[MLB-WIRELESS] External aerial, what cabling?

[Zoe Marshall]

Being new to this whole wireless over distance concept, first I intend to
connect a wireless PCI card up just to see if i can interconnect with nearby
networks and test the range with a laptop. Being in a rather more rural type
area, this seems the more sensible option at first. Secondly, i'm rather
sceptical about the whole home made antenna idea. I've read about the
benifits of using them, with 1 claiming to have 15dbi gain, so im going to
put 1 or 2 designs to the test.

Looks like ill start saving for LMR400 hehe.

Zoe.


"David Ashburner" <d_ashburner at hotmail.com> wrote in message 
news:mailman.10.1144101035.23703.melbwireless at wireless.org.au...
>
> On Apr 3, 2006, at 8:19 AM, Zoe Marshall wrote:
>
>> I am in the process of gathering components to mount an aerial on the 
>> roof .
>> I'm relatively new to wireless networking, but i've done my homework
>> regarding coaxial cabling and found that the cabling I should be using is
>> CDF-400 / LMR-400 or uncommonly, RG-213.
>>
>> I need to run a 7-9 metre run of this cable, however which cable I am 
>> unsure
>> of. I have found premade cables this size to be rather expensive. Are 
>> there
>> any cheaper alternatives to the coax types I listed above which will do 
>> the
>> job just as well with low loss, or perhaps somebody could direct me to 
>> where
>> I may be able to acquire a cheaper premade cable?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Zoe
>>
>>
> Zoe,
>
> I think you will find that any cable of lower spec than LMR 400 is going 
> to have too much loss to be of any use.
> The going rate for 400 is something like $4-5.00 per metre plus $10 per 
> connector.
>
> If you need 9 metres of cable then perhaps you should think about locating 
> your radio closer to the antenna.
> You will loose something like 1.8 db of signal with lmr 400 ( about 1/3 of 
> your power ) and 3.3 db with RG 213 ( over half your power )
>
> What sort of set up are you thinking of?  Most recent nodes tend to be 
> based around a linux router/AP mounted in the roof or on the pole,
> something that allows you to have much shorter coax runs.
>
> cheers,
> dna
>
>