I opened my USB 802.11b adapter - help me locate the antenna!

Can anybody help me find the antenna inside my MSI-branded 802.11b USB
adapter? I am going to insert the thing into a can as the probe for a
cantenna, and want to make sure I orient the antenna along a radial line
inside the cylinder.

Is it the gold square in the second picture? Or maybe the gold nodule in
the upper-left corner of that picture?

Pictures are here:
http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~tshaynes/msi/

Thanks!!
Tim

: Is it the gold square in the second picture? Or maybe the gold nodule in
: the upper-left corner of that picture?
:
: Pictures are here:
: http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~tshaynes/msi/

Photo 4906, upper-left. But I'm not quite sure as you're photos are not
precise enough..

m.



--
Marcin Lukasik
Milea Wireless Communications, http://milea.pl
phone/fax/mobile: (++48) 13 44 800 70, 13 44 811 48, 509 390 490

,,the only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys''

Tim Haynes <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Can anybody help me find the antenna inside my MSI-branded 802.11b USB
> adapter? I am going to insert the thing into a can as the probe for a
> cantenna, and want to make sure I orient the antenna along a radial line
> inside the cylinder.

> Is it the gold square in the second picture? Or maybe the gold nodule in
> the upper-left corner of that picture?

> Pictures are here:
> http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~tshaynes/msi/

The lump in the upper left looks like what has been discussed before as a
test connector, deliberately filled with potting gunk to make it unusable
once the device leaves the factory.

The foil loop looks like it might be the antenna.

What is the FCC-ID of this widget? That might lead to more information on
the http://www.fcc.gov/oet/fccid/help.html pages.

The http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_main.asp page has "Parts &
Accessories" that looks a lot like my "DLink" 802.11b-mini-USB.

I don't see your gadget there, though. What's the model number?

In any event, the radiation is probably off the front face.
I would suggest an orientation like mine, using the cantenna page to decide
where to position it, based on the Inner Diameter of your can.
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/u...42-800x600.jpg
http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

> The foil loop looks like it might be the antenna.

That's my hunch, too.

> What is the FCC-ID of this widget? That might lead to more information on
> the http://www.fcc.gov/oet/fccid/help.html pages.

I'll have to check when I get home.

> The http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_main.asp page has "Parts &
> Accessories" that looks a lot like my "DLink" 802.11b-mini-USB.
>
> I don't see your gadget there, though. What's the model number?

The model number is UB11B.

> In any event, the radiation is probably off the front face.
> I would suggest an orientation like mine, using the cantenna page to
decide
> where to position it, based on the Inner Diameter of your can.
> http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/u...42-800x600.jpg
> http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

Thanks for the advice - I think you are right about the front face
radiation. I'm going to orient mine the way you have done yours and see how
things turn out.

Thanks for the advice!!
Tim

"Marcin #ukasik" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> : Is it the gold square in the second picture? Or maybe the gold nodule in
> : the upper-left corner of that picture?
> :
> : Pictures are here:
> : http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~tshaynes/msi/

> Photo 4906, upper-left. But I'm not quite sure as you're photos are not
> precise enough..

I might think 4906 lower left is a ceramic antenna, but there are
suspicious elements that look like interruptions in the gold foil loop,
like the black blob between the blue chip and black chip, on the line.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

Tim Haynes <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> The model number is UB11B.

I don't see that
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...B11B&class=com
looks like your photo at all. The FCC ID might be informative.



--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 17:58:15 +0100, "Marcin £ukasik"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>: Is it the gold square in the second picture? Or maybe the gold nodule in
>: the upper-left corner of that picture?
>:
>: Pictures are here:
>: http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~tshaynes/msi/
>
>Photo 4906, upper-left. But I'm not quite sure as you're photos are not
>precise enough..

It's the blue rectangular thing in the lower left (labelled WTC).]
It's a multilayer ceramic strip line antenna. My guess it's a "blue
chip" antenna made by Centurion.
http://www.centurion.com/home/antenna_images.asp


--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:cmtkv7$6qv$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Tim Haynes <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > The model number is UB11B.
>
> I don't see that
> http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...B11B&class=com
> looks like your photo at all. The FCC ID might be informative.
>

It's definitely the same one (of course, I took the plastic casing off so I
could photo the innards).

I have uploaded higher resolution photos (the ones I had posted had been
resized down to save bandwidth). See anything interesting anew?
http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~tshaynes/msi/

Thanks
Tim

"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 17:58:15 +0100, "Marcin £ukasik"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >: Is it the gold square in the second picture? Or maybe the gold nodule
in
> >: the upper-left corner of that picture?
> >:
> >: Pictures are here:
> >: http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~tshaynes/msi/
> >
> >Photo 4906, upper-left. But I'm not quite sure as you're photos are not
> >precise enough..
>
> It's the blue rectangular thing in the lower left (labelled WTC).]
> It's a multilayer ceramic strip line antenna. My guess it's a "blue
> chip" antenna made by Centurion.
> http://www.centurion.com/home/antenna_images.asp

Wow - awesome bit of analysis there Jeff. That is really helpful to know,
and something I would never have thought of myself. Do you think that if I
position it in the centre of the can (the appropriate distance from the back
as per the cantenna calculations page) that that would be the best
positioning of it?

Thanks again!!
Tim

: It's the blue rectangular thing in the lower left (labelled WTC).]
: It's a multilayer ceramic strip line antenna. My guess it's a "blue
: chip" antenna made by Centurion.
: http://www.centurion.com/home/antenna_images.asp

Oh, you may be right. Didn't know that they're manufacturing on-chip
antennas... Well ;-)
Anyway, as I wrote before - I think that it is a connector in a upper-left
corner of the board. Looks like the one from Orinoco a/b combo pcmcia card.


m.


--
Marcin Lukasik
Milea Wireless Communications, http://milea.pl
phone/fax/mobile: (++48) 13 4480070 / 13 4481148 / 509 390 490

,,the only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys''