newbie...flat plate antenna behind glass

[nvingo]

Originally Posted by jojo77

1 question though, does the flat antenna always need to be on its point? can i not mount it along its edge, so it just takes 1 perfect square of my window.
& if anyone has one.... it'll definately work through dbl glazing? (i donno about that copper coating)

Old query new reply.
Don't know about double glazing. I tried a BSB squarial inside before mounting it outside (for French TV). It worked through a single glazed window, but worked a little better when outside.

Polarization. The antenna needs to be orientated for best signal. It's probably designed to be "diamond" orientated, and will be tuned to extract the most signal from vertical and horizontal polarizations when mounted that way. Depending on the location and the chosen satellite, that may need tweaking (skew). You'll normally see that as an LNB which isn't quite vertical, but in the case of a flat plate the whole antenna will need skewing.

The BSB signals were circularly polarized (all in one direction, so no need for a switching signal), and skew doesn't affect those. It was possible to disassemble a BSB squarial and re-align the layers inside it to allow it to receive signals of the opposite (left-handed or right-handed) polarisation, from an alternative satellite.