15 Element Wi-Fi Yagi

Okay guys and gals, it's done. After lots of e-mails asking about a
good Wi-Fi antenna that is simple to build and still beats the
cantennas and wok-tops: http:www.ab9il.net/wlan-projects/
wifi6.html . Gain is around 15 dBi, and it is made of wood, wire, and
a pigtail.

Enjoy!

Phil
http://www.ab9il.net/

On Oct 24, 11:21*am, Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:21:57 -0700 (PDT), ab9il.worldw...@gmail.com
> wrote:
>
> >Okay guys and gals, it's done. *After lots of e-mails asking about a
> >good Wi-Fi antenna that is simple to build and still beats the
> >cantennas and wok-tops: *http:www.ab9il.net/wlan-projects/
> >wifi6.html . *Gain is around 15 dBi, and it is made of wood, wire, and
> >a pigtail.
>
> >Enjoy!
>
> >Phil
> >http://www.ab9il.net/
>
> <http://www.ab9il.net/wlan-projects/wifi6.html>
> Nice but not enough info to actually build one. *There's no detail on
> the driven element. *Some general comments:
>
> 1. *The center of the Wi-fi band is 2442 MHz, not 2450 Mhz
> 2. *Round the ends of the elements. *Don't square them off. *The cut
> length should be to about 2/3 the radiused end. *See Antennex yagis
> for what I'm talking about. *It increases the usable bandwidth
> dramatically with no loss in gain. *The wire guage you're using will
> result in a rather narrow bandwidth. *I prefer 1/4" copper water pipe.
> 3. *When I click on the right hand antenna pattern image, I get 404
> not found.
> 4. *The directivity pattern looks really odd (if not wrong). *It
> should look something like this:
> <http://www.hyperlinktech.com/multimedia/datasheets/DS_HG2415Y.PDF>
> Note that for 14.5dBi gain, the commercial antenna is about 462 mm.
> Yours is 419 mm long. *Close enough.
> 5. *What is the boom made from? *It looks like wood. *Hopefully it's
> not conductive or all you calcs are wrong. *With a conductive boom,
> the element length is measured to go around the outside of the boom.
> Wood also has a bad habit of absorbing moisture. *I watched a 440MHz
> yagi that I build from a 2x2 fir boom slowly change vSWR pattern over
> several months as the wood absorbed and released moisture. *I don't
> expect much of a problem with your size boom, but it is something that
> you should watch for.
> 6. *Oops. *I didn't see the "next step" at the bottom of the page. May
> I suggest you make it an obvious button that's duplicated at the top
> of the page. *The 2nd page details the construction, but doesn't show
> how the pigtail is attached, whether a balun is used, and whether any
> matching is required for what is normally a 200 ohm folded dipole.
> 7. *I can feed the design into 4NEC2 and see what it looks like, but
> don't have the time. *(sorry).
> 8. *Have you done any measurements? *Even a Netstumbler comparison
> with a known reference antenna is useful. *
> 9. *You might wanna post it to rec.radio.amateur.antenna for
> additional comments.
>
> Good luck.
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann * * je...@cruzio.com
> 150 Felker St #D * *http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann * * AE6KS * *831-336-2558

At wifi frequencies, the dimensions are within the range of those
"Internet" PCB manufacturers. Is a PCB trace too thin to make an
antenna?

On Oct 29, 8:49*pm, Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:46:21 -0700 (PDT), m...@sushi.com wrote:
> >At wifi frequencies, the dimensions are within the range of those
> >"Internet" PCB manufacturers.
>
> Well, yeah. *I think you mean the tolerances, not dimensions.
>
> >Is a PCB trace too thin to make an
> >antenna?
>
> What PCB trace? *Are you thinking of building a PCB driven element or
> balun? *It can easily be done. *For example, here's a 900MHz log
> periodic PCB antenna:
> <http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/antennas/Sinclair%20SRL441-2P/index.html>
> Note that the PCB material is polysulfone, not G10/FR4.
>
> Much cheaper are those made by Ramsey for various bands:
> <http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/downloads/catalog/catalog_antenna.pdf>
> <http://k0swi.microlnk.com/REVIEW/ANTENNAS/RAMSEY%20LOGI%20ANTENNAS.htm>
> These are G10/FR4.
>
> The width of the trace acts exactly the same way as the diameter of a
> rod element in a traditional yagi antenna. *The fatter the element,
> the greater the bandwidth. *All a too narrow a trace does is narrow up
> the usable bandwidth.
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann * * je...@cruzio.com
> 150 Felker St #D * *http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann * * AE6KS * *831-336-2558

Actually, I did mean dimensions. Most of the "internet" PCB fabs limit
themselves to about 22 inches in length

Phil,
Do you have a photo of the coax connection to the Yagi?
Thanks buddy!

Pete



On Oct 24, 10:21*am, ab9il.worldw...@gmail.com wrote:
> Okay guys and gals, it's done. *After lots of e-mails asking about a
> good Wi-Fi antenna that is simple to build and still beats the
> cantennas and wok-tops: *http:www.ab9il.net/wlan-projects/
> wifi6.html . *Gain is around 15 dBi, and it is made of wood, wire, and
> a pigtail.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Philhttp://www.ab9il.net/