diy

DIY Wi-Fi Extended Range Yagi. (Trailerhood Style)

~ Ron Walker ~ 14 Comments

Okay, when you have a lot of time on your hands, you start acting like a mad scientist, or I’m watching too many Sci-Fi shows. Which reminds me, Svengoolie comes on this Saturday. “Curse of the Werewolf” will show, but I digress.

Living in a park, (Trailerhood) for new readers. Wi-Fi signals can sometimes be temperamental. When you have several neighbors close by, the amount of signals can saturate the air, this can make it hard to get good range from the office here, back nearly 70 feet to the master  bedroom. Or in your yard.

I tried buying a Wi-Fi Yagi antenna off eBay, and the thing was so poorly made, as far as measurements and spacing, it was just a paper weight. There was no surprise there. After all, at $12 you get what you pay for. I found plans for a DIY antenna from a Google search. Here is a picture of one someone made with paperclips, clothes pins, popsicle sticks, a very small Wi-Fi dongle (under all that tape). Diagrams, measurements, and pictures can be found at the link below. This is not step by step, but if you are technically inclined, you can follow the directions in the link. As always, practice safety when doing projects. 
Easy to Build WIFI 2.4GHz Yagi Antenna

Gathering parts and tools.

  • Superglue  It works better on skin than it does most parts, be careful.
  • Micrometer for measuring the paperclips. You have to be as precise as possible with the length, since you are working with microwave frequencies.
  • A plastic rod from a pair of cheap blinds I had lying around, which I cut to my length needed. (Lets not repeat that, Michelle doesn’t know yet).
  • Box of Jumbo paperclips I already had. 
  • Some Tinfoil From my protective conspiracy hat.
  • A waxed Dixie ‘snack-size’ plate, Tinfoil covered as an added reflector.
  • A Medium plastic Dixie cup.  (Southern Champagne Glass) in case of light rain, if used outdoors for experimenting.
  • A spare Alfa USB Wi-Fi adapter One I had an extra of. 
  • A RP-SMA female wire pigtail from an old router to connect the Alfa Unit to the driven element on the antenna.
  • Soldering Iron and solder
  • Some ointment for any burned fingers I usually get from my soldering skills.
  • Small wire cutters for trimming the paperclips.  (Band aids if your clumsy like me)
  • Spray can of flat-black paint Already on hand. I picked black, as the only other flavor was fluorescent orange, and I look horrible in that color.
  • Some spare parts from my Go-Pro drawer to mount it to a tripod, or flat piece of wood for table-top use.
  • Patience, LOTS of patience.

Pictures from the build.

  • Planning
  • Testing
  • Closing the reflector
  • Dixie Cup Deluxe
    Rain Protector
  • Yes, it’s crooked, I’ll fix that later.
  • Finished

Results: With just the signal from the router I was getting a power reading of -80 to -90 (lower numbers are better)  in the back bedroom. Now using the Antenna, we’re getting -30 to -40! No more drop-outs from interfering signals. I can use my laptop or tablet out in the backyard shop. I can also use this to pick up open wireless sources if needed should the Internet go offline here at home.

This is not a detailed instructional, but has link/s needed for detailed instructions. Construction time was about 3 hours. Cost was free as all items were on hand.

Comments, always welcome.

Modifying an old webcam, for infrared imaging.

~ Ron Walker ~ 8 Comments

I ran across this infrared project some time ago, and thought I would like to give it a try. All our cameras have filters in them that filter out most of the infrared spectrum. Removing this filter makes for interesting infrared photography.

First, I located an older spare webcam. Then removed the housing, which was really snapped together well.  I needed access to the camera circuit board. If you’ve never had the opportunity, to see how small the image sensor is, this is your chance.  The small black rectangular object in the center, is the sensor chip.  The lens housing, sits over this and focuses the image onto the sensor. This one also has a small microphone, actually large by today’s standards. In the bottom of the lens housing, is glued a small piece of infrared filter glass. You have to remove it to allow the infrared through. It was stubborn, but I donned my magnifying headpiece, and pictured myself as a mad scientist. I was as careful as possible, but I still broke/chipped the glass square. It not being much larger than the sensor chip, and glued in securely.

Glass filter removed

This is an example from Wikipedia of infrared photography.

 

 

 

 

 

This is what my old webcam produces now. The trees across the way are filling out with leaves. This makes them look less leafy. The shrubs and grass are a rich green. I forgot that infrared light causes a slight focus shift. I need to adjust the focus for clearer pictures.

Time to find another project now.

Comments always welcome

Edit: Some how my pictures have been deleted by accident. Sorry.

Repost: Extremely Dirty Computer. Things we do for friends.

~ Ron Walker ~ 21 Comments

I brought this old post back from May 2013. While I was blowing out my computers this morning and though they are only slightly dusty, something triggered this memory. It was one of those neighbors, who after they learn you work on computers as a hobby ask if you mind taking a look at it. Out of kindness you do a favor.

One of the worst  computers I ever worked on. While we all know that computers will gather dust and none are them are perfect after owned awhile. You expect to maybe have to blow some dust out when you work on one. This is an actual computer that I worked on once in Sept 2009 for someone in the community. I should have refused, but donning gloves, a mask, and doing it outside on top of the garbage can, I managed to clean is some, not totally, but enough that it would again run without totally overheating.

Photo by Ron

There were no bugs in it, but that is probably complimentary of the bugs having better taste, than take up residence in there.

First inspection, with this much dust and dirt you can imagine what the CPU fan/heat-sink looked like under that green air hood. They reported it had a “slight” over heating problem, It’s a wonder the CD player worked. The environment was a house with lots of small dogs, on a very dusty dirt road and vinyl floors.

Photos by Ron

Would you type on this? I suggested they trash it. I used my own keyboard for testing the computer.

Photos by Ron

After taking the unit outside where I had a compressed air supply, I removed the green air tunnel. It is rumored that when I hit it with the high pressure air, that I disappeared for a few moments till I ran from the cloud. Fire Rangers in their fire towers seeing the cloud, probably thought our home had been hit with a small tactical nuke.  I would think that Air Traffic was probably diverted around our area for a short while.

I managed to get most of it out using the air and some large type Q-tips. I didn’t scrub it hard so it was still a tad dusty in places, but I didn’t want to crumble something into dust if that was what still held it together.

All photos by Ron

Comments welcome!

Cheap and Ugly works for Wi-Fi problem

~ Ron Walker ~ 1 Comment

Okay, for the last month I have had a terrible time maintaining a connection to the wireless IP webcam for the back yard. Other times it would fail to move when you requested it to. I’ve had it since about 2012 and thought maybe the wireless wi-fi transmitter in it was getting weak.

Sometimes we just assume too much and I had done that. I assumed the camera was dying. Then it dawned on me that maybe it was interference. Perhaps someone close to me was on the same wi-fi channel and too strong. I got out the phone first but then opted for the larger tablet screen to search the channel frequencies for the wi-fi signal that might be causing the problem. I had tried changing channels on the router and it improved but it never would continue working for long. Holding the tablet in one hand, phone in the other, and trying to keep my mug out of the picture while trying to reduce reflection the screen was a real circus act.

Moving through the house towards the camera some 50 feet away and outside I found no problem till I got on the back porch with the camera. Standing there monitoring I would see that one moment my router signal “Darius01” had a weak but workable signal. Red Signal in picture.

alone.jpg

Then periodically a signal as strong and at times stronger than mine would pop up “. The blue arch on the screen “United States Homeland Security”. Some of these people in a Trailer Park have a twisted sense of humor. That was the one drowning out my signal to and from the webcam. I had tried changing the channel but the interfering signals were coming from down the street behind the IP webcam

matching.jpg

So… I got a piece of tinfoil and held it around the enclosure at different angles till the blue signal was all but blocked. I then taped it (till I can make a nice tin foil covered piece of stiff plastic) on the enclosure. This places the home with the strong signal on the backside of the foil, and the open area not covered by the foil towards my router effectively shielding the webcam from being overwhelmed by the signal coming from behind it. It covers some of the globe, but that area would just stare at the wall anyway that far around.

It’s not pretty but it works for now. I have not lost signal all day! So if you have a wifi device that is not holding the signal, check the area with a simple wi-fi analyzer app and try to locate the direction of the signal. Then use a simple piece of tin foil to shield/block the offending signal.

webcam.jpg

Reminds me of the tinfoil we used to have on the TV Rabbit Ears.