Do it Yourself Ikea Enhanced 35db Cellular Yagi Antenna

by : Brandon Wirtz

Unsatisfied with the Omni-Directional Antenna that came with my Digital Antenna (DA4KSBR-50M) 70dB Cell Phone Repeater Kit, I decided to improve the system with a Wilson Cellular PCS Yagi (1850MHz-1990MHz) Cell Phone Antenna.  While that helped my mountain living situation, it didn't get me where I wanted to be so I "improved" it. with a stainless Steel Mixing bowl from Ikea.

Wilson Cellular PCS Yagi

Above is the prototype.  A Paper Plate and some tinfoil.  Really just to prove that the Yagi was directional.  I was a little suspect since I seem to live in the middle of 3 towers all too far away to do me much good..

Step one: Mark where the holes goal using the bracket from the Wilson Antenna.

Ikea Mixing Bowl

Step Two: Drill the holes

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Step Three: Use Ductape to test that you have destroyed a $15 mixing bowl used for the making of Monster Cookies for a good reason.

Digital Antenna (DA4KSBR-50M) with Yagi

Yes that is really Duct tape holding the Yagi in the bowl. You can skip this step I verified it works.

Step Four: Bend the Yagi just behind the last Prong.

bent Wilson Cellular Antenna

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Step Five: Drill a mounting hole in the Yagi.

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Step Six: Mount and point your new 35db Gain 4 degree Antenna.

Digital Antenna (DA4KSBR-50M) 70dB Cell Phone Repeater Kit

I used the Bolts and washers from the Wilson Antenna, and it seems to work very well.  I went from 134k down, 145k up (-108db)to 489k down 530k up (-88db).  I think the upload's being higher than the downloads is the extra wattage of the Repeater.

I used this to boost my Pantech PX500 card, but it also boosts my Helio Voice Service.  The Repeater would boost AT&T, Sprint and Verizon, but the antenna I chose to replace limits me to just 1900 Mhz signals.

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