Well, folks I finally decided to test my new antennas. First, I decided
to shorten the antennas to 4 elements instead of 8 so I could mount
the antennas directly on the back of my thinkpad's screen. The 8 el
jobs would have made life harder, requiring connectors, mounting
plates, etc. All that for just 3db more gain. Nah...

I went on a "war walk" this morning, scanning my neighborhood for any
WiFi access points. I've got a neighbor down the street who has one
and with my old antennas (2 inverted V's), I could pickup his network
from about 5 houses away. With the new antennas, I picked up his system
from twice the distance. Nice! As I understand it, a 4 el coaxial
colinear
antenna will have about 6dbd gain so getting double the range seems
right. I was curious if my setup was directional so I got to the fringe
coverage range and turned around 360 degrees but saw no drop in the
signals. It seems like microwaves go right through my screen (and
me!).

Now to construct a pair of 8 el antennas for my WRT54G router.....

Disclaimer: I am NOT trying to "hack" free internet access from the
neighborhood WiFi 802.11b/g systems - that's not what wardriving is
about......

Ken KG0WX

KG0WX wrote:
. . .
Disclaimer: I am NOT trying to "hack" free internet access from the
neighborhood WiFi 802.11b/g systems - that's not what wardriving is
about......

What is it about?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

It's about radio, internet, technology....

Kinda similar to ham radio.... I mean - why use 20 meters when the
telephone is right there in the shack?

Get it? :-)

Ken

"Roy Lewallen" wrote in message
...
KG0WX wrote:
. . .
Disclaimer: I am NOT trying to "hack" free internet access from the
neighborhood WiFi 802.11b/g systems - that's not what wardriving is
about......

What is it about?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

"Roy Lewallen" wrote in message
...
KG0WX wrote:
. . .
Disclaimer: I am NOT trying to "hack" free internet access from the
neighborhood WiFi 802.11b/g systems - that's not what wardriving is
about......

What is it about?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Oh, there's a certain element of fun in "seeing what works." Try to find a
ham who's never tried
anything goofy -- it can't be done!

At that frequency, you can do a great deal with a cone of metal mesh (a
minor purchase at the
hardware store). Put the small end around the antenna and the open end
pointed in the direction
of the desired signal.

My entry into that band was not ham or Wi-Fi, but MDS television. There
is a TV band around 2300 MHz. (I don't really want to go out in my cold
garage and look
it up.)

I bought a downconverter for that band (which was used for porno movies
in my area at the time) but I didn't have enough signal. So, I started
goofing with mesh cones.
I got big time improvement with very little effort.

If the aim is just experimentation, then a three-foot metal mesh cone will
actually be an appealing
feature of the setup.

KD6VKW