My usual ADS-B antenna these days is a mag mount whip, stuck to either a cookie sheet or a curtain rod. It will typically get good coverage with an indoor placement near a window of 60-80 nm range. To my mind that is adequate but not exceptional.
I asked myself if it would make a bigger difference to get a faster CPU to decode signals (I'm on a Pi 3 now), or whether I should focus on antenna design or antenna placement. So I did some experiments with the existing equipment just moving the antenna around.
My best results by far were to open up my attic window and stick the antenna outside with the window open. The particular window opening mechanism has a metal support that the antenna could stick to. The result was far and away better, with 160-200 nm of range. Unfortunately it was temporary because it doesn't do very well to have a window open in the rain.
There are other people who have discovered that a clear view of the key matters more than decoding power or antenna design. See this discussion on Flightaware for a sense of this as well.
https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/clear-view-of-the-sky/69202
(Perhaps one more radio experiment to take to the top of a parking structure?)
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