Topic: GW-1000 external antenna

[WA4OPQ]

I'm having some reception issues with my GW-1000s. I thought I'd try straightening the antenna and extend it outside the case (As Lucy suggested to another user)

I started off by drilling a 3/32" hole

[WA4OPQ]

Then I unfolded the red antenna wire

[WA4OPQ]

And here's the finished product. I'll let you know how well it works after I test for a bit.

[WA4OPQ]

Well, the antenna by itself did not fix my problem. I've now updated the GW-1000 firmware. The latest version says it's supposed to improve RF performance.

My GW-1000 intermittently stops receiving from the outside 2902 array. It substitutes the temperature reading in my tornado shelter, which is channel 1 WH31B.

[galfert]

That is not an antenna problem. That is an interference problem. Change the channel on the WH31B.

[WA4OPQ]

That is not an antenna problem. That is an interference problem. Change the channel on the WH31B.

I just updated the firmware to 1.5.2, which is supposed to solve some RF reception problems. 
I'm going to run this for a bit to see if it solved the problem. (so far, so good)
I don't want to throw in too many variables at once.

[WA4OPQ]

After five days running it appears that the new firmware solved the drop-out problem.
Hurray for the Ecowitt engineers!

[WA4OPQ]

As a postscript:

I had to return my station to an unmodified GW-1000 as the longer antenna still had dropouts.

I finally found the problem. The higher gain antenna does increase the signal level but also increases interfering signals, that is, interference from routers, meteobridges and computers. When I moved the long-antenna GW-1000 to the opposite side of the room the dropout problem disappeared.

[Mandrake]

I think you have hit the nail on the head.
Most folks with reception issues are seeing issues not through low signal strength but because of noisy environments which sometimes can be very hard to remediate. I have often thought about experimenting with a foil shield to focus the reception to see if it makes much improvement but then again I have a pretty clean environment noise wise.