Tech Tips: Ask Miles (Hemisphere's Tech Support Guru)

What is the relation between cable length and cable loss?

As the distance between antenna and receiver lengthen, you may need to look into a low loss cable and low loss connectors to reduce the amount of decibels that are lost when bringing the GPS signals from the antenna to the receiver. Essentially, there is a maximum cable loss budget of 30 dB for a 40 dB gain antenna. Depending on the chosen antenna, the loss budget will likely be lower (a 24 dB gain antenna would have a 14 dB loss budget). When designing the internal and external cable assemblies and choosing the RF connectors, do not surpass the loss budget; otherwise, the tracking performance of the receiver will be compromised.