Hi, I am looking for 2.4ghz wire antennas like these:
http://lilypadxbee.katehartman.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/08937-04-l.jpg

I just need the black antenna part, specifically for the 2.4ghz range that the xBee uses. And, I need 100-150 of them. The small numbers make ordering custom antennas not very cost effective. Does anyone know where I can just buy them?

 

Is making them out of the question?

 

Did you see this page about homemade 2.4GHz antennas?
http://wireless.gumph.org/articles/homemadeomni.html

If you have more time than money, this would be a good way to go.

Personally, I'd use semi-rigid coax instead of what he used.

 

The DIY one above is for a multi-element co-linear array - not what you want for zigbee.

You can use a simple quarter wave - a 30mm length of bare or enamelled copper wire (with the end bared) directly in the antenna socket. This will not work on the end of a cable as it must be fitted against a ground plane. Directly on the device should be OK as it's going to be over the PCB ground plane.

If you want it on a flylead or pigtail, use coax, separate the screen and inner, bending one each way to form a 'T'. Trim each side of the 'T' so they are 30mm long (60mm over the head of the T). That gives you a half wave dipole.

Alternatively, cut some bits of brass tubing (sized to be a loose fit over the coax outer) to 30mm. thread one on a coax cable, separate the braid, line the tube up so it's over the insulation but with the end against the start of the bare braid and solder the braid there, trimming the excess. Trim the coax inner to 30mm from the braid/tube.
(Imagine the previous 'T' dipole, but with a tube in place of the braid half, then the whole coax threaded back through the tube from the center point).

Put some heatshrink over it and you have the exact design of one standard notebook wifi antennas.

Remember that the same 2.4GHz band is used by WiFi and Bluetooth etc., and the antennas are interchangeable (though the connectors at the equipment end may vary).

You can get extremely cheap WiFi antennas - eg. a quick search on ebay shows these, at not much over a dollar each:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Internal-Ante...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e5b9098ec