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My Second Antenna

My second antenna WI-FI

CopyRight: Juan Antonio Martnez (EB4GPE) <jonsito@teleline.es>
Version 1.1 23-October-2003
Reproduction of this text is permitted provided that it retains this copyright notice

See end of text the history of my first antenna :-)

Index
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Introduction. References
Material
Mounting
Measures
Appendices

Introduction. References
On this page I explain my adventures and misadventures to build a standard antenna Pacific Wireless
"Backfire" , better known as "TarterAntena (tm)"
Tests in the laboratory have given me by 17dB gain and directivity of + / -40 degrees. It is a relatively small
directional antenna (diameter 25cmts 15 cmt wide) which is better than the traditional or helical waveguide runs,
(very pornographic yes :-). It is also very simple and does not require any additional settings. You just have to be
extremely careful when cutting and measuring the material.
As for the price ... The Pacific Wireless (15dB) " Backfire "costs about 50 euros. The Stella Doradus (17dB)
goes for 40 euros (and bulges twice). The "TarterAntena (tm)" sale for about 12 euros ... not bad for 17 dB's ...
I urge that you send me comments, suggestions, experiences etc.. My email address is mailto: jonsito@teleline.es

Links
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This article is based on the schedules and drawings prepared by Martti Palomaki, which in turn was based
on an article in http://6mt.com/2304tech.htm . The original links are in http://www.saunalahti.fi/ ~
elepal/antenna1.html
For those who want the true antenna Pacific Wireless, here's the link
Here is the autopsy of the Pacific-Wireless. For the curious, the link to the original
A copy of the original article (in English) is here
In this link you have a full article (pages 1 and 2 ) this type of antennas microwave band
Here's another implementation, courtesy of Carl Rabe (G6NLC). The original link is:
http://www.frars.org.uk/cgi-bin/render.pl?pageid=1076
(In Italian), courtesy of Fabrizio, another design for short-backfire. The original link is here
Here http://www.medicaljournal-ias.org/8_4/Al-Rashid.htm there are plenty of studies, documents and
links about this type of antennas. Unfortunately there are links to all ....
Although these links are in English, highly detailed study: Pictures of my "girls" are not always clear, and the
diagrams and schematics of the original document are sometimes much more explanatory

Before you begin

We will recite the mantra:
2.45 Ghz given wavelength (L) of 124 mm
2 * L are 248 MMTS
L / 2 are 62 MMTS
L / 4 are 31 MMTS
Reciting until you know memory :-)

Materials Needed
A metal pie plate inside diameter 248 MMTS
You can find it at any Carrefour or Auchan
Approximate price: 3 euros
CAUTION: Do not ever believe the dimensions given on the shelves. (See my first antenna )
If possible, the edge must be perpendicular to the base. Otherwise the antenna directivity lose some
...
The pie should be brass or some material which can be welded
Copper pipe or brass 12mmts 10mmt OD, internal diameter and length about 10cmts
Approximately 0.60 euros
In Ak or LEROYMERLIN you will find appropriate copper tubes. Unfortunately not sold in 1 meter
lengths below ...
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A copper or brass rod 4 MMTS outside diameter and 1 meter long

Approximately 2.5 euros. They also buy in AKI or LEROYMERLIN
If you find a hollow, the better rod. If not, the rigid rod is a valid solution. Ideally find a copper wire of
these dimensions, but I have not been able to find ...
A connector type " N "
The most expensive 6.5 euros. If necessary also worth a 'PL' connector, but at the cost of 2dB's ...
A plastic cap type "microwave" in diameter 25cmts (real).
To buy on the Hyper. I highly recommend bringing a ruler / tape measure to measure ....
Approximate Price: 2 euros
A brass plate diameter 50mmts
The can get from any can of foie gras or the like ... :-)
Tin quality "plumber"
Actually, except for the dipole, the welds to make non-precision ... is not necessary to use tin well ... :-)
Glue type "melt bar" with applicator pistol
Alternatively you can use clear silicone
Welder type "macho-man" (75-90 Watts :-)
If you have a pencil type soldering iron, do not try it: we will weld metal plates that dissipate heat
muuuuuuucho
Tools to use:
Lima, hacksaw, cutter, ruler, pliers, ...
A "caliper" or narrow gauge measures also would be more ... think of a millimeter at these
frequencies means a shift from 30Mhz ...
Here is the photo . Once all the material, let's begin ...

Preparation of material
First things easy: Let's mount the reflector plate. To do this we take the pan, and cut the edges so that they have
a height of exactly 31mmts (L / 4) referrals into the pie plate.
carefully sanded the edges, which cut a lot. We calculate the center of the plate and make a hole diameter
12mmts.
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We cut the "fat" tube (12mmt) to length and carefully

sanded 62mmts ends

We cut three tubes (4mmt) three lengths: 62, 33 and 26

MMTS respectively. Will file the two longest tubes
bevelled so that they fit exactly to each other at an angle
of 90 degrees

We make two symmetrical slots in the big tube, with

a length of 31 MMTS., And a width of 1mmt.
cutting with pliers and lime, do two semicircular
"bites" of 2mmts radio at 90 degrees to each slot in
the big tube

Dipole construction
The dipole is the most critical part of the antenna: the same way that the diameter of the dish is going to give us
the resonant frequency of the invention, the dipole is going to determine the quality factor and the antenna gain

Start welding the long rod (62mmt) connector. In my

prototype a type "PL" connector is used, but highly
recommend the use of an "N" connector recommend
will leave between the edge of the connector and the
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beginning of a 2 rod MMTS, which allows us to weld the

rod to the connector, and extending at least 2 MMTS
bevel on the other hand

Soldered to the outside of the big connector tube.

We will ensure that the bevel of the inner rod is
aligned with one of the semicircular indentations of
the outer tube

This structure is a textbook example of what an air core coaxial with adjusted so that the ratio between the
diameters of the inner and outer tubes provide us with an impedance of 50 ohms

A base file, remove loose paint / Teflon around the slot

we have done at home, and tin-plate this
We weld the connector assembly / rods to the plate.
Attention : The Beginning of the slots must match the
inner surface of the plate.

It is already almost finished dipole. Now we only

need to solder the short "coaxial" we have assembled
rods:
MMTS rod 26 opposite the solder in the
bezel notch 25 so as to protrude MMTS
The rod 33 MMTS's align with the bezel and
solder both the internal and the external
rod

! There! ! What is that to unite the living and the mass of a coaxial!
! Alarm! Alarm! Alarm! ...
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No problemo: ( brief introduction to microwaves )

The apparent short, is not so: Recall that we are working with microwaves, and 2.4 gigahertz things are not
always what they seem ...
If you realize we have a dipole made
of four segments:
Each of the small rods
The inner rod "coaxial"
One segment of the tube (which goes to the short rod)
In total, we have 4 segments 31mmts = * = wavelength 124mmts
The second segment is the tube that looks like it mounts the trouble. Really is the key: by antenna theory, it can
be shown that L / 2 of each "pole" of a dipole, the current density at the resonant frequency is zero. This means
that in our case, at a frequency of 2.4 Ghz no dipole current to ground is derived.
For other frequencies, the current density at that point is not zero, and-indeed-we will have a short circuit
between the active and mass.
Christian. Just make a resonant circuit tuned to 2.45 Ghz and it will make profit at any other frequency than this
is practically nil
This quality high selectivity is what makes "TarterAntena (tm)" such a special antenna .... no other home has high
sensitivity antenna as a single frequency.
Obviously this also has its drawbacks: as the antenna is miscalculated, and given that no adjustable elements, any
design error that the result will be disastrous (see end )
For more information I refer the reader to the links ....

Construction of directors. Cover Assembly

With what we have so far, if we measure it and see if they have an antenna with a gain of about 12dB's. Let's
improve it a little

We take the plastic cover and we cut the edge so

that exactly matches the edge of the plate
With the rod 4mmts we do around leftover circle
diameter of 248 MMTS (2 * L), and paste it on
the plastic cover, so that between the edge of the
plate and the rim, has a distance of 31mmts (L / 4)
We take the lid of the can of foie gras, we have
forgotten there and cut a circle of L * 0.4 = 49
MMTS diameter
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The diameter of the "top" of foie gras is not random: the fault is a certain Bessel, which caused me nightmares
when I was studying mathematics ....
How do we fix the circular ring and cap so they are
exactly 31 MMTS edge of the dish? Well, with a little
imagination ...
In my case, the cover has two slits with microwave which
hold the lid when the food is hot .... I have taken the lid to
stick there.
director If the rod stick to the same height as the plate,
this time attached to the inside edge of the lid ... subject
because we already have the ring manager :-)
Thus, the serious problem is to cut the lid so that the left
stick to the plate all metal artifact that have stuck to
31mmts
With this monstrosity we have gained about 3dB's on our antenna. Now we just have to paste the cover plate ....

Addiction anchors. Final Details

I leave the matter to the reader's imagination ... only remember that SHOULD NOT BE electrical contact
between the plate and the mast.
In the references cited in the links, there is some idea about
Finally, hot melt glue will seal all the "holes" of the plastic cover, leaving the bottom hole so you can drain the
water from the condensation.
paint with clear nail polish all metal parts that could corrosion, and ....
! It's all, folks! Here the creature:

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Tests and measures

These graphs correspond to the Backfire datasheet Pacific Wireless. I am waiting their turn in the anechoic
chamber to put my antenna, but you can get an idea ....

My first antenna
My first antenna was also kind of "pie", and built almost almost like I explained in these instructions ... only had a
small problem: I thought what was on the shelf Auchan, and bought a lavish cakes 24cmts mold .... really
measured 22.5 cmt ....
For more oversight, instead of calculating the dipole rods rule caliber rode a dipole ... 7 CMTS long
Conclusion:
In the lab where I did the measurements of the antenna descojonaron laughing while watching "The best
homemade dish they had ever seen" ... for band mobile phone.
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Indeed, it was a acojonante antenna:

900MHz 4dB
25dB at 1.8 Ghz
17dB at 2.7 GHz
Of course, at 2.45 Ghz has a fabulous gain ... 3dB
( Note: the curve freehand, not the actual graphic )

Moral: When you go to Auchan / Carrefour / Lqs, do not forget to take the subway (to measure :-)

PostData
Mysteriously, Auchan in Leganes (Madrid) have gone all lunch boxes "26cmts" (24.5 actual) Why is that? :-)

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