Antenna Solution!!!

[Source]

"JOY" For once I went like a normal person (noone) and did some
Research and I actually found an antenna solution that does NOT need Soldering. I went and bought a GSM antenna system from poynting, http://www.poynting.co.za/antennas/yagi-a0011.shtml Then I went and got me a 6Meter extension cable for RG174 and I bought a plug from RS-Components Part number 377-8009 "http://www.rssouthafrica.com/cgi-bin/bv/browse/Module.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0101246044.1106037932@ @@@&BV_EngineID=ccceadddikkelkicfngcfkmdgkldfhl.0&cacheID=zaie&3283490902=3283490902&stockNo=3778009&prmstocknum=3778009&prodoid=7408193" I did have to do a few of my own innovative "maak 'n plan" techniques but it is working fine.. I don’t have a signal strength tester but I used to get 1light now I have 5.

Ill post some pictures of this antenna and of my feked modem as soon as I have some spare time

Regards.

[shane101]

Glad to hear the pain wasn't for nothing Source! :p

[Edinetz]

Source do you know approximately how far you are away from the tower because I was led to believe iBurst uses TDMA (can't believe it - CDMA has supposed to have superceded TDMA becuase of TDMA limitations) and that there is a range limitation due to timing i.e. irrespective of signal strength received like GSM approx 30km without cell extender.

[Source]

YEAH, i live about 15 or so KM from the tower BUT I live in a sorta dip (braynston tower) so i have the antenna mounted on a TV anttena post on the roof.

[jamieb]

Good work Source...

I tried that RS-Components Part number 377-8009 link & it did not work.

Would you be willing put together a detailed guide of how to construct the antenna?

I am sure there will be alot of iBurst users who will be interested? How much did the solution cost?

Thanks

J

[Gatecrasher]

Good work Source...

Would you be willing put together a detailed guide of how to construct the antenna?

I am sure there will be alot of iBurst users who will be interested? How much did the solution cost?



I second that request, Source!

My signal is all over the place lately - having a frustrating time.

[torgo]

Hi, Yes Pleeeeeeeeeeease tell us the cost and how to o about this!

[ic]

YEAH, i live about 15 or so KM from the tower BUT I live in a sorta dip (braynston tower) so i have the antenna mounted on a TV anttena post on the roof.<somewhat_ot>
AFAIK this is not confidential, but I have heard that WBS plans to place a new base-station in Fourways, no I don't know where or when.

I suspect this might help me considerably bcos the Bryanston base-station is driving me round a very convoluted bend ATM.</somewhat_ot>

[torgo]

Guys , goto http://www.rssouthafrica.com and search for 377-8009 . The connector is about R65,

[Source]

The whole setup thingum was about in the region of R700

Antenna: R350-00
Cable: R300-00
Plug:R65

But you dont have to use the "Thick" N-type cable you can use the much cheaper RJ174 cable.. that fits perfectly on the plug... keep in mind that the plug does not work perfect I had to make a few minor changes to it with a soldering iron ;) I just burned away most of the plastic housing on the inside of the adaptor...

also keep in mind that this is not a omni directional antenna and has to be pointed in the right direction for optimum performance on the technical sheet on the antenna it tells you exactly what angle the antenna transmits at and ..yada yada

another piece of usefull information I want to share with you guys is that poynting is currently working on a OMNI directional antenna dedicated to iBurst that will be finished by the end of the month I spoke to a sales guy named LOUIS there when I went to pick-up the antenna. He said that his technical staff recons that the OMNI antenna will work better than the YAGGI I have.

[BucK]

Well done Source!!! Think I'll wait for the omni though.

[alchamy]

Well done source. Ofcourse the UTD will prob start giving problems at some point, but hopefully not.

R700 is not bad pricing either. I live 10km from the tower, I get 100% signal with the UTD mounted by a window. I have been keen to find an antenna solution which will allow me to mount the UTD with the routers and switches.

Ofcourse Im not willing to modify connectors to fit the UTD. I have also spoken to Poynting about their antennas and they should work, ofcourse an Omni would be a far better solution in particular for long term cost benifits.

I think that once we find TS5 & TS6 connectors this will be a cheaper alternative.

I do have one question, which connector did you melt? UTD or Pigtail?

[AcidRaZor]

Glad no one helped in this case... da dum dish...

See what a little research can do? Not to start something again, but you could have saved you that cost you know. I mean, how many beers could you have bought with that?!

[Source]

I melted the pigtail one... ILL NEVER COME NEAR TO A UTD WITH A SOLDERING IRON AGAIN!!!

why do you say it will give problems?

[alchamy]

Nah, if you melted the pigtail one it should be fine. ;) Hope you put some lightning protection on it :)

Just make sure that the switch inside does not get damanged.

My concern is still that the integrated antenna is 24dbi, which is much higher the the average yagi. Although if you can stick it high enough to obtain LOS then it will be good enough.

I like this antenna http://www.poynting.co.za/antennas/lpda-a0020.shtml
atleast I will be able to use it for other applications if I give up on Iburst

[Crash]

alchamey....

Thats a sweet antennae mate. You can use it on Wlan, UMTS, almost everything....

[limnos]

What's the price on that antenna though? And does anyone know what antenna's WBS is bringing in at the end of the month and the cost on them?

[ic]

...antenna's WBS is bringing in at the end of the month and the cost on them?Being ((the skeptic that I am) && (simultaneously appreciative of Sihen's response)), I do hope these things arrive as stated bcos I now remember where I heard that before:

I spoke to the guy in charge of the technical side at WBS. They say that an external antennae will be available from them from about Mid-December 2004.

[arf9999]

alchamey....

Thats a sweet antennae mate. You can use it on Wlan, UMTS, almost everything....
....except 5Ghz:(

[alchamy]

It is sweet, will try get some pricing.

Yeah, if it covered 5Ghz it would be perfect for everything.

[alchamy]

What's the price on that antenna though? And does anyone know what antenna's WBS is bringing in at the end of the month and the cost on them?

Not sure exactly what they will be bringing, but the Australian solution costs about R1500, based on the rip off modem prices we can expect around R3000 for an antenna.

Hopefully not though, else Im gonna be doing some soldering myself. :D

[karambol]

try this site for external antenna:

http://www.veritel.com.au/iburst/iburstexternalantenna.php

[Gatecrasher]

try this site for external antenna:

http://www.veritel.com.au/iburst/iburstexternalantenna.php

In Oz they are transmitting on 1.9Ghz. Here, we are on 1.8Ghz. So importing may not work.

I hope Poynting gets a move on with their I-Burst antenna. WBS could do with the competition. But will they be able to supply a connector to the modem? Don't fancy having to use a soldering iron.

[Source]

When I talked to Louis from poynting he said thy are sourcing the plugs from oversea's, so no soldering will be required ;)

[ic]

When I talked to Louis from poynting he said thy are sourcing the plugs from oversea's, so no soldering will be required ;)Did they say anything more specific? - i.e. will they be getting these official Kyocera TS5 & 6 connectors?

[torgo]

If there are getting the overseas connectors from kyocera, then expect teh aerial to be costly as I hear teh connector id $50 to $60

[Crash]

So much for an Antennae by mid december hey?...... What (a load of) Bull Sh#T (WBS)

[FawrIze]

Hi all,

Brand new to the forum (and iBurst), but let me share what I've learnt from some late night reading (and playing)... All related to WiFi, but could be applicable...

Basically the antenna on the iBurst UTC (PCMCIA) is a dipole and a 1/2 wave monopole on the UTD. Someone mentioned the internal "25 dBi" antenna - this is incorrect - the power output of the unit is 25 dBm - you'll be lucky if the antenna gives you 2 dBi.

Using the following technique, you could boost the signal by using a parabolic reflector:

http://www.freeantennas.com/prod01.htm

By doubling the dimensions, you should be close enough to the correct wavelength.

Try this link for a helical antenna: http://www.wireless.org.au/~jhecker/helix/ The wavelength applicable is 0.167m for 1797 MHz(http://www.csgnetwork.com/freqwavelengthcalc.html)

Both these antennas are directional - and I understand that iBurst works better on omni because the towers will "hand you off to another" in certain conditions (mmmm - maybe explaining the dead-link problem and why ping re-establishes the path). However if you're barely reaching one tower, maybe a bit of directional help could be a good thing.

The trick with dB values is that they are logarithmic. For each 3dBi change, you double or halve the signal strength:
http://www.moonblinkwifi.com/dmystifying_the_db.cfm
Now you know why a 21 dBi parabolic grid is such a wonderful thing!

Look at this link:
http://www.wppltd.demon.co.uk/WPP/Connectors__Cables___Tools/RF_Cables___Connectors/rf_cables___connectors.html

RG178 has an attenuation of 1.5 dB per meter at 1800 MHz. This means 3 dB every two meters - so for every two meters of cable, you lose half your signal. RG58 has a loss of 1.1 - so save your bucks and pull out that old Ethernet cable from the box in the garage!

If you look at those losses, a much more effective idea is to take the UTD and put it in a waterproof box and mount it on the roof (mom's tupperware is real handy - but a proper box with a seal is better). With an ethernet cable you can do this up to 100m away. With USB, you can go 5m, or 10 if you put an active hub in-between (long story - don't try a 10m USB cable). Run low-voltage from the transformer to the box to be safe (wouldn't want rain on the 220v!) but use thick flex if you're going far and use compression glands and silicone to make sure things are watertight. This way you get good line of sight to the tower without the cable losses.

Are there any RF guys active on the forum? I'm not an RF engineer and wouldn't want to mislead you. With cables and stuff I've had joy at http://www.hiconnex.co.za/ (Midrand) but haven't asked them if they stock the particular connector - skeeve posted that its a SMK TS6 (http://www.mybroadband.co.za/vb/archive/index.php/t-16314.html).

Please let me know if anyone tries any of this and how its working. I'm getting 90-100% off the Bryanston tower, so I'm not that fussed to fiddle at the moment. I did a test at a buddy of mine's house close to Xtreme 16 and the signal there continuously went from 100% to 0 and back and we couldn't get it stable - so maybe I'll give it another shot there.

[ic]

...a 1/2 wave monopole on the UTD...

Using the following technique, you could boost the signal by using a parabolic reflector:

http://www.freeantennas.com/prod01.htm

By doubling the dimensions, you should be close enough to the correct wavelength.
...
FawrIze, I must say your post is very impressive, unfortunately I have some heavy research ahead of me before I figure out the technical stuff, urls look very useful as well.

So, a really dumb friend of mine [that co-habits my brain], said I should ask you if the diy-parabolic in the 1st url would theoretically work with a UTD considering you say it is 50% monopolar, and the url seems to be about dipole [or possibly bipolar?]?

As you can tell I am out of my comfort zone here ;)

[FawrIze]

ic, The WET-11 one seems to be closest. A "whip" is another name for a monopole (damn - a monopole, whip, wet and wireless in one post seems a bit dodgy :D) - try http://www.freeantennas.com/prod02.htm

If there's time this week, I'll run a sim with the iBurst parameters, but we need to get some clarity on the directional issue first.

[ic]

...(damn - a monopole, whip, wet and wireless in one post seems a bit dodgy :D)...Not really, I often feel like I'm some submissive bondage slave to my iBurst connection :D The things I absorb from CSI ;)

[st3ve]

I know this all off topic and all, but hey noone what did I tell you about people that think differently to your approach?

Source figured something out, his way, from the beginning he shared his experience with us from blowing money by soldering, to then going ahead and finding a solution, obviously making a lot of people happy.

Good on you Source,

Noone, I think I've made my point, you said something about saving money for beer, hey I like that idea, I'll have one for you. Cheers Mate.

[AcidRaZor]

Yep, beer... she makes me smile

[Gatecrasher]

Please let me know if anyone tries any of this and how its working. I'm getting 90-100% off the Bryanston tower, so I'm not that fussed to fiddle at the moment. I did a test at a buddy of mine's house close to Xtreme 16 and the signal there continuously went from 100% to 0 and back and we couldn't get it stable - so maybe I'll give it another shot there.

I'm averaging 25%-50% from Rosebank. Thanks for this - I'm going to try it! Today! I'll report back later.... :p

Edit: Just had a thought! It may also solve a signal strength problem I've been having with my wireless home network. I might not have to fork out for another access point (to use as a bridge), after all!

[AcidRaZor]

You could always just stick a pringles can on the antenna and see if you get a boost

[ghostim]

A pringles can on top : No Way . It aint working. Signal drops to red and stays there. Tried 1 of g/f 's candle stands too. (Made of a fine metal mesh about 4 cm's diameter. Same effect. But will try the parabolic reflector design this afternoon with a redhart tin.

[AcidRaZor]

ghostim, because of the different frequency, you obviously need to know exactly where to put the pringles can on it. There are numerous calculators on the internet that will calculate this for you. For MyWireless it was 30mm I think (from the base) but that's 2.5ghz. You should experiment a bit more :)

[ghostim]

:D
I'm like Source, break things to figure out what not to do.

[AcidRaZor]

oooooh, that explains your "dont flame me" thing in the other thread :)

[ghostim]

:o

[Gatecrasher]

Success!!! I made the Wet-11 parbolic reflector thingy, 240mm*120mm, Aluminium wrapped cardboard, with carboard frame, with UTD Iburst antenna poked through the focal point.

I've had 5 LED's ever since (I lie, occasionally it drops to 4 for a split second, then back to 5.) Downloading files from an international site at +-40KBs. Yesterday i could barly mustered 7KBs from the same site.

The caveat: Iburst has been so inconsistent, that to be certain that this has made a big difference will take a day or two to confirm. I might simply be in one of the occasional Iburst Nirvana phases.

But so far looking good! :cool:

[AcidRaZor]

Also try multithreaded downloads please

[BucK]

Success!!!

Pics, pics, pics!!!! Please... :)

[Gatecrasher]

BucK: Pics? Sure, later, when I get back home.

noone: I use Mozilla 1.7. Do mean using a downloading app - something like LeechGet? Will I get better results? Generally, or only on certain sites?

[BucK]

BucK: Pics? Sure, later, when I get back home.

noone: I use Mozilla 1.7. Do mean using a downloading app - something like LeechGet? Will I get better results? Generally, or only on certain sites?

Try using flashget, can download from tucows, works great. You will get better results 98% of the time. :D

[Gatecrasher]

Try using flashget, can download from tucows, works great. You will get better results 98% of the time. :D

Thanks, I'll try it!

[arf9999]

Thanks, I'll try it!
And then make sure you run your anti-spyware app.

From experience, Flashget is excellent except that the free version is bundled with Ad/spyware - Same thing with Download Accellerator (sp?). Getright, Leechget and Nettransport work just as well for me without the spyware risk.

[FawrIze]

Success!!! I made the Wet-11 parbolic reflector thingy, 240mm*120mm, Aluminium wrapped cardboard, with carboard frame, with UTD Iburst antenna poked through the focal point.
....
But so far looking good! :cool:

Fantastic! Here's another link for the tinkerers:
http://www.wlan.org.uk/antenna-page.html

[Gatecrasher]

Fantastic! Here's another link for the tinkerers:
http://www.wlan.org.uk/antenna-page.html

Here are the reflector pics. Not too pretty, but effective. I'm still on 5 LEDs.

http://gatecrasher.i8.com/paraflect.html

Re the D/L app: yes, arf9999, was worried about that too! Think I'll try Leechget first.

[arf9999]

gatecrasher,

good work with the scissors and paper :)

I made a similar reflector when I had MyWireless and it increased my signal by about 40%, so I'm pleased to see that it seems to work on iBurst.

[ic]

I'm gonna try this as soon as I can lay my hands on some foil.

Good work GC ;)

[Gatecrasher]

Well, I had my best Iburst experience ever last night. It also helped that I was doing multithreaded downloads (thanks guys) using Nettransport. :) But signal strength remained at 5 LEDs almost all night. There was a period during the storm when it dipped for a short time, and I got a disconnect, but otherwise it was the information superhighway. My daughter playing an online game upstairs also commented that she experienced none of the usual stuttering and non-responsiveness.

I have little doubt now that the reflector has significantly boosted the signal. I have one painful test left to perform... remove it, and see if the signal and performance deteriorates back to where it was...

[alchamy]

Nice work, lol @ soldering comment. :-)

Will definately give it a try later, I already ger 5 leds however I sure it could be better.

Will post reports here.

[FawrIze]

Nice work GC! Just one comment - perhaps consider using two frames so the reflector is always parallel with the antenna - these things are rather sensitive to the focus.

[Gatecrasher]

Nice work GC! Just one comment - perhaps consider using two frames so the reflector is always parallel with the antenna - these things are rather sensitive to the focus.

Good idea. That way it won't slant away either. Anyway this is just a beta version! I'm also going to make some of the dipole type 2.4Ghz reflectors for my network.

Thanks for positng your stuff. It really has helped.

[torgo]

hi

[torgo]

Hi

Thanks for the idea. Made a similar dish and my signal is now 5 lights!!!!!!!!!!!! It used to jump between 50 and 90%
Yep, the dish must be paralell to the antenna so it would help to support it.
Still have probelms with the Sandton tower ....

Thanks

[ic]

Inbetween all the connection drops & problems I'm still experiencing, I actually completely forgot to mention that I constructed a parabolic thingy whatsit based on GC's pics.

Sadly whatever WBS have done [or failed to do] asof last Friday, the reflector of parabolics doesn't appear to make any difference in my case.

I am confident that when WBS get this particular problem sorted, I should be able to use the parabolic thingy to improve signal to either Bryanston-bs or Fourways-bs [allegedly coming very soon to an Indaba near you - not really near me though, so says a Jedi].

My only problem then will be that I have 2 base-stations that try fobbing my traffic off onto each other, and a directional reflector of parabolics - I will have to wait & see what happens.

[alchamy]

Ok I constructed I little antenna myself (boredom kicked in on a Sunday morning)

I had 94% signal before, I now get 97% (averages ofcourse) So it does indead make a difference. :)

However without the parabolic I had 0% packet lose, I now get 3%. :(

Guess I just need to make a few adjustments to the focal point etc. ;)

[ic]

Ozzie iBurst Antennas + interesting discussion... (http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=306803&p=3#r4534791)

This is the hogtail WBS should be supplying with External Antennas for the UTD, however WBS have something cruddier & literally involves using an elastic band... (http://www.smk.co.jp/whatsnew_j/images/632cs.gif)

[TryIt]

I just bought a property that is on the light green verge of the coverage map. I'm not going to support Telkom even if I have to use the 9600 connection through my cell phone. I think I should try the following antenna from Poynting:
Code: LPDA-A0021
Frequency: Band 1: 824 - 970
Band 2: 1710 - 2170
Gain: 11 dBi
Cost: R386.30 + VAT
and try the following (taken from a document on Poynting's web site):
An inconvenience of the simple outdoor antenna is the fact that the telephone has to be linked to this antenna using a cable that is specific to the make of cellular telephone. Only one person can therefore use the system at any one time only if the specific interface cable is available for that telephone. An elegant solution to this problem is provided by relatively low gain Bi-Directional Amplifiers (BDA’s). These devices are inserted between the outdoor high gain antenna and an indoor omnidirectional antenna. This gives the user wireless access inside a room or house. The system can also be simultaneously used by more than one user.

Does anyone know where I can get hold of a low gain Bi-Directional Amplifier in South Africa or any comments on what I'm trying to achieve.

[ajax]

Tryit, I don't follow. You posted on the Iburst forum. Are you intending to use Iburst, or a cell phone? If cellular, rather post on the Vodacom3G forum.

[TryIt]

Ajax, I'm planning to use it with iburst. As I understand it, iburst use the 1.8Ghz frequency which is in the range of the antenna. All I need now is a low gain Bi-Directional Amplifier (3 - 20 m) that use the same frequency then i don't have to mess around with connecting the antenna cable to the iburst modem. I also won't loose signal strength because of the length of the cable and I can move the pc around in my house as I like without moving the antenna or cables.

[BillyBoy]

[QUOTE=Gatecrasher]Success!!! I made the Wet-11 parbolic reflector thingy, 240mm*120mm, Aluminium wrapped cardboard, with carboard frame, with UTD Iburst antenna poked through the focal point.
QUOTE]
I also made one of the Wet-11 parabolic reflectors and it works great. My signal is now consistently good and error rates are very low. According to DU Meter I achieved peaks over 200 KBytes/sec (yes Bytes/sec) downloading from tucows.is.co.za but average is 80 - 90 KB/sec. Made two frames so the reflector is always parallell.

[slimothy]

I think he had DU meter showing traffic for all interfaces which means it would count the traffic twice because I really dont think you can hit 200KB on iburst, and even if you could I bet its just a split second

[ashi]

who can i made yagi antinna