I was wondering if something clever could be done rather cheaply. I'm out of my depth here, but I was thinking something like:
(a) Can I just attach a little antenna to oscilloscope probes? Can I get a fast enough second-hand oscilloscope fairly cheaply? 2.4GHz is pretty fast! Or, do things just not work like that?
(b) Can I make simple little circuits, that have a little antenna, that resonate fairly specifically with the 802.11b signal (roughly over the right range, or even for individual channels) enough to build up a steadier signal that I can measure more easily with a digital voltmeter or something? (I've made plenty of digital circuits, but with analog I know little more than how do simple things with RC oscillators, op amps, etc.) Or, really, anything that responds to the high-frequency signal in a manner that's easier to detect with cheaper equipment?
Just looking for ideas. (-: Tiny GHz signals are not what I'm used to dealing with! I'm not even sure how tuned to the application the antenna needs to be so long as it's roughly the right length; it's probably relevant that I'm interested much more in relative signal strength than being able to accurately measure absolute power, so some losses in the signal path may be quite acceptable if they're consistent.
-- Mark