On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 11:31 PM, Scott Honaker <scotthon@pilchuckvet.com> wrote:
I'd like to create a portable system. I'm thinking a radio, dish, tripod and WAP. Does anyone have a clever dish/tripod mount thing? I'd like to find something that makes it easy to point/aim.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8174/2013-07-28%2014.04.10.jpg Here's my portable setup. I've used this for a few signal surveys. It's the standard recommended Poynting grid antenna, RB Metal 5SHPn, satellite TV tripod, and a 9AH 11.1V LiPo battery (yes, the 5SHPn runs just fine on 12V). Here's a link to the tripod: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0021AFB56/ Keep in mind you'll need enough height to clear obstructions, so if you're not on waterfront/hillside, this tripod might not be adequate for supporting your mast. As it is, I'd want something to anchor it during anything more than light winds. I'm feeding this directly into a computer, but you could just as easily feed a 2.4 GHz AP. I actually did this at a public service event with a Ubiquiti Bullet M2 and antenna mounted to the top of this same tripod mast, again powered by a 9AH 11.1V LiPo battery (sorry, forgot to take a picture of this setup). Tom KD7LXL
So interestingly enough, I tried to get my setup running a few weekends ago, and had zero luck. I tried it here from the house, and got zilch (even though somebody kindly ran a computerized prediction for me that said it should work). I saw zero signal. I finally got annoyed and threw the whole setup in the truck and drove to a park about half a mile from the Snohomish EOC (see photo below), and *still* couldn't connect (though I got a nice strong signal). Does my mac address have to be added to a table somewhere or something in order for me to connect? http://plane.gritch.org/plane/tn/2013-09-08%2014.18.42.jpg.html If you look in the back of the truck, you can see precisely the same antenna setup that Tom is using laying on top of the spare tire (next to the stool). From the park, I was close enough I just propped the antenna up and did it that way. No need for the tripod (and the strange looks from other park-goers). Anyway, I'd love to get this up and running, but it refuses to pass a single frame of data. And this after Bart ssh'd in and configured it personally. Ideas? Jeff N0GQ On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 9:12 AM, Tom Hayward <esarfl@gmail.com> wrote:
On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 11:31 PM, Scott Honaker <scotthon@pilchuckvet.com> wrote:
I'd like to create a portable system. I'm thinking a radio, dish, tripod and WAP. Does anyone have a clever dish/tripod mount thing? I'd like
to
find something that makes it easy to point/aim.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8174/2013-07-28%2014.04.10.jpg
Here's my portable setup. I've used this for a few signal surveys.
It's the standard recommended Poynting grid antenna, RB Metal 5SHPn, satellite TV tripod, and a 9AH 11.1V LiPo battery (yes, the 5SHPn runs just fine on 12V).
Here's a link to the tripod: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0021AFB56/
Keep in mind you'll need enough height to clear obstructions, so if you're not on waterfront/hillside, this tripod might not be adequate for supporting your mast. As it is, I'd want something to anchor it during anything more than light winds.
I'm feeding this directly into a computer, but you could just as easily feed a 2.4 GHz AP. I actually did this at a public service event with a Ubiquiti Bullet M2 and antenna mounted to the top of this same tripod mast, again powered by a 9AH 11.1V LiPo battery (sorry, forgot to take a picture of this setup).
Tom KD7LXL
_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.org/mailman/listinfo/psdr_hamwan.org
-- -=jeff=-
On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 9:26 AM, Jeff Francis™ <jeff@gritch.org> wrote:
http://plane.gritch.org/plane/tn/2013-09-08%2014.18.42.jpg.html
If you look in the back of the truck, you can see precisely the same antenna setup that Tom is using laying on top of the spare tire (next to the stool). From the park, I was close enough I just propped the antenna up and did it that way. No need for the tripod (and the strange looks from other park-goers).
From that photo, I can tell you that it won't work. You're aimed at the sky. The beamwidth of these dishes is very narrow and they must be aimed precisely in both azimuth and elevation.
Here's my algorithm for aiming: - First, I calculate the bearing from my current location to a HamWAN site (your APRS client should be able to do this for you with the HamWAN* objects). - Then I sight that bearing with my compass. - With the Poynting on the tripod mast, I sight down the feedhorn of the Poynting and line it up with the same landmark I spotted with the compass, being sure to keep the feedhorn level in the elevation axis. - At this point the signal LEDs on the modem have usually registered something (I'm connected) and I can pan and tilt slightly in each directly to maximize signal. This works really well for me because I have a sighting compass accurate to 1 degree and I know how to use it. Another technique is to plot the path on Google Earth and look for landmarks along the path. I've done this and sighted "between the two water towers." This technique requires more patience and panning. This is microwave. It's a lot harder to get a signal than VHF, but it's really satisfying when you do (and faster than 1200 baud!). Tom KD7LXL
Fair enough, but what the picture doesn't show you is this is the antenna I was pointed at: http://plane.gritch.org/plane/tn/2013-09-08%2013.35.49.jpg.html I was only a bit further away from where I took this photo. So the angle was correct for my location (and yes, I did pan around quite a bit to make sure I had the strongest signal). I was looking up at the tower from where I was standing. Not too hard to sight in from that distance, no compass required. So do I need to have my MAC address added to a table somewhere for this to work, or is my problem elsewhere? On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 9:41 AM, Tom Hayward <esarfl@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 9:26 AM, Jeff Francis™ <jeff@gritch.org> wrote:
http://plane.gritch.org/plane/tn/2013-09-08%2014.18.42.jpg.html
If you look in the back of the truck, you can see precisely the same antenna setup that Tom is using laying on top of the spare tire (next to the stool). From the park, I was close enough I just propped the antenna up and did it that way. No need for the tripod (and the strange looks from other park-goers).
From that photo, I can tell you that it won't work. You're aimed at the sky. The beamwidth of these dishes is very narrow and they must be aimed precisely in both azimuth and elevation.
Here's my algorithm for aiming: - First, I calculate the bearing from my current location to a HamWAN site (your APRS client should be able to do this for you with the HamWAN* objects). - Then I sight that bearing with my compass. - With the Poynting on the tripod mast, I sight down the feedhorn of the Poynting and line it up with the same landmark I spotted with the compass, being sure to keep the feedhorn level in the elevation axis. - At this point the signal LEDs on the modem have usually registered something (I'm connected) and I can pan and tilt slightly in each directly to maximize signal.
This works really well for me because I have a sighting compass accurate to 1 degree and I know how to use it. Another technique is to plot the path on Google Earth and look for landmarks along the path. I've done this and sighted "between the two water towers." This technique requires more patience and panning.
This is microwave. It's a lot harder to get a signal than VHF, but it's really satisfying when you do (and faster than 1200 baud!).
Tom KD7LXL
_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.org/mailman/listinfo/psdr_hamwan.org
-- -=jeff=-
On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Jeff Francis™ <jeff@gritch.org> wrote:
Fair enough, but what the picture doesn't show you is this is the antenna I was pointed at:
http://plane.gritch.org/plane/tn/2013-09-08%2013.35.49.jpg.html
I was only a bit further away from where I took this photo. So the angle was correct for my location (and yes, I did pan around quite a bit to make sure I had the strongest signal). I was looking up at the tower from where I was standing. Not too hard to sight in from that distance, no compass required.
So do I need to have my MAC address added to a table somewhere for this to work, or is my problem elsewhere?
There is no such table. Soon there will be a certificate based authentication scheme, but this will only prevent you from routing packet, it will not influence your ability to receive a signal. If your radio is on the right frequency, you should at least be able to receive a signal. When was your modem configured? A month or two ago the channel plan was changed, moving all the sectors into the ham-only part of the band to avoid interference from Part 15 users. The configuration here is accurate today: https://www.hamwan.org/t/tiki-index.php?page=Client+Node+Configuration Tom KD7LXL
It was Sep 8th, so it was almost a month ago. Just haven't had time to follow up since then. For what it's worth, I was receiving a very strong signal from the tower. I'll go through tomorrow and check all the settings in my modem. I may also get time to drive over and set it up again and see if I can connect (figure I'll try from an easy location before I go back to trying to make it work from my very iffy home location). Jeff N0GQ On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 10:44 AM, Tom Hayward <esarfl@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Jeff Francis™ <jeff@gritch.org> wrote:
Fair enough, but what the picture doesn't show you is this is the antenna I was pointed at:
http://plane.gritch.org/plane/tn/2013-09-08%2013.35.49.jpg.html
I was only a bit further away from where I took this photo. So the angle was correct for my location (and yes, I did pan around quite a bit to make sure I had the strongest signal). I was looking up at the tower from where I was standing. Not too hard to sight in from that distance, no compass required.
So do I need to have my MAC address added to a table somewhere for this to work, or is my problem elsewhere?
There is no such table. Soon there will be a certificate based authentication scheme, but this will only prevent you from routing packet, it will not influence your ability to receive a signal. If your radio is on the right frequency, you should at least be able to receive a signal.
When was your modem configured? A month or two ago the channel plan was changed, moving all the sectors into the ham-only part of the band to avoid interference from Part 15 users.
The configuration here is accurate today: https://www.hamwan.org/t/tiki-index.php?page=Client+Node+Configuration
Tom KD7LXL
_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.org/mailman/listinfo/psdr_hamwan.org
-- -=jeff=-
On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 10:52 AM, Jeff Francis™ <jeff@gritch.org> wrote:
For what it's worth, I was receiving a very strong signal from the tower.
Oh, I missed that detail. Reading again, the problem as you describe it is you couldn't "connect". I assume that you mean associate with the AP? Maybe Bart can dig your association request out of the logs and see if there is an obvious reason you couldn't associate. Tom
Yep, couldn't associate. I wouldn't dig too hard. I'll go through again and make sure everything matches the wiki, then try again tomorrow. Hopefully. Jeff N0GQ On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 10:57 AM, Tom Hayward <esarfl@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 10:52 AM, Jeff Francis™ <jeff@gritch.org> wrote:
For what it's worth, I was receiving a very strong signal from the tower.
Oh, I missed that detail. Reading again, the problem as you describe it is you couldn't "connect". I assume that you mean associate with the AP? Maybe Bart can dig your association request out of the logs and see if there is an obvious reason you couldn't associate.
Tom
_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.org/mailman/listinfo/psdr_hamwan.org
-- -=jeff=-
Sorry about your poor experience. I suspect there will be a lot of wide-spread learning like this as we hams brave this new microwave world for the first time. We are having one hell of a weird problem right now with Nigel's link. There's a 10dB power asymmetry depending on the signal's direction (to/from Paine) even though both modems were lab verified to TX the same power level! Both their RX sensitivities were also tested and verified as accurate. Feel free to reach out to me tomorrow if you would like some help with connecting. From what I recall, we're somewhat close by. When would you be doing your trip/test? --Bart On 10/5/2013 11:28 AM, Jeff Francis^(TM) wrote:
Yep, couldn't associate. I wouldn't dig too hard. I'll go through again and make sure everything matches the wiki, then try again tomorrow. Hopefully.
Jeff N0GQ
On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 10:57 AM, Tom Hayward <esarfl@gmail.com <mailto:esarfl@gmail.com>> wrote:
On Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 10:52 AM, Jeff Francis^(TM) <jeff@gritch.org <mailto:jeff@gritch.org>> wrote: > For what it's worth, I was receiving a very strong > signal from the tower.
Oh, I missed that detail. Reading again, the problem as you describe it is you couldn't "connect". I assume that you mean associate with the AP? Maybe Bart can dig your association request out of the logs and see if there is an obvious reason you couldn't associate.
Tom
_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR@hamwan.org> http://mail.hamwan.org/mailman/listinfo/psdr_hamwan.org
-- -=jeff=-
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participants (3)
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Bart Kus -
Jeff Francis™ -
Tom Hayward