EZ10 antenna results

I previously posted on my efforts to overcome poor signal strength on a
PC in a back room of the house.

I had done a quick and dirty fix to improve things by installing a flat
steel sheet to reflect the signal to the PCI antenna at the rear of the
XT case. This took it from about 43% strength to 56%.

It seemed that a reflector antenna was the best option to get round
this.

Anyway, after searching the net for an easy looking wifi reflector to
build, I settled on the EZ-10 simple corner reflector. What could be
simpler?

First I checked out what moving the original Belkin PCI arial to a
better position achieved by connecting the arial to a cable, and got
44% - not a very big increase at all.

I suppose cable loss negated most of my gains in lifting it away from
behind the PC (1 metre cable only).

Anyway, I then made up a simple corner antenna based on the EZ-10
pattern. I made it from 1mm brass sheeting and mounted the antenna in
a piece of 10 mm polycarbonate sheeting held on by a couple of small PK
screws.

The result - an impressive improvement - now showing 82% signal
strength.

Given the corner reflector is only 4.5" square on each wing, and dead
easy to make, it certainly had a huge impact on the signal strength.

Im pretty chuffed on the outcome.

Anyone else who has bad reception problems like this should check out
this super simple reflector antenna.

All up cost was $22 Aus for the cable and connectors.

Cheers

Rob

me here <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Anyway, I then made up a simple corner antenna based on the EZ-10
> pattern. I made it from 1mm brass sheeting and mounted the antenna in
> a piece of 10 mm polycarbonate sheeting held on by a couple of small PK
> screws.

http://www.freeantennas.com EZ-12, Windsurfer reflector.
printed on photo paper for thick stock, with aluminum foil glued to the
sail, provides a substantial boost in signal. Leave the "tabs" longer than
indicated on the drawing, for easier assembly.

If you made the sail from 1mm brass, you might need something sturdier than
photo paper for the mounting.

I think this looks nicer than the corner reflector.
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ12-windsurfer.jpg

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> me here <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > Anyway, I then made up a simple corner antenna based on the EZ-10
> > pattern. I made it from 1mm brass sheeting and mounted the antenna
> > in a piece of 10 mm polycarbonate sheeting held on by a couple of
> > small PK screws.
>
> http://www.freeantennas.com EZ-12, Windsurfer reflector.
> printed on photo paper for thick stock, with aluminum foil glued to
> the sail, provides a substantial boost in signal. Leave the "tabs"
> longer than indicated on the drawing, for easier assembly.
>
> If you made the sail from 1mm brass, you might need something
> sturdier than photo paper for the mounting.
>
> I think this looks nicer than the corner reflector.
> http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ12-windsurfer.jpg



I considered the Windsurfer.

The one you made looks great.

I went for something based on the EZ-10 design as it had to be free
standing - with a flat base.

It is being used on a remote arial on a (client) PC, not on the access
point/router as originally intended.

The original PCI based arial was a bit marginal.

I made the reflector out of metal so it wouldn't fall over easily.

It just stands on top of the PC box.

I haven't put the feet on it yet (todays job) and when its complete I
will put up a link to a photo for anyone thats interested.

Incidentally, before I assembled it, I played around with the
positioning of the Belkin arial to see how the focus point on the plan
related to my metal reflector.

It was spot on.

I also found the signal strength was greatest when the tip of the arial
was just level with the top of the reflector panels.

I notice that you have your arial down a bit from the top. Might be
worth lifting it slightly.

I'm just a newbie on this stuff so don't expect any technical info :-)

Cheers

Rob

me here wrote:

> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
> > me here <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > > Anyway, I then made up a simple corner antenna based on the EZ-10
> > > pattern. I made it from 1mm brass sheeting and mounted the
> > > antenna in a piece of 10 mm polycarbonate sheeting held on by a
> > > couple of small PK screws.
> >
> > http://www.freeantennas.com EZ-12, Windsurfer reflector.
> > printed on photo paper for thick stock, with aluminum foil glued to
> > the sail, provides a substantial boost in signal. Leave the "tabs"
> > longer than indicated on the drawing, for easier assembly.
> >
> > If you made the sail from 1mm brass, you might need something
> > sturdier than photo paper for the mounting.
> >
> > I think this looks nicer than the corner reflector.
> > http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ12-windsurfer.jpg
>
>
>
> I considered the Windsurfer.
>
> The one you made looks great.
>
> I went for something based on the EZ-10 design as it had to be free
> standing - with a flat base.
>
> It is being used on a remote arial on a (client) PC, not on the access
> point/router as originally intended.
>
> The original PCI based arial was a bit marginal.
>
> I made the reflector out of metal so it wouldn't fall over easily.
>
> It just stands on top of the PC box.
>
> I haven't put the feet on it yet (todays job) and when its complete I
> will put up a link to a photo for anyone thats interested.
>
> Incidentally, before I assembled it, I played around with the
> positioning of the Belkin arial to see how the focus point on the plan
> related to my metal reflector.
>
> It was spot on.
>
> I also found the signal strength was greatest when the tip of the
> arial was just level with the top of the reflector panels.
>
> I notice that you have your arial down a bit from the top. Might be
> worth lifting it slightly.
>
> I'm just a newbie on this stuff so don't expect any technical info :-)
>
> Cheers
>
> Rob



OK, here's the final product.

Note the cut down glue gun nozzle feet :-)

http://homepages.picknowl.com.au/glo...gnet/info.html

Pretty simple huh?

Its getting 87% signal strength in a double brick wall house 4 rooms
away from the access point/ router - see second image.

Total components:

1 piece 1mm brass sheeting 9x4.5"
1 small piece black poly board (chipboard would do)
1 small length of rubber hose for compression fit to mount arial in.
2 small self tapping screws

and most importantly

3 glue gun nozzles

And a pigtail.

Cheers

Rob

me here <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I considered the Windsurfer.

> The one you made looks great.

The glossy white paper looks nice ;-)

> I went for something based on the EZ-10 design as it had to be free
> standing - with a flat base.

Ah, there was my first attempt, the curved "original". I could never keep
my curved piece of metal aligned. The bottom would stay flat, but the top
would be skewed.
http://www.freeantennas.com/projects...ry/OneSoup.JPG
I just set it on a printout of the template.

I think the windsurfer would work, just like the setup that you have.
http://homepages.picknowl.com.au/glo...gnet/info.html

> I also found the signal strength was greatest when the tip of the arial
> was just level with the top of the reflector panels.

> I notice that you have your arial down a bit from the top. Might be
> worth lifting it slightly.

I'm limited mechanically by the length of my little antenna, where the
bottom of the sail hits the router.
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ12-windsurfer.jpg

> I'm just a newbie on this stuff so don't expect any technical info :-)

The highly technical people don't like my free reflectors much. ;-)

Even less, the crinkly EZ-10 that I built:
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/S...s/image002.jpg



--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> me here <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > I considered the Windsurfer.
>
> > The one you made looks great.
>
> The glossy white paper looks nice ;-)
>
> > I went for something based on the EZ-10 design as it had to be free
> > standing - with a flat base.
>
> Ah, there was my first attempt, the curved "original". I could never
> keep my curved piece of metal aligned. The bottom would stay flat,
> but the top would be skewed.
> http://www.freeantennas.com/projects...ry/OneSoup.JPG
> I just set it on a printout of the template.
>
> I think the windsurfer would work, just like the setup that you have.
> http://homepages.picknowl.com.au/glo...gnet/info.html
>
> > I also found the signal strength was greatest when the tip of the
> > arial was just level with the top of the reflector panels.
>
> > I notice that you have your arial down a bit from the top. Might be
> > worth lifting it slightly.
>
> I'm limited mechanically by the length of my little antenna, where the
> bottom of the sail hits the router.
> http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ12-windsurfer.jpg
>
> > I'm just a newbie on this stuff so don't expect any technical info
> > :-)
>
> The highly technical people don't like my free reflectors much. ;-)
>
> Even less, the crinkly EZ-10 that I built:
> http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/S...es/image002.jp
> g

The crinkly one certainly is.......crinkly :-)

Good one Clarence

Cheers

Rob