DD-WRT on a Linksys WRT54GS on The Roof

1stAmendment~

That's the name of the network I am broadcasting around the neighborhood.


I wanted to take the coax/pvc antenna model and do some fun testing.


After I made my first Omni, I found some
instructions that talked about doubling the length and getting double the power. So I took the plans from http://wireless.gumph.org/articles/homemadeomni.html

and I doubled the recipe and came up with this outcome:






I ended up making the entire PVC antenna about 36 inches long.












I followed the instructions and made a jig, soldered away, attached a Female N Connector and painted the whole thing with Rustoleum spray paint. I ran upstairs, tested it our, I had pretty good gain and I sealed it up and got ready to mount it up on the roof.

I have been experimenting with the Linksys WRT54G's and DD-WRT Firmware and took one of the units and glued it inside an outdoor Electrical Service box. drilled a hole for the cables to come out and mounted the whole thing on the antenna mast up on the roof.

I left the case around the hardware and it barely fit into a 10 inch by 4 inch box. I used a hot glue gun to secure the router inside the box.


I attached the antenna, ran two outdoor rated cat5 cables into the box and ran the power through some UV resistant sheathing and mounted the whole thing up on the roof of our house.

I have just begun testing the distance, cranking up the power, setting the options in the DD-WRT firmware and just starting to have some fun.

I am not sure what i will end up with, but I know I will be taking a whole lot more trips up and down the ladder before I put the weather tape over the connections.


I did use a new lightning arrestor and right after I got it all installed we had our first thunderstorm of the season.



If this all works the way i think, I will post the cost of everything and give it all a bit more details. Like always,

Stay Tuned....

Watson, Come Quick, It Works!

PVC Pipe, the Hardware store and E-Bay

My first two antennas were made from the notes at: http://wireless.gumph.org/articles/homemadeomni.html

The RG-213 Coax was the most expensive of the parts and I had to order online.


This One is like the Pringles Cantanna, but with 4" PVC.

The plans came from:

http://www.a42.com/node/73

I have been using N-Connectors for all of these. Mainly because of my fumble fingers and going on 48 year old eyes.






I am currently using this one for our home network. The signal is pretty strong and we can connect pretty much anywhere in the house and yard.



This one was a lot of fun to make. It's not quite done yet though. I have to install u-bolts and decide on how to weather protect it.


The design came from: http://www.wireless.org.au/~jhecker/helix/


The newbie Omni I made is doing a pretty good job on another network in the house.

I have it hooked up to a Buffalo Airstation WHR-6545, which has the DD-WRT V24 beta firmware running on it. This works pretty slick.

Its spring, time I move some of this stuff outside when I get the time.


With Spring Clean-up week ahead, who knows what will end up on my roof.


Stay tuned!