Im an IT-Systems Engineer and I really learn a lot from you. Thank you so much. I love that archery target backfire antenna. It is the most beautiful antenna design I have ever seen. If there is going to be a version for about 5.2 Ghz I will buy it. Kind regards.
many years ago i made a variation to this antenna but simplified it. I replaced the driven element arrangement with a half wave copper disc as i remember , the basic "patch" design which can be found all over the web. I mounted it a few mm off the tray in the middle with a bolt and stand off in the middle through it. Then the coax feed was fed to the disc at roughly the matching point which as i remember was a few mm or so out from the centre. i drilled a small hole at that point in the back plate and poked the coax through and soldered it on the rear of the disc. i had pre-tinned the disc so to do this only needed the pre-tinned centre core to be pushed against the disc and the heat applied from above. you could drill a hole in the top disc too and poke it through and solder it i guess as well :) the coax braid was soldered to the backplate against the hole in it so it came out at right angles. On top of this disc is a slightly larger disc for the backfire spaced apart based on backfire calcs. also on the central stud. this was a 2.4 ghz experiment and worked well over 11km using a hacked wifi usb dongle as the radio side. each end. It spurred me on to move into doing wireless networks commercially as i have done ever since. this mix of patch and backfire reduces part count and eliminates the need for a balun. You could also fit two feeds 90 deg apart for dual polarisation use too. not sure what the separation would be. you could experiment with the disc dimensions/shape to improve bandwidth possibly. The patch design is inherently narrow band otherwise. Which can be a bonus. if that info is any use then you are welcome to use it.
So I was almost settled on an antenna format for a build I was going to use, but now I'm torn again. I've got a few parabolic mini-dishes laying around and had decided to plop a cantenna on the end most likely in place of lmb, maybe a biquad. But now I see this little device. And it almost makes me want to put a mini-parabolic biquad or try this backfire. The application is repeating WiFi at a distance of a couple thousand feet (no more than a km at most really). The router I'm repeating from is a Comcast stock device, so I see most of the work being done by the 2.4GHz channel. Any particular advice on which one would perform best? I know there are some advantages and trade-offs between the styles. I'd like to test the unit out, mount it on the roof of the receiving area and be done for all intensive purposes. Always enjoy your videos and I look forward to your thoughts.
Hi Andrew, thanks for a very informative technical video along with a great collection of antennas! I fly FPV planes on 5.8Ghz in the UK, and would love to try one of these on my VRX. Is there any chance you will be selling them on your website? Or maybe a kit version with PCBs? Also have you considered 3D printing for making mandrels with helical tracks for the spiral type antennas?
As always great informative tutorials as always but could you do a short video on how you actually test various antenna. What set up? Is it test antenna into alpha card into vistumbler for example? And what do you aim the antenna at, is it another home router to show signal strength etc. many thanks and keep doing these great videos!
Can I ask where you purchase the larger PCB board from? I only ever see boards on eBay about 100mm wide. One other question if I may. Does the fiberglass of the PCB board reduce the efficiency or the results in any way? By that I mean does the fiberglass reduce the signal strength in any way? Or does it pass straight through the fiberglass? Cheers in advance
what about a 2.4GHZ DB4 antenna for WIFI and maybe a similar antenna for 5.8GHZ which would mount flat against the wall and possibly hang on the wall as part of a picture frame.
Im an IT-Systems Engineer and I really learn a lot from you. Thank you so much. I love that archery target backfire antenna. It is the most beautiful antenna design I have ever seen. If there is going to be a version for about 5.2 Ghz I will buy it. Kind regards.
many years ago i made a variation to this antenna but simplified it. I replaced the driven element arrangement with a half wave copper disc as i remember , the basic "patch" design which can be found all over the web.
I mounted it a few mm off the tray in the middle with a bolt and stand off in the middle through it. Then the coax feed was fed to the disc at roughly the matching point which as i remember was a few mm or so out from the centre.
i drilled a small hole at that point in the back plate and poked the coax through and soldered it on the rear of the disc. i had pre-tinned the disc so to do this only needed the pre-tinned centre core to be pushed against the disc and the heat applied from above. you could drill a hole in the top disc too and poke it through and solder it i guess as well :)
the coax braid was soldered to the backplate against the hole in it so it came out at right angles.
On top of this disc is a slightly larger disc for the backfire spaced apart based on backfire calcs. also on the central stud.
this was a 2.4 ghz experiment and worked well over 11km using a hacked wifi usb dongle as the radio side. each end. It spurred me on to move into doing wireless networks commercially as i have done ever since.
this mix of patch and backfire reduces part count and eliminates the need for a balun. You could also fit two feeds 90 deg apart for dual polarisation use too. not sure what the separation would be.
you could experiment with the disc dimensions/shape to improve bandwidth possibly. The patch design is inherently narrow band otherwise. Which can be a bonus.
if that info is any use then you are welcome to use it.
So I was almost settled on an antenna format for a build I was going to use, but now I'm torn again. I've got a few parabolic mini-dishes laying around and had decided to plop a cantenna on the end most likely in place of lmb, maybe a biquad. But now I see this little device. And it almost makes me want to put a mini-parabolic biquad or try this backfire. The application is repeating WiFi at a distance of a couple thousand feet (no more than a km at most really). The router I'm repeating from is a Comcast stock device, so I see most of the work being done by the 2.4GHz channel. Any particular advice on which one would perform best? I know there are some advantages and trade-offs between the styles. I'd like to test the unit out, mount it on the roof of the receiving area and be done for all intensive purposes. Always enjoy your videos and I look forward to your thoughts.
nice work, how much is the bandwidth? cover 100mhz? and what about the axial ratio? 1db, 2db?
Hi Andrew, thanks for a very informative technical video along with a great collection of antennas! I fly FPV planes on 5.8Ghz in the UK, and would love to try one of these on my VRX. Is there any chance you will be selling them on your website? Or maybe a kit version with PCBs? Also have you considered 3D printing for making mandrels with helical tracks for the spiral type antennas?
As always great informative tutorials as always but could you do a short video on how you actually test various antenna. What set up? Is it test antenna into alpha card into vistumbler for example? And what do you aim the antenna at, is it another home router to show signal strength etc. many thanks and keep doing these great videos!
Thanks for the videos, they are very educational. It is possible to build this antenna using a 60mm disc?
That is the lowest SWR measurement I've so far seen (for a non lossy antenna or lossy cable). Well done!
I have made the biquad yagi and it is awesome. Now i'm in love with this one. :)
Can I ask where you purchase the larger PCB board from? I only ever see boards on eBay about 100mm wide. One other question if I may.
Does the fiberglass of the PCB board reduce the efficiency or the results in any way? By that I mean does the fiberglass reduce the signal strength in any way? Or does it pass straight through the fiberglass? Cheers in advance
Hello Andrew, are these available for purchase in either assembled or kit form?
that's an outstanding work. Wish I could have your lab toys. Thanks for the effort
You could use the corners of the pcb the etch the other two little elements
what about a 2.4GHZ DB4 antenna for WIFI and maybe a similar antenna for 5.8GHZ which would mount flat against the wall and possibly hang on the wall as part of a picture frame.
hi bro,
What is the thickness of the PCB and copper pcb?
well... looks good..I went to your shop...I can't find it :(
hi mate. is it a receiver antenna? what kind of transmitter antenna would work best with this design? thanks a lot.
Outstanding work my friend! Thank you so very much!
how much gain does this have. have linear or circular polarization?
does it need to be exactly 1.0mm PCB?
which antenna should I use on the transmitter?
Excellent work.
How does it compare to a Crosshair?
might as well buy a cheap and small cnc machine for those pcb cuts.
It's the next thing I want to buy but I am looking for a second hand pro one. I had a cheap one and sent it back.
I think you do good work but, the buzz in your audio is horrible. I got half way through before I just couldn't take it anymore. Tootlles... Wade