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Using an Old Satellite Dish as a WLAN Antenna

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the rolling-your-own dept.

=m8s=Dark Underlord writes "I was browsing for wireless stuff and came across this link that shows how to use an old satellite dish as an 802.11 antenna." The directions tout the range as being 10 miles given line of sight. We've had other stories about building antennas, but I think these are cooler because of their focused nature, but a Primestar dish is a little tougher to locate than a Pringles can or a floppy disk.

4 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. Re:For $15 more you get the real thing by djh101010 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Exactly my thoughts - I have several DirectTV dishes lying around that I was going to use for a 1.1 mile 802.11b link, and it just wasn't worth the hassle. The offset feedhorn makes mounting (and the math) inconvenient, and to me it wasn't worth the risk of, ahem, going beyond the 24 dBi of gain that the FCC allows. Better to be able to point to published specs for each piece of gear, and cable losses, and explain how you're not exceeding the legal limits. Yeah it's cool and all that, but what's the gain of these? (I don't know either). is it worth taking a chance?

    For what it's worth, two Linksys WAP11's in bridge mode, and two directional 24dBi gain antennae, and my link is rock solid at 1.1 miles.

  2. Re:Hard to locate? by whatch+durrin · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Interesting. I commented several days ago about how the mom in public housing that is paying for broadband internet (the one with the daughter that's being sued by the RIAA) should re-prioritize.

    I was quickly flamed, parent gets "Funny." Can anyone say double standard?

    --
    ***
    Radio Shack. You've got questions...we've got blank stares(TM).
  3. Re:Canteena for $19.95, shinier and FCC legal ! by roseblood · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What is an 8x telephoto lens? The 2x,3x,4x specs are mearly the ratio of of the shortest to longest focal length on a lens. I can HANDHOLD a 24mm 8x telephoto lens rock solid. The short end of that lens is 3mm.

    I can also support a 400mm lens rock solid, exposures at 1/2000th of a second will be as sharp and free from blur as any photo you care to take (given we both use the same film format, no fair if one of us uses 35mm and the other brings out the 8x10 studio camera.)

    You need a better analogy, it's easier to take a sharp photo [given the "8x telephoto" lens is of good enough quality to give a sharp image] than it is to aim a narrow beam of ElectroMagnetic energy at a point some 10+ miles appart. Make it more on the line of "shooting a flea off the back of a mangy dog at 100 meters" and you'll be in a better ballpark

    --
    There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
  4. Re:For $15 more you get the real thing *Decibels* by Mnemennth · · Score: 2, Insightful

    One Bel (10dB) is a power of ten in intensity. The question I have here is, is that a 22db gain over the stock antenna, or is it a 22db gain over a calibrated 50ohm dipole, as most commercial communications antennas are measured? If the former, what is the gain of the stock antenna?

    Mnem
    "Enough technical gobbledygook. Tell me how we kill this thing."