[time-nuts] DIY GPS antenna...

[Attila Kinali]

On Tue, 17 Sep 2013 10:55:51 -0600
ed_palmer at sasktel.net wrote:

> That sounds like a pinwheel antenna.  I've wondered how hard it would 
> be to build one, but I've never seen a DIY version and the math is way 
> beyond me.  The only commercial version that I've seen is from 
> Novatel.  Do they control all the patents?

Building one should be fairly easy. Just use standard PCB fabrication
and you can build the whole structure with high accuracy. The design
itself is the hard thing to come up with. I think, for us mere mortals
the only way to come up with something half decent is to use a genetic
algorithm that goes trough various designs and selects the best one.
Unfortunately, i'm not aware of any antenna design software suitable
for such a task. 

As for patents, i don't think they can patent the general idea of
the pinwheel antenna. It is awfully similar to other patch antenna
types and electromagnetic band-gap designs. I could imagine that their
particular design is protected somehow, but i've never checked.

			Attila Kinali

-- 
1.) Write everything down.
2.) Reduce to the essential.
3.) Stop and question.
		-- The Habits of Highly Boring People, Chris Sauve