[HamWAN PSDR] Facts about ham fundraising

Sat Oct 5 20:26:33 PDT 2013

I will most likely look for another 5500 or similar rotor, as at the end of
the day I would like to have one for satellite work, and another dedicated
and available on the tower trailer for HamWAN connectivity, so I wouldn't
worry about it. <g>

I've got a note out to the SnoDEM ACS staff now for their input, and will
let you know how that goes and when I'm ready for going onsite to test.
I'll want to touch base with you to see what exact tests I should perform
and what data to collect for best bang for the buck.

Cheers,

Rob

From: PSDR [mailto:psdr-bounces at hamwan.org] On Behalf Of Bart Kus
Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2013 7:55 PM
To: psdr at hamwan.org
Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Facts about ham fundraising

Hope you won't need that 5500 back soon, still hacking away on the control
software for the 4D scanner.  The rotor control part is all done actually,
and now I'm (slowly) starting on the instrument control aspects.  Spent a
week or more trying to locate my GPIB controller due to the house move.
Finally found it now, but still gotta wire the GPIB bus to the instruments.
Gotta put a hole in the house to run cables outside.  Multitasking this with
standing up network services, home renovating, HamWAN Lab gear expansion
(YES!), etc, and it goes slowly.

Good idea on the signal surveys, we need more of those.  Please record your
peak signal @ each GPS location, and send them back to us for adding to a
database.  We should probably have instructions on how to do this, but
basically use scan mode.  You should also associate afterwards and measure
data speed (there is no auth required on any of the bandwidth-test servers).
But we don't track that in the DB right now.

Email coming up on HamWAN Lab expansion.

--Bart

On 10/5/2013 7:29 PM, Rob Salsgiver wrote:

I have a couple of things I'll be working on:

I have a trailer mounted tower (35-40'), so I'll be working on a setup with
an az/el rotor that will allow me to elevate and connect if a paths is
available.  Probably have an AP up at that height and/or down on the trailer
as well.

I'll also get another dish or grid (or two) and create a manual setup that I
can take roof-top to some of our hospitals, Red Cross, or other locations to
test from there.  Once these are ready they can be used anywhere, but for
the most part I live and move around in Snohomish County.

Rob

From: PSDR [mailto:psdr-bounces at hamwan.org] On Behalf Of Bart Kus
Sent: Friday, October 04, 2013 9:19 PM
To: psdr at hamwan.org
Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Facts about ham fundraising

OK, one thing is loud and clear.  We need mobile signal testing stations.  I
will try to spread some extra gear out to anyone in the group who would like
to provide a mobile signal survey service to potential users, and has the
skills to operate the gear.

We'll also try to get pre-configured modems going.  I'd like to sell these @
a slight premium to just the bare hardware, with the profit being a HamWAN
donation.

The applications will come with time.  We're presently working on getting
the server infrastructure in place to run applications in the first place.
BTW, Scott, can I co-locate a 1U server @ Paine?  I have it being setup here
in my rack right now, but it'd be better to have it @ Paine.  It's an HP
DL360 G5.

--Bart

On 10/3/2013 3:48 PM, Scott Honaker wrote:

I see three issues

1.  Coverage - Will it work for me?

That's coming along nicely but is far from universal.  Some demos at some
events could really make a difference.  If we can hook a couple EOCs
together, we'll really have something!  I can get introductions into most
any EOC in the area, if we have the coverage to do a demo for them.  Perhaps
some loaner units (for a small donation) would be interesting.

2.  Ease of installation - How can I play?

The price point is fantastic - about the same price as a 2m mobile radio.
The web site is very helpful but a bit overwhelming for a newbie.  More
concise steps of what to buy and how to make it work would be helpful.  Bart
mentioned offering preconfigured radios.  I love that idea!  Plug it in,
point the antenna and play.  

3.  Applications - What can I do with it?

Rob hinted at this with the DRATS suggestion.  DRATS has a Telnet mode that
supports chat, file transfer, email and forms - all the emcomm applications
in a single package.  Showing someone another network to run Outlook over
isn't particularly compelling.  What if Internet access is lost to your mail
server?  Well then you can't run Outlook on any network.  We need some
native HAMWAN applications.  A "Ratflector" is an easy one, Chat, Video
Conferencing, VoIP phone service, what else?  I have some server space at
the Everett site with a 65KW UPS and 250KW generator.  We can make that
stuff live on the network but need a champion for those services.

Scott N7SS

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 1:10 PM, Tom Hayward <esarfl at gmail.com> wrote:

I'll take a stab at a few of these points and defer the others...

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 12:27 PM, Rob Salsgiver <rob at quailsoftltd.net> wrote:
> 2)      End-users (individual):  We need to get more of our core online
and
> well versed in the system.  From those early users we need a few in each
> county or metro area that are willing to do site surveys and interact with
> other potential end users to get them onboard.  We need to focus on our
> marketing, getting the message out (with success stories), and more
end-user
> demonstrations - not just the equipment, but from an application
standpoint.

I'll come out and do a site survey anywhere in Pierce County.

I'll run a custom propagation model for anyone anywhere. This will
tell you how tall of a tower you need to get HamWAN. HamWAN covers
everything within 100 miles of a site if you have a tall enough tower
;-)

> 3)      End-users (EMCOMM):  We need some served agencies online.  We need
> advocates outside of the ham world.  Hospitals, Red Cross, Emergency
> Management offices, Salvation Army, maybe even a mobile station.  If we
have
> 3-4 hospitals, Red Cross chapters, or similar served agencies successfully
> hooked up, we have a working demonstration platform to work from.  Even
> then, basic connectivity isn't.  We need hams in these locations to
> demonstrate on an applications basis what can be done "when all else
fails"
> over HamWAN.  If we can convince 30-50 different served agencies to shell
> out the cost of a single cell phone each month to support a dedicated
> Internet connection that is disaster-resilient, then you have up to
> $2500/month coming in to support the infrastructure.  Demonstrate email,
web
> access, and maybe even some specialized goodies targeted at them - use
> D-RATs for a tactical "chat" interface between locations - who knows?
Maybe
> interface with other digital gateways or extend over other RF links
> (D-Star?).

The Snohomish County EOC is online with HamWAN. I'd like to see other
EOCs come online, but we don't have contacts there. HamWAN could be
very useful for EOC-to-EOC communications (sending video, phone,
etc.).

If you have contacts in the EmComm world, talk to them! Or see if we
can schedule a presentation.

Heh, D-Rats is a patch to make D-Star useful. We can just show them
email, "Look, you can still use Outlook!" Service decoupled from
network: awesome.

I don't see Internet as the end goal of HamWAN. HamWAN can facilitate
communications between hams. EOC-to-EOC communication can take place
completely over the HamWAN RF network, until a hole opens up in the
earth and swallows one of our sites. Then we just route around the
outage with Internet; communication continues.

Tom KD7LXL

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