Akos from the SDR for Mariners blog has posted an article that highlights the effects of coaxial cable attenuation. Long runs of coaxial cable between the antenna and RTL-SDR can significantly attenuate signals. This means that strong signals at the antenna will become weak signals at the receiver. The solution to this is to either reduce the cable length or to use higher quality cable. A preamp like an LNA may also help to overcome long runs of coaxial cable. Akos’ article discusses these issues.