Inspired by Airdorn's post (http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?p=885282#post885282), I thought I might give this a try.
Because I live in a fringe area in a valley, the only way I am able to use my 800 MHz GSM cell phone (LG CU500) in my home is to hook it up to a Wilson amplifier (http://wilsonelectronics.com/ViewProduct.php?ID=123). The amp is currently fed from a Wilson mobile antenna (http://www.wilsonelectronics.com////ViewProductB.php?ID=5) placed in a high window facing north in the general direction of the cell tower. This combination usually provides my phone with two bars of signal. This equates to a RSSI reading of -96 in test mode.
In a quest for another bar or two of signal, I’ve considered replacing the mobile antenna with this Wilson Yagi: http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/////ViewProductB.php?ID=14. Thirteen dBi would seem to trump 5.12 dBi. Since this Yagi appears to be relatively simple, I thought I would look into the possibilty of home-brewing my own.
To this end, I used Meserve’s Quick Design web site (http://www.k7mem.150m.com/Electronic_Notebook/antennas/yagi_vhf_quick.html) to work up the specs for an 850 MHz eleven element Yagi. I also used Meserve’s Feed Design site (http://www.k7mem.150m.com/Electronic_Notebook/antennas/yagi_vhf_feed.html) to get a handle on a folded dipole feed. For the basic nuts and bolts of construction, I thought I would follow Airdorn’s lead at http://www.radioreference.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15680&d=1211762991, I planned on using 3/16” (.1875) brass rod for the elements and ¾” aluminum channel for the boom. In the interest of a shorter boom length, I’d like to limit it to six elements by eliminating D5 through D9.
Here is the design so far.
Spacing Element Length
Zero REFL 7-15/64"
2-25/32" D.E. 6-9/16"
3-13/16" D1 6-23/64"
6-5/16" D2 6-9/32"
9-19/64" D3 6-3/16"
12-25/32" D4 6-7/64"
16-21/32" D5 6-1/32"
20-53/64" D6 5-31/32"
25-13/64" D7 5-59/64"
29-25/32" D8 5-7/8"
34-37/64" D9 5-53/64"
I would appreciate any comments, tips, gotchas, etc. before I dive in. Feel free to pass on anything I may have overlooked. Thanks for reading.
Because I live in a fringe area in a valley, the only way I am able to use my 800 MHz GSM cell phone (LG CU500) in my home is to hook it up to a Wilson amplifier (http://wilsonelectronics.com/ViewProduct.php?ID=123). The amp is currently fed from a Wilson mobile antenna (http://www.wilsonelectronics.com////ViewProductB.php?ID=5) placed in a high window facing north in the general direction of the cell tower. This combination usually provides my phone with two bars of signal. This equates to a RSSI reading of -96 in test mode.
In a quest for another bar or two of signal, I’ve considered replacing the mobile antenna with this Wilson Yagi: http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/////ViewProductB.php?ID=14. Thirteen dBi would seem to trump 5.12 dBi. Since this Yagi appears to be relatively simple, I thought I would look into the possibilty of home-brewing my own.
To this end, I used Meserve’s Quick Design web site (http://www.k7mem.150m.com/Electronic_Notebook/antennas/yagi_vhf_quick.html) to work up the specs for an 850 MHz eleven element Yagi. I also used Meserve’s Feed Design site (http://www.k7mem.150m.com/Electronic_Notebook/antennas/yagi_vhf_feed.html) to get a handle on a folded dipole feed. For the basic nuts and bolts of construction, I thought I would follow Airdorn’s lead at http://www.radioreference.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=15680&d=1211762991, I planned on using 3/16” (.1875) brass rod for the elements and ¾” aluminum channel for the boom. In the interest of a shorter boom length, I’d like to limit it to six elements by eliminating D5 through D9.
Here is the design so far.
Spacing Element Length
Zero REFL 7-15/64"
2-25/32" D.E. 6-9/16"
3-13/16" D1 6-23/64"
6-5/16" D2 6-9/32"
9-19/64" D3 6-3/16"
12-25/32" D4 6-7/64"
16-21/32" D5 6-1/32"
20-53/64" D6 5-31/32"
25-13/64" D7 5-59/64"
29-25/32" D8 5-7/8"
34-37/64" D9 5-53/64"
I would appreciate any comments, tips, gotchas, etc. before I dive in. Feel free to pass on anything I may have overlooked. Thanks for reading.
