Member Avatar for nspireing

OK heres my setup, im an amature astronomer and there is a wifi router near where i like to go that i have permission to use, its a friends router. the only problem is that when i set up my laptop is out of range. i would like to add a directional antena to my laptop so i can bridge that extra range. i have star finding software that i use and if i could talk with other astronomers i know while doing my thing i would be happy.
now heres what i have, a belking 802.11b pc card and i have another one which actually got me to thinking about this that i yanked out of a router. my old $20 compusa cheapy blew a cap and the wifi card inside of it got me thinking maybe i could adapt that. so far i cannot find workable drivers. if anyone could direct me to finding directions on adding a antena or on finding a be all end all prism driver, which is what i pulled from the router, then i would be a happy camper.

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Building on 's field description and 's suggestions, here are practical, low‑risk options and clear steps for extending a laptop Wi‑Fi link for a portable astronomy setup.

A reliable approach is to move the radio element closer to the antenna instead of doing board surgery. Mount a small plug‑and‑play adapter or compact client device on a short tripod or mast beside the telescope and power it from a USB battery pack. Keep the coax between radio and antenna very short and use a short USB or Ethernet run back to the laptop. This minimizes cable loss and lets a modest directional antenna be aimed precisely without cutting into delicate RF circuitry.

Modifying a salvaged card is possible but risky. The antenna feed is usually part of a tuned matching network; unsoldering or cutting traces commonly detunes the transceiver or destroys the board. Only attempt RF soldering with fine tools and RF experience: identify the tiny feed point, attach a 50‑ohm pigtail with proper strain relief, test with a short low‑loss stub, and verify with signal measurements before committing. For most field use, a ready-made external‑connector adapter or a small bridge device gives better reliability and portability.

Aiming and link budgeting matter more than raw gain. Narrow‑beam antennas need careful pointing and matched polarization. Raise the antenna enough to clear the Fresnel zone for a few hundred‑foot links. For any required cable runs, prefer low‑loss coax (LMR series) to cheap thin cable; cheap cable can cost several dB across a few meters and negate antenna gain. Monitor RSSI or link speed while sweeping aim to find the sweet spot.

If driver issues appear with a reclaimed board, collect vendor/device IDs (Windows Device Manager Details tab or Linux lspci/lsusb) — these identifiers are what driver archives and community projects need. Also respect the router owner’s permission and local transmit‑power rules. Often the simplest, most robust solution for portable astronomy is a small external adapter or client device mounted near the telescope rather than internal card modification.

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Member Avatar for zeroth

Nice project. First, tell me how far away you are and if you have line of sight to the transmitter. Since you are on the ground with the antenna, it´s going to make the link more problematical. Also, what kind of antenna does the transmitter have and how is it situated as far as location goes (in the building or whatever.)

You can definitely put an external antenna on some wireless nics, but they are usually engineered for this and have an existing port. If your card does not have this port, then you need an engineer to help you - that is if the antenna port does not need more circuitry to function, which I don´t know. If it does, it would be a lot cheaper for you just to buy a card that already works.

As for the antenna, you can find that anywhere. A directional parabolic antenna is one of the most inexpensive antennas available, but I would think you need a smaller one for portability. It should be simple to google a source and when you do, you might call them and ask them about sizes.

Member Avatar for nspireing

i have a complete line of site to the transmitter and im a few hundred feet past its range i was thinking of using the pringles can antena (compusa sells thempre made). there is no port for it, and i was wondering if there was a way to figure out were to soder the antena end or if there was a pc card that had an antena port.

one thing i do have, is a pc card that was pulled from an old router its an 802.11b card that has an antena end sodered on it already, ive spent more than 2 weeks looking for drivers and i cannot find any. the system shows it as a wlan prism pcmcia c17c card. i could mod an antena on to this if i could get drivers for it.

Member Avatar for zeroth

Yes, the pringles can looks like it would work...I like the idea ;) . I know you want to use something that you already have...and you can probably get it working. Good luck with the drivers.

However, you can spend just a little money and get an updated card that you know works. I looked them up at a large distributor and there are a few options you might consider. 3-com and some other large guys make cards with external antennas, you just have to find somebody that can sell you one.

There are cards with better built-in antennas - one is the Hawking high-gain card, it has a 6 dbi swivel antenna, which is directional and it´s $99 retail, which means you can probably buy one for a little over $50 somewhere.

The zyxel 91-005-016009 card with external antenna only retails for $69. It has an RP-SMA external antenna port.

So they are available and pretty inexpensive and would give you the latest g technology, which would allow b links as well.

Good luck, this is a great application for wireless...

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