OESF Portables Forum

Everything Else => General Support and Discussion => Zaurus General Forums => Archived Forums => Accessories => Topic started by: nyar on October 08, 2004, 08:55:42 am

Title: Modifying a Buffalo CF card for external antenna
Post by: nyar on October 08, 2004, 08:55:42 am

http://www.expansys.com.au/product.asp?code=111535 (http://www.expansys.com.au/product.asp?code=111535)

Anybody succesfully modified one of these cards to take an external antenna?

If not, anybody modified another card?  Preferably it would have a Prism chipset (like the Buffalo).

Title: Modifying a Buffalo CF card for external antenna
Post by: jamesm on October 08, 2004, 10:50:14 am

I wouldn't advise it, go talk to the folks in #wifi on freenode and read their faq. It basically strongly recommends against modding pc/cf cards to take external antennas.

You can boost the signal by sticking the unit in the middle of an antenna, I saw some uni students from NZ doing this on a website and it looked quite good, apart from the lack of portability

Title: Modifying a Buffalo CF card for external antenna
Post by: nyar on October 08, 2004, 09:29:49 pm

I don't see where it says that; only that one should go and buy one with an external antenna adaptor because presumably they're so common.  In terms of PCMCIA cards, yes, indeed, but I'm yet to see a CF card with it.

Thanks in any case.

Heh, interesting suggestion; remove the dipole out of a dish and stick the zaurus inside that?  The antenna I'm planning on using is much smaller, and has a magnetic base.

Title: Modifying a Buffalo CF card for external antenna
Post by: lardman on October 09, 2004, 08:55:00 am

I read about someone doing this a long while back on the devnet; not sure which card though.

Si

Title: Modifying a Buffalo CF card for external antenna
Post by: V-Man on October 09, 2004, 10:41:20 pm

I have seen some articles on this, but I am still waiting for someone to make a CF card with a socket.  My test equipment only goes to about 480MHz so I can't set the swr or measure the cable loss.  Kinda makes it difficult to build without the correct tools.  When I really need something like this, I use a CF 10/100baseT network card and plug it into a wireless bridge.  No portability, but great range and what I'm using it for, it works great.  The bridge was originally bought for my son's computer but has since been replaced by something else.

V-Man

Title: Modifying a Buffalo CF card for external antenna
Post by: tz on October 11, 2004, 05:26:09 pm

I use a Cisco 350 that has two antenna sockets.  (I had to modify and compile airo_cs and there are other quirks, but it works with my roof antenna and others).  This works through a PCMCIA-CS adapater.

A very few WiFi cards have a connection for an antenna or something like it inside, but in general it is going to be difficult.  Some have "diagnostic" sockets, but they don't have a mating connector.