[MLB-WIRELESS] Re: Solar powered Wireless repeater?

[Clae]

At 4:48 PM +1000 3/9/02, Joe Hovel wrote:
>Hi everyone who answered so quickly!
>The site I have in mind is of course nowhere near a powerpoint.....
>Solar or nuclear :)

oh yyyeeeeahhhhh

radiothermal isotope generator, that'd be nice and cheap and legal...

the solar/wind AP idea is kind of feasible for certain locations, but 
not cheap.  Start with the lowest power consumption AP you can find, 
which generally means a hardware AP rather than a laptop or desktop 
(half a watt vs 4-5 watts vs 150 watts+), and you might be in with a 
chance.  Have a look at the WGSolar wiki page 
http://melbourne.wireless.org.au/wiki/?WGSolarPower.  Also Homepower 
magazine in the US recently had an article 
http://www.homepower.com/magazine/feature_article.cfm about running a 
wireless network as part of a home based renewable energy setup - 
that might be worth a look too.

my personal opinion is that the ideal setup is a carefully 
energy-budgeted combination of an AP, batteries, solar panel and 
small wind turbine.  the cheapest commercial wind turbines (about 
$1000) will provide way more power than you'll ever need, so a small 
home-made turbine is an option worth investigating, although adding 
another layer of complexity in construction and maintenance.  for 
more money, a straight-solar system should be more or less 
set-and-forget.

hopefully the growth of the MW network will allow you to find a 
neighbour or three to rout through, and relegate the remote-power AP 
to rural and remote locations.  Check the node database and ask your 
local members how their setup is coming along.

>  are the only options... a wind turbine would be great as
>it is on top of a ridge, but I bet I wouldn't get a planning permit....
>although there are small turbines used on sailing boats which might be OK (=
>can be hidden).
>I'm reasonably happy about sorting out the power issues myself once the
>minimum equipment is clearer to me.
>I'm quite stuck though as to the issues of repeating a 2.4GHz signal. Is it
>possible to use a single Omni antenna

you might find a sector or panel antenna useful here, if the two 
sites you are trying to link are within an arc of each other.

>and let an access point do the
>repeating or do I need two antennas? (and therefore two wireless cards)
>The distances are about 7 or 8km each "leg".
>To get to the bottom of the network issues themselves, someone might fill me
>in in some of the more obvious things: is a repeater a router, a bridge, or
>what? Does an access point do either or both internally? What are the issues
>for using a single card or two?
>Can two directional  antennas be connected to the same transceiver to get a
>"bidirectional" coverage?
>Too many questions?  :)
>
>Cheers,
>Joe

-- 
David Clae Gason, Secretary, Melbourne Wireless
mailto:secretary at wireless.org.au  http://melbourne.wireless.org.au

"God picks up the reed-flute world and blows.  Each note is a need coming
through one of us, a passion, a longing-pain. Remember the lips where
the wind-breath originated, and let your note be clear. Don't try to end it.
BE YOUR NOTE."	-Rumi, The Mathnawi


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