MP3Car.com - View Single Post - Quick question about connecting my DIY wifi antenna

BarryWoods · 09-24-2007, 11:34 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by nobb

Why would cable grade coax "kill" my wifi card? I wouldve thought that a thicker, bigger cable would mean less line loss and therefore be better (other than the fact that its not very flexible).

The coax I used for my antenna is from a cable tv (RG6), but I did google up its type and took the velocity factor of my specific cable into consideration when calculating the design required. I did search up usb wifi antenna, but I would rather not have my dongle out in plain sight. I want to have my dongle plugged into my carpc (in trunk) and just run a wire to an antenna.

It's called cable attenuation. Rg6 is not microwave rated cable. It's like trying to run a 300watt amp with headphone wires. You're going to lose most of your signal in the first foot of the cable. The two antenna's I've built were from LMR-400. The pigtails from the cards to them are also LMR-400. I have one LMR-240 pigtail as well.

http://binarywolf.com/249/faq.htm
http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Antennas/WiFi/
http://www.netstumbler.org/f23/

09-24-2007, 11:34 AM	#4
BarryWoods Maximum Bitrate Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ohio Vehicle: 2005 Honda Element Posts: 543 My Photos: ()	Quote: Originally Posted by nobb Why would cable grade coax "kill" my wifi card? I wouldve thought that a thicker, bigger cable would mean less line loss and therefore be better (other than the fact that its not very flexible). The coax I used for my antenna is from a cable tv (RG6), but I did google up its type and took the velocity factor of my specific cable into consideration when calculating the design required. I did search up usb wifi antenna, but I would rather not have my dongle out in plain sight. I want to have my dongle plugged into my carpc (in trunk) and just run a wire to an antenna. It's called cable attenuation. Rg6 is not microwave rated cable. It's like trying to run a 300watt amp with headphone wires. You're going to lose most of your signal in the first foot of the cable. The two antenna's I've built were from LMR-400. The pigtails from the cards to them are also LMR-400. I have one LMR-240 pigtail as well. http://binarywolf.com/249/faq.htm http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Antennas/WiFi/ http://www.netstumbler.org/f23/ __________________ Failure is not an option.... It's installed by default on every version of Windows.