Antenna help please.

[bravo_echo]

Hi All

Further to above.  I have been experimenting today and find that if I take the antenna off the mast and just prop it up on the roof or even low down on the shed the reception improves dramatically to a 150 miles or so 30 plus aircraft.  As soon as I put it back on the mast (standard 1.2 inch ali pole) it returns to its previous miserable state.

Could anyone throw some light on why that happens?  (before I shoot myself) !!!

Antenna Watson radar extender as shown http://wsplc.com/airnav-radarbox.html

Thanks

Brian

[terralta2002]

as a thought is it insulated from the mast

[bravo_echo]

It's just attached by the normal brackets supplied with the antenna to the stub pole on the bottom of the antenna.  I'm certainly not an expert on these things.

I have lowered it now and bolted the antenna to a 10 foot pole which attaches to the house. Although it is now under the roof ridge height reception has improved strange to say.  Polar diagram has a max range to the NW of about 100 miles to South,West and East of about 60 miles.

However it was still much better with no mast and laying on the roof and not vertical.

I need to find a roof tile mast mounting plate, seen them on the web advertised in Australia but not in the UK.

Thanks

Brian