I've had my ham radio license for almost 30 years, but I haven't done much since I moved to Colorado. 2 years ago, coworkers told me about DMR, which I didn't do much until recently, and I just found out about CARBBN and AREDN. Broadband data transfer is very interesting to me. Compared to 1200 or 9600 bps packet radio, this is leaps and bounds beyond.
I'm in Erie and thought about setting up a node, except I'm in an HOA area, so no outdoor antennas. If I setup a node with a 9 dbi omni antenna (which I already own) or a 15 dbi antenna, will I see anyone else? Does it even matter? At this point, are we simply trying to put up nodes to start the network and get others interested?
I'm in Erie and thought about setting up a node, except I'm in an HOA area, so no outdoor antennas. If I setup a node with a 9 dbi omni antenna (which I already own) or a 15 dbi antenna, will I see anyone else? Does it even matter? At this point, are we simply trying to put up nodes to start the network and get others interested?
There have been several folks in your area on mesh over the last few years. I don't know how many are still up and operating. You can setup your node with the CARBBN SSID and see if you show any other nodes on your Mesh Status page. If not, you might then change the SSID to AREDN and check the status again. There have been folks using both of those SSIDs over the last few years. I live in Castle Rock, so unfortunately we are too far away to get a connection between us.
Jeremiah here with CARBBN, I know there are few people in Eerie with the idea of connecting and might be a good idea to get a city mesh going with other hams. Then maybe tunnel into one fo the servers and connection to others in Colorado. CARBBN is looking to expand its backbone right now as well and we could use some partners in the Eerie area to aid in that. Also CARBBN has hardware we are trying to get out to the local hams in Colorado to help with the cost of setting up. If there are any questions please goto carbbn.org and contact us.
73s,
Jeremiah - N0KMO
To answer some of the questions:
- If I setup a node with a 9 dbi omni antenna (which I already own) or a 15 dbi antenna, will I see anyone else? Height here is going to your biggest friend. The noise level in the area will have more of an effect on the connection quality, but we do know that range will be limited in some areas because there is no one else to connect with.
- At this point, are we simply trying to put up nodes to start the network and get others interested? CARBBN is also trying to do the same and we are looking for people to get real active and grow the network.
73s,Jeremiah - N0KMO
Hi Jeremiah! I tried to contact CARBBN about a year ago, but didn't get a response. I also tried to check in to the net, but I never heard it start over several weeks. I figured it was defunct after a month of trying. Now that I know you're active, I'll go setup and join the CARBBN forum and see about buying some higher level equipment. I bought a little Mikrotik to see how to set it up and find a tunnel. I'll ask about tunneling on the other forum.
Thank you for reaching out!