/diy/ - Do It Yourself

Take the casing apart.
Snip off the coax that goes to the antenna.
Solder in an SMA connector.

Cheap option
>Bigger, better antenna

Expensive option
>Amplifier

Best option
>A multi-element yagi antenna with an amplifier.

Pic related, it's an 8 x 15 el yagi phased array for UHF. It's used to bounce signals off the moon and back to earth. Google "moonbounce" or "EME".

>>108333
Not Edison, Tesla. Then stolen by Marconi.

There's digital modes. Most are simple to limit bandwidth. However, there have been many a guy who have accessed a radio based BBS by bouncing a packet signal off the moon's reflective surface (moonbounce, EME).

Simply put, if you don't like experimenting with electronics and things, or talking to people in faraway places, or providing emergency communications in a disaster, then this hobby probably isn't for you.

>>96706
EME is cool, but not really viable for...well...anything. Even with the best of technology, it's a pain in the butt.

>>77327
For balloons?

>12v battery
>VHF or UHF mobile transceiver
>1/4 wave antenna
>Packet modem
>Computer

That's about it.

Milliwatts really isn't enough, you need a couple watts to ensure clarity of signal.

Also, please avoid design related question in regard to schematics. I am still in the learning stages myself and have barely progressed beyond the "principles of RF stages" level of education.

>>34457
Yagi beam angles are typically somewhere between 5 to 20 degrees.

For a contact 500 to 2500 miles, that is more than enough wiggle room.

Oh, by the way.

The moon is reflective of RF energy.

If you take a directive array, and blast say...1 kw of RF energy at the moon, you can bounce it straight back to earth. This is done on VHF/UHF/SHF.

Pic related, it's an array for doing that.

You can do the same thing with meteorites too. It's weird to hear the tail of your transmission due to the delay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EME_(communications)

There's a recording in there too.