PC Card radiation, shield material?

Hello:

I recently purchased a Sierra 860 PC Card from Cingular. I also picked
up a Wilson 9 dB external antenna for this card and plan on using this
setup in my home. We have all 5 bars filled for the signal strength
but I figured the antenna might hold 5 bars as sometimes we get 4 bars.

My first question is... will the 9 dB antenna add any extra radiation
compared to the original little 3 inch antenna that came with the card?
From what I've read, the 9 dB antenna supposedly directs the radiation
out in a flat disc-like pattern. I am just curious if that is true,
and how much stronger the radiation is.

My second question is.... what is the best material to use to build a
shield? I am thinking of putting the antenna in the attic or somewhere
out of sight, and was curious if a simple piece of sheet metal would
reduce the radiation from the antenna.

I have sifted through lots of information on this subject but haven't
been able to find a lot of data on these PC Cards, antennas, and their
radiation levels. Thank you very much for all feedback.

--
Chris

---

› See More: PC Card radiation, shield material?

[email protected] wrote:
>
> Hello:
>
> I recently purchased a Sierra 860 PC Card from Cingular. I also picked
> up a Wilson 9 dB external antenna for this card and plan on using this
> setup in my home. We have all 5 bars filled for the signal strength
> but I figured the antenna might hold 5 bars as sometimes we get 4 bars.
>
> My first question is... will the 9 dB antenna add any extra radiation
> compared to the original little 3 inch antenna that came with the card?
> From what I've read, the 9 dB antenna supposedly directs the radiation
> out in a flat disc-like pattern. I am just curious if that is true,
> and how much stronger the radiation is.
>
> My second question is.... what is the best material to use to build a
> shield? I am thinking of putting the antenna in the attic or somewhere
> out of sight, and was curious if a simple piece of sheet metal would
> reduce the radiation from the antenna.
>
> I have sifted through lots of information on this subject but haven't
> been able to find a lot of data on these PC Cards, antennas, and their
> radiation levels. Thank you very much for all feedback.

Aluminum foil, and lots of it.

It the only proven protection.

Notan

[email protected] wrote in news:1147307953.430673.177450
@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com:

> Hello:
>
> I recently purchased a Sierra 860 PC Card from Cingular. I also picked
> up a Wilson 9 dB external antenna for this card and plan on using this
> setup in my home. We have all 5 bars filled for the signal strength
> but I figured the antenna might hold 5 bars as sometimes we get 4 bars.
>
> My first question is... will the 9 dB antenna add any extra radiation
> compared to the original little 3 inch antenna that came with the card?
> From what I've read, the 9 dB antenna supposedly directs the radiation
> out in a flat disc-like pattern. I am just curious if that is true,
> and how much stronger the radiation is.
>
> My second question is.... what is the best material to use to build a
> shield? I am thinking of putting the antenna in the attic or somewhere
> out of sight, and was curious if a simple piece of sheet metal would
> reduce the radiation from the antenna.
>
> I have sifted through lots of information on this subject but haven't
> been able to find a lot of data on these PC Cards, antennas, and their
> radiation levels. Thank you very much for all feedback.
>
> --
> Chris
>


It seems futile to buy a high gain antenna, just to turn around and make
attempts to reduce that gain, that you paid so dearly to increase. Why
not simply buy a *normal* gain antenna, instead? That will reduce the
radiation to start with.

What benifit are you seeking... by trying to reduce the gain/radiation
from your antenna? You would be reducing the effectiveness of the new 9
dB antenna, by doing that. Am I missing something?

curious

buck rojerz wrote:
> [email protected] wrote in news:1147307953.430673.177450
> @u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com:
>
> > Hello:
> >
> > I recently purchased a Sierra 860 PC Card from Cingular. I also picked
> > up a Wilson 9 dB external antenna for this card and plan on using this
> > setup in my home. We have all 5 bars filled for the signal strength
> > but I figured the antenna might hold 5 bars as sometimes we get 4 bars.
> >
> > My first question is... will the 9 dB antenna add any extra radiation
> > compared to the original little 3 inch antenna that came with the card?
> > From what I've read, the 9 dB antenna supposedly directs the radiation
> > out in a flat disc-like pattern. I am just curious if that is true,
> > and how much stronger the radiation is.
> >
> > My second question is.... what is the best material to use to build a
> > shield? I am thinking of putting the antenna in the attic or somewhere
> > out of sight, and was curious if a simple piece of sheet metal would
> > reduce the radiation from the antenna.
> >
> > I have sifted through lots of information on this subject but haven't
> > been able to find a lot of data on these PC Cards, antennas, and their
> > radiation levels. Thank you very much for all feedback.
> >
> > --
> > Chris
> >
>
>
> It seems futile to buy a high gain antenna, just to turn around and make
> attempts to reduce that gain, that you paid so dearly to increase. Why
> not simply buy a *normal* gain antenna, instead? That will reduce the
> radiation to start with.
>
> What benifit are you seeking... by trying to reduce the gain/radiation
> from your antenna? You would be reducing the effectiveness of the new 9
> dB antenna, by doing that. Am I missing something?
>
> curious

Basically I'm trying to get extra gain from the antenna to hold a good
solid signal with the PC Card, but direct the radiation from it away
from the house somehow. I figured as long as there isn't any shield
between the antenna and the cell tower, that all would be good.

What is a "normal" gain antenna? 5 dB or so?

Thanks much for the info....
--
Chris

[email protected] wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> Basically I'm trying to get extra gain from the antenna to hold a good
> solid signal with the PC Card, but direct the radiation from it away
> from the house somehow. I figured as long as there isn't any shield
> between the antenna and the cell tower, that all would be good.

Exactly how much radiation do *you* think is involved?

Notan

buck rojerz wrote:
> [email protected] wrote in news:1147307953.430673.177450
> @u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com:
>
> > Hello:
> >
> > I recently purchased a Sierra 860 PC Card from Cingular. I also picked
> > up a Wilson 9 dB external antenna for this card and plan on using this
> > setup in my home. We have all 5 bars filled for the signal strength
> > but I figured the antenna might hold 5 bars as sometimes we get 4 bars.
> >
> > My first question is... will the 9 dB antenna add any extra radiation
> > compared to the original little 3 inch antenna that came with the card?
> > From what I've read, the 9 dB antenna supposedly directs the radiation
> > out in a flat disc-like pattern. I am just curious if that is true,
> > and how much stronger the radiation is.
> >
> > My second question is.... what is the best material to use to build a
> > shield? I am thinking of putting the antenna in the attic or somewhere
> > out of sight, and was curious if a simple piece of sheet metal would
> > reduce the radiation from the antenna.
> >
> > I have sifted through lots of information on this subject but haven't
> > been able to find a lot of data on these PC Cards, antennas, and their
> > radiation levels. Thank you very much for all feedback.
> >
> > --
> > Chris
> >
>
>
> It seems futile to buy a high gain antenna, just to turn around and make
> attempts to reduce that gain, that you paid so dearly to increase. Why
> not simply buy a *normal* gain antenna, instead? That will reduce the
> radiation to start with.
>
> What benifit are you seeking... by trying to reduce the gain/radiation
> from your antenna? You would be reducing the effectiveness of the new 9
> dB antenna, by doing that. Am I missing something?
>
> curious

Basically I'm trying to get extra gain from the antenna to hold a good
solid signal with the PC Card, but direct the radiation from it away
from the house somehow. I figured as long as there isn't any shield
between the antenna and the cell tower, that all would be good.

What is a "normal" gain antenna? 5 dB or so?

Thanks much for the info....
--
Chris

[email protected] wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> buck rojerz wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote in news:1147307953.430673.177450
>> @u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com:
>>
>> > Hello:
>> >
>> > I recently purchased a Sierra 860 PC Card from Cingular. I also
>> > picked up a Wilson 9 dB external antenna for this card and plan on
>> > using this setup in my home. We have all 5 bars filled for the
>> > signal strength but I figured the antenna might hold 5 bars as
>> > sometimes we get 4 bars.
>> >
>> > My first question is... will the 9 dB antenna add any extra
>> > radiation compared to the original little 3 inch antenna that came
>> > with the card?
>> > From what I've read, the 9 dB antenna supposedly directs the
>> > radiation
>> > out in a flat disc-like pattern. I am just curious if that is
>> > true, and how much stronger the radiation is.
>> >
>> > My second question is.... what is the best material to use to build
>> > a shield? I am thinking of putting the antenna in the attic or
>> > somewhere out of sight, and was curious if a simple piece of sheet
>> > metal would reduce the radiation from the antenna.
>> >
>> > I have sifted through lots of information on this subject but
>> > haven't been able to find a lot of data on these PC Cards,
>> > antennas, and their radiation levels. Thank you very much for all
>> > feedback.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Chris
>> >
>>
>>
>> It seems futile to buy a high gain antenna, just to turn around and
>> make attempts to reduce that gain, that you paid so dearly to
>> increase. Why not simply buy a *normal* gain antenna, instead? That
>> will reduce the radiation to start with.
>>
>> What benifit are you seeking... by trying to reduce the
>> gain/radiation from your antenna? You would be reducing the
>> effectiveness of the new 9 dB antenna, by doing that. Am I missing
>> something?
>>
>> curious
>
> Basically I'm trying to get extra gain from the antenna to hold a good
> solid signal with the PC Card, but direct the radiation from it away
> from the house somehow. I figured as long as there isn't any shield
> between the antenna and the cell tower, that all would be good.
>
> What is a "normal" gain antenna? 5 dB or so?
>
> Thanks much for the info....
> --
> Chris
>

I'm a little slow on the uptake. What are you talking about when you
talk about your cell phone making a good solid connection with "the PC
card"? PC Card??? What "PC Card" is this?

very curious
buck

Notan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> [email protected] wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> Basically I'm trying to get extra gain from the antenna to hold a good
>> solid signal with the PC Card, but direct the radiation from it away
>> from the house somehow. I figured as long as there isn't any shield
>> between the antenna and the cell tower, that all would be good.
>
> Exactly how much radiation do *you* think is involved?
>
> Notan

As I have read, the RF output from a typical, hand-held cell phone will
vary from .06 watts to .6 watts, such as requested by the cell tower. As
for how much radiation is emmited by the antenna... I find it is one of
those things I rarely think about. I have no data on that point.

buck

The PC Card I'm talking about is the Sierra 860 PC Card (PCMCIA card).
This card has an external antenna connection and comes with a 3 inch
antenna. However my post is inquiring about hooking a 9 dB antenna
(used for a car) to this thing... and how much extra radiation it
emits.

Thanks........

[email protected] wrote:
>
> The PC Card I'm talking about is the Sierra 860 PC Card (PCMCIA card).
> This card has an external antenna connection and comes with a 3 inch
> antenna. However my post is inquiring about hooking a 9 dB antenna
> (used for a car) to this thing... and how much extra radiation it
> emits.
>
> Thanks........

Assuming you and the tinfoil hat crowd are correct, and cell phones emit
dangerous amounts of radiation, what makes you think that extending the
antenna will emit *more* radiation?

Notan

My understanding is that with an antenna, the radiation is emitted or
concentrated into a particular pattern (donut?). I don't know by how
much the radiation is increased (if any), hence my original post. The
information on this subject in regards to these cellular PC Cards seems
scarce.

Thanks to all for the feedback. We ended up using the antenna that
came with the card as the 9 dB external one actually decreased the
signal strength and we weren't able to get an improvement over the
factory antenna, even after putting a sheet of metal under the base
(the antenna is designed to attach to the roof of a car). We used some
sheet metal (furnace duct pieces) to
shield between the antenna and the house. The radiation seems to have
been cut down significantly with the sheet metal; we were getting
interference with some nearby devices with speakers in them before, and
now we don't get any. Even taking a small radio, it has interference
above the metal shield but as soon as the radio is behind the shield,
the interference stops.

Thanks much for all of the feedback!
--
Chris

[email protected] wrote:
>
> Thanks to all for the feedback. We ended up using the antenna that
> came with the card as the 9 dB external one actually decreased the
> signal strength and we weren't able to get an improvement over the
> factory antenna, even after putting a sheet of metal under the base
> (the antenna is designed to attach to the roof of a car). We used some
> sheet metal (furnace duct pieces) to
> shield between the antenna and the house. The radiation seems to have
> been cut down significantly with the sheet metal; we were getting
> interference with some nearby devices with speakers in them before, and
> now we don't get any. Even taking a small radio, it has interference
> above the metal shield but as soon as the radio is behind the shield,
> the interference stops.

"The radiation seems to have been cut down significantly..."

Just out of curiosity, how'd you measure it?

Notan

I obviously don't have any fancy equipment for measuring the exact
strength of the radiation, but the shield does eliminate the
interference completely to nearby devices. To me that is satisfactory.
However I'm open to other suggestions if there are better ways of
measuring it.......

Thx.

[email protected] wrote:
>
> I obviously don't have any fancy equipment for measuring the exact
> strength of the radiation, but the shield does eliminate the
> interference completely to nearby devices. To me that is satisfactory.
> However I'm open to other suggestions if there are better ways of
> measuring it.......

Well, we're on the same page as far as one thing goes... Not having
a clue as to what you're talking about!

Do you know what radiation is?

Notan