On Aug 10, 4:53 pm, sillyputty <karmictara...@2die4.com> wrote:
> Also, some designs use metal mesh. Is there any difference between
> metal mesh and tin foil?

As long as the distance of the wires in the mesh is less than a
quarter wavelength, then no significant difference.

But, lets say you have a 36" wide by 28" tall GRID antenna that looks
like a BBQ grill, it will have a 29 dB gain where a smaller 24" full
metal dish will have about the same gain.

When you get into the four and six foot dishes, the mesh/grid doesn't
appear to be as strong. Another reason is ice build up on a grid
antenna. For good measure, I keep my four foots dishes waxed to that
ice slides off, but this isn't really a concern for most people as a
four foot dish will retail for about $1,500.

I really hate using Google Groups, but appears my ISP isn't
downloading the alt.internet.wireless anymore.