In today's world of i-toys and PDAs, radio frequency (RF) transmission is becoming more and more essential. A college student's e-life is becoming a status symbol, transforming many into Facebook or Myspace junkies. As a result, antennas for the laptop, cell phone, PDA, and i-toy are being pushed to their limits to provide the best quality signal at the greatest range... or are they? Despite the exponential reliance on wireless RF communication, the ranges provided by our preciously-priced electronics are barely noticeable!

Dictionary.com defines an antenna as a conductor by which electromagnetic waves are sent out or received, consisting commonly of a wire or set of wires. For this article, we'll focus on the receptive properties of the antenna which affects most of us...the cell phone. If you were to start with using that gum wrapper in your pocket as an antenna, the first concern would be tuning its frequency to that of the wireless transmitter. But beginning with any manufactured phone antenna which will be accurately tuned, the next most important concern to us road warriors is an antenna's gain (measured in decibels) which denotes its power of receiving or transmitting a signal. Upping the gain of your antenna generally translates into a greater range as does removing interference from the path between you and the wireless transmitter.

There are two scales that antennas are commonly measured on: dBi and dBd . dBi is approximately 2 units higher than dBd, 5dBi = 3dBd. 2.2dBi = 0 dBd, etc. Furthermore, the antenna in or on your cellular phone as you purchased it from the retailer is likely a 0dBd (2.2dBi) antenna and should not be forced to perform in excess of 12.2 dBd. To accomplish a significant gain in gain, I will give you the following equations and methods and I leave it to you to answer this question. How long should your antenna be?

1. The voltage across the base of your antenna and the amperage provided by your cell phone's battery are both essential to know.
2. Your cell phone operates on the 2.4 Ghz band meaning the frequencies being transmitted range between 2.4 and 2.4835GHz. Furthermore, your antenna's most sensitive frequency or central frequency should lie in the middle of this band.
3. Photons still travel at 3x10^8 (m/s) through our assumed vacuous medium.
4. The signal's period times its frequency is equal to 1.
5. For a pigtail antenna (simple and effective) there are circular discs around the central wire every quarter of the desired wavelength starting from the tip of the antenna.
6. After 6 or 7 wavelengths the gain increase provided by the antenna decreases rapidly so don't exceed this.
7. Stripped coaxial cable is an essential for your home-made antenna.

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