TV Mini PCI-E cards: Internal antenna possible?

[Radioguy]

Not that I have one right now, but I have looked over a few and see that they use standard UFL connectors (present on other cards, like wi-fi, etc).

While I also see internal pigtails available for such cards that end in a bulkhead coaxial jack (chassis mod needed), I wonder if some internal antenna configuration might be possible. The T61, and later models, are designed so antennae are not blocked by a metal lid and within several can be installed. So I wonder...

Would an internal antenna element (of whatever kind) perform well enough to receive a signal? Can standard wi-fi antennae perform this task whatsoever? (Seriously doubt that, but I wonder if it's even any better than no ant. at all) or, is a monopolar telescoping rod the only solution?

That last one, if true and if I'm drunk enough, might send me down the road of having rabbit ears extruding from my lid.

[RealBlackStuff]

I doubt you'll get any free-to-air signal with all those highrises around you...

[Radioguy]

Actually, there's not too many of those within close vicinity of home, but then again, I have TV there already.

It's true though, that if I installed such a thing, I would probably be using it in the city proper; more than likely to catch some news or OTA sports event while on break in some academic or work setting, if not a Starbucks (with headphones, of course).

Now, TV reception within a Manhattan-based Starbucks might be fraught with problems even with an external antenna, but one facing some park...perhaps not.

[Neil]

First, TV reception is vastly different from wifi. The wavelength is much, much longer for TV, even at UHF frequencies. A basic UHF loop antenna is, what, six or eight inches in diameter? And position is critical to reception, as TV is horizontally polarized, rather than circular, and TV doesn't have nearly the error correction as wifi. If your wifi drops some packets, it just keeps trying until it get enough data, but with TV if data is missing it's just missing.

I could ramble on and on, but the short answer is...I would not expect it to work well, if at all. But, if you want to go ahead and try it, that's the only way you'll know for sure.

[Radioguy]

Thanks for the info. I was hoping someone else had tried it already.

So, in your opinion, considering the lid/bezel design of a recent TP, or the T61 specifically, a simple wire loop around the LCD would be the best internal placement?

[Neil]

I'm afraid my opinion isn't based on any experience, but I would experiment with an external loop or bow-tie antenna first, just to see if you are going to be able to pick up anything. Then, maybe, put the antenna between the outside of the lid and a "skin" or cover of some kind. I'm of the opinion that the lid material would block too much signal, but I may be wrong. Plus, I wouldn't want to go to the trouble or disassembling the lid just for an experiment that's likely to fail.

Weak signal is not likely to be your problem. Multi-path interference is more likely to be the problem, and you would need a highly directional antenna that can be precisely aimed, to combat multi-path. There is no way an internal antenna can be made to be directional.

I am curious about how this will work out. But, thinking that if it would work, there would be more portable TV devices on the market than there are. Are there any now-a-days? My last experience with a portable/mobile TV was over 20 years ago. Back in those analog days, what you are trying to do might have had a better chance of working. You could have received a very bad, snowy picture with heavy ghosting, but at least you would have been able to see what you were getting. Today, with digital, you can't aim your antenna by picture quality, 'cause if it's too poor to produce a picture, you won't see anything.

[Radioguy]

I know. Now it's "all or nothing" when it comes to usable signal. I've sighed about that more than once. Even a weak signal could carry usable information...like having to evacuate an area.

Yes, in case it wasn't obvious before, this idea was slightly prompted by my recent Sandy-related power outages. Having to charge up at Dunkin' Donuts and get wi-fi to read news when even some local radio stations went off-air made me wish my T61 could display the OTA TV broadcasts that were still available. My question had evolved from that particular need, though. I've had experience with desktop PCI, as well as USB and PCMCIA solutions in the past, and I have to say most were negative as they were from Happauge and/or Pinnacle - now one and the same company (*spits on ground*).

Anyhow, prompted by some low prices for oem cards (ATSC, mind you, not DVB-T), my mind wandered a bit and I wondered maybe a fully internal solution might be possible.

However, going back to your question of other devices, aside from current USB/ExpressCard devices, there are still small portables akin to Sony's "WatchMan" of days old. They aren't as popular as their predecessors for the reasons stated: difficulty in receiving the current form of signal, but they do exist. Since these cards do as well, there must be some successful applications. Now, I'm sure a Mini PCI-e ATSC card is likely to be a heavy draw on a battery, but with two empty internal slots and a UB battery on hand, it begins to have some appeal as a slot-filler with some potential use in a tight solution, if not just to see who's at bat.

I won't lie and deny that this borders on the purely academic, but if what you theorize is so, then this daydream might be worth the effort. Having to get to a cafe window and positioning my TP to and fro is not too much to ask for signal under certain circumstances. Hell, I've done that for wi-fi too.

So, you would say some kind of bowtie-oriented loop of the wire between the lid and magnesium frame would, so far, be the ideal arrangement? I suppose it would be easy to see if that worked taped to the lid temporarily before disassembling the lid/bezel for a more permanent placement. I now wonder if the Carbon-reinforced SEPC lid material would significantly interfere with the signal, and make the whole idea moot.