From kb9mwr at yahoo.com  Fri Oct  6 04:49:19 2006
From: kb9mwr at yahoo.com (Steve)
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 23:49:19 -0500
Subject: [Ham-80211] Re: Wireless newbie?
Message-ID: <001001c6e902$ca2d2340$6301a8c0@PB4UGO2BED>

Hi Willie,

I didn't see anyone try to answer your question.  I think that's because of
a lack of details.  I'll see what I can do...

Is there a minimum speed your club is  looking to sustain for a certain
applications?  Example: are you planning on voice over IP or video
conferencing?  Any other clues on your application are always helpful.

Secondly comes distance and site access.  If your need is speed and you go
the 802.11 route then line of site between antennas becomes really
important.  If you're working with less than ideal conditions then you might
need to consider some thing other than 2.4 GHz.  Like slightly slower speed
900 MHz equipment like the freewave or ConnexLink units for example.

For expected propagation I always viewed this as a great resource:
http://www.tapr.org/ve3jf.dcc97.html

I guess third is price.  I mean if you really want you could experiment with
Icom's D-star stuff, chances are that can surely get the job done for you.

Other things come into play like experience of your club's members.  Is
putting connectors on hardline an issue for example?

I'd suggest reviewing the archives of this list.  A lot of different
applications have been discussed over the months/years.. if you read those
you might get an idea what would work best for you.

In my time I admired the Wireless LAN/MAN product directory that VE3JF used
to maintain.   I was seeking a simple way to build a high speed, affordable,
RF network, where you mimic the internet and have web, mail, and FTP
services, streaming digital audio/video over IP, conferencing, and so on.

Prior I had been well versed in using 9600 baud TCP/IP over conventional
TNC's, but that wasn't cutting it for what I wanted to do with my small
group.


Once you have developed a plan of sorts within your group, there are tons of
great resources online.


73
Steve

---- On Wed Sep 27 21:26:32 CDT 2006  Wilson G. Hein wrote:----

Greetings,

Our local radio club is looking into doing some wireless data links. Is
there a good website that lists recommended hardware, software, etc.
What works and what doesn't? Or your own personal experiences.

Thanks in advance,

Willie, WJ3G