a much larger aperture to make that gain than the 3-inch diameter of a
foil-
covered paper tube. *That can be had by attaching a larger, metallic
funnel

Its odd because the dia. is only 85mm where the homemade ones say
100mm +/- 10mm.
also the 3' wire is very skinny (don't know what one it is). About a
thin as a pencil lead.
and also there's a tripod mount that has a bolt inside that blocks the
lower 7-8mm of the antenna.

as for the windows, tested (on my end), there not making any
difference. Kismet & Netstumbler don't seem to report noise level with
this card, just rx level. but the app that came with the Alfa shows
"Signal Str" and "Link Quality". No differnce betewen a 2 dBi omni and
the cantenna.