[HamWAN PSDR] Questions

Bart Kus me at bartk.us
Thu Mar 13 16:47:44 PDT 2014


Congrats!  Although that's a very low signal level.  Trying different 
lateral positions might improve it (various points along roof line for 
example).  If you've got a clear shot, you might wanna try for Haystack 
too, just for fun.

No idea on the vertical axis performance.  There is a project to enable 
3D radiation pattern measurement here.  I've got the dual-axis rotor 
control software written, and I'm now working on developing a radar 
system that'll eliminate multipath effects as sources of measurement 
error.  I've managed to get 6GHz pulses as narrow as 7ns (nanoseconds).  
Last night I also fixed a major source of jitter problems, so progress 
is being made on this front.  So yes, we will eventually know the full 
3D performance of antennas, and even 4D if you consider frequency as a 
dimension.

--Bart


On 03/13/2014 04:31 PM, Dean Gibson AE7Q wrote:
> Ah, that should be *330* bearing to Paine (and I'm a math major, 
> too!).  Turns out I didn't really need it.  Using Google Earth, I 
> noted the first visual "landmark" on the drawn path to the remote 
> stations (eg, Paine), and I just visually aim at that.
>
> Anyway, through a second-story window (open):
>
> [admin at AE7Q-Paine] > /interface wireless scan 0
>        ADDRESS           SSID        BAND   CHA.. FREQ SIG   NF SNR 
> RADIO-NAME
> A RT   D4:CA:6D:7A:B8:07 HamWAN      5ghz-n 5mhz  5905 -89 -118  29 
> Paine-S2
> [admin at AE7Q-Paine] > /interface wireless monitor  0
>                   status: connected-to-ess
>                     band: 5ghz-n-5mhz
>                frequency: 5905MHz
>        wireless-protocol: nv2
>                  tx-rate: 1.5Mbps
>                  rx-rate: 1.5Mbps
>                     ssid: HamWAN
>                    bssid: D4:CA:6D:7A:B8:07
>               radio-name: Paine-S2
>          signal-strength: -89dBm
>      signal-strength-ch0: -89dBm
>       tx-signal-strength: -88dBm
>   tx-signal-strength-ch0: -88dBm
>              noise-floor: -118dBm
>          signal-to-noise: 29dB
>                   tx-ccq: 10%
>                   rx-ccq: 10%
>    authenticated-clients: 1
>         current-distance: 10
>                 wds-link: no
>                   bridge: no
>         routeros-version: 6.7
>                  last-ip: 50.46.168.128
>        current-tx-powers: 
> 6Mbps:31(25/31),9Mbps:31(25/31),12Mbps:31(25/31),18Mbps:31(25/31),
> 24Mbps:31(25/31),36Mbps:29(23/29),48Mbps:29(23/29),54Mbps:27(21/27),
> HT20-0:29(23/29),HT20-1:29(23/29),HT20-2:29(23/29),HT20-3:29(23/29),
> HT20-4:29(23/29),HT20-5:27(21/27),HT20-6:27(21/27),HT20-7:26(20/26)
>      notify-external-fdb: no
>
> I think the antenna needs to go higher ... (grin).  Nevertheless, the 
> "traceroute 8.8.8.8" and "ping google.com" worked, as did an inbound 
> ping.  What an "icky" OS, but it works.
>
> Is the antenna pattern more sensitive (narrow) in the vertical axis?  
> That's what I would guess from the antenna shape, but antennae are 
> strange and mysterious creatures ...
>
> I'm thinking very seriously of picking up a 2nd radio/antenna combo 
> this week, to play with.
>
> -- Dean AE7Q
>
> On 2014-03-12 22:45, Dean Gibson AE7Q wrote:
>> I discovered a clever technique for initially orienting the antenna:  
>> Using Google Earth, I draw a line from the Node (in this case the DEM 
>> antenna at Paine field), to my house (5.02 miles 149.89 degrees).  No 
>> only does that give me a pretty good initial bearing (*300*), but I 
>> get to see what obstacles are in my way (it isn't pretty) for various 
>> prospective antenna locations.  So, I see I'm squarely in the DEM SE 
>> (60-180 degree) sector.
>>
>> Which brings me to my next question:  Where is this "scan list" and 
>> where do I set it?
>>
>> Is there a way to configure the radio to get the date/time from a 
>> local NTP server?  That would make its logs a little more meaningful ...
>>
>> On 2014-03-12 22:21, Bart Kus wrote:
>>> Dean, if you know what sector you're shooting for, you can make your 
>>> life a little easier by temporarily typing the frequency directly 
>>> into the "Scan List" field instead of selecting the HamWAN 
>>> scan-list.  This will not allow the modem to find other sectors, but 
>>> it will lock the receiver down to that 1 frequency to maximize your 
>>> signal-hunting adventures.
>>>
>>> The "Frequency" field you're referring to control the Access Point 
>>> mode frequency, and not the Station mode (which you should be 
>>> using).  Station mode frequencies are entirely controlled by scan-list.
>>>
>>> Feel free to share a copy of "/interface wireless export verbose" so 
>>> that we can verify your config is right.
>>>
>>> --Bart
>>>
>>> On 3/12/2014 10:17 PM, Nigel Vander Houwen wrote:
>>>> Dean,
>>>>
>>>> 1. The frequency is somewhat of a "default" so to say, the channels 
>>>> defined are ones the modem will automatically look for, so it will 
>>>> connect to whichever it can find.
>>>> 2. I don't use winbox, so I can't speak to that, but yes, 
>>>> /interface wireless scan 0 is how I run a scan. Maybe someone else 
>>>> can speak to winbox options.
>>>> 3. In theory N connectors are weather sealed by the nature of their 
>>>> design. The antenna asks that you tape up the connector due to 
>>>> their attachment of the coax to the connector itself. I generally 
>>>> use a layer of Scotch 33 (good electrical tape), followed by a 
>>>> layer of Scotch 23 (Self fusing tape) or mastic, and followed by 
>>>> another outer layer of Scotch 33.
>>>>
>>>> Nigel K7NVH
>>>>
>>>> On Mar 12, 2014, at 10:12 PM, Dean Gibson AE7Q <hamwan at ae7q.net 
>>>> <mailto:hamwan at ae7q.net>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> OK, so I have a radio and antenna from Bart, assembled and on a 
>>>>> mast inside my house.  I've run through the steps on the Wiki, 
>>>>> except for:
>>>>>
>>>>>  1. Shared admin, and
>>>>>  2. Remote logging & SNMP monitoring (which I will do when I have
>>>>>     a connection).
>>>>>
>>>>> I've run all the way up to "/interface wireless scan 0", which 
>>>>> doesn't seem to report anything, not totally unexpected since I'm 
>>>>> inside my house.  My DHCP server supplies an IP address to the 
>>>>> radio on either the DMZ or LAN, and that's how I now connect via 
>>>>> WinBox.
>>>>>
>>>>> So, now more questions ...
>>>>>
>>>>>  1. When I click on the "Wireless" tab in WinBox, the "interfaces"
>>>>>     tab shows the correct SSID ("HamWAN"), but a frequency of
>>>>>     5180.  That seems odd.  However, the "Channels" tab correctly
>>>>>     shows the values set from the HamWAN Wiki for "Client Node
>>>>>     Configuration".
>>>>>  2. Is there a better way to do a scan other than the command (eg,
>>>>>     a WinBox button somewhere)?
>>>>>  3. The antenna instructions talk about sealing the cable to the
>>>>>     radio with some sort of tape.  I know I'm getting ahead of
>>>>>     myself here, but what do people use/recommend?  This is when I
>>>>>     noticed that when you mount the radio, the untaped N-connector
>>>>>     seems to be oriented to catch rain.  Seems like a weird design
>>>>>     decision.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any other comments are welcome as well ...
>>>>>
>>>>>
>
>
>
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