WarBike v1.0

theprez98 · 09-04-2005

Since gas price gouging has gotten out of hand lately, I have been lamenting the fact that my WiGLE stats would start suffering as I have been trying not to drive as much lately (I still have 3/4 tank left from when I filled up at $2.49). My Jeep holds about 20 gallons so you can see how $3.19/gal would cost just a little bit to fill up.

Anyway, I have taken to riding my bike a lot more lately, so I figured why not stumble while I'm doing it. I know "warbiking" is certainly not anything new, but I figured what the heck, I'd at least talk briefly about what I did to set everything up.

I have a pretty standard ("really") mountain bike. It's beat up a bit from several years of use (i.e., back brake assembly is totally missing), but it does the job.

I have a Magellan Meridian Plantinum GPS (total overkill for wardriving, but I also use it for geocaching and any other function you could possibly use a GPS for). At that time I also bought a GPS mount for my handlebars which works quite nicely for warbiking.

Laptop backpacks have gotten a lot more popular recently, and can be found almost anywhere in prices ranging from $30-100+. Mine cost about $50. It's plenty big for my Dell Inspiron 4100, including the extra space for the serial connector attached to the back of the laptop.

I dual-boot my laptop with XP Pro and Auditor Security Collection (installed to HD). In my first test, I was running Kismet along with GPSdrive.

The card I am using is the Proxim 8470-WD (Atheros chipset). It has an external antenna jack but I did not use it for this first test.

I also used some standard headphones to listen to flite tell me when it found new APs, remaining battery life, etc.

In a 15 minute ride around my immediate neighborhood, I found 83 networks, including 10 new. A bit surprising, considering I used no external antenna and I've already stumbled these streets many times.

Issues that I would like to improve upon:

The cable from the serial port to the GPS needs to be at least temporarily mounted to the bike frame as it is a bit clumsily running from the backpack to the front handlebars.

The headphones were too short to go from the right side of the laptop to my head, so I had to place the laptop "upside down" in the backpack, with the card on the bottom. No problem while riding, but obviously you'd have to be extra careful when sitting the backpack down.

I don't yet have a spot on the bike for the external antenna (and maybe I don't really need it), but I'd like to rig something up.

I don't have any pictures yet, but I'll try to take some in the coming days.

As always, comments and suggestions or ideas for improvement are always welcome.

Israel Torres · 09-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by theprez98

As always, comments and suggestions or ideas for improvement are always welcome.

I would probably do this as well if everything didn't have to be battery powered.

Have you considered researching a method to supply power other than through batteries such as fixing some type of clean constant power generator that would run either with a combination of solar power as well as stepped up power from your peddling? I can understand if there is a type of battery backup for when you are at stop lights and such (ie power buffer) but would like to see 99% of it coming from alternative sources. Gas isn't the only consumable that costs $$$ batteries are expensive too.

Israel Torres

Mark57 · 09-04-2005

Sounds very workable. Instead of messing with mounting the serial cable, can you relocate the GPS to the outside of the bag? Sort of hard to critique without seeing a pic. Sorry if it's a dumb question.

theprez98 · 09-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Israel Torres

I would probably do this as well if everything didn't have to be battery powered.

Have you considered researching a method to supply power other than through batteries such as fixing some type of clean constant power generator that would run either with a combination of solar power as well as stepped up power from your peddling? I can understand if there is a type of battery backup for when you are at stop lights and such (ie power buffer) but would like to see 99% of it coming from alternative sources. Gas isn't the only consumable that costs $$$ batteries are expensive too.

Israel Torres

I generally use rechargable batteries for the GPS which saves me money in the long run. Still though, I'd like to figure some way to power it.

fregniacciaro · 09-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by theprez98

I don't yet have a spot on the bike for the external antenna (and maybe I don't really need it), but I'd like to rig something up.

Here ya go:
http://home.online.no/~la9ex/Technic/helmet%20cam.jpg

theprez98 · 09-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by fregniacciaro

Here ya go:
http://home.online.no/~la9ex/Technic/helmet%20cam.jpg

Nice. But I want one of these too!

Pyrotechnic · 09-04-2005

If you don't need to look at the GPS you could fit it to the bag instead.
You could use tie-wraps to hold the cable on, fairly cheap for loads and they cut off pretty easy. Tape would be even cheaper.
The antenna you could put your helmet, I bought some mud-flaps for my bike, you could do the same and fit it on there.
You can get extenders for you headphones, you don't even have to buy 1, they're pretty easy to make.

King_Ice_Flash · 09-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pyrotechnic

If you don't need to look at the GPS you could fit it to the bag instead.
You could use tie-wraps to hold the cable on, fairly cheap for loads and they cut off pretty easy. Tape would be even cheaper.
The antenna you could put your helmet, I bought some mud-flaps for my bike, you could do the same and fit it on there.
You can get extenders for you headphones, you don't even have to buy 1, they're pretty easy to make.

Or just mount the whole laptop on the handle bars so you can watch screen while you are riding.

Actually, on a tandom, this wouldn't be a bad idea now that I think about it.

Starpoint · 09-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by theprez98

I generally use rechargable batteries for the GPS which saves me money in the long run. Still though, I'd like to figure some way to power it.

I know this might sound silly but coming from me, should seem normal. Your GPS is the grandchild of what I have.. the Meridian GPS (2 meg model, non color) It should have came with a cig adapter for power.

Just about any 12 volt battery from a motorcycle will work, get a cig adapter extension cord, and "modify" the cord so you can attach it to the battery for the GPS.. if the bike had a rack on the back of it, set it up so the rack can hold a battery array for the gps and possibly the laptop.

The Others · 09-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pyrotechnic

If you don't need to look at the GPS you could fit it to the bag instead.
You could use tie-wraps to hold the cable on, fairly cheap for loads and they cut off pretty easy. Tape would be even cheaper.
The antenna you could put your helmet, I bought some mud-flaps for my bike, you could do the same and fit it on there.
You can get extenders for you headphones, you don't even have to buy 1, they're pretty easy to make.

Good for use on the old g/f as well

I've got a cheap USB puck GPS, it just hangs out the top of my bag when I'm warbiking.

I've found warbiking to be the ultimate war* activity; it's good excersize and you find just as many access points, all without the hassle of an external antenna (I can never be arsed to try and mount any of mine to the bike/bag).

Thorn · 09-04-2005

This setup was around in 2001. It has some interesting ideas for the GPS and antenna.

http://www.free2air.org/story/2001/8/28/183316/163

Barry · 09-04-2005

[VOICE=Christopher Walkin]That's alot of tape![/VOICE]

If you don't get it you really need to watch The Rundown

aquatechie · 09-05-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by theprez98

Laptop backpacks have gotten a lot more popular recently, and can be found almost anywhere in prices ranging from $30-100+. Mine cost about $50. It's plenty big for my Dell Inspiron 4100, including the extra space for the serial connector attached to the back of the laptop.

thepres,

Did you modify your bag in any way to allow for cooling airflow to your laptop? Laptops get kinda hot nowadays. Putting a hole in an exisiting bag is the easiest thing to do. However, I'm considering making a custom bag out of denim or neoprene with mesh covered holes in the intake/exhaust areas. Put some estra holes in for I/O connections, salvage a couple of shoulder straps and I just might have something.

The other thing I was considering was making some type of handlebar mounting system for a PDA and GPS unit. Hmm, lemme go Google that an see if it's alredy been done.

theprez98 · 09-05-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquatechie

thepres,

Did you modify your bag in any way to allow for cooling airflow to your laptop? Laptops get kinda hot nowadays. Putting a hole in an exisiting bag is the easiest thing to do. However, I'm considering making a custom bag out of denim or neoprene with mesh covered holes in the intake/exhaust areas. Put some estra holes in for I/O connections, salvage a couple of shoulder straps and I just might have something.

The other thing I was considering was making some type of handlebar mounting system for a PDA and GPS unit. Hmm, lemme go Google that an see if it's alredy been done.

The laptop does get warm but I did not modify the backpack for cooling purposes. This is a long term project I've always had in the back of my mind but have never actually started on.

Deoje · 09-05-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquatechie

The other thing I was considering was making some type of handlebar mounting system for a PDA and GPS unit. Hmm, lemme go Google that an see if it's alredy been done.

Google for Ram mounts. They have some pretty cool mounts for just about everything.

Here: http://www.ram-mount.com/

09-04-2005	#1 (permalink)
theprez98 SpoonfeederExtraordinaire Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,619	WarBike v1.0 Since gas price gouging has gotten out of hand lately, I have been lamenting the fact that my WiGLE stats would start suffering as I have been trying not to drive as much lately (I still have 3/4 tank left from when I filled up at $2.49). My Jeep holds about 20 gallons so you can see how $3.19/gal would cost just a little bit to fill up. Anyway, I have taken to riding my bike a lot more lately, so I figured why not stumble while I'm doing it. I know "warbiking" is certainly not anything new, but I figured what the heck, I'd at least talk briefly about what I did to set everything up. I have a pretty standard ("really") mountain bike. It's beat up a bit from several years of use (i.e., back brake assembly is totally missing), but it does the job. I have a Magellan Meridian Plantinum GPS (total overkill for wardriving, but I also use it for geocaching and any other function you could possibly use a GPS for). At that time I also bought a GPS mount for my handlebars which works quite nicely for warbiking. Laptop backpacks have gotten a lot more popular recently, and can be found almost anywhere in prices ranging from $30-100+. Mine cost about $50. It's plenty big for my Dell Inspiron 4100, including the extra space for the serial connector attached to the back of the laptop. I dual-boot my laptop with XP Pro and Auditor Security Collection (installed to HD). In my first test, I was running Kismet along with GPSdrive. The card I am using is the Proxim 8470-WD (Atheros chipset). It has an external antenna jack but I did not use it for this first test. I also used some standard headphones to listen to flite tell me when it found new APs, remaining battery life, etc. In a 15 minute ride around my immediate neighborhood, I found 83 networks, including 10 new. A bit surprising, considering I used no external antenna and I've already stumbled these streets many times. Issues that I would like to improve upon: The cable from the serial port to the GPS needs to be at least temporarily mounted to the bike frame as it is a bit clumsily running from the backpack to the front handlebars. The headphones were too short to go from the right side of the laptop to my head, so I had to place the laptop "upside down" in the backpack, with the card on the bottom. No problem while riding, but obviously you'd have to be extra careful when sitting the backpack down. I don't yet have a spot on the bike for the external antenna (and maybe I don't really need it), but I'd like to rig something up. I don't have any pictures yet, but I'll try to take some in the coming days. As always, comments and suggestions or ideas for improvement are always welcome. __________________ :00475160 0E A6 AE A0 19 E3 A3 46 .......F :00475168 0D 65 17 0C 53 70 6F 6F .e..Spoo :00475170 6E 66 65 65 64 65 72 2E nfeeder. :00475178 45 78 74 72 61 6F 72 64 Extraord :00475180 69 6E 61 69 72 65 5D 3B inaire]; :00475188 8B 9E 92 5A FF 5D A6 F0 ...Z.].. Last edited by theprez98 : 09-04-2005 at 12:00 PM.

09-04-2005	#7 (permalink)
Pyrotechnic n00b+ Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: UK - Notts or Lincoln Posts: 68	If you don't need to look at the GPS you could fit it to the bag instead. You could use tie-wraps to hold the cable on, fairly cheap for loads and they cut off pretty easy. Tape would be even cheaper. The antenna you could put your helmet, I bought some mud-flaps for my bike, you could do the same and fit it on there. You can get extenders for you headphones, you don't even have to buy 1, they're pretty easy to make. __________________ Stumble and ye shall find. www.pyro-net.com

09-04-2005	#11 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,084	This setup was around in 2001. It has some interesting ideas for the GPS and antenna. http://www.free2air.org/story/2001/8/28/183316/163 __________________ Thorn "I'm The Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I am from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I am the man who is going to save your lives and all 6 billion people on the planet below... You got a problem with that?"

09-04-2005	#12 (permalink)
Barry Managing the iTards. Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 5,367	[VOICE=Christopher Walkin]That's alot of tape![/VOICE] If you don't get it you really need to watch The Rundown __________________ Atheism is a non-prophet organization. Last edited by Barry : 09-04-2005 at 05:09 PM.

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09-04-2005	#3 (permalink)
Mark57 What?? Join Date: May 2005 Location: OKC Posts: 1,240	Sounds very workable. Instead of messing with mounting the serial cable, can you relocate the GPS to the outside of the bag? Sort of hard to critique without seeing a pic. Sorry if it's a dumb question.