(Geoffrey S. Mendelson) hath wroth:

The salad bowl is a neat trick, and it would help.

Even better would be to use a USB WiFi dongle and suspend it in the middle
of a foil lined salad bowl.

Geoff.

Grumble. That was my idea, first. See:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/antennas/Salad-Dish/index.html
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.internet.wireless/browse_frm/thread/61088cfb1efa861/

The problem is that the salad bowl is not a perfect approximation of a
parabola. In addition, the USB dongle is not a proper feed with a
pattern optimized to illuminate the reflector. In short, it's a
kludge, but it works.

The salad bowl is optically reflective, so installing a point light
source at the focus will display the approximate radiation pattern on
the wall. At best, I get an annular ring with about a 15 degree
spread, which is far from perfect, but functional. Sorry, but I have
to give back by pile of borrowed test equipment before I could make a
gain measurement.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558