I had a thought the other night. My wireless keyboard has limited
range when my Home Theater PC (HTPC) is enclosed in a cabinet. I have
already tapped into the keyboard receiver to access the antenna trace
on the circuit board by adding a long wire which I string away and
outside of the cabinet. This improved the range. Then I had my
thought, what about wiring my external antenna wire into the ground of
a 3-prong power outlet. I thought about testing the voltage and
current between the antenna wire and ground prong but decided what the
heck it is suppose to be grounded. Well, the range is well extended
now, but I am wondering what are the risks? I am probably risking
damage to my keyboard receiver but so far it works great. I am a very
amateur electronics person so I know some stuff but I don't know what
would be the best solution to protecting the receiver from damage, if
it is needed at all. My questions are why shouldn't I do this, what
are the risks, and is there anyway to do this while minimizing the
risks?

Also, what about 802.11b? I am thinking that is even more risky since
the AP is both a receiver and transmitter and grounding the
transmitter signal would probably diminish its range substantially.

Thanks!

Hi Michael

Well it isnt something I'd ever do to 2.4GHz signals. grin

Given the frequecy in use there is going to be pretty severe attenuation
in any length of open wire so the fact that the ground wire is
"grounded" is probably superfluous. I do know however that there are
warnings on WiFi equipment about interference from fluro's and other
electrical equipment in close proximity so I'd guess that with those
kind of induced voltages on the RX antenna it could in fact work not as
well.

Would the voltages hanging around the earth line as noise be damaging to
the WiFI RX? I'd say yes but it would depend on the protection (if any)
at the RX front end. Obviously depends on what electrically noisy things
you also have connected to the mains and how much output there is on
2.4GHz.A hard call, sorry!

If I was trying to increase the range I'd build a antenna inside a tin
can of the receiving unit "pointed" in the direction where I would sit
with the keyboard. The keyboard I would also modify so that it had at
least a half wavelength dipole on the outside of its case on the top/far
edge.

There are lots of 2.4GHz antenna building ideas on the internet.. Go for
it!

802.11b? I'd stick to purpose built antennas, Home made or commercial.

Cheers Bob VK2YQA

Michael McNabb wrote:
I had a thought the other night. My wireless keyboard has limited
range when my Home Theater PC (HTPC) is enclosed in a cabinet. I have
already tapped into the keyboard receiver to access the antenna trace
on the circuit board by adding a long wire which I string away and
outside of the cabinet. This improved the range. Then I had my
thought, what about wiring my external antenna wire into the ground of
a 3-prong power outlet. I thought about testing the voltage and
current between the antenna wire and ground prong but decided what the
heck it is suppose to be grounded. Well, the range is well extended
now, but I am wondering what are the risks? I am probably risking
damage to my keyboard receiver but so far it works great. I am a very
amateur electronics person so I know some stuff but I don't know what
would be the best solution to protecting the receiver from damage, if
it is needed at all. My questions are why shouldn't I do this, what
are the risks, and is there anyway to do this while minimizing the
risks?

Also, what about 802.11b? I am thinking that is even more risky since
the AP is both a receiver and transmitter and grounding the
transmitter signal would probably diminish its range substantially.

Thanks!

"Michael McNabb" wrote

I had a thought the other night. My wireless keyboard has limited
range when my Home Theater PC (HTPC) is enclosed in a cabinet. I have
already tapped into the keyboard receiver to access the antenna trace
on the circuit board by adding a long wire which I string away and
outside of the cabinet. This improved the range. Then I had my
thought, what about wiring my external antenna wire into the ground of
a 3-prong power outlet. I thought about testing the voltage and
current between the antenna wire and ground prong but decided what the
heck it is suppose to be grounded. Well, the range is well extended
now, but I am wondering what are the risks? I am probably risking
damage to my keyboard receiver but so far it works great. I am a very
amateur electronics person so I know some stuff but I don't know what
would be the best solution to protecting the receiver from damage, if
it is needed at all. My questions are why shouldn't I do this, what
are the risks, and is there anyway to do this while minimizing the
risks?

Hi Michael, you are correct there is no voltage on your home ground wiring
under normal conditions. And there is normally no more noise on ground than
is also present on the line and neutral wiring. But, if you are in an area
prone to thunderstorms, or if there are equipments in your home capable of
generating surge currents, AND you use standard MOV-type surge protecting
"power strips" there is a risk. Any transisent surge voltages on your
circuits could be referenced to ground by those surge protectors and right
into your receiver's front end.

Also, what about 802.11b? I am thinking that is even more risky since
the AP is both a receiver and transmitter and grounding the
transmitter signal would probably diminish its range substantially.

It could also cause harmful interference to other equipment including it's
own receiver.

Best regards,

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Va

"Michael McNabb" wrote in message
om...
...My wireless keyboard has limited
range ... I have
already tapped into the ...antenna trace
on the circuit board by adding a long wire ...
outside of the cabinet. This improved the range....
what about wiring my external antenna wire into the ground of
a 3-prong power outlet.

A few comments.

This "ground" wire, for all intents and purposes, is just a wire running
around your house -- as far as this RF signal is concerned (I assume it is
in the 2GHz 802.11 range) Whether you use this wire or run any old wire
around the place, you have the same type of thing - as far as your desired
RF is concerned.
You must have a small capacitor in this line, however. I would think
that anything between 1 pF and 50 pF is ok. This will greatly help with
most problems in connecting up to the building power line ground system
mentioned in ther posts.

--
Steve N, K,9;d, c. i My email has no u's.

Jack Painter wrote:

"Michael McNabb" wrote

I had a thought the other night. My wireless keyboard has limited
range when my Home Theater PC (HTPC) is enclosed in a cabinet. I have
already tapped into the keyboard receiver to access the antenna trace
on the circuit board by adding a long wire which I string away and
outside of the cabinet. This improved the range. Then I had my
thought, what about wiring my external antenna wire into the ground of
a 3-prong power outlet. I thought about testing the voltage and
current between the antenna wire and ground prong but decided what the
heck it is suppose to be grounded. Well, the range is well extended
now, but I am wondering what are the risks? I am probably risking
damage to my keyboard receiver but so far it works great. I am a very
amateur electronics person so I know some stuff but I don't know what
would be the best solution to protecting the receiver from damage, if
it is needed at all. My questions are why shouldn't I do this, what
are the risks, and is there anyway to do this while minimizing the
risks?

Hi Michael, you are correct there is no voltage on your home ground wiring
under normal conditions. And there is normally no more noise on ground than
is also present on the line and neutral wiring. But, if you are in an area
prone to thunderstorms, or if there are equipments in your home capable of
generating surge currents, AND you use standard MOV-type surge protecting
"power strips" there is a risk. Any transisent surge voltages on your
circuits could be referenced to ground by those surge protectors and right
into your receiver's front end.

Also, what about 802.11b? I am thinking that is even more risky since
the AP is both a receiver and transmitter and grounding the
transmitter signal would probably diminish its range substantially.

It could also cause harmful interference to other equipment including it's
own receiver.

Best regards,

Jack Painter
Virginia Beach, Va


If you have access to an oscilloscope you might find it interesting to
take a look at what is riding on your ground wire - it can be quite an
education.

Dave