Wifi antenna fa 20 detailed drawing. Powerful homemade Wi-Fi antenna. Making a Wi-Fi antenna

With the kind permission of Vladimir (VBM), we reprint his description of the design of the FA-20 panel sector antenna, which, despite its simplicity, has proven itself to be highly productive and reliable.

1. Introduction

The original description of the author is located at http://sterr.narod.ru/wifi/fa20.htm. Description from Volodya - http://vbm.lan23.ru/wifi/fa20.html. You can find a lot of positive reviews about this design on the Internet, but it is noted that manufacturing accuracy is very important, especially for vibrators and mounting holes in the reflector. Maintaining the distance between the reflector and the vibrators is also of great importance. Be sure to adhere to the specified dimensions, this will allow you to achieve maximum antenna efficiency.

2. Design

The antenna consists of four structural elements: a reflector (1), two types of vibrators (2, 3) and a connecting bus (4), which serves to connect the vibrators:

3. Materials

To assemble the antenna we will need:

Single-sided foil PCB (for reflector)
Double-sided foil PCB (for vibrators)
Strip of brass or copper foil (for busbar)
Aluminum corner 25×25 mm
Rivets
F connector

4. Manufacturing

First of all, you need to make a reflector “trough”. To do this, according to the drawing, we cut out a rectangle from foil PCB 490×222 mm for the bottom, mark it (it is best to core from the foil side) and drill holes with a diameter of 2.5 mm for the stands for vibrators, tin them. After this, we make sides of the appropriate size from an aluminum corner 25x25 mm, and fasten them with rivets on the back side of the reflector:

Blanks

For accurate markings, it is best to use a caliper

When attaching the corners with rivets, also secure the edges of the corners

After assembling the “trough” of the reflector, you can strengthen it a little by gluing the corners on the back side with mounting tape, and gluing the vertical seams with two-component epoxy glue:

Strengthening the structure

Volodya came up with an original technology for making vibrators from fiberglass, foil-coated on both sides. The advantage of this method is that two absolutely identical vibrators are obtained from one workpiece.

First, a rectangular blank of the required dimensions is cut out from textolite:

Blank for making vibrators

Cut rectangles with metal scissors 1
We stratify the fiberglass, we try to stratify halves of the same thickness
We make slits along the red lines of the rectangles with 2 ordinary household scissors
Take a broken hacksaw blade for metal and cut 2 rectangles along the green lines
Using fine sandpaper, carefully clean the ends of the resulting vibrators

Ready-made vibrators

As a result, we get two vibrators of identical sizes. Care must be taken to ensure that the non-foil side of the vibrator is smooth; this may require removing a layer of fiberglass. After this, we drill and tin tin holes with a diameter of 2.5 mm for the posts.

After making the vibrators, it is necessary to make a busbar (4) from brass or copper foil, with which we will later connect the “tails” of the vibrators.

All elements of the future antenna are ready, you can begin assembly. To do this, you need to find a spacer for the vibrator. Select its thickness so that the total thickness of the PCB and gasket gives a distance of 6 mm between the reflector and the vibrator foil.

To install vibrators, it is best to use smooth, thick copper wire with a diameter of about 2 mm. We cut it into small pieces and solder them in the “trough” holes. Then, placing a spacer next to the stand, we solder one edge of the vibrator, then the other in the same way, having previously moved the spacer. We bite off the excess parts of the racks. When installing, narrow vibrators are placed at the edges, wider ones in the center.

Antenna assembly

After installing the vibrators, we fix the connector on the “trough” and connect the “tails” of the vibrators using a busbar, carefully soldering them, then solder the central core of the connector to the busbar.

5. Installation

The easiest way to attach the antenna to a block is by drilling holes in the “trough” between the central vibrators and fastening it with screws or screws. If you plan to mount the antenna on a pipe, it is better to rivet an aluminum corner about 30 cm long to the antenna on the back side of the reflector, then attach the corner to the mast using clamps or ties.

Thanks to the forum participants for the information provided.

but a simple user who has mastered the computer on his own, to the best of his needs and capabilities. Thus, everything described in the article is not at all complicated and can be used by any PC user.

It all started when my brother and I wanted to connect our computers to a local network in order to organize shared access to the Internet, play games over the network, exchange files, chat online, etc. Actually, such a desire arises sooner or later in any computer owner, there is nothing new or surprising here, for example, if your friend is connected to a wired LAN with unlimited Internet, and you have neither a local network nor the Internet in your house. The problem was that the distance There are 2.5 km between our houses. You can’t stretch a wire over such a distance, so at first the solution to this problem seemed unrealistic; I’ll immediately make a reservation that we were not able to spend a lot of money on this undertaking. Then, after studying all the available information on our topic, re-reading the forums, we decided to organize a direct modem connection between our computers, using two modems and a telephone line, especially since we did not need to buy anything for this. Decided and organized. For some time, a direct modem connection suited us and seemed like the ultimate dream, despite the meager connection speed, frequent connection interruptions, a busy telephone line and other shortcomings. But with the introduction of per-minute payment for the phone, such a connection hit our finances hard and we had to abandon it. It was necessary to look for an alternative, but at that time we had little idea what it would be. Of course, we heard about Wi-Fi, but we considered this option technically complex and expensive for such a distance. Some time was spent studying literature and special sites on Wi-Fi, and some sites were encouraging, reporting that communication at such a distance is possible with small investments, others wrote that if possible, it would only be with expensive equipment. We were ready to donate 100-150 USD for this venture. , but not several thousand.

Things got off the ground after we found out that there are two options for building a Wi-Fi Network:

Infrastructure Wi-Fi, when computers are connected to a radio network using an access point (Access Point Wi-Fi), which manages the network and to which client PCs are connected.

Ad-hoc Wi-Fi or computer-to-computer, when there is no special device managing the network (access point), and all devices on the network are equal. An ad-hoc connection does not require a special device - just having two or more machines with a Wi-Fi module is enough; it allows you to organize a connection to a wireless network of several PCs, laptops, PDAs with a minimum of costs.

The first option did not suit us because... purchasing an access point did not fit into the allocated budget, although it technically seemed more realistic.

The second option suited us better, because... Wi-Fi adapters costing 20 euro were within the allocated amount.

And so we bought two Wi-Fi network adapters in the form of PCI cards, but we only knew approximately what to do next. We bought D-link cards: DWL G520+ and DWL 520+. I’ll say right away that a little later we tried to use the DWL G510, they are perfect for the tasks set, they are available in stores and cost only 25 USD. Now you can buy them or any similar solution from other manufacturers.

Don’t be scared by what is written in the technical specifications of the devices: range indoors: up to 100 m, outdoors: up to 400 m. This is based on the use of standard antennas that come with the Wi-Fi card, but we will use others antennas that will strengthen the signal and thereby increase the range.

Choosing antennas is not an easy task. In order to transmit and receive a signal over such a distance, external antennas are required that are several times more powerful than the standard ones included in the kit. The more powerful the antennas are, the greater the throughput of your network will be. The second prerequisite: there must be direct visibility between the antennas!!! , without this nothing will work out; even not very dense foliage on the trees will interfere.

First you need to decide: will you make the antennas yourself or buy ready-made products.

The first option is for those who are at least a little familiar with a soldering iron and want to save 100-140 USD. I think the second option will also have its supporters, and quite a few.

We naturally chose the first option

I won’t dwell on branded antennas, there is enough information on the Internet, search keywords: 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi antenna, there you will also see many links to homemade Wi-Fi antenna diagrams.

Of all the possible options for homemade antennas, I will focus on the simplest and, at first glance, even funny option. Let's make an antenna from an empty coffee can. Don't believe me? At first I also didn’t believe it, I didn’t believe that this product would work at all and work no worse than antennas for 50-70 USD.

Our network started working with such antennas, although not at the maximum possible speed. At a distance of 1 km on such antennas, the maximum possible speed was obtained with this connection option. There is a manufacturing diagram, there is also a formula for calculating the required dimensions.

I will briefly describe the manufacturing process using an empty Nescafe can with a diameter of 10.5 mm as an example. You will need: an empty can, a socket for connecting the cable (see figure), a piece of copper wire with a diameter of 2-3 mm and a length of 30 mm, a soldering iron, hands and head :-). All specified dimensions must be observed with maximum accuracy; the quality of the antenna and, consequently, the quality of communication in your network depend on this.

On the side wall of the can we drill a hole with a diameter of 9 mm, its center should be at a distance of 43.5 mm from the bottom.

We insert connector 1 into the hole, having previously soldered a waveguide made of copper wire to it. Secure it with a nut. I recommend soldering around the connector for better contact and reliability.

The length of the waveguide should be 3.07 mm, measured from the side wall of the can. The antenna is ready. The inside of the jar can be coated with varnish or grease to slow down corrosion. We close the jar with a plastic lid; it does not create any interference. completely transparent to waves at a frequency of 2.4 GHz.

If someone’s network does not work with “can” antennas, or you get insufficient speed, I recommend making more powerful antennas:

The next step is to connect our antenna to the board. Here I will immediately make a reservation: how many citizens, so many opinions. Many Wi-Fi sites recommend (and not without reason) to use a high-frequency cable for 2.4 GHz frequencies, special connectors and adapters. I couldn’t find such a cable and connectors in my provincial town, and besides, their use would significantly increase the cost of our connection. Based on the experience of other Wi-Fi users, we tried to use more affordable materials. The best budget option: use a coaxial cable for a local network (outwardly almost no different from a television cable), its characteristic impedance is 50 Ohms; in extreme cases, you can use a television cable with a resistance of 75 Ohms, although the signal loss will be much greater. We have just such a cable (skyflex RG6U), because... They simply couldn’t find another one. It has been experimentally established that such a cable is suitable if the distance from the card to the antenna is no more than 20-25 m. In most cases, this is enough. Mount standard TV connectors at the ends of the cable, see fig.

We connect one end to our antenna without any problems. The second one must be connected to the connector on the board. But here we are faced with the following problem: the connector on the Wi-Fi board does not match the TV connector we are using. You need a special connector: male RP-SMA or adapter.

I didn’t find the required plug or adapter on sale, maybe someone will be lucky to find a ready-made one, but we had to do everything ourselves again.

To make an adapter, you can use a connector removed from the original antenna, which of course entails loss of warranty :-). To do this, you need to remove or cut off the plastic cap above the bend on the original antenna. Under it we will find a thin RF cable to which we will need to solder our coaxial cable.

We came up with another way to attach the cable to the Wi-Fi connector of the board:

I wrap foil or thin wire onto the connector on the board, directly onto the thread, until the thickness approximately matches the inner diameter of the television connector 2.

We will screw this connector, the side with which it is usually screwed onto the cable, onto the card connector with a wound wire.

I make the inner core like this: the mother connector is broken out from the original antenna or from any computer connector,

I put it on the male pin inside the card connector, having previously soldered a piece of copper wire 1-2 cm long to it,

I insulate the inner core with a few turns of electrical tape.

We do all this before screwing on the TV connector 2. When it is fully screwed on, it looks like this:

Then you connect the television cable through adapter 3.

After all the preparations described above, install the Wi-Fi cards in the PCI slot on both computers and install the drivers included in the kit. We install the antennas so that there is direct visibility between them, I repeat once again that at long distances this is a prerequisite,

the antennas must have the same polarization, preferably vertical (the waveguides in our can antennas must be positioned strictly vertically, on both sides). In our case, one antenna is installed on the roof, the other on the 8th floor balcony. Cable length 15 and 20 m.

That's it with the hardware part, let's move on to the software part, setting up our network...

For those who like to tinker Panel sector antenna FA-20 (18-22 dBi)

2. Design

The antenna consists of four structural elements: a reflector (1), two types of vibrators (2, 3) and a connecting bus (4), which serves to connect the vibrators:

the writer of the original description, Sterr, recommends using food-grade tin as a material for vibrators; VBM made these elements from double-sided foil PCB.

3. Materials

To assemble the antenna we will need:

Single-sided foil PCB (for reflector)
Double-sided foil PCB (for vibrators)
Strip of brass or copper foil (for busbar)
Aluminum corner 25×25 mm
Rivets
F connector

4. Manufacturing

The cutting map is extremely necessary so as not to confuse the elements and solder everything correctly.

Further. We take the tube that we want to use as the basis for the boom and make a notch on it with the edge of a triangular file at a distance of approximately 5mm from the beginning of the boom. Next, using the marking map, you need to mark the entire boom using a caliper. If possible, both the marking of the boom and the cutting of elements should be done as accurately as possible. The operation of the entire antenna depends on this.

To see it in a large window, just click on the picture with the mouse.

After everything has been done, we should have such a boom. We carefully clean the notched areas and solder them under flux for soldering chrome and aluminum products.

Next, we take one director at a time, find the middle and solder it to the boom. Here, to ensure the mechanical strength of tin, there is no need to spare any effort! The only requirement is that all directors, vibrator and reflector be positioned STRICTLY perpendicular to the boom and go in one line without distortion relative to each other. As a result, you should get something like this.

To see it in a large window, just click on the picture with the mouse.

All directors, vibrator and reflector must be well thawed and clearly secured in the recesses on the boom.

Let's start making the U-elbow.

We take a coaxial cable in fluoroplastic insulation and cut 60 mm from it. After that, from both ends we cut off the outer insulation together with the braid to a length of 8 mm, only the outer insulation to a length of 10 mm and immediately solder the braid to avoid fraying. To a length of 6 mm, we remove the inner insulation from both ends and expose the inner conductor, which we also solder. Soldering should be done ONLY in rosin without using any fluxes. We solder the central conductors to the ends of the vibrator, and the braid to the boom in a previously cleaned and tinned place. The result should look something like this:

To see it in a large window, just click on the picture with the mouse.

When sealing the incoming cable, it is necessary to take into account that the braid must also be soldered to the boom, and the central conductor to one of the ends of the vibrator, right at the place where the end of the U elbow is sealed. A program for calculating antennas is attached. Runs under DOS.

The Internet today is as necessary as air, and modern life without it is simply unthinkable. And how joyful it is to realize that there are more and more free access points using Wi-Fi technology. But not everyone manages to use them, because the signal is not strong enough. In such a situation, the FA-20 panel antenna will help out, which today we will suggest you make with your own hands.
In fact, this device is quite simple and will not cause any difficulties in manufacturing even in an ordinary apartment. But the benefits from it will be quite noticeable, and maybe even some radio amateurs will be encouraged to take up the manufacture of such equipment seriously.

Antenna characteristics
The panel antenna consists of 2 main parts - a reflector and vibrators. The line of vibrators is connected by a common contact, from which a coaxial cable is led out, leading to the jack of the external antenna of the Wi FI router, mounted on the back of the device. The antenna works as an amplifier, which can be judged by comparing the signal power from the standard antenna of the router (the author used tp-link TL-WN722N) - 5db, and from FA-20 - 22db.
Required materials:

Foil textolite one-sided or getinaks, 430x200 mm, thickness - 1.5 mm;
A piece of sheet metal (best galvanized), 435x205 mm, thickness 0.5-1 mm;
TV coaxial cable RG-8X 50 Ohm;
Drawing template of antenna vibrators printed on vinyl film;
Photoresist;
Ferric chloride for etching boards;
A can of aerosol varnish for textolite;
Soda, acetone or alcohol;
Hardware: 3 mm bolts – 12 pcs., nuts – 32 pcs.

Tools:

A drill with a cutting disc for cutting getinax;
Drill with drill 3-3.5 mm;
Soldering iron with solder;
Painting knife, scissors;
Pliers, metal scissors;
Construction rubber roller for rolling films;
Bath for etching the antenna board;
A piece of glass and an ultraviolet lamp for photolithography;
Hairdryer or iron to warm up the photoresist;
Sandpaper-zero;
Hot glue gun;
Core, hammer;
Metal ruler for marking holes.

Making a Wi-Fi antenna
Stage one - making a panel of vibrators
We mark a sheet of foil PCB to the size of our antenna, and cut it out with a cutting disc of a drill. This procedure can also be performed with a regular paint knife, making cuts along the marking line on both sides of the sheet, and then breaking them off by hand.

We print a template of the antenna vibrators on transparent film for inkjet printers. It will come out of two sheets, which are then easily connected to each other.

To etch using photoresist technology, it is necessary to prepare the foil side of the getinax by cleaning it with a zero. You can degrease surfaces using acetone or alcohol.

We place the photoresist film on the getinax, cutting it to size with scissors. We remove the protective layer and glue the photoresist, getting rid of air bubbles by rolling with a rubber wallpaper roller.

After this, we apply the vibrator template film and cover it with ordinary glass. We use an ultraviolet lamp to illuminate the photoresist. The holding time for different manufacturers of this material differs. The author needed 5 seconds for his film, ordered from China. for each processed area of the board.

Now it is necessary to additionally heat the photoresist so that it firmly adheres to the surface of the getinax. We remove the template, a sheet of glass, and heat the film with a hairdryer or iron through the paper. Remove the top protective layer of photoresist.

We wash off the unexposed photoresist in a baking soda solution, placing the getinax plate in the bath. After a few minutes, remove any remaining film with a used toothbrush.

Getinax is ready for pickling. We dilute ferric chloride in warm water and dip the plate into a container with the solution. It must be stirred periodically.

We saturate the old lye solution with soda ash and place the plate in it to get rid of the remaining photoresist. We wash the resulting board with plain water.

We mark the centers of the rectangles of the vibrators on the board, and use a core to drill them. The hole must be made for the mounting bolts 3 mm. The author used a step or precision conical drill, which is convenient for removing burrs.

Stage two - preparing the reflector
From a piece of galvanized sheet metal, which is the most resistant to corrosion, we cut out a copy of our vibrator plate. The holes for fastening the bolts can be easily transferred to the sheet metal by making notches with the same drill. We drill holes on the tin through a wooden lining.

We tighten the bolts with two nuts on the back side of the plate, making the required gap between the reflector 3 mm, and the total distance between the vibrators and the reflector 6 mm. We secure the tin using the third nut.

In the upper part of the reflector we make a hole for a coaxial cable, the central core of which must be soldered to the vibrator plate, and the braid to the reflector.
We solder the second end of the cable in place of the external antenna to the router. We attach it to the reflector from the back of the antenna using hot glue.

We protect the front side of the vibrator board from oxidation with aerosol colorless varnish.

For home use, this antenna can be placed on a windowsill or balcony. If you plan to use it outdoors, any bracket leading to a mast on the roof or outside the window can easily be attached to the reflector.

Watch the video

1. Introduction

2. Design

The antenna consists of four structural elements: a reflector (1), two types of vibrators (2, 3) and a connecting bus (4), which serves to connect the vibrators:

Reflector

Vibrators

The author of the original description, Sterr, recommends using food-grade tin as a material for vibrators; VBM made these elements from double-sided foil PCB.

3. Materials

To assemble the antenna we will need:

Single-sided foil PCB (for reflector)
Double-sided foil PCB (for vibrators)
Strip of brass or copper foil (for busbar)
Aluminum corner 25×25 mm
Rivets
F connector

4. Manufacturing

Blanks

For accurate markings, it is best to use a caliper

When attaching the corners with rivets, also secure the edges of the corners

Strengthening the structure

First, a rectangular blank of the required dimensions is cut out from textolite:

Blank for making vibrators

Cut rectangles with metal scissors 1
We stratify the fiberglass, we try to stratify halves of the same thickness
We make slits along the red lines of the rectangles with 2 ordinary household scissors
Take a broken hacksaw blade for metal and cut 2 rectangles along the green lines
Using fine sandpaper, carefully clean the ends of the resulting vibrators

Ready-made vibrators

After making the vibrators, it is necessary to make a bus (4) from brass or copper foil, with which we will later connect the “tails” of the vibrators.

Antenna assembly

5. Installation

This article is based on personal experience of building a WiFi network over a long distance. In our case, the goal was to extend unlimited Internet from home to work. After reading various sources and a bunch of forums, the decision was made to build this link and with full confidence we set to work. I will also say that a distance of 5 km, by the standards of forum members, is not a long distance, but at most an average one.
In our case, we took as a basis the “pioneer” WiFi access point from the manufacturer D-link - DWL 2100AP. On ours you can get advice, and in the Download section you can find useful programs for this point. The decision was made for a long time and painfully - which antenna to choose, and finally, thanks to the forum members, the choice fell on a successful model of the 2.4 GHz antenna - FA20. Easy to manufacture and efficient in operation, it “forgave” us some flaws in its production.
What we needed:

Two d-link DWL 2100AP access points

Ethernet cable 8-wire 150 meters

Antenna cable RG 6U - 5 meters (with reserve)

Single-sided textolite 1.5 mm thick, approximately 1 m^2 in size

Sealed box - 2 pcs.

Two mm copper wire, copper tube D 5-6mm, copper strip

Various tools: calipers, soldering iron, jigsaw, drill...

After selecting the antenna, we thought about the method of its manufacture. It was customary to make a WiFi antenna from PCB, but using our own technology. Somewhere in the forums they talked about a method for splitting double-sided PCB, about cutting it out of foil, but we decided to go our own way, and I hope that our experience will be useful to someone. The antenna pattern can be downloaded here -.
The vibrators were cut out using a jigsaw, and slits were made in pre-marked places with a utility knife.

Using a knife and tweezers, carefully remove the copper layer from the PCB. Cut out the reflector and sides. Advice: take into account the thickness of the cut line when marking the PCB, and also do not forget to process the edges of the PCB with a fine file. Two copper strips were cut from a 1mm thick copper plate.

Copper wire was used to connect the vibrators to the reflector. To maintain a distance of 6 mm, it is necessary to find or make a gasket with a thickness of 4.5 mm, taking into account the textolite. A stripped RG-6U cable is tightly inserted into a piece of copper tube (antenna of any radio receiver). We insert our tube with cable into the pre-drilled hole in the reflector from the reverse side and solder it to the copper layer of the reflector, and the central core of the cable to the copper strip. Since the standard antenna is no longer useful to us, we use it to make a connector for the second end of the cable.

We took the mounting of the antenna to the mast seriously. We needed to easily rotate the antenna in any plane, this is necessary for precise tuning. It was decided to mount the antenna on a ball from a car, which in turn is mounted on a mast made of an iron angle 2 m high. An example of attaching a ball to an antenna in the photo.