Homebrew Cantenna in Wired

lincomatic · 07-24-2002

i wonder where these reporters get their crappy info from. here is a cantenna recipe from wired magazine:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1...lay.html?pg=25

errors:
1) sounds like he wants you to drill a hole for the N jack and ram the whole thing into the can. duh.
2) the recommended diameter is 3" - too small. the SWR will be all over the place because the optimal probe position varies by 11mm across the band w/ this size can.
3) he says to put the probe 3.75" from the rear of the can. way off. it should be 3.17"
4) he says the probe length is 1.25. this would tune the probe to below the freq of channel 1. it should be 1.21" if one wants to tune the antenna to channel 6 for best coverage across the band.

the upshot? we have less to worry about because the hackers are using terrible antennas.

blackwave · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by lincomatic
the upshot? we have less to worry about because the hackers are using terrible antennas.

Actually it would be the script kiddies that would be playing with the jacked hardware, anyone with half a brain that would want to build their own antenna, would most likely research antenna manuals, books, etc, and understand what they were doing rather than go blindly off an article... that is one difference of the many that there are between those called hackers and those who want to be called hackers.

lincomatic · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by blackwave

Actually it would be the script kiddies that would be playing with the jacked hardware, anyone with half a brain that would want to build their own antenna, would most likely research antenna manuals, books, etc, and understand what they were doing rather than go blindly off an article... that is one difference of the many that there are between those called hackers and those who want to be called hackers.

yeah, that's what i meant...the kids who hear about "lanjacking" and run out to buy a pile of equipment thinking they can get free access everywhere...and then get sorely disappointed.

blackwave · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by lincomatic
and then get sorely disappointed.

hahaha gotta love it... Hmmm too bad there aren't popular magazines that publish one page out of the anarchist's cookbook, or the poor man's james bond, or the jolly roger each issue... This would certainly thin out some of the population, and help weed out the brainless...

Thorn · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by lincomatic
yeah, that's what i meant...the kids who hear about "lanjacking" and run out to buy a pile of equipment thinking they can get free access everywhere...and then get sorely disappointed.

<nod>

Travis9 is a good example. He bought over 200 bucks gear, including something like a 15dB omni, and quit when it wasn't quite as easy to steal bandwidth as he apparently had read.

In ways it's too bad. Some of these "kids" seem bright enough, but they don't want to take the time to learn. Given some time they might pick up something useful if they stuck with it.

Short attention spans or something.

lincomatic · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Thorn

<nod>

Travis9 is a good example. He bought over 200 bucks gear, including something like a 15dB omni, and quit when it wasn't quite as easy to steal bandwidth as he apparently had read.

In ways it's too bad. Some of these "kids" seem bright enough, but they don't want to take the time to learn. Given some time they might pick up something useful if they stuck with it.

Short attention spans or something.

i don't want to sound like an old fart, but kids these days just want instant gratification. i remember poring through books day & night, even learning from catalogs ... riding my bike to the library of congress on weekends and spending the whole day researching whatever i was interested in at the time.

the kid across the street from me is supposed to be some sort of computer whiz according to his mom. well, every time i try to teach him anything he turns a deaf ear. he just wants to figure everything out for himself, which is fine, but not without enough basic knowledge to understand how to analyze things. he wants to build antennas with me, but whenever i point him to info about the theory behind it he isn't interested. instead he just wants me to spoon feed him and show him exactly how to do it, not to understand how they work. sheesh. disappointing. i was hoping to take him under my wing ... when i was a kid i always longed for an adult who shared similar interests and could teach me something i couldn't figure out, but they were nowhere to be found.

i think it's the general state of things today...where it's not even about sound bites anymore. just tons little tidbits of info thrown at you from a jillion sources at once. have you watched CNN Headline news lately? there's so much going on all over the screen that you can't even follow it. all of their info just scratches the surface and doesn't go in depth at all.

anyway i'll stop my rant now.

blackwave · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by lincomatic
i was hoping to take him under my wing ... when i was a kid i always longed for an adult who shared similar interests and could teach me something i couldn't figure out, but they were nowhere to be found.

There have been a couple of individuals whom I have attempted to mentor (scary eh?)... One in particular was IRL, and I taught him a lot of things, and he was always inquisitive, and always learning... until he got into high school.. then the world turned into a hell of warez and script kiddie crap.... I was so upset that I just stopped showing him anything and didn't talk to him for several years regarding anything... anyway no matter what I say, or what I suggest for them to read, even with basic ethics, they just want the IG, so they can show off to their friends... I often think just to give up but press on and help those who email me privately... but I have yet to see where someone actually is interested in everything, rather than the hack of the hour. Liphe isn't what it used to be, everything is taken for granted. Sigh...

rogerRabbit · 07-24-2002

Personally, I blame MTV.

And that oxymoron, the "[insert your country's name here] Public Education System".

blackwave · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by rogerRabbit
Personally, I blame MTV.

Funny you mention that, I know a few community college instructors anyway sometimes I get an email or so about tutoring someone with something. So I went on down and saw the hottest chick, she wanted to learn enough to get by in her c++, no problem, she even wanted me to come over to her pad and show here there.. anyway, her box was jacked and infected, so I had to eventually just format it.. so finally after a few hours everything was in great shape, including her..

... so as I was trying to show her the theory applied, she kept watching MTV, I told her it would be best for her to not watch this show while I was talking to her, but she ignored me (for several days in fact...MTV, MTV, MTV...)... but damn her she was pretty hot.. and was wearing next to nothing.. so of course I played the fool, and just helped her more than expected... Let's just say it was well worth the trip... lol... though I let the instructors know I didn't want to do this for a while... of course she got an A in the class.

Thorn · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by lincomatic

i don't want to sound like an old fart, but kids these days just want instant gratification. i remember poring through books day & night, even learning from catalogs ... riding my bike to the library of congress on weekends and spending the whole day researching whatever i was interested in at the time.

the kid across the street from me is supposed to be some sort of computer whiz according to his mom. well, every time i try to teach him anything he turns a deaf ear. he just wants to figure everything out for himself, which is fine, but not without enough basic knowledge to understand how to analyze things. he wants to build antennas with me, but whenever i point him to info about the theory behind it he isn't interested. instead he just wants me to spoon feed him and show him exactly how to do it, not to understand how they work. sheesh. disappointing. i was hoping to take him under my wing ... when i was a kid i always longed for an adult who shared similar interests and could teach me something i couldn't figure out, but they were nowhere to be found.

i think it's the general state of things today...where it's not even about sound bites anymore. just tons little tidbits of info thrown at you from a jillion sources at once. have you watched CNN Headline news lately? there's so much going on all over the screen that you can't even follow it. all of their info just scratches the surface and doesn't go in depth at all.

anyway i'll stop my rant now.

Gee, you don't sound like an old fart, you sound like me. On second thought, that MAY make you an old fart. Depends on you point of view. (I'm 45.)

CNNHN drives me nuts. I can follow it, but why bother? They're trying to be the WWW on TV, without content and/or links. Stupid, IMHO. I switched to MSNBC soon after CNNHN changed.

Some kids can learn, but they sometimes seem few and far apart. You can blame TV, or the fact that few things are fixed, most are replaced, or fast food, or whatever. I sure don't have a good answer. To tell the truth though, I don't think it's really changed that much.

I don't know about you, but I was alone in the library a lot. They other kids were playing games. Here's betting you got yelled at for taking stuff apart, but I bet you were encouraged to ask and see how things worked.

Thorn · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by rogerRabbit
And that oxymoron, the "[insert your country's name here] Public Education System".

Yup. Parochial Schools for me. I hated every second of all twelve years, but I was taught well. (The nightmares though... Large nuns with metal edged rulers, and those nunchuck roasary beads! Oh the horror, the horror!)

The goverment has no business being in the school systems. They should be privatized. That and every member of the NEA should be shot*, they're the cause of a large portion of it.

*Note: I don't advocate actually shooting teachers. Exile them all to a desert island where they can't do any more damage. That would be fine.

lincomatic · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by blackwave

Funny you mention that, I know a few community college instructors anyway sometimes I get an email or so about tutoring someone with something. So I went on down and saw the hottest chick, she wanted to learn enough to get by in her c++, no problem, she even wanted me to come over to her pad and show here there.. anyway, her box was jacked and infected, so I had to eventually just format it.. so finally after a few hours everything was in great shape, including her.. ... so as I was trying to show her the theory applied, she kept watching MTV, I told her it would be best for her to not watch this show while I was talking to her, but she ignored me (for several days in fact...MTV, MTV, MTV...)... but damn her she was pretty hot.. and was wearing next to nothing.. so of course I played the fool, and just helped her more than expected... Let's just say it was well worth the trip... lol... though I let the instructors know I didn't want to do this for a while... of course she got an A in the class.

OH MAN WHY AM I NEVER THAT LUCKY? here i am mentoring the zit-faced boy from hell and u get the jiggly babe instead. u lucky SOB. ;

btw, bw, noticed u hit the 2K dynasty now...

my parents were pretty cool. and clueless. anytime i was working on a "science experiment," they just let me be. i installed a 240V electric range in 5th grade, and later that year they left me alone at home w/ a blowtorch soldering some pipes. they always figured i knew more than i actually did. i got plans from a UNESCO book for making a carbon arc furnace using carbon rods from batteries, a clay flower pot, and a salt water rheostat, and blew out the breakers repeatedly while my mom was cooking...no problem as far as she was concerned. my 2 closest calls were:

1) while making gunpowder in my room a little spark hit the pile and ignited it....lucky i had a metal trash can. my room had such dense smoke you couldn't see 1ft in front of you. so i put the fan out the window and covered the burn in my desk with a blotter and she never noticed.

2) i was in the basement soldering something with a blowtorch and propped the object on the nearest convenient object - suddenly i realized it was a 5gal tank of gas! lucky the plastic vent was closed or my house and I would have been history!

blackwave · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by lincomatic
my parents were pretty cool. and clueless.

Hahaha, great stories, I have quite a few myself... one of them involves my mother chasing me with a hose instead of using it on a fire that spanned the entire driveway!... another was when creating and testing an explosive I thought I had covered it with a metal trash can, and realized at the last moment that I missed and I was actually next to it, luckily I was prepared in case the explosive penetrated the trash can.. but the worst part was that the garage was filled with thick smoke and shrapnel scarred my mother's vehicle.. d'oh.... another invovles a rocket and m1000's... another involved my old mustang's ignition system bursting into flames while I was test driving a new security feature I thought of... another was having the neighbors complain out of an rf device that shrunk everyone's tv image down to the size of a rubix cube... and another one using an old discarded flare parachute to jump off a roof.... hahahaha... man all these memories are coming back.. I am surpised I am alive.

sparafina · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Thorn
They should be privatized. That and every member of the NEA should be shot, they're the cause of a large portion of it.

Just gotta say this: BULLSH!T

I went to both types of schools (secular and parochial) and I have kids, so I have strong opinions. I often give my kid crap about writing my own games in assembler at their age, etc. However, he always pleasantly surprises me with his mastery of software which ranges from figuring out virtual cd-mounts for games to registry hacks. So while it appears all kids these days have attention deficit, they really channel their efforts into things that may not be apparent to us.

A good and challenging education from public schools is available if parents take part in it. Education is not a service, like car detailing, its a partnership between you, your child, and the school system. Its a lot of frigging work, but its worth it.

Blaming the under funded and under resourced public school system is a cop out. Government funded education is the most democratizing endeavor that the state undertakes. Privatization will lead to even sharper distinctions of class hierarchy. Finally, it will result in cats and dogs sleeping together.

Thorn · 07-24-2002

Quote:

Originally posted by blackwave

Hahaha, great stories, I have quite a few myself... one of them involves my mother chasing me with a hose instead of using it on a fire that spanned the entire driveway!... another was when creating and testing an explosive I thought I had covered it with a metal trash can, and realized at the last moment that I missed and I was actually next to it, luckily I was prepared in case the explosive penetrated the trash can.. but the worst part was that the garage was filled with thick smoke and shrapnel scarred my mother's vehicle.. d'oh.... another invovles a rocket and m1000's... another involved my old mustang's ignition system bursting into flames while I was test driving a new security feature I thought of... another was having the neighbors complain out of an rf device that shrunk everyone's tv image down to the size of a rubix cube... and another one using an old discarded flare parachute to jump off a roof.... hahahaha... man all these memories are coming back.. I am surpised I am alive.

Geez, you're as bad as me.

And there's a reason they call it a "smoke test!"

07-24-2002	#1 (permalink)
lincomatic Squaaawk! WiFi! WiFi! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Tinsel Town Posts: 1,682	Homebrew Cantenna in Wired i wonder where these reporters get their crappy info from. here is a cantenna recipe from wired magazine: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1...lay.html?pg=25 errors: 1) sounds like he wants you to drill a hole for the N jack and ram the whole thing into the can. duh. 2) the recommended diameter is 3" - too small. the SWR will be all over the place because the optimal probe position varies by 11mm across the band w/ this size can. 3) he says to put the probe 3.75" from the rear of the can. way off. it should be 3.17" 4) he says the probe length is 1.25. this would tune the probe to below the freq of channel 1. it should be 1.21" if one wants to tune the antenna to channel 6 for best coverage across the band. the upshot? we have less to worry about because the hackers are using terrible antennas. __________________ ~lincomatic

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07-24-2002	#8 (permalink)
rogerRabbit Peripatetic Stumbler Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Motueka Posts: 219	Personally, I blame MTV. And that oxymoron, the "[insert your country's name here] Public Education System".