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Cake day: March 31st, 2025

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  • Mate do i have just the right thing for you, but it requires some soldering. It’s also probably cheapest solution working over longer range than you need

    First you need two directional antennas. Use this https://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/wumca/cup.html the 13cm design specifically. Design of the dipole element is on another page https://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/wumca/sbfa.html They’re using hard to get semirigid coax but you can really just use common RG178 with braid tinned to make it stiff. This way you don’t have to leave D section they way they did, you can just solder core to the shield at the end while preserving total length (or ~1-2 mm less, because wifi is slightly higher frequency; 53-52 mm total). That dummy cable thing can be just any stiff piece of wire. Good way to get this would be getting a pack of u.fl-SMA pigtails, which you can also use for connection.

    You also don’t need special aluminum housing like they do, cookie tin of the right size would be sufficient, or any other container of similar nature. If you can’t weatherproof it, putting it inside on windowsill is also fine

    Then, plug TL-WN722N into it, or some other single-antenna thing, and you’re set. This one connects over USB and has removable RPSMA antenna, so you can connect it easily with correct cable (SMA plug - RPSMA plug)

    to your new directional antenna. This thing works well over 200m distance, provided clear line of sight, and probably more than that







  • fullsquare@awful.systemsto196@lemmy.blahaj.zonePlug rule
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    25 days ago

    you’re not missing anything, it’s an unhinged tradeoff that you do because you need to conserve copper for brass casings because nazis are in calais, there’s zero reason to do this today. apparently it’s still allowed in uk for some unthinkable reason but i haven’t heard of it anywhere else. yes, single fuse *per ring is used, rated at double what it would be in star/radial circuit

    you don’t even need a fault, sufficient asymmetry in ring geometry or load distribution already will cause this problem


  • fullsquare@awful.systemsto196@lemmy.blahaj.zonePlug rule
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    25 days ago

    yeah that’s what separate fuses for separate branches of circuit are for, all in one central box because where else are these supposed to be. if your lamp is wired with 6A-rated wire then that branch should be fused with 6A fuse, which on its own is unhinged because usually much thicker wires are used anyway



  • fullsquare@awful.systemsto196@lemmy.blahaj.zonePlug rule
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    26 days ago

    uk fuse in fuse box can’t be sized properly because old uk installations used ring circuits in order to save copper during ww2 shortages, everybody else has this problem sorted out by now (initially by using aluminum wiring, or waiting for more copper). modern wiring is arranged in star-type topology with a few outlets per leg, and it can be fused properly, but the far out parts of circuit don’t transmit power at all times which is why it was looked down upon during shortages

    example would be 16A circuit that has 5-10 16A outlets, has wires suitable to carry 16A and 16A fuse. it’s okay because you’re not expected to draw full power at all outlets at the same time, and most of the time much less than that. if you do and you know it in advance you’re expected to split it over more circuits, or make it bigger. uk ring circuit would have wires that carry only 8A in each direction, and fused 16A. it can fail in a way where one side disconnects, but the other side becomes overloaded. plug fuses are for protection of these shitty circuits from shortcircuit in appliance