RP-SMA 24dbi dish, need power reading

andrejun · 02-09-2004

I am building a wireless bride between my house and a friends 3.4 miles away, we both have Netgear WG302 ap's on 40' towers with 24 db dishes. Mine is setup and running, his is not yet together, neither is accessible from the ground to connect a client adapter to so we could peak it (yes I read http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...=9502#post9502 ) so what my question is is how the heck to I get a signal strength meter on a WG302 without being able to plug in to it with anything other than Ethernet?
Any ideas guys? Or do we just align it with a compass, and go from there using bandwith alone as the meter?
Thanks in advance guys.

Thorn · 02-09-2004

You climb the tower with the laptop or handheld. If that is not feasible, (remember safety first on a tower) run a temporary feed line. When the alignment is complete, disconnect the temporary line, and plug the AP back in.

Some devices (eg Linksys WET11) have an internal RSSI meter, which is accessible via http. The trick is finding if the WG302 has something similar, and how to interpert the readings.

Bandwidth won't cut it, as it's too unreliable. You want the RF signal.

andrejun · 02-10-2004

No apparent built in RSSI meter, I'll call Netgear and see what they suggest. Climbing my tower is not an option whatsoever it is a 2" guyed pipe there is no way I'm climbing on a 2"pipe. My AP is on the tower (we are using 24" of Coax to aviod signal loss) It is in a pretty good enclosure and I'm not concerned about it getting beat up. My friends should be climbable, I guess we would only need a client adapter on 1 end correct? I would rather avoid this but if it comes down to it we will. I figured that bandwith would be useless, but it's the only thing I could think of. Guess I'll have to find an adapter to plug a dish in to a reverses polarity SMA connector soon.
Thanks man.

fz404404 · 02-10-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by andrejun
No apparent built in RSSI meter, I'll call Netgear and see what they suggest. Climbing my tower is not an option whatsoever it is a 2" guyed pipe there is no way I'm climbing on a 2"pipe. My AP is on the tower (we are using 24" of Coax to aviod signal loss) It is in a pretty good enclosure and I'm not concerned about it getting beat up. My friends should be climbable, I guess we would only need a client adapter on 1 end correct? I would rather avoid this but if it comes down to it we will. I figured that bandwith would be useless, but it's the only thing I could think of. Guess I'll have to find an adapter to plug a dish in to a reverses polarity SMA connector soon.
Thanks man.

When I worked on microwave transmitters we would us a compass to get us close, then the RF/Signal meter to get it zeroed in. Remember that there will be 3 peaks when you tune it, there is a lobe on each side of the center lobe, you want to tune for the center lobe, this is both in the vertical and the horizontal. Just things to thing about when your doing this.

FZ

andrejun · 02-15-2004

Hi Everyone, I have two 24dbi dishes on a 3mi hop, which have 24" RP-SMA connectors on RG-11.

We are using 2 Netgear WG302 access points in bridge mode, which do not give power readings via HTTP or SSH interfaces (any suggestions here would be great)

I want to get a PC card (prefered) or a PCI card with an RP-SMA connector so I can peak/analyze whats going on.

What client devices can you suggest for this?

TIA

King_Ice_Flash · 02-15-2004

Hook a laptop up to the dish, and see the the signal.

andrejun · 02-15-2004

Jyust wait for the pics

King_Ice_Flash · 02-15-2004

Woah, guess I need some new glasses. I thought you wanted to know what could analyze the signal.

I don't know if you have a pcmcia card yet, but I would highly recommend getting a Orinoco classic or one of the re-brands so you could use it with NS. This will measure your signal. They make pigtails to adapt that card to just about everything. I don't think you can get a PCMCIA card with RP-SMA, but I could be wrong.

Just tell me if I read your first post wrong again.

andrejun · 02-15-2004

Well I should mention that the reason I'm doing this in the first place is to replace a Sat Modem which got fried by lightning including all my Pc's my notebooks etc. All we had as a dual processor (200 mhz) 5u Server which we stuck a Netgear PCI card in and tied to a camera tripod on the roof using Cat5. I already own an Orinoco USB card (yeah I've had the pcmcia card out and used it) however I have not yet received my pigtail which is an N connector anyway and doesn't help me out any. We can't yet see each other, however we are working on the problem as we speak. Any crazy ideas are welcome, I would have already taken a pic, but I couldn't find a Digi cam before dark.

King_Ice_Flash · 02-15-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by andrejun
All we had as a dual processor (200 mhz) 5u Server which we stuck a Netgear PCI card in and tied to a camera tripod on the roof using Cat5.

Umm... That sounds like a crazy enough idea... I don't think it would pass code.

The Others · 02-16-2004

http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...&threadid=9506

If at first you don't suceed, post, post and post agin.

andrejun · 02-16-2004

I appologize for cross posting.
I was at my friends, logged in, and told him to poste this thread while I was talking to Netgear (India

) I really should have just deleted this thread, bt by the time I realized what had happened someone else had posted

benjatelcom · 02-17-2004

Ok here is the 5U tripod mounted dual processor raid equipped test rig.

Here is another shot:

We just terminal servic'ed ourselves into this machine from inside my house, and ran stumbler from a desk.

Pretty hick huh? Picked up some other APs from about a mile away, at 20' elevation and 24dbi gain.

Madhadder · 02-17-2004

Hope you got some ideas/fixes to keep rain and other wetness
out, or your new setup will fry just like your old Satt. Modem

benjatelcom · 02-17-2004

yes, thats not a problem... remember, thats just a test rig. I took it down after a few hours of "war-radar-ing" the country side. Got no signal from buddies house 3 mi away.

But at 20ft elevation it doesn't even come close to a .6 freznel radius. Awaiting delivery of some rohn 25GT tower sections.

02-09-2004	#1 (permalink)
andrejun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 34	Peaking AP's I am building a wireless bride between my house and a friends 3.4 miles away, we both have Netgear WG302 ap's on 40' towers with 24 db dishes. Mine is setup and running, his is not yet together, neither is accessible from the ground to connect a client adapter to so we could peak it (yes I read http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...=9502#post9502 ) so what my question is is how the heck to I get a signal strength meter on a WG302 without being able to plug in to it with anything other than Ethernet? Any ideas guys? Or do we just align it with a compass, and go from there using bandwith alone as the meter? Thanks in advance guys. __________________ 87 Supra with 15" tft on dash 1ghz supra pc in trunk and orinoco silver on tap.

02-09-2004	#2 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,361	You climb the tower with the laptop or handheld. If that is not feasible, (remember safety first on a tower) run a temporary feed line. When the alignment is complete, disconnect the temporary line, and plug the AP back in. Some devices (eg Linksys WET11) have an internal RSSI meter, which is accessible via http. The trick is finding if the WG302 has something similar, and how to interpert the readings. Bandwidth won't cut it, as it's too unreliable. You want the RF signal. __________________ Thorn "Read Altas Shrugged. Compare it to today. Repeat as necessary"

02-10-2004	#3 (permalink)
andrejun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 34	No apparent built in RSSI meter, I'll call Netgear and see what they suggest. Climbing my tower is not an option whatsoever it is a 2" guyed pipe there is no way I'm climbing on a 2"pipe. My AP is on the tower (we are using 24" of Coax to aviod signal loss) It is in a pretty good enclosure and I'm not concerned about it getting beat up. My friends should be climbable, I guess we would only need a client adapter on 1 end correct? I would rather avoid this but if it comes down to it we will. I figured that bandwith would be useless, but it's the only thing I could think of. Guess I'll have to find an adapter to plug a dish in to a reverses polarity SMA connector soon. Thanks man. __________________ 87 Supra with 15" tft on dash 1ghz supra pc in trunk and orinoco silver on tap. Last edited by andrejun : 02-10-2004 at 12:53 PM.

02-15-2004	#5 (permalink)
andrejun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 34	RP-SMA 24dbi dish, need power reading Hi Everyone, I have two 24dbi dishes on a 3mi hop, which have 24" RP-SMA connectors on RG-11. We are using 2 Netgear WG302 access points in bridge mode, which do not give power readings via HTTP or SSH interfaces (any suggestions here would be great) I want to get a PC card (prefered) or a PCI card with an RP-SMA connector so I can peak/analyze whats going on. What client devices can you suggest for this? TIA __________________ 87 Supra with 15" tft on dash 1ghz supra pc in trunk and orinoco silver on tap.

02-15-2004	#6 (permalink)
King_Ice_Flash Alien Paranoid Stumbler Join Date: May 2003 Location: WI Posts: 2,688	Hook a laptop up to the dish, and see the the signal. __________________ "Yeah," said a voice from under the table, "you go to pieces so fast people get hit by the shrapnel."

02-15-2004	#7 (permalink)
andrejun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 34	Jyust wait for the pics __________________ 87 Supra with 15" tft on dash 1ghz supra pc in trunk and orinoco silver on tap.

02-15-2004	#8 (permalink)
King_Ice_Flash Alien Paranoid Stumbler Join Date: May 2003 Location: WI Posts: 2,688	Woah, guess I need some new glasses. I thought you wanted to know what could analyze the signal. I don't know if you have a pcmcia card yet, but I would highly recommend getting a Orinoco classic or one of the re-brands so you could use it with NS. This will measure your signal. They make pigtails to adapt that card to just about everything. I don't think you can get a PCMCIA card with RP-SMA, but I could be wrong. Just tell me if I read your first post wrong again. __________________ "Yeah," said a voice from under the table, "you go to pieces so fast people get hit by the shrapnel." Last edited by King_Ice_Flash : 02-15-2004 at 09:20 PM.

02-15-2004	#9 (permalink)
andrejun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 34	Well I should mention that the reason I'm doing this in the first place is to replace a Sat Modem which got fried by lightning including all my Pc's my notebooks etc. All we had as a dual processor (200 mhz) 5u Server which we stuck a Netgear PCI card in and tied to a camera tripod on the roof using Cat5. I already own an Orinoco USB card (yeah I've had the pcmcia card out and used it) however I have not yet received my pigtail which is an N connector anyway and doesn't help me out any. We can't yet see each other, however we are working on the problem as we speak. Any crazy ideas are welcome, I would have already taken a pic, but I couldn't find a Digi cam before dark. __________________ 87 Supra with 15" tft on dash 1ghz supra pc in trunk and orinoco silver on tap.

02-16-2004	#11 (permalink)
The Others PeaceDriver Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Dos Palabras, Mandoras Posts: 2,920	http://forums.netstumbler.com/showth...&threadid=9506 If at first you don't suceed, post, post and post agin. __________________ all good ends all ?u=273

02-16-2004	#12 (permalink)
andrejun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 34	I appologize for cross posting. I was at my friends, logged in, and told him to poste this thread while I was talking to Netgear (India ) I really should have just deleted this thread, bt by the time I realized what had happened someone else had posted __________________ 87 Supra with 15" tft on dash 1ghz supra pc in trunk and orinoco silver on tap. Last edited by andrejun : 02-17-2004 at 08:14 PM.

02-17-2004	#13 (permalink)
benjatelcom Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: louisiana swamp Posts: 4	5U protocol analyzer :-) Ok here is the 5U tripod mounted dual processor raid equipped test rig. Here is another shot: We just terminal servic'ed ourselves into this machine from inside my house, and ran stumbler from a desk. Pretty hick huh? Picked up some other APs from about a mile away, at 20' elevation and 24dbi gain.

02-17-2004	#14 (permalink)
Madhadder General "Noob Basher" Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Munich, Germany Posts: 1,620	Hope you got some ideas/fixes to keep rain and other wetness out, or your new setup will fry just like your old Satt. Modem __________________ Legends may sleep, but they never die!!!!

02-17-2004	#15 (permalink)
benjatelcom Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: louisiana swamp Posts: 4	yes, thats not a problem... remember, thats just a test rig. I took it down after a few hours of "war-radar-ing" the country side. Got no signal from buddies house 3 mi away. But at 20ft elevation it doesn't even come close to a .6 freznel radius. Awaiting delivery of some rohn 25GT tower sections.

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