High Gain *Omni* Antenna?!?

How is this possible? Or is it a new level of marketing-speak?

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless/wireless-accessories/7-dbi-high-gain-outdoor-omni-antenna/
-- 
Randy Yates                      % "I met someone who looks alot like you,
Digital Signal Labs              %             she does the things you do, 
mailto://yates@ieee.org          %                     but she is an IBM."
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com %        'Yours Truly, 2095', *Time*, ELO   

>How is this possible? Or is it a new level of marketing-speak?
>
>http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless/wireless-accessories/7-dbi-high-gain-outdoor-omni-antenna/

Depends on your definition of omni. Strictly omni should mean a even
response across 3 dimensions. In practice all you need is a reasonably
squashed doughnut of response to respond equally to all terrestrial
directions. That's omni for practical purposes, and it offers gain.

That said, the web pages talks about working point to point. Why would you
want an omni antenna for that?

Steve

Randy Yates wrote:
> How is this possible? Or is it a new level of marketing-speak?
> 
> http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless/wireless-accessories/7-dbi-high-gain-outdoor-omni-antenna/

The blurb calls it "omni" and lists "directional" among its features. 
Whatever the gain may be, that has to be wrong.

Jerry
-- 
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
�����������������������������������������������������������������������

Randy Yates  <yates@ieee.org> wrote:

>How is this possible? Or is it a new level of marketing-speak?

It is the result of an engineeering/marketing conversation:

    Engineering: an omni antenna has no gain.  For an antenna
    to have gain, it must be directional.
    
    Marketing: fix that.

As noted such an antenna has an ellipsoid pattern.  (Not
"squashed"; that is speciesist, as squashes come in all shapes
including spherical.  The gentleman meant "squished".)

Steve

Randy Yates <yates@ieee.org> wrote:
(regarding the subject: High Gain *Omni* Antenna?!?)

< How is this possible? Or is it a new level of marketing-speak?

Well, omni might mean just in the plane parallel to the ground.
In that case, you could still get some gain by reducing the
signal up and down.

Otherwise, amplified antennae seem popular these days.

-- glen 

Firstly it's dBi (referenced to isotropic) and not dBd (referenced to
dipole)

That accounts for (ISTR) 3dB of the claimed gain.

It is probably a colinear assembly which acts to focus the energy
towards the horizontal, thus giving an apparent gain; although the
radiated power will remain the same.


"Randy Yates" <yates@ieee.org> wrote in message 
news:m3y6p72tun.fsf@ieee.org...
> How is this possible? Or is it a new level of marketing-speak?
>
> http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless/wireless-accessories/7-dbi-high-gain-outdoor-omni-antenna/
> -- 
> Randy Yates                      % "I met someone who looks alot like you,
> Digital Signal Labs              %             she does the things you do,
> mailto://yates@ieee.org          %                     but she is an IBM."
> http://www.digitalsignallabs.com %        'Yours Truly, 2095', *Time*, ELO 

"steveu" <steveu@coppice.org> writes:

>>How is this possible? Or is it a new level of marketing-speak?
>>
>>http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless/wireless-accessories/7-dbi-high-gain-outdoor-omni-antenna/
>
> Depends on your definition of omni. Strictly omni should mean a even
> response across 3 dimensions. In practice all you need is a reasonably
> squashed doughnut of response to respond equally to all terrestrial
> directions. That's omni for practical purposes, and it offers gain.

Omni is well-defined: equal in all directions. This is the gist of the
issue. If we marketing redefines terms, we no longer know what they're
really saying.

> That said, the web pages talks about working point to point. Why would you
> want an omni antenna for that?

Further, the first "feature" states: "7 dBi High Gain Directional
Antenna". So this is a high-gain directional omni antenna?!
-- 
Randy Yates                      % "She tells me that she likes me very much,
Digital Signal Labs              %     but when I try to touch, she makes it
mailto://yates@ieee.org          %                            all too clear."
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com %        'Yours Truly, 2095', *Time*, ELO  

spope33@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) writes:

> Randy Yates  <yates@ieee.org> wrote:
>
>>How is this possible? Or is it a new level of marketing-speak?
>
> It is the result of an engineeering/marketing conversation:
>
>     Engineering: an omni antenna has no gain.  For an antenna
>     to have gain, it must be directional.
>     
>     Marketing: fix that.
>
> As noted such an antenna has an ellipsoid pattern.  (Not
> "squashed"; that is speciesist, as squashes come in all shapes
> including spherical.  The gentleman meant "squished".)

Thank you, Steve. (!) :)
-- 
Randy Yates                      % "And all you had to say
Digital Signal Labs              %  was that you were 
mailto://yates@ieee.org          %  gonna stay."
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com % Getting To The Point', *Balance of Power*, ELO

glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> writes:

> Randy Yates <yates@ieee.org> wrote:
> (regarding the subject: High Gain *Omni* Antenna?!?)
>
> < How is this possible? Or is it a new level of marketing-speak?
>
> Well, omni might mean just in the plane parallel to the ground.

Uhuh. Then it ain't omni.

> In that case, you could still get some gain by reducing the
> signal up and down.
>
> Otherwise, amplified antennae seem popular these days.

But it specifically uses "dBi" - implying antenna gain, not RF gain.
-- 
Randy Yates                      % "She has an IQ of 1001, she has a jumpsuit
Digital Signal Labs              %            on, and she's also a telephone."
mailto://yates@ieee.org          % 
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com %        'Yours Truly, 2095', *Time*, ELO   

"Randy Yates" <yates@ieee.org> wrote in message 
news:m3y6p6vk78.fsf@ieee.org...
>
> Omni is well-defined: equal in all directions. This is the gist of the
> issue. If we marketing redefines terms, we no longer know what they're
> really saying.
>
Sadly, it's not well defined when refering to antennas. FWIW, An 
omnidirectional antenna is usually defined as meaning one that radiates 
equally in all directions in a plane. I guess that's because an antenna that 
radiates equally in all three dimensional directions is impossible to make, 
as proven by the hairy ball theorem. Really!
HTH., Syms.