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Old 06-26-2019, 08:53 PM   #1
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Two questions please

1. The MIMO antenna I have on the roof calls for a ground plane of 15 x 15 inches. Don't laugh but I bought a 16 inch round pizza pan and using that as the ground plane. I did this because I don't have a way to easily cut metal and all the sheets I could find required this. When it comes to a ground plane is there a certain thickness that I should use because I am thinking I should replace the pizza pan with something more substantial.

2. I need to add a fan to my electronics cabinet. My thoughts are to drill 10 to 12 1/4 inch holes in the bottom of it and place a fan on the inside of the louvered door pulling the air from inside the coach, through the cabinet, and out the louvered doors to the inside of the coach again. If this is a good idea, my question is, can I buy a 12 volt computer fan, or two, and plug it into a usb connection? Is a USB connection 12 volts.

Thanks in advance.
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Old 06-26-2019, 08:56 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brandss View Post
1. The MIMO antenna I have on the roof calls for a ground plane of 15 x 15 inches. Don't laugh but I bought a 16 inch round pizza pan and using that as the ground plane. I did this because I don't have a way to easily cut metal and all the sheets I could find required this. When it comes to a ground plane is there a certain thickness that I should use because I am thinking I should replace the pizza pan with something more substantial.

2. I need to add a fan to my electronics cabinet. My thoughts are to drill 10 to 12 1/4 inch holes in the bottom of it and place a fan on the inside of the louvered door pulling the air from inside the coach, through the cabinet, and out the louvered doors to the inside of the coach again. If this is a good idea, my question is, can I buy a 12 volt computer fan, or two, and plug it into a usb connection? Is a USB connection 12 volts.

Thanks in advance.
Thickness doesn't matter on ground plane.

USB is 5 volts ( 13 volts available on some USB3 connections) and computer fans (fans for the inside of the PC) don't plug into USB connections.
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Old 06-26-2019, 10:25 PM   #3
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a piece of sheet metal or painted steel plate might last longer than a pizza pan but thickness is no factor.

i added a couple of DC muffin fans powered with a variable AC convertor to control their speed (full speed = 12v, half speed =6v, etc). the fabs were mounted to expel air out rather than bring air in. to facilitate that i removed the solid panel from one of the cabinet doors and replaced it with a piece of metal screening. that helped quite a bit but the finishing touch was adding a layer of insulation to the exterior rear of the cabinets above the driver and navigator seats. between the two the temp in the electronics cabinet stays the same as the main cabin.





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Old 06-27-2019, 06:10 AM   #4
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Ground plane thickness doesn't matter . You could also use expanded mesh or screen as long as it is is all electrically connected . The ground plane can also be covered or painted.
For your fans , try to find 12v power and install a speed control to keep the noise down. I use 24v fans on 12v and they seem to move a fair amount of air and are a lot quieter.
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Old 06-28-2019, 06:48 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tfryman View Post

USB is 5 volts ( 13 volts available on some USB3 connections) and computer fans (fans for the inside of the PC) don't plug into USB connections.
But there are lots of fans on Amazon and elsewhere that do plug into USB outlets. I have two of them in my electronics bay.
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