Yup, another weekend is over...7 bonus days marked off...Thanks to Him upstairs for the generosity...
And guess what? Me had a surprise caller on my hp yesterday morning! From a former student, CW, whom I haven't seen nor met since the day me retired. And she wanted to visit lil ole me...
So an appropriate time for her to come to Lot 10 was agreed upon. However, there was a need to change that time cos me later realised that the F1 GP in Shanghai, China, was gonna be telecast LIVE on Astro then. So a new meet time was set ie after the race was over...5 pm to be exact.
Well, the F1 race was exciting...in the rain some more! Lots of spills & thrills! Even a piggy-back incident. Red Bull drivers came in 1st & 2nd...a great achievement in spite of all the odds stacked against them.
Well, CW came right after the race. And she didn't come empty-handed but with a bagful of nice juicy fruits! "Chinese culture la...", CW said. We had a long chat...about old times but more of what she'd been doing since leaving school. We are happy to learn that she's finally into the start of a new career...and hopefully this time she will be truly successful & happy doing what she loves most!
Good luck, CW...and all the very best in all you do!! And of course, thanks a meg for remembering lil ole me! And yup, what you did is the best gift & reward a teacher would ever wish for...so CW, you made my day!
Well, that was yesterday...Sun 190409.
Today ie 200409, started differently. Me, being the busy bee that me tend to be...at times..., was browsing some YouTube videos on wireless routers. The main purpose was actually to find some reference / info on what the lights on the D-Link DIR300 wireless router were for. However, as with such attempts, one is somehow distracted & kinda "detoured" to other related issues.
One such distracting issue that caught me eye was on how to improve the wireless signal in a wireless setup. Yup, it's just a simple DIY improvision.
Simply called the "Windsurfer", it's an easily made parabolic dish of sorts.
Left : A pic taken from the webpage.
So I got all the simple stuff that was needed to make one...you know, manila cardboard (a cardboard file would be better), aluminium foil, gum, scissors & blade cutter. And a short while later, me got this set up...and working...
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Left : Pic of me very own product...
Does it work? The best answer to that would be for you to make one & see for yourself. Correct?
Anyway, I moved the antenna around into different positions & on checking with the "Network & Sharing Centre" on my lappy, I found that the signal strength changed from "Very Good" to "Excellent" ! So was that an improvement?
The cost? Hardly anything. Scraps from here & there. Just a small piece of cardboard & aluminium foil, some gum, time & effort. Kinda rewarding, aint't it? For more info, pls check it out here ---> http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html
That's what DIY is all about...personal satisfaction with minimum $$ output!
Happy DIYing...
UPDATE @9:50pm : Further tests on the benefits & functionality of the "Windsurfer" antenna have revealed a few differences, namely :
1. The wireless signal was amplified /improved significantly when the lappy was used downstairs. As mentioned in my post above, the signal strength improved from "Very Good" to "Excellent". Fyi Lot 10 is a double-storeyed terrace house.
2. However, when the lappy was moved up back to the same floor as the wireless router, the signal strength dropped back to "Very Good" only! Attempts made in rotating the parabolic dish around produced worsening signal strength, namely from "Very Good" to "Good" only...even to the "Fair" level at one point!!
(Note : The wireless router is in left hand-side rear room whereas the lappy is used in the master bedroom which is on the right front.)
3. In same location as in para 2 above : On complete removal of the Windsurfer from the router antenna, the signal strength jumped back to "Excellent"!!
In view of the above observations, it is felt that more investigation is needed to pinpoint how the antenna should & could be best utilised. How about some help here?
How to help? Simple. Make one yourself. Apply it to your own wireless router. Then post your observations here. TQ in advance.
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