Antenna Solution!!!

limnos said:
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?
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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 said:
try this site for external antenna:

http://www.veritel.com.au/iburst/iburstexternalantenna.php
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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.
 
When I talked to Louis from poynting he said thy are sourcing the plugs from oversea's, so no soldering will be required ;)
 
Source said:
When I talked to Louis from poynting he said thy are sourcing the plugs from oversea's, so no soldering will be required ;)
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Did they say anything more specific? - i.e. will they be getting [post=151952]these official Kyocera TS5 & 6 connectors?[/post]
 
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
 
So much for an Antennae by mid december hey?...... What (a load of) Bull Sh#T (WBS)
 
Home-made antenna

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/C...bles___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.
 
Would the DIY Parabolic work with monopole-UTD?

FawrIze said:
...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.
...
Click to expand...
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 ;)
 
UTD monopole

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

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.
 
FawrIze said:
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.
Click to expand...

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