Homemade Parabolic
Wifi Reflector Antenna

Part 2

Now, with my aluminum, my Plexiglas, my template and new 8 Dbi antenna I was ready to rock. I got my wife's wooden rolling pin and layed my piece of aluminum on it length wise, making sure to have it as parallel to the rolling pin as I possibly could, and with the palms of my hands on top of the aluminum I carefully, with gentle pressure began rolling this back and forth, gradually creating an arc in the aluminum. I would frequently examine the aluminum to insure the bend was uniform from one end of the aluminum to the other, and I would also stand this piece of aluminum on the template to see if it matched the parabolic curve. I repeated this process until I was satisfied that the aluminum matched the parabolic bend from top to bottom.

Next, I took the pieces of Plexiglas and one at a time I layed them on top of the parabolic template and drew the shape using a sharpie. I rough cut each one and with a piece of sandpaper on the table, I sanded them into the parabolic shape until both were ready.

Next I lined up the Plexiglas, (again one at a time), with the parabolic template and marked the holes for the antenna. You have to be careful as you drill the Plexiglas because the drill bit will catch onto the Plexiglas as it tries to break through the bottom side, and will break the Plexiglas, and can even grab it and spin it causing it to cut your hand. once I had the initial hole in it, I used my dremmel to gradually enlarge each hole so they would match the antenna.

Be careful here, the two pieces of plastic need two different sized holes. The one that will be located at the top of the antenna will be smaller to match the smaller diameter of the top of the antenna, and the piece of plexiglass that will be at the bottom needs a larger hole to hold the bottom of the antenna. Be very careful that the hole is just large enough to allow the antenna to work into it without slop or play, but not so tight that you break the element inside the antenna trying to get it in. I ended up purchasing two antenna's because the first one got damaged.

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