Antenna gain what is it

Now imagine a mirror beside our candle. Visualize how it would change the light energy distribution, and give the candle directivity. With a mirror, one half of the room would be dark behind the mirror. Mirrors or lenses have the appearance of intensifying energy in some preferred directions by stealing and redirecting energy from disadvantaged directions.

Antennas do the same thing. This is directional feature is called GAIN. Even omnidirectional antennas can potentially have their 'blind spots' or 'nulls' in radiation patterns.

Understanding the radiation pattern of an antenna can be a great way to identify important parameters, like the beam width of an antenna. Moreover, you can be looking at two different antennas that have the same gain according to the spec sheets, but one of them can have the potential to perform better than the other.

An understanding of where and how the antenna will be deployed is key to help determine which environmental parameters are important and in turn which antenna would suit you best.

Some antenna manufacturers, such as Ubiquiti and Poynting, publish their Radiation patterns. This insight will give you the confidence to choose which antenna is best for your application.

We would recommend that you look at the gain across the required frequency band s and not just the published maximum gain, because antenna radiation patterns and gain change as the frequency changes.

Another thing that you have to be aware of is that walls or objects can weaken the signal. In addition, certain radios work better transmitting more power and using smaller antenna while others like to transmit less power but use larger antenna. Having a bigger antenna does not always increase usability of the signal. It may increase the total signal strength but it also can increase the noise in the signal.

As you can see gain is an important parameter in any antenna. Manufacturers such as Poynting dedicate their whole career to designing antenna systems because it is such a complex subject. Here are some of their tips on what to look for when choosing an antenna:. Submit Cancel. What is Antenna Gain? Antennas RF Basics. Can you answer this question? Editorial Team - everything RF Dec 2, Upvote 1 Downvote Flag it Comments 0.

More Calculators. What is an iSIM? What is an eSIM? What is a Notch Filter? What is the difference between a monopole and dipole antenna? What is the difference between a Diplexer and Duplexer? Quick Links. Popular Categories. Our Network. Follow Us :. Need Help Finding a Product? Yes, I would like to receive weekly updates. Successfully Submitted!

Our team will get back to you shortly.