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Old Geek Invents New Stick

Posted by michael on from the can-you-hear-me-now? dept.

the morgawr writes "According to the EE Times and Science Blog, a scientist at University of Rhode Island has developed a new type of antenna design that, by increasing the efficiency, performs as well as the convential quarter-wave design but is only 1/3 as large."

21 of 262 comments (clear)

  1. Ahh yes, but.... by BlueCodeWarrior · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can it be adjusted to fit on top of my tinfoil hat?

    1. Re:Ahh yes, but.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, but you'd look like a Teletubby...

    2. Re:Ahh yes, but.... by Short+Circuit · · Score: 1, Funny

      Picture a new kind of beanie...instead of a propellor, it's an antenna for your cell phone.

      --
      tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
    3. Re:Ahh yes, but.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      1. Reroute the DMCA protected goverment mindwaves through a "IEEE-666 mindwave bandwidth coaxial cable".

      2. Tape a car aerial a plastic "Captain Scarlet Mysteron(tm)" raygun, link it to the coax.

      3. Call your self Captain Black.

      4. Take over the world in the name of an unseen alien presence, by shooting people with rings of light.

      5. ???

      6. Profit!

  2. Suggested name... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "performs as well as the convential quarter-wave design but is only 1/3 as large"

    Behold! I give you the twelfth-wave design!!

  3. Heh by xSquaredAdmin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Once again, it's been proven that it's not how big it is, but how well you use it.

    --
    Crushing dreams at the speed of sarcasm
    1. Re:Heh by denisdekat · · Score: 4, Funny

      Rats, so that means I got to get good at using it then :( All along I was counting on my size... Of antena that is ;)

      --
      photoplankton
    2. Re:Heh by Short+Circuit · · Score: 1, Funny

      If you've got antennae, you might want to join a circus. I hear they pay big money for people like you. :)

      --
      tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
  4. Re:Will we see this at by scatter_gather · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not unless you look 3 times harder.

  5. Pringles mini can by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 4, Funny

    He found that by using those pringles mini cans, he could get similar reception to that of a regular-sized pringles can.

    He expects to get a 10x power boost from metal chewing gum wrappers, and 50x from a microwaved AOL CD!

    --
    stuff |
    1. Re:Pringles mini can by AliasTheRoot · · Score: 1, Funny

      It's been scientifically proven that for this to work you also need 30 metres of string attached to either end, and just everso slightly under 30 metres of distance between the transmitter and receiver.

      Communications engineers call this the Knot principle.

  6. let's ask the ladies out there by Jrod5000+at+RPI · · Score: 4, Funny

    c'mon, i don't care what you say... if it's 1/3 as large no woman on earth would believe it performs as well! :p

  7. gotta say it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    worst headline ever!

  8. Re:let it be said: patents at their best by AliasTheRoot · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just hope he hasn't taken a 30 foot antenna and bent it every 12 inches then wrapped ductape around it.

  9. Re:Very promising! by sndtech · · Score: 3, Funny

    Actually from what the article says power usage would actually be limited by the antenna, whn he cranked up the power on his to full power he melted it.
    of course we'll probably see a few cell phone designers screw up and over power the antenna and melt the phone into someones head.

  10. Twice the frequency by wombatmobile · · Score: 1, Funny

    "The technology is completely scalable: Take the component values and divide them by two, and you get twice the frequency; take all the component values and multiply them by two, and you are at half the frequency," said Vincent.

    That's been known for quite some time.
  11. Re:Fractal antennas by AliasTheRoot · · Score: 3, Funny

    It probably picks up mainstream channels, Fractal antennas are stuck with Mandelbrotadio.

  12. Re:Very promising! by W2IRT · · Score: 1, Funny

    Sounds like something you'd see in the April issue of QST. Read the comments on e-Ham!

    Now, if it's for real, look out ye topbanders - y'all are about to be invaded!

    --
    Cheers, Peter, W2IRT
  13. Re:Picture anyone? by wombatmobile · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd love to see a picture of this as I don't know much about antennae.

    Here.
  14. Re:No details of operation by AliasTheRoot · · Score: 2, Funny

    but with a 2d antenna the strongest signal will always be perpendicular, you cant count on some random rock happening to bounce a muted signal in the correct direction.

    if that was the case everyone would point their satelite dishes in whatever direction and place rocks around it until the signal was strong enough.

  15. Re:Very promising! by 19thNervousBreakdown · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not when they're made from my room-temperature superconducting material, they're not!

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    <xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>