- PSDR - mailman.hamwan.org

Baldi Work
by Nigel Vander Houwen 25 Aug '13

25 Aug '13

Hello, As part of the deployment work at Baldi, I rented and paid for a small utility trailer for the sole purpose of getting equipment up to the site at Baldi. If possible, I would like the money I put towards this effort to be considered a donation to the group in my name. Image of receipt provided by U-Haul is attached. Thank you! Nigel K7NVH

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AMPR connection
by Rod Ekholm 25 Aug '13

25 Aug '13

Can you tell me if the HamWAN is using a Mikrotik router to interface to the AMPR network? Or is it using the every required Linux box? I was looking to peer with AMPRNet, however it looks like it is less than an optimal configuration to try and do so with Mikrotik's. Thanks. -- Rod Ekholm Jr. Spokane, WA

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Spokane Links
by Rod Ekholm 19 Aug '13

19 Aug '13

I am interested in partnering with some other folks for some of this style of network over here in Spokane. I have a grand design (Phase 1 & 2 anyways) planned, and ready to start implementing. I keep reading posts and see how far you guys are, and it's kind of exciting to see what is really happening! If any one on the list is around the Spokane area, and has resources to do this in conjunction with me, please get ahold of me at my email below. Thanks and good luck to us all! -- Rod Ekholm Jr. KC7AAD Spokane, WA kc7aad )(at)( gmail.com

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Next site suggestions?
by Bart Kus 12 Aug '13

12 Aug '13

Hello, Anyone have any solid suggestions for new sites? We're done with Baldi, so looking for the next one to deploy. We have 1 cell site worth of hardware left in stock. Check out the new Coverage Map <https://www.hamwan.org/t/tiki-index.php?page=Coverage+Map&structure=HamWAN> on the wiki to see presently covered areas. And bust out your modems to do some verification testing of this coverage! Thanks, --Bart

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Just subscribed
by Kiernan Burr 12 Aug '13

12 Aug '13

Hi all, Just subscribed to this list. A couple of locals here in Northern Alberta have been mulling around the idea of building an ametur radio based microwave IP network. Unfortunately we do not have the advantage of terrain here like you guys do, we do have access to some decent sites. Our vision for a system out here is two fold. 1 it would allow us to expand digital voice networks(D-Star, possibly DMR as there is some interest locally. 2 it would give us a network independent of public infrastructure(asides from power). Thanks for your guys time. Kiernan Burr VA6IP VP, Northern Alberta Radio Club (NARC) Director, Southern Alberta Repeater Association (SARA) Edmonton ARES AEC-Voice Comm/Voice Networking C: 780 237 4619

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Baldi deploy final push
by Bart Kus 09 Aug '13

09 Aug '13

Hi all, Anyone interested in helping with Baldi's final push for completion? We'll need to move a couple antennas around, re-route some cables and configure the preliminary routing/software side of things. If this sounds like fun, please email me. We'll be meeting @ the Enumclaw McDonalds @ 9:45AM tomorrow. Hardhat, gloves, water + food encouraged. Also, a big expensive CAMERA with a few lenses. We haven't done much photography up there. It'd be good to get a high-res panorama, weather permitting. --Bart

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Need a truck/cargo van + bodies for Baldi deploy work this Saturday
by Bart Kus 05 Aug '13

05 Aug '13

Hello, We're on visit #4 to Baldi and trying to wrap this deployment up. It's been a challenging site to deal with due to lack of mounting points and strict deployment standards / severe winter weather conditions. We'll be meeting @ Enumclaw McDonalds @ 9:45AM this coming Saturday. If you have a truck or a van that can carry cargo up a rocky road, and are willing to spend your day helping deploy the site, please let me know ASAP. You will not need to climb, there is plenty of work for ground crew folks. Thanks! --Bart

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Alpha testers needed for HamWAN sites
by Bart Kus 31 Jul '13

31 Jul '13

Hello, We've been super busy with getting physical hardware up and on the air, so we could use some help in terms of end-user testing of these sites. One project member recently did a really great test <https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8174/2013-07-28%2014.04.10.jpg> of the Everett site from a northern Camano Island location. He got signal strengths suggesting full-speed service was available that far out, near Stanwood, about 21 miles away from the Everett site. We did not have time to do more detailed testing. I'd like to get more data points like this collected, and I'd like people to start being connected 24/7 so that we may measure reliability and such. If you are "near" Everett (if you can call 21 miles away near!), or near Capitol Hill, then there is a site for you to test! Hopefully after this weekend, if you're near Enumclaw all the way out to Tacoma, there'll be a site you can try connecting to. The Sites wiki page <https://www.hamwan.org/t/tiki-index.php?page=Sites&structure=HamWAN> has been updated with the coverage maps of each sector antenna at each site. That's the best way to figure out if you're covered, so check it out! We don't have the plug-n-play solutions ready to go yet, so you'll need to get help from others who are on the network already to configure your modem. IRC channel #HamWAN on the irc.freenode.org network has been a good place for this kind of support. You can also use the psdr(a)hamwan.org mailing list (email psdr-join(a)hamwan.org to join). BIG FAT DISCLAIMER: The network stack is nowhere near final config, so as alpha testers, you will not be experiencing the network as it is intended. There are plans to make the cyberspace stuff run much more smoothly, but we're focusing nearly 100% of our time on hardware deployment this summer. --Bart PS: Please be respectful with the replies, as I've cross-posted this to 3 lists. Don't spam all 3 lists with discussion. Pick one list to reply to and stick with it. Thank you! :)

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Re: [HamWAN PSDR] 5SHPn modems in stock @ r0c-noc
by ktolliver 27 Jun '13

27 Jun '13

How about links for best cost/performance antennas-- Dish, omni, and sector? Also I saw a powerpoint slide that mentioned a 16db dish antenna with 1.25 w transciever combo unit that was $94. Im an anxious newbie that wants to get experimenting. Ken K7ICY Sent from Samsung tabletBart Kus <me(a)bartk.us> wrote: http://www.roc-noc.com/mikrotik/routerboard/RBMetal5SHPn.html 54 left, if you'd like to start playing with the cell sites. Paine is on the air, and we're gonna need some alpha testers. --Bart _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR(a)hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.org/mailman/listinfo/psdr_hamwan.org

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We're probably gonna have to do some retrofits on the sectors
by Bart Kus 27 Jun '13

27 Jun '13

So you're actually the first site with all 3 sectors installed, and this has exposed a problem I hoped would be better mitigated with the open air environment your site provides. I knew there was antenna crosstalk, I measured it @ 60dB of isolation in my garage. I was hoping it was mostly reflection-based, and it was. But the crosstalk up on the tower is as bad as 72dB isolation, which is still more than I'd like to see. If we can chop another 40-50dB down from that, I'd be happy. The fact that there are other antennas in front of the sectors isn't helping either, as the signal scatters and bounces back to neighboring sectors. I'm gonna fab some retrofit isolation shields to put on the sectors. Aluminum alloy 1100-H14 seems to be good for microwave work. First test, we'll try to eliminate the backwards radiation from the dish making it into the north sector. It's hard to verify this kinda stuff on the ground cuz the isolation levels required are so high, and ground reflections are a plenty. It's really gotta be done without echoes, so the tower provides a good environment for that. Here's what sector 1 (north facing) is seeing. The part shaded "WiFi" is the dish pointing back @ Capitol Hill. That -55dBm signal should not be entering the north sector. It's also seeing a lot more signal bleeding from sector 2 (120 deg facing) which peaks around -40dBm. And finally you can see sector 3 (bearing 240 deg) leaking in at about -55dBm. The "WiFi" marked leakage is only 5MHz bandwidth, whereas the other 2 channels are 20MHz wide. Hopefully with the shield in place we'll bring that leak down. If not, we might also have to augment the dish itself, as it's probably scattering the signal around the main reflector edges. Fabricating a shield for that is a little more tricky, so I'd like to augment the sectors first. BTW, a pretty nice little spectrum analyzer built into the modems, huh? :) --Bart

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