Homemade antenna's I've made on the cheap. Why buy? 
Various designs based on 2.4GHz Bi-Quad designs. Incredibly powerful design using basic copper wire culled from common AC house wiring.
Folding Colander design
This thing has been in the kitchen since I was a kid, and since I never used it for it's original purpose. (boiling veggies,etc in a pot) I decided to try to make some sort of antenna with it. The shape was interesting enough, and 1st thought I could make a parabola type with it. After measuring and calculating the diameter to center angles, I found it would have made a very crappy parabola reflector, BUT, the reflector area was good enough to use it as a normal wi-fi antenna.
The 2 most important parts of making this antenna is the wave length and exact mounted distance between the antenna and back reflector.
Making the main driven element for 2.4GHz is simple, in the States, 2.4GHZ is spread through 12 channels, so ya want to get as close to the middle of the band as possible, so shooting for ch6 is the goal.
Ends up the main element will be made with 1/4 wave lengths of 31.25mm lengths.
I took an old hotel key card, measured & cut it to size,measure my wire then took needle nose pliers butted up and bend at right angles, ya could also use a cut straw to measure.
you'll end up making a bow-tie type consisting of 2 squares, where the center will have a final right-angle bend to mount to reflector. the entire element MUST be exactly mounted 15mm from reflector. A low-loss coax cable (50Ω) with an SMA connector is attached, with the ground being soldered to the reflector/main driven element base, the center conductor will be soldered to the lower middle bend of the element
CD case design
CD spindle cases work great, gonna have to cut out a circle of metal for the back reflector, put the lid back on it to weatherize the element.
Parabolic Dual Bi-Quad design
For the reflector on this one, I cut it out from an old TV back cover, to achieve the proper curve, I rolled it using a pin-roller, laying the metal on something like a cushion, I included a PDF with the proper bend angle
(PS: where the square says 100mmx100mm, cut in 1/2 100mmX50mm)
Find the center after cutting and mark it.
The driven element is a bi-quad design X 2, bending the same way as a single, but also you're going to have a couple 62.5mm lengths in it (31.25mm x 2)theres 2 points where the wire will cross each other, it's crucial to insulate them to prevent shorting. Use a piece of heat shrink or save a couple bits of the stripped insulation.
I used an old broken GPS suction-cup mount and fashioned a holder from 2 pieces of coat hanger.
the double bi-quad is a powerful one, roughly 13-14 dB gain w/ about a 1/2 mile range.
Best external network card IMO is the ALFA USB, 2000Mw (18-28$ flEbay)
SMA pigtails from China (5 for $2.48) (flEbay)
Various designs based on 2.4GHz Bi-Quad designs. Incredibly powerful design using basic copper wire culled from common AC house wiring.
Folding Colander design
This thing has been in the kitchen since I was a kid, and since I never used it for it's original purpose. (boiling veggies,etc in a pot) I decided to try to make some sort of antenna with it. The shape was interesting enough, and 1st thought I could make a parabola type with it. After measuring and calculating the diameter to center angles, I found it would have made a very crappy parabola reflector, BUT, the reflector area was good enough to use it as a normal wi-fi antenna.
The 2 most important parts of making this antenna is the wave length and exact mounted distance between the antenna and back reflector.
Making the main driven element for 2.4GHz is simple, in the States, 2.4GHZ is spread through 12 channels, so ya want to get as close to the middle of the band as possible, so shooting for ch6 is the goal.
Ends up the main element will be made with 1/4 wave lengths of 31.25mm lengths.
I took an old hotel key card, measured & cut it to size,measure my wire then took needle nose pliers butted up and bend at right angles, ya could also use a cut straw to measure.
you'll end up making a bow-tie type consisting of 2 squares, where the center will have a final right-angle bend to mount to reflector. the entire element MUST be exactly mounted 15mm from reflector. A low-loss coax cable (50Ω) with an SMA connector is attached, with the ground being soldered to the reflector/main driven element base, the center conductor will be soldered to the lower middle bend of the element
CD case design
CD spindle cases work great, gonna have to cut out a circle of metal for the back reflector, put the lid back on it to weatherize the element.
Parabolic Dual Bi-Quad design
For the reflector on this one, I cut it out from an old TV back cover, to achieve the proper curve, I rolled it using a pin-roller, laying the metal on something like a cushion, I included a PDF with the proper bend angle
(PS: where the square says 100mmx100mm, cut in 1/2 100mmX50mm)
Find the center after cutting and mark it.
The driven element is a bi-quad design X 2, bending the same way as a single, but also you're going to have a couple 62.5mm lengths in it (31.25mm x 2)theres 2 points where the wire will cross each other, it's crucial to insulate them to prevent shorting. Use a piece of heat shrink or save a couple bits of the stripped insulation.
I used an old broken GPS suction-cup mount and fashioned a holder from 2 pieces of coat hanger.
the double bi-quad is a powerful one, roughly 13-14 dB gain w/ about a 1/2 mile range.
Best external network card IMO is the ALFA USB, 2000Mw (18-28$ flEbay)
SMA pigtails from China (5 for $2.48) (flEbay)
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