Author Topic: Modded My Z! (again) (Read 12150 times)

BarryW · « **on:** July 14, 2005, 03:25:15 am »

Added a new external antenna! Now I need to find a smaller one. Didn't realize this one would be so big!

Clicky clicky!

undrwater · « **Reply #1 on:** July 14, 2005, 02:35:40 pm »

Quote

Added a new external antenna! Now I need to find a smaller one. Didn't realize this one would be so big!

Clicky clicky!
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Wow! That looks great! Have you noticed much improvement in signal strength?

Did you remove the connection to the UFL connector before shooting it?

BarryW · « **Reply #2 on:** July 14, 2005, 02:58:54 pm »

Yep, there's only one U-FL connector on the wifi card. There's a little 1.5" pigtail between the card and the mother board. That's sitting on my desk now. I can walk anywhere in my back yard and still keep above a 50% signal. That's through a couple walls and aluminum sideing! I borrowed a d-link antenna from work, it's about the same diameter as a bic pen. Much smaller and shorter. Will have to see if I can find one to keep. Total cost so far is about $40. It'll go up a little more when I get the aluminum for the new mount. I already had the plexi from another project.

BarryW · « **Reply #3 on:** July 17, 2005, 01:04:19 am »

Upgraded to aluminum.

Link.

xatax · « **Reply #4 on:** July 17, 2005, 07:02:51 pm »

Any ideas for modding a Linksys WCF12?

BarryW · « **Reply #5 on:** July 17, 2005, 07:44:55 pm »

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Any ideas for modding a Linksys WCF12?
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It's antenna is built in to the card. AFAIK no one has added a way to add an external antenna. I've only "seen" one cf wifi card with the ability to add an external, and have never seen it sold anywhere. It was for an access point and was the internal wifi card. Can't rember the name right now.

Gondola · « **Reply #6 on:** August 01, 2005, 09:10:33 am »

I'd like to mod my Z to get better signal strength, but I don't want to add an external antenna. Do you think it would be possible to pull in a better signal just by using the space in the bottom of the 6k, the little expansion slot? Maybe some kind of wrapped antenna?

BarryW · « **Reply #7 on:** August 01, 2005, 04:11:51 pm »

Quote

I'd like to mod my Z to get better signal strength, but I don't want to add an external antenna. Do you think it would be possible to pull in a better signal just by using the space in the bottom of the 6k, the little expansion slot? Maybe some kind of wrapped antenna?
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If it was a regular radio, maybe, but not with microwaves. Sorry.

craigtyson · « **Reply #8 on:** August 06, 2005, 06:30:35 pm »

If you have access to some university radio labs or similar you should be able to nock up a foil arial which could be glued onto the case. It would be highly directional (like a TV arial) but if fabricated properly to very tight tollerances you should be able to make a high gain arial that works when you point it at the access point. Otherwise you can buy a high gain antena and put it on your access point which will do the same thing as long as there is no local interference between you and the access point.

BarryW · « **Reply #9 on:** August 06, 2005, 08:23:03 pm »

Quote

If you have access to some university radio labs or similar you should be able to nock up a foil arial which could be glued onto the case. It would be highly directional (like a TV arial) but if fabricated properly to very tight tollerances you should be able to make a high gain arial that works when you point it at the access point. Otherwise you can buy a high gain antena and put it on your access point which will do the same thing as long as there is no local interference between you and the access point.
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You can't do the foil antenna with wifi.

adf · « **Reply #10 on:** August 07, 2005, 03:33:24 am »

you could make a dish in or on a hat wit a cable connection. Maybe a beanie with a motorized parabolic..and a cable ...and a connector for the cable modded onto the Z?
It would work great.... but you'd likely be arrested or assaulted at the local cafe.
---just kidding of course.... but something big and detachable would serve some purposes.

craigtyson · « **Reply #11 on:** August 07, 2005, 02:39:55 pm »

For a DIY Access point aerial Click Here

BarryW · « **Reply #12 on:** August 07, 2005, 08:41:05 pm »

That's an ungodly directional antenna. If you really want to build a good omni antenna for your access point I highly recommend this one. http://wireless.gumph.org/articles/homemadeomni.html I have built two of them, one for wardriving and one for my itronix laptop. Both work really well. You have to use the correct coax though. You can't use cable tv or satellite cable to do it.

craigtyson · « **Reply #13 on:** August 08, 2005, 07:05:36 am »

This design should work folded up also no?

It might be possable to use make up a double layer foil aerial using this idea. Il dig out some of my old antenna design books and see what they say.

BarryW · « **Reply #14 on:** August 08, 2005, 10:56:34 am »

I don't think it will work folded. The very first one I built, I didn't use a template. It had a slight curve to it. It became not as omni as it should have been. You'd have to tilt it this way and that to get it to make a connection. I think doing a folded antenna with this desigh would probably kill it. I've seen somewhere on the net a mini conifer antenna with a popsicle stick as the beam. That was a pretty cool looking mini directional antenna. There's also a couple "toothpick" designs that don't require any coax to build. You will still need a pigtail for any of this though. May as well buy an antenna at the same time. The connections on the wifi card are too small and delicate to be soldering to. Like I said on my page, I killed my iPaq's wifi card trying it without a pigtail.

News:

Author Topic: Modded My Z! (again) (Read 12150 times)