9dbi Whip or 8 dbi Patch antenna?

[D4RK1]

Hi, although i have been interested in FPV for some time now.. today i made my first actual fpv-flight. Well, actually i just recorded the flight. Everthing went well, except that the camera i got is a very poor one.

I am thinking about upgrading my stuff and first of all i will purchase a better camera and a better rx-antenna. The camera is quite simple to choose i think, but the antenna gives me some trouble. I was looking around and found a 8dbi patch antenna and a 9dbi whip antenna.

I am new to this so i would think the 9dbi whip should be better since its got a better gain and receives from all directions, whereas with the 8dbi patch i would need to stay in a more or less wide corridor for good reception.

Am i grossly oversimplifying things and the 8dbi patch would still be better or is the 9dbi whip the better choice for me?

Thx in advance, Jens

Edited November 13, 2009 by D4RK1

[Kilrah]

The 9dBi whip will be perfectly useless. Yes it catches 360° horizontally, but that means it needs to reduce vertical sensitivity to achieve its gain. So when flying at any reasonable height above the horizon you'll be out of the coverage range.

[D4RK1]

ah... thx for the input Well, then it shall be a 8dbi Patch

[Wavess]

Don´t get fooled with the omnidirectional term at higher gains they are very critical on the vertical plane. Here it´s a simple rf antenna pattern.

You can see that you only have 8º to have the 9dBi, only 30º with 6dBi more than 40-50º you start on the attenuation instead of getting gain of it.