Offtopic: directional antenna for XO-1.75?
I am expecting to take a brief holiday out in the sea. Many bays with anchorage also have bars and restaurants with open wifi. I prefer to enjoy breakfast on board... and get my interweb fix from afar. Is there any directional wlan antenna kit or setup that is practical with an XO? Maybe something that has the same antenna plugs as the XO antenna? I can cut the green bumper. Or a usb-wlan device that is both supported by our standard builds and easy to hook up to a directional antenna? Or something else entirely? I will need to mount it on something that swivels easily, as the boat changes position with wind and currents when anchored. cheers, m ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
Re: Offtopic: directional antenna for XO-1.75?
No idea how you would hook it up. but there is the famous Pringles can recipe http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-make-a-wifi-antenna-out-of-a-pringles-can-nb/ You might find something of interest on war-driving sites like: http://www.wardriving.com/antenna.php cjl On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 8:46 PM, Martin Langhoff martin.langh...@gmail.com wrote: I am expecting to take a brief holiday out in the sea. Many bays with anchorage also have bars and restaurants with open wifi. I prefer to enjoy breakfast on board... and get my interweb fix from afar. Is there any directional wlan antenna kit or setup that is practical with an XO? Maybe something that has the same antenna plugs as the XO antenna? I can cut the green bumper. Or a usb-wlan device that is both supported by our standard builds and easy to hook up to a directional antenna? Or something else entirely? I will need to mount it on something that swivels easily, as the boat changes position with wind and currents when anchored. cheers, m ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
Re: Offtopic: directional antenna for XO-1.75?
On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 8:55 PM, Chris Leonard cjlhomeaddr...@gmail.com wrote: No idea how you would hook it up. but there is the famous Pringles can recipe http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-make-a-wifi-antenna-out-of-a-pringles-can-nb/ Yep, that's why I'm asking, that old trick. I'm hoping someone packaged it neatly so that I can easily carry it on a few planes, then use it on a sailboat, while devoting most of my attention to a 2.5 year-old sailor-in-training. Browsing through that wardriving link of yours isn't really steering me in the right direction. I don't have the urge to prove I'm the king of DIY, and it doesn't have to be the absolute best directional antenna. It's just fine to have one thing in my life be relatively easy. :-) cheers, , -- martin.langh...@gmail.com mar...@laptop.org -- Software Architect - OLPC - ask interesting questions - don't get distracted with shiny stuff - working code first - http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Martinlanghoff ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
Re: Offtopic: directional antenna for XO-1.75?
You can achieve a significant gain by making the antenna higher, especially if you need to get past anything in the fresnel zone, such as the masts of other boats or restaurant windows. By moving the antenna higher, you will also reduce the fresnel effect of the nearby water between you and the access point. A 5M USB cable with a WiFi device at the far end may work much better than a directional antenna. The USB active antenna prototypes are okay for this. You might also consider two XOs connected by ethernet cable. One on a mast, one down below. You can get pigtails to convert from the connectors in the XO to a connector for an antenna. Watch for static discharge. I suggest a yagi style, not to high a gain, otherwise it would be too sensitive to changes in heading of the boat when anchored. (I'm an ex-sailor ... there's no large bodies of water out here). -- James Cameron http://quozl.linux.org.au/ ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
Re: Offtopic: directional antenna for XO-1.75?
On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 10:10 PM, James Cameron qu...@laptop.org wrote: You can achieve a significant gain by making the antenna higher, especially if you need to get past anything in the fresnel zone, such as the masts of other boats or restaurant windows. OK. I'll try to get an ext usb wlan with a long cable, and I'll hoist it as high as possible, as far from masts and stays as possible. Gonzalo was suggesting sticking the wlan device in a wokfi, but I won't be able to aim it. You might also consider two XOs connected by ethernet cable. One on a mast, one down below. Heh. XO on the bosun's chair. (I'm an ex-sailor ... there's no large bodies of water out here). Come join us! Large catamaran, BVI. What could possibly go wrong? ;-) cheers, m -- martin.langh...@gmail.com mar...@laptop.org -- Software Architect - OLPC - ask interesting questions - don't get distracted with shiny stuff - working code first - http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Martinlanghoff ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
Re: Offtopic: directional antenna for XO-1.75?
Personally, I would vote for a Ubiquiti Nanostation or similar PoE based client over USB based ones. On Wed, 23 May 2012, Martin Langhoff wrote: On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 10:10 PM, James Cameron qu...@laptop.org wrote: You can achieve a significant gain by making the antenna higher, especially if you need to get past anything in the fresnel zone, such as the masts of other boats or restaurant windows. OK. I'll try to get an ext usb wlan with a long cable, and I'll hoist it as high as possible, as far from masts and stays as possible. Gonzalo was suggesting sticking the wlan device in a wokfi, but I won't be able to aim it. You might also consider two XOs connected by ethernet cable. One on a mast, one down below. Heh. XO on the bosun's chair. (I'm an ex-sailor ... there's no large bodies of water out here). Come join us! Large catamaran, BVI. What could possibly go wrong? ;-) cheers, m -- martin.langh...@gmail.com mar...@laptop.org -- Software Architect - OLPC - ask interesting questions - don't get distracted with shiny stuff - working code first - http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Martinlanghoff ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel ___ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
