G+_Donald Burr Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 So I'm a bit confused by the "cantenna" episode of Know How. First, the "cantennas" I have seen in the past are usually longer and thinner than the one Padre and Greg (poor Greg! As Rodney Dangerfield would say, he gets "no respect!") constructed. (I think Padre alluded to this a bit during the segment) In fact the ones I'm used to are made using the type of cans that a certain crispy potato product that shall remain nameless come in. Second, it looked like Padre just soldered a short length of copper wire to the N connector and left it sticking up inside the can. Aren't you supposed to use a longer length of copper wire then coil it around the can a couple times or something like that? Color me confused... (but great episode though!) PS: autocorrect wanted to change "cantenna" to "cantina." I think you guys should do a Cantina episode. That would be awesome! *imagines a bunch of alien jazz players in the background playing cool alien music a la Star Wars* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joe C. Hecht Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Ideally, I think the bare wire inside the can should not ever touch the can (bare is probably not so good), and would be some multiple of the wavelength (like 1/2, 1/4, 1/8...). I think that would also be true of the circumference of the can, the distance from the bottom, and probably the can length as well [betting we are going to get some good advice from a ham here any second, that's probably gonna tell us that few things are actually going to beat a good cubical quad antenna made from a few Popsicle sticks). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Shaun Snee Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 They were making a directional antenna. In this case, the metal of the can is being used to focus the signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I used a larger can so that it would look better on camera... but I mentioned in the episode (and in the show notes) that the ideal size is 3.5" wide and 5" long. It's REALLY difficult to find cans of that size, so in the past I've soldered together 2 3.25" x 4 inch cans... makes for a REALLY directional cantenna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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