>Polarity comes to mind. The can is three dimensional. You may have been
>rotating the aziumth and elevation, but the orientation of the antenna
>probe itself is also important. Try rotating the antenna on the long axis,
>so that the probe is vertical, horizontal, and other points in between.
>Especially if your small room is full of reflections, the optimum angle for
>the probe may not be obvious.

Tried that. Rotated slowly through the long axis 360 degrees. Picked
up one ap but just barely.

>I like the Windsurfer. I have made several. I keep forgetting to leave
>enough "tab", so it takes me a while to assemble.
>http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/EZ12-windsurfer.jpg

Yeah, they seem to work great.

> You can just make an antenna out of the end of the LMR195. Remove about 3
> inches of the plastic outer 'jacket' of the coax. Then pull the copper
> braid back over the remaining jacket. Get a piece of brass tubing at a
> hobby shop that will just slide over the braid and cut a piece of the
> tubing to 32 mm. Trim away any excess braid. Cut the center conductor so
> that it extends exactly 32 mm from where it exits from the braid.

Very interesting. Thanks.

I'm starting to think that the reason I don't see many aps is that the
receive sensitivity of my Linksys WMP11 card isn't nearly as good as
my usb dongle. It's an older card that I just happened to have lying
around. But today I ordered more junk from Compusa and MicroCenter so
I can LearnByDestroying (tm). Compusa has WUSB11s for $4.99 after
rebate and MicroCenter has a usb dongle for $9.99, an SMC router for
$7.99, and a Hawking antenna for $4.99 all after rebates.