[MLB-WIRELESS] milestone

[Tony Langdon]

> Couldn't you just write for each node near yours, every 5 
> meters or so, check
> to see if the land is rising, then whether it's falling (ie 
> there's a hill
> between you and the node), and flag a certain height hill (5 
> meters or so) so

The obvious question is how far do you go?  There might be a small ridge 1
or 2km away, which gets in the way of some nodes, but not others...

I still think the best methos is to find out where the other node(s) is/are,
and:

1.  Check on a map (the database is perfect for this) where they are, and
then you can survey your end of the link.
2.  Contact the other person(s) and check the whole path (time to stand on
the roof with binoculars, torches, laser pointers, whatever other tools you
have at your disposal).

> indicate that you don't have (obvious) LOS? this wouldn't 
> have to be every
> time the map is called, it could be stored for every pair of 
> nodes. This will
> be far from realistically calculating whether you've got LOS,  
> but I'm a bit
> [insert self defamatory remark here] when it comes to my own 
> geographics, and
> looking at the node map doesn't help at all (no, I haven't 
> gotten out the
> binoculars/e-mailed ppl, 1) it never occurred to me :-) 2) 
> there's only ONE
> operational node within 20 km of me).

I think it's a lot of work that could be more easily done using a map, email
and some basic gear (binoculars, etc).  For something more advanced, I can
setup a test transmitter on 2400 MHz (ham tickets come in handy :) ), and
get a very realistic indication if there's a path (at this stage, it will be
use a simple antenna or BYO, but that will change, as I'm building stuff for
this band for other purposes).

As for my interest in the wireless networking.  Personally, I have no need
for it, as I have cable and a heap of VPNs which meet my needs.  However, I
am interested in the technical challenge of getting links working, then
overlaying some suitable network over the top of what is essentially a heap
of point to point links. :)  So it's just a technical interest for me.

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