[MLB-WIRELESS] Node update: AJJ, DCG, CFJ, DIE

Thu Jul 11 12:45:24 EST 2002

Okay, so I've been extraordinarily busy of late, but things are still
happening.  This e-mail is an update as to what has been happening with my
nodes - all 4 of them!

### Node AJJ (my home) ###

My 5m mast is up on top of my roof.  15m of heliax low loss cable has been
installed from the YDI 24dBi parabolic grid dish antenna to inside the
ceiling.  The next step is to build a heat-insulated, dust-proof enclosure
to live in the ceiling space - I have this planned already, it should be
very low cost too.  I will be bringing a very large panograph of the view
from my roof to the meeting tomorrow, pics of the mast and antenna (and the
view from my roof) are available at:
http://www.wireless.org.au/~tyson/files/view/
http://www.wireless.org.au/wiki/?NodeAJJ

The bulk buy of the PCI-PCMCIA cradles was especially useful for this node,
I understand that the organisers may have some left over which might be
available at the meeting tomorrow (don't lynch me if I am incorrect):
http://www.wireless.org.au/tib/offer/view.php?id=12

I have received my 5dBi SmartAnt omni-directional antenna from Rojone (who
treated me like a king!), details of the device available at:
http://www.rojone.com.au/2_4ghzomnidirectemwantennna.pdf
Part Number: EMW24-03005-BFL

### Node DCG (my car) ###

The Genius USB GPS unit from Rojone was certainly my most extravagant of my
wireless purchases, but it definitely is fun!  It is essentially just a
RS232/USB transceiver and NMEA serial GPS unit that have been integrated
into a neat little beige box approximately the size of a deck of cards.  It
talks to NetStumbler without issue, I have taken a screen shot of
NetStumbler with the Longitude/Latitude shown:
http://www.wireless.org.au/~tyson/files/netstumbler-gps.png

I have been playing with GPS3D, an open source 3D map viewer for various
platforms (windows and Linux included).  It has provisions to automatically
track your position on the earth when a GPS unit is available, and to
display street maps at high detail while doing so.  You can get more detail
on the GPS3D homepage:
http://www.mgix.com/gps3d/

Unfortunately, I was unable to get the "viz" component of GPS3D to detect my
location, though the debug component correctly processed the NMEA output and
determined my whereabouts - no doubt a bug that I haven't had time to sort
out.  I have taken some screenshots of GPS3D in action, with roadmaps from
MapBlast! overlaid at various levels of detail over Melbourne:
http://www.wireless.org.au/~tyson/files/gps3d-viz.png
http://www.wireless.org.au/~tyson/files/gps3d-viz2.png

Having ordered an 8dBi omni using the TIB, I am now eagerly awaiting
tomorrows meeting so I may receive this glorious piece of hardware.  It has
a frontal wind loading survival speed of >200Km/H, so it should be OK when
cruising down the Hume freeway at 110Km/H directly into gale force winds
(Beufort 8, 63-74 km/h).  Details of the bulk buy on the omni (now closed)
are available at:
http://www.wireless.org.au/tib/offer/view.php?id=14

### Node CFJ (my workplace) ###

Not much has been happening here, I think it will be some time before things
settle down enough that we can offer a public access node.  There are
certainly some big advantages with respect to the location (4 story building
with roof access, separate microwave tower roughly 50m tall - you get the
picture) but convincing management that it would be beneficial to spend some
cash is what needs to be done.  The division that I work with has no
particular interest in wireless technology in terms of research, so I will
be approaching other divisions asking for their support.  Given the amount
of research being done by the various people and the working groups of
Melbourne Wireless, I think we have a more than reasonable chance of gaining
some support (financial or otherwise) to have some serious equipment.  Heard
of the Seattle Wireless definition of an "AxNode"?  That's what I would
anticipate in the long term...
http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/AxNode

### Node DIE (my laptop) ###

OK, OK, I admit it.  This is superfluous in terms of being listed as a node.
It is my main stumbling tool, great for debugging various issues with the
cards without having to grab gear from other places.  All of the screen
shots listed in this e-mail were taken from this laptop, all of the testing
of IPv6 (took it to the Aarnet IPv6 workshop) and other things occurs on
this as well.  It has appeared at a few meetings, at the last meeting it was
serving up the net to other meeting attendees, so surely this counts for
something, right?
Internet > GPRS > Mobile phone > IR > NodeDIE > 802.11b > Meeting
You can see this node in lots of the meeting pics, especially:
http://www.wireless.org.au/media/photos/index.ttml?dir=meetings/2002-02-08

Anyway, that's enough from me.  Hopefully I've sparked some interest in a
couple of things (most likely the GPS stuff will get more attention), and
with any luck, it will prompt *me* to pick up where I've left off with some
of my node related projects.  You will find more details about myself and my
nodes on my wiki page:
http://www.wireless.org.au/wiki/?TysonClugg

Hope to see you all at the meeting, I will be dragging NodeDIE and the
panograph along as always so you can see some things I've been playing with.

Cheers,
Tyson.
___________________________

   Tyson.Clugg at csiro.au
 Treasurer at wireless.org.au
   B/H: +61 3 9545 8117
   A/H: +61 3 9887 0117
   Mob: +61 4 0889 7662
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