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Data Hacking

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64 Part I — Hardware Hacks<br />

FIGURE 4-3: A quad-helix antenna in the vertical position<br />

When you are holding the GPS on the move, try to hold it with the antenna as vertical as possible<br />

and as far away from the body as comfortably possible to reduce the degree to which your<br />

body shields the signal.<br />

The human body is very effective at shielding the microwave signal from GPS because your body<br />

is largely made up of water, and water is an effective absorber of microwave frequency electromagnetic<br />

radiation.<br />

Patch Antenna Orientation<br />

How you hold a patch antenna is completely different from how you hold a quad-helix<br />

antenna. To get the best out of these antennas, you want to hold them so that they are<br />

horizontal to the ground (see Figure 4-5).<br />

This is by far the best orientation for patch antennas — the closer they are to being vertical, the<br />

less efficient they are. This may be a big part of the reason why some people think that the<br />

quad-helix antenna is better than the patch antenna. People have a natural tendency to hold a<br />

GPS receiver in a vertical position.

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