[amsat-bb] Re: Pringle's can feed?

[Bruce Bostwick <lihan161051@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Found this article " Snoop stopper" in the business section today in the
>St. Paul Pioneer Press:
>http://www.pioneerplanet.com/business/sba_docs/207628.htm
>He uses a Pringles can antenna for snooping in on 802.11b (Wi-Fi)
>networks which are in the 2.5 GHz frequency range.
>
>Jerry - K0HZI

Like I said, they are at least somewhat directional, not quite as 
narrow as a helical, but they definitely have a F/B ratio.

The tap is pretty simple -- a piece of wire on a bulkhead N connector 
-- and the only critical dimensions are the length of the wire and 
how far it's positioned from the closed end of the can.  (The wire 
does have to be pretty straight, and preferably uninsulated.) 
Assuming they're still lining the cans with foil and putting a metal 
cap on the end, the diameter is just about right for an open ended 
waveguide, and would have a phase center just inside the open end. 
With suitable supports, you could probably stick the downconverter 
right on the can and not have to deal with feedline losses too much 
at 2.4 GHz .. ;-)

And yes, I've heard of people sticking these *on* 802.11 cards, 
although helicals seem to work better for long range links ..

-- 
<BGB>
                  --... ...--  -.. .  -. ..... ...- -...
              Bruce Bostwick  N5VB  Austin, TX  Grid EM10DH
     ARRL / Austin ARC / Travis Co. ARES / ARRL + W5YI Vol. Examiner
                    mailto:lihan161051@earthlink.net
   
----
Via the amsat-bb mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to Majordomo@amsat.org