenna - that's a huge plus, and the only one in this particular case.
Thanks!
How much better would be an external antenna like the bowties? Is there any rule of thumb? I've heard around 20% more range...
Very good question. Watch this space!
My understanding is that an external antenna is not inherently better at all. The advantage of a dipole antenna like the bowties is that it generates a synthetic ground plane. In other words, you can place it wherever you'd like. A whip antenna needs a ground plane, ie. the receiver. The Betsie bowties are very wide band, and that also means it captures a wider spectrum than a whip antenna - that's not really an advantage. Your only advantage with the Bowties is remote-ability. But in a bag? With an additional compact, inefficient low current RF distro? I would say it creates more problems than it solves. But, being able to remote an antenna - that's a huge plus, and the only one in this particular case.
@@mlohninger Thank you!
whip deez