Antenna Marketing

ISPs are adept at making the best of limited resources. Such as turning their customer premise equipment into a low-cost advertising platform.

[January 28, 2003]

On ISP-Wireless, in December 2002, J came up with an interesting notion:

"I had the bright idea of putting our name and web address on our 2.4 GHz panel antennas for advertising. I thought of buying some sheeted sticker paper and printing out stickers. But then I got to thinking 2.4 has a problem with trees—and really has a problem with wet trees. Since paper is made out of trees and it does get wet outside, is it safe to say that paper should not be used to cover the face of a 2.4 panel? Is anyone else marking their outdoor antennas with logos, names, contact information? If so how are you doing it? Seems like a waste of a good advertising option passed up."

[R promptly responded] "Get vinyl lettering cut at a sign shop or have a vinyl sign made up. I see the satellite guy around here do it all the time. Vinyl will last outside for years. It should have a small effect on db. Get reflective if it's near street where headlights can hit it."

BH, enthusiastic, had a question:

"You know, we have been wanting to do the same thing, but have not started. The flat panels we use have a grainy, pebbly surface. I am concerned: might vinyl lettering not stick well? We had thought about a stencil and paint. Vinyl lettering would be a lot easier if it would stick, though."

RB offered a variation on the same theme:

"Plotter-cut vinyl letters/graphics like you would see on vinyl banners, signs, cars, etc. Any sign shop/silk screen/printing establishment can set you up. There are four places in my town of 13,000. I can do it too, but I suggest you buy locally; it's just good business. You never know, they might just buy wireless from you."

JH speculated about yet another way to make the signs:

"I would seriously consider having a silkscreen mat made, and make a wooden jig to hold the panel and the mat in place. If you buy 20 to 30 antennas at a time, just periodically set up the jig and run them through. Probably an hour to make the jig, then 15 minutes to silkscreen and half an hour to clean up the mat afterwards. The lettering will be permanent and you will have a professional looking job. You can probably get the mat made for less than $100 and $5 worth of wood, plus the cost of the paint and a squeegee and some solvent to clean the mat."

RB offered some insights into the potential complexities of silkscreening:

"The problem you will have is this: Textile printers generally use water based ink, so the screen stencil is usually removed with solvent. You need solvent-based ink. and therefore need a water based stencil. Try a universal screen ink—such as Nazdar 9700 I think. If the cover is PVC or some form of vinyl, use vinyl screen ink. It will bond into the material and be very permanent. Most of the other stuff can chip or wear off. You will need screen wash and ink retarder to go with it."

DR actually had some experience with this form of advertising sign:

"We had some made out of the vinyl, and they work great. We had some 3" x 4" ones made for the smaller antennas and the radios, and had some 8" x 10" ones for the larger flat panels. The small ones were about 75 cents each, and the larger ones were more like $7. The catch is that they are three color; they were made with a new vinyl color transfer process. This is much more expensive than just a single color logo/name. The owner stated that if we wanted 50 or 100 then he would farm it out to a larger shop and could cut the price by about half."

[JL concluded] "I make my yard alarm signs out of plastic. I cut them to 12" x 12" and got the screen printer to print them in two colors for $1.00 each. The first ones I did in plastic are about 7 years old and still look great. Seems to me this would hold up better than Vinyl. My Vinyl truck lettering is 5 years old and is starting to peel and crack."

—End