UHF Aerials for Wireless Broadband

[niallm1dotcom]

:help:UHF aerials (2.4GHz) are used extensively in Southern Africa for wireless broadband.

1. Why are they so damn expensive?
2. Why can't we use broadband over power lines instead?
3. What dBi are these aerials?
4. Are we just being ripped off?

By expensive I mean that they cost around 1500USD to 4000USD second-hand and/or new.

[fefox]

send a pic of one ill tell you,, and yes id say you are getting ripped off.

[JD]

I'd say its due to the fact that your in Africa and that kind of stuff isn't readily available/imported.

[niallm1dotcom]

K will get some pics. Does anyone know where I can get these from overseas?

[NyteOwl]

First of all there are a wide range of antenna types from simple 1/4 wave verticals wth no gain to high gain parabolics (yes the latter can be quite pricey)

1. Why are they so damn expensive?
2. Why can't we use broadband over power lines instead?
3. What dBi are these aerials?
4. Are we just being ripped off?

1) Rarity, shipping costs and inflated pricing due to a small market.
2) Depending on how well it is implemented, it can be just as expensive and it can also cause interference, sometimes severe, to other radio systems
3) dBi would vary with the antenna design. all the way from 0 for a 1/4 wave vertical to as much as 50-100+ for a very high gain directional array.
4) It is entirely possible. though hard to say (see 1).

[DaleF]

What sort of antenna were you looking at? Dish? Tube at the top of a pole?
For more info and pics of different antennas: Category:Radio frequency antenna types - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[niallm1dotcom]

Thanks guys.

DaleF I'm looking at these now and will let you know.

Anyways guess how much 2Mbit adsl/dsl is in Zambia?

Approx. USD7000 - broadband shortage. Even though the new sea-cable has arrived the prices still go up (that's Africa I guess).

[niallm1dotcom]

Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000149 EndHTML:0000001288 StartFragment:0000000199 EndFragment:0000001254 StartSelection:0000000199 EndSelection:0000001254 Can't find any info on this thing:

Zamnet Communications System Limited (- http://www.zamnet.zm/corporate/image...t_us_r5_c3.jpg) - they call this a "Rabbit" device


The majority aerials are like this one

Parabolic antenna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
File:Parabolic antenna.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


This sounds interesting too:

WokFi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Will research that further. Do you think it's any good?


Does anyone know where I can get such aerials from? I have a PC store here so can bring them in as a reseller if I can.

[DaleF]

Parabolic antennas? They're directional antennas, good for point to point links.
Could be useful if you've got an 18" satellite dish or two kicking around: How-To: Build a WiFi biquad dish antenna

[BrainEater]

hmmm....

MRO Electronics Inc. - Products

I own one of these , fantastic antenna......

also ;

MRO Electronics Inc. - Products

MRO Electronics Inc. - Products

The specs are on the pages.