2/7/2016

Howtobuildatincanwaveguideantenna

HowToBuildATinCanWaveguideWiFi
Antenna

for802.11(borg)WirelessNetworks
orother2.4GHzApplications
GotnodoughforacommercialWiFiantenna?Lookingforan
inexpensivewaytoincreasetherangeofyourwirelessnetwork?A
tincanwaveguideantenna,orCantenna,maybejusttheticket.
Thisdesigncanbebuiltforunder$5U.S.andreusesafood,juice,
orothertincan.
Iamnotanelectricalengineer,nordoIhaveaccesstoanyfancy
testequipment.I'vebuiltsomeantennasthatworkedformeand
thoughtIwouldsharewhatIlearned.Ihavenoideaifthisissafe
foryourradioorwirelessnetworkequipment.Therisktoyouand
yourequipmentisyours.
clickonimagetoenlarge

BuildingyourCantennaiseasy,justfollowthesesteps.
1.Collecttheparts
2.Drillorpunchholesinyourcantomounttheprobe
3.Assembletheprobeandmountincan

Collecttheparts:
You'llneed:
ANFemalechassismountconnector.
Foursmallnutsandbolts
Abitofthickwire
Acan
Thesevendorscansupplytheparts(thewireandcanyouprovideyourself).
TheConnector
ANtypeFemaleChassismountconnector.One
sideisNfemaleforconnectingthecablefrom
yourwirelessequipment,andtheothersidehasa
smallbrassstubforsolderingonwire.Thesecan
befoundatelectronicsstoresinternetsuppliers
(seethelistbelowunder"Connectyourantenna..."
Ifyoushoparound,youshouldbeabletofind
thesefor$3$5.
Nuts&Bolts
You'llneedthemjustlongenoughtogothrough
theconnectorandthecan.I'veused#6x1/4"
stainless.IfyourNconnectorisascrewontype,
thenyouwon'tneedthenutsandbolts.
Wire
You'llneedabout1.25"of12guagecopperwire.
ThiswirewillstickintothebrassstubintheN
connector.
ACan
Thisisthefunpart.You'relookingforacanbetweenabout3"and
32/3"indiameter.Thesizedoesn'thavetobeexact.Imadeagood
antennawithaNalley's"BigChunk"BeefStewcanthatwas3.87"
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indiameter.Othershavereportedgoodresultswithbig39oz.coffee
cansthatare6"indiameter.Thepringlescanisreallytoosmallfor
goodperformance,however.Trytogetaslongacanaspossible.
Theoldfashionedfruitjuicecansshouldworkwell.

Clickonimagetoenlarge

Drillorpunchholesinyourcantomounttheprobe
TheNconnectorassemblywillmountinthesideofyourcan.Youneed
toputholesintherightplacetomounttheconnector.Theplacementof
theholeandconnectisveryimportant.It'slocationisderivedfrom
formulasthatusethefrequencythattheantennawilloperateatandthe
candiameter.Tomakelifeeasyonyou,here'sacalculatortofigureit
outforyou.
3.25

CanDiameter

Calculate

Clickonimagetoenlarge

CuttoffFrequencyinMHzforTE11mode 2128.39

MHz

CuttoffFrequencyinMhzforTM01mode 2779.95

MHz

GuideWavelengthinInches

9.94

inches

1/4GuideWavelength

2.49

inches

3/4GuideWavelength

7.46

inches

Enterthediameterofyourcanaboveandclickonthecalculatebutton.
802.11band802.11gWiFinetworkingequipmentoperatesatarangeof
frequenciesfrom2.412GHzto2.462GHz.Ideally,withyourcansize,
theTE11cutofffrequencyshouldbelowerthan2.412andtheTM01
cutoffshouldbehigherthan2.462.Itwouldbegood,also,ifyourcan
islongerthanthe3/4GuideWavelength.Ifyourcanisalittleoffin
lengthordiameter,don'tdespair,experimentationisfun!
Youwanttomarkthelocationonthecanwhereyouwillputtheholefor
theconnector.The1/4GuideWavelengthnumbertellsyouhowfarup
fromthebottommetalendofthecantoputthecenterofthehole.Open
onlyoneendofyourcan,eatthecontents,andgiveitagoodwashing.
You'llprobablywanttoremovethelabeltoo.Usearulertomeasureup
fromtheclosedend1/4GuideWavelengthandmarkthecanwithadot.
Ifyou'vegotadrill,selectabitthatmatchesthesizeofthecenterof
yourconnector.Youmaywanttostartwithasmallbitandworkthe
holelargerandlarger.Youcouldevenstartwithahammerandnail,
thenusedrillbits.Ifyoudon'thaveadrill,startwithanailholeanduse
afiletogettheholetotherequiredsize.Ifyou'reusingabolton
connector,makefourmoreholesfortheboltsyoucanusethe
connectorasadrillingguide.

Assembletheprobeandmountincan
Nowyou'llneedthatbitofwire.You'llneedasolderingironorafriend
withoneaswell.Cutthewiresothatwhenitisstuckintheconnectoras
shown,thetotallengthofboththebrasstubeandwirestickingoutpast
theconnectoris1.21".Getasclosetothislengthasyoucan.
Whenyou'vegotyourwirecorrectlysized,solderitintotheconnector
keepingitasstraightanduprightasyoucan.Whenit'scooled,boltor
screwtheassemblyintoyourcan.Puttheheadsoftheboltsinsidethe
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canandthenutsontheoutsidetominimizetheobstructionsinyour
antenna.YourDone!

Connectyourantennatoyourwirelesscard
oraccesspoint
Touseyourcantenna,you'llneedaspecialcablecommonlycalleda
"PigTail".Thepigtailconnectsyourwirelesscardoraccesspointto
youantenna.Oneendofthecablewillhavea"N"Maleconnector(just
rightforconnectingyouryourcantenna),whiletheotherendwillhavea
connectorappropriatetoyourcardoraccesspoint.Foragoodpictureof
apigtail,takealookat:
http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi?PigTail
You'llwanttohaveawirelessNICoraccesspointwithanexternal
antennaconnector.Otherwise,youmayhavetohackintotheoneyou
Clickonimagestoenlarge
havetohookupthecable.Iwouldn'trecommendthisunlessyou'regood
withasolderingironandelectronics.Forthisreason,IliketheAgere
Orinococardswhichhaveaniceantennaconnector.PigTailscanbe
handmadeifyouhavetherighttools,butit'sprobablyeasiertogeta
premadeone.Try:
FleemanAnderson&Bird
FleemanAnderson&Birdhasa"cantennakit"forsalethat
includestheconnectorandpigtail.Chooseoneofthe"cables"
linksfromthemenuandlooktowardsthebottomofthelist.
Hyperlinktech
AntennaSystems
Hookupyourcable,pointtheantennaatafriend's,andseehowfaryou
canstretchyounetwork.Besuretoletmeknow(greg@turnpoint.net)
howitworks.
Thisantennahaslinearpolarization.Thatmeansthathowyourotatethe
antennawillaffectthestrengthofyoursignal.Usually,youwillwantto
puttheconnectionstraightdown,butexperimentwithrotatingthecan
whilewatchingthesignalstrengthonyourPCtogetthebest
performance.
Formoreinformation,checkouttheseresources:
TheARRLAntennaHandbook
ATinCanDesignwithgoodtheoryinformation.
Afreeonlinebookonmicrowaveantennas
"JuiceUp"yourTinCantennawithasurplussatellitedish.
Spreadsheetforoptimumcansizecalculation

GototheHomebrewWiFiAntennaShootout
GototheWirelessHome
Copyright20032007GregoryRehmAllrightsreserved.
Forinformationaboutreproducingthisarticleinanyformat,
contacttheauthor:greg@turnpoint.net

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