802.11 high speed digital networking is here in the Napa Valley !
So far the only "repeater" is at the W6CO Mt. Veeder repeater site at 2200 feet above the Napa Valley floor. Using a 24 Db gain antenna with as little as 50 Mw you can make a connection as long as you have LINE OF SIGHT to the repeater. If you would like to try a connection just point your antenna up to Veeder peak and look for W6CO-1. If you see W6CO-1 then you can try to connect! You will need to set your 802.11 radio to WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key to 4444444444 (that is ten 4's)
Now I know what you are thinking .. "hey! that's encryption! you can't do that on ham radio!!" Well the answer is that it is only encryption if if the purpose is "messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning" Part 97 -- 113 (a) (4) The purpose for using WEP in our case is to prevent non-hams from accidentally connecting to our system. Remember, we share this part of the spectrum with MANY part 15 unlicensed users. I like to think of WEP as a kind of PL. Let's face it, if we were trying to encrypt something we would not be posting the WEP code here!
What does this mean??
There are LOTS of ideas on how to use this technology ...
Digital audio channels from the repeater site to the receiver voter at Ron's
(WA6BIS) house and then back up to the transmitter, Amateur television
repeater, Future integration of ICOM's D-Star system, Remote
APRS receivers, Emergency email/web access for local Police/Fire, or how about a remote controlled
HF station at 2200 feet!?!
Where will we go next?
The Mt. Veeder site is currently connected to the internet Via a link from my
house in Napa.
I am working on the equipment to install on the county building (third St. in
Napa). It will be a "repeater" that will link to the Mt. Veeder site.
I would also like to get a link up to Mt. St. Helena by the end of 2007.
For more info on this system contact Mark (KE6O)
Other 802.11 ham radio resources:
Wireless Network Link Analysis
802.11 Radios and antennas for sale
Ready made antenna cables and hard to find connectors
A software hack for
many off the shelf Access points/wireless routers - lets you turn up the power!
This is the software I am using on my Linksys WRT54GL radios
More 802.11 radios and antennas for sale
Ham Radio Deluxe - remote control of your HF rig over a network
IP-Sound - Send audio over your network