Antenna Mod For External Yagi


Grench

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Yes, I searched - and although this idea has been hinted at by a few, it's never been discussed in detail.

I have been playing with long throw digital signals lately. Homemade antennas and the like. Example: I hand built a 7' boom Yagi a few months ago to pull down a strong ATSC digital TV broadcast from 78 miles from the tower - while backpacking/camping. Essentially a 7' walking staff with 12 removable elements and some cable.

Something I'm interested in doing with the Pandora is connecting it to a home made 2.4Ghz Yagi for the 802.11g signal. I figure with a 36" Yagi on both ends I should be able to stretch an 802.11g to something on the range of 5+ miles.

I'm sure I'll figure this out after I get and disassemble my Pandora, but talking about it in the forums might be entertaining as well.

Is the 802.11g antenna a patch or dipole?

Is the 802.11g antenna in the OpenPandora in the case behind the LCD then?

Assuming it is in the case lid (patch or dipole), it would then likely be feeding from the LCD ribbon cable. Is there a good point (soldered connecting wires) to intercept the antenna feed?

What I would like to do is put a switching connector (or connector and switch) into the void (if it exists) under the left or right speaker with a tap coming through the lid face. This way I could have a connector for an external antenna or use the built in one.

So, what kind of antenna is stock, where is it located, and how is it linked back to the system? Do we have any pictures of these details?

Pure entertainment and speculation at this point since I clearly do not have a Pandora yet.

Clearly I could do the same thing with a USB 802.11g device strapped to an antenna. There are commercial products for this. But, then, where's the fun in that?
 
The antenna is placed above one of the speakers. You can find pics if you search hard, I think they were posted in winter 2008/2009.
Your switch idea isn't that good as it will most likely cause a mismatch. I don't think that it's fed from the ribbon, as it wouldn't be shielded properly that way. The only reasonable solution would be a wireless USB adaptor attached to the external antenna. I've made a nice small panel antenna that way to extend the range in my workshop.
 
Does anybody have a 802.11g access point that can push a signal that far?
And can the Pandora reply?
I don't know anything about antennas, but part of this seems implausible.
 
you could put yagis on bot AP and Client

or, use some foil and cardboard to improve the signal in a direction, like a parabol
 
mali said:

That looks like it is probably just the antenna portion with the TX/RX amp likely located in the base? Or does it live in the lid too?

I wasn't able to tell where the signal wires to that bit were coming through. Should be easy enough to tell once it is opened up though.

On a bright side, it looks like there is room to work in the lid. Not cavernous, but adequate for this idea.

As for 'can it even happen'... I'm not talking about world record distances. The most current claim I could find from a causal search for that is 382KM. 238 miles.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9730708-7.html

So, with a pair of properly tuned and pointed Yagi antennas and direct line of sight, 5+ miles isn't all that far fetched.
 
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J14 is the antenna connector, WG7210 is the Wifi/Bluetooth module.
http://gs113.photobucket.com/groups/n213/I0S2J7KION/?action=view&current=IMG_1037-1.jpg
 
mali said:
J14 is the antenna connector, WG7210 is the Wifi/Bluetooth module.
http://gs113.photobucket.com/groups/n213/I0S2J7KION/?action=view&current=IMG_1037-1.jpg

Perfect. There should be several line intercept possibilities between that and the antenna then.

Thank you!
 
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