CQ, CQ, CQ 13cm, Hello 13 cm,
I have just installed a node on 2.4 GHz CH -2, running 10 MHz Channel width in Morgan Hill.
It is listed on the AREDN Map and it tunnels to my other nodes in Laguna Niguel (Socal).
To accommodate the greatest number of new hams wishing to try mesh in this area, I am running a Ubiquiti Bullet M2 with a 15 dBi omni vertical and my QTH is at a ground elevation of approximately 450 ft above MSL.
Please see my coverage map below, these are test points where I hand carried a NanoStation M2 at ground level and was able to establish a neighbor relationship with the base at my home. With higher gain antennas and devices, much greater coverage is possible covering most of Morgan Hill, parts of San Martin, and possibly parts of Gilroy as well. The yellow lines were tests that were made with the base antenna inside the garage. The blue lines are the extended coverage gained by moving the system outside on the roof.
So please look for WA2KWR-20-Morgan-Hill on Ch -2, I would like to see some neighbors soon. TNX
73,
Frank
WA2KWR
Nice to hear from you. Hey, how many hams do you recon you'll find in that farm land? Hi hi. Hope it's going well with your new job. There's KE6MTO-QTH-5, a 5 GHz node approx 17 miles to your south.
Andre, K6AH
PS. What's with the BBHN references? Let's get current ;-)
Actually quite a few. With open spaces and few of those evil HOA's, it is common to see low band antennas. This is also WISP country, so I am hoping that some of the hams might be willing to play with the microwave links that the WISP's are using.
I will fix the branding on the next rev. :)
Great to hear from you. Are you also on DMR?
73,
Frank
I will do a Google Earth path analysis to see if the path to KE6MTO is feasible from a terrain perspective. From the shading on the AREDN map and my knowledge of the local topology, it doesn't look promising.
I am trying to talk up the AREDN web site on the local repeater net. However, overall don't you find it somewhat ironic that Silicon Valley adoption of the technology is very sparse compared to Socal.
I am wondering if it might be worthwhile to try to encourage DMR repeater operators to look at adding AREDN backbone links so that the system is not so dependent on commercial internet.
Thoughts?
73,
Frank
David
KE6UPI
Hi David,
Where are you located?
Or where is the repeater site?
I would like to give it a try. Both my Morgan Hill and Laguna Niguel sites are internet gateways and I have a VPN tunnel from Norcal to Socal.
73,
Frank
WA2KWR
Once the HB_link software comes out of beta I'll build a DMR network using aredn's network for learning.
David
KE6UPI
Happy to hear that you are actively researching DMR over AREDN mesh. Unfortunately, it sounds like neither of my sites will help you much. We are actively running VoIP using SIP phones over the mesh. I run a PBX out of my Laguna Niguel site.
73,
Frank
WA2KWR
Here is the Google Earth elevation profile for the path of WA2KWR Morgan Hill to KE6MTO in Holister. Unfortunately, no direct connection is possible. :(
I drove down as well to verify the terrain. The mesh will need a few more hops before I see KE6MTO.
73,
Frank
WA2KWR
Chris
KE6MTO
Please keep in touch. Even if we can find someone in Gilroy, we might be able to get started. My Morgan Hill location is at an elevation of 450 ft MSL. I have an omni with gain so that I can accommodate people from multiple directions. We simply need to get more people interested. RACES is a good bet, DMR is another.
I have been running tests on my LoRaWAN gateways on 915 MHz and I get just south of Gilroy on just 100 mW. One of those gateways is on a unity gain discone antenna!
73,
Frank
WA2KWR
Chris
The gateways that I am operating are a Cisco IR910 and a prototype from Semtech. I believe that the TTN gateway is now available as a low cost option.
You might want to look at this device if you are looking for something that can behave like APRS https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=Namote%2072 If you can find the version with the SMA populated, it will save a small modification step to allow you to use an external antenna.
While LoRaWAN on 433MHz is available in some countries, it is not Part 15 legal here and you would need to identify to be Part 97 legal.
You could also build some interesting beacons using the LoRa phy layer on an Arduino. I did this in the 915 band. This could be done legally on 433MHz. Have a look here: https://github.com/fcolumbu/LoRa_Projects
Frank
Are you running a tunnel server on your node? I've been tunneling to Berkley but the address is no longer valid.
Chris
Yes, I tunnel to my other nodes in Laguna Niguel.
If we can ever derive a path to connect, you will see the Orange County Mesh and then some!
73.
Frank
I am also hoping for something on Loma as well. I am on the Santa Cruz County side and know that Loma will would be perfect to link all of our counties together plus Monterey as well.
WA2KWR-20-Morgan-Hill now has a tunnel path north to Berkeley and SF and south to Southern California and many points beyond!
73,I would still like to see some more activity in Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy.
CQ CQ CQ 13cm Hello 13cm DE WA2KWR K
Frank