[MLB-WIRELESS] Antenna idea - flat on lid of laptop

[Simon Butcher]

Hi Clae,

<snip>
> I have this laptop with a removeable section on the rear of the 
> screen assembly.  (The Powerbook 1400 book cover.  It was designed so 
> you could customise it with different colours or pictures of your 
> kids :-)  There is probably a millimetre or two of clearance under 
> the cover, or alternatively I have a spare cover which could be cut 
> up and modified.
> 
> How feasible would it be to build some kind of completely flat 
> antenna under the cover?  I am googling for clues, just thought I'd 
> ask if anyone has any info.
<snip>

I've noticed a lot of laptops appearing with built in 2.4GHz antennas -
from what I've seen they're normally a cheap dipole or two (diversity
operation) tucked away in the side shell of the screen. Although more
expensive laptops are supposedly using SMD antennas, using the laptop
itself as a ground-plane (http://www.gigaant.com/products/smd/ - sounds
awkward to me).

There are flat omni-directional "blade" antennas which seem to get
thinner every day. I found one a few months ago suitable to stick on
windows or the back of a laptop's screen with double-sided tape, with
4.5dBi gain IIRC..

I'm no antenna expert, but I'm presuming they're just made of PCB (a la
http://www.innaloo.net/~wattsg/cheapomni/).. If you have the clearance,
you could probably mount one of these inside the screen. I don't know
what this would do to the signal, though?

This is probably the point where someone recommends you put your
laptop's screen in the microwave to see if it's a suitable material :)

Cheers,

 - Simon


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