PCI NIC with external antenna

[AP-Research]

<quote who="Ged Haywood">
> Hello again,
>
> On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 KC Ferguson wrote:
>
>> if the objective is higher gain at "home", as opposed to a 25Km
>> link, then why not get a 100/200/300mW card (see www.demarctech.com)
>> and use a diversity antenna?
>
> The higher power cards are not legal in Denmark.  Effective Isotropic
> Radiated Power (EIRP) is limited to 100mW in Europe.

Then choose a 100mW card if that satisfies your link budget and local
laws...  My response to the original question posed by Lasse Riis was to
point out a cost alternative to a PCI ONLY card with an external antenna. 
There are several PCMCIA cards which have detachable diversity antennas
and they run perfectly fine in a PCI/PCMCIA bridge.


** Off Topic **

> There are still unanswered questions about the health implications of
> microwave radiation.  I'd much prefer to send the 30mW from my Netgear
> cards along a cable to an aerial on the roof, than to bathe my body in
> the 300mW from a high-power card on my desk.

EIRP is the sum of the power sent to the antenna plus antenna gain.  So a
30mW card with a 5dBi antenna gives an EIRP of approximately 95mW.  The
only difference is where the RF originates.  Signal Strength/Power at a
given location is still relative to the EIRP and the distance from the RF
source.  For any given location you are still "bathing" in an RF cell.


--
Regards
KC Ferguson CIO/CTO
@RescuNET.com