ALL antenna test are subjective (and variable) if not done under controlled conditions. All aspects of the testing have to be accounted for, or the results are just not very conclusive, and never will be the exact same for the identical antenna being tested in a different situation. All of this is even more 'subjective', and unbelievably variable, if the testing is done by 'on the air' reports, unless you can account for the conditions on the other end of those reports too.
Standards in terminology/definitions.
'Gain' is a very good example of that! There really are some 'givens', but even those are variable, depend on how 'well' antennas are tuned for use on a particular frequency. One of those 'givens' is that a 1/2 wave dipole is the standard for comparison. That means that a 1/4 wave will have less gain than a 1/2 wave, a 5/8 wave will have slightly more gain than a 1/2 wave. If a 1/4 wave antenna is purported to have more gain than a 1/2 wave antenna, then there's a 'catch' to it somewhere. Either that 1/4 wave isn't a 1/4 wave, or the 1/2 wave isn't tuned properly for where they are being used. The purpose of why any size antenna is used also plays a very big part in it. The 'shape' of the radiation patterns of antennas changes with 'size'. If one particular 'size'/pattern fit's your needs, then it's going to work better. Doesn't make any difference on if the thing has 'gain' or not. There's a lot to all that, it isn't simple at all.
So it amounts to what works best for you in your particular situation. No two situations are ever going to be exactly the same, so the performance of a particular antenna won't either.
- 'Doc
(Nothing 'new' in the above.)
