NRF24L01 integrated antenna exposed out of the box I'm going to try my hand at making a few sensors that are to report status to a central server. To make them wireless, I'm going with nRF24L01 modules. I intend to enclose the sensors (Arduino Mini Pro + nRF24L01 + battery pack + a couple of other small components) in a simple PVC box. 

A couple of the sensors would be about 10 meters away from the server, which, as far as specifications go, is about the maximum range of the radio modules. Especially the ones with the integrated antenna that I'm using. I thought that maybe I could squeeze some radio performance by exposing the antenna, so that the radio signal isn't attenuated by the PVC case. I could carve a small opening in the lid and have the nRF24L01 stick out, so that the electronics would be protected inside but the antenna strip would enjoy open air. 

I would like some thoughts on this idea. I'm especially trying to understand if I just had the most novel idea ever, since I can't seem to find anything about it on the net. Has anyone ever tried this in real life? Does it make sense? Is it worth the trouble?  I'm not looking for a theoretical analysis (I get that fine), only for actual experience. Thank you.
In general no, this would make little or no difference. PVC has very little effect on RF signals.

After all, the antenna on your typical WiFi router is inside a PVC tube and it doesn't suffer from it.

Instead you would do better constructing a dipole antenna from a couple of pieces of carefully measured wire. 

For instance this instructable tells you how.