[HamWAN PSDR] VOTE: 900MHz service experiment

Bart Kus me at bartk.us
Sun Mar 8 22:26:56 PDT 2015


Looks like we did $143.25 in Jan and $732.95 in Feb.  There are several 
non-recurring donations in Feb to help support Tukwila and these other 
projects.  It looks like the Jan figure is a good estimate of recurring 
monthly cash flow.

At some point I also need to file a claim with Microsoft to match the 
donations I've been making since we're a 501c3 now.  Any other folks in 
a similar position should do the same.

--Bart


On 3/8/2015 8:48 PM, Ryan Elliott Turner wrote:
> Before I vote, I'd like to learn more about our cashflows to ensure 
> that the necessary credit could be promptly paid down.  How much in 
> donations was received last month, and how much in donations was 
> received in February and March of 2014? I don't want to spend more on 
> this than we earn in a quarter.
>
> On Sun, Mar 8, 2015 at 10:32 PM, Nigel Vander Houwen 
> <nigel at nigelvh.com <mailto:nigel at nigelvh.com>> wrote:
>
>     I agree with getting a long term antenna and one that continues
>     our sectorized plan. YAY.
>
>     Nigel
>
>>     On Mar 8, 2015, at 12:30, Bart Kus <me at bartk.us
>>     <mailto:me at bartk.us>> wrote:
>>
>>     I didn't go, nor would I trust HamWAN money to sketchy antennas.
>>
>>     I purchased the 3 modems recently approved (1 replacement 5GHz
>>     and the 2 900MHz modems) and saved money by combining shipping.
>>     There is $118.12 left in approved funds to get a 900MHz antenna
>>     solution.  Baltic is asking for *$204.59 to make the OD9-8
>>     antenna happen* (shipping included). Laird's lower gain antennas
>>     also have crazy high shipping costs, and they quickly approach
>>     isotropic gain.  I don't think it's a good idea to spend $125 on
>>     shipping for what was supposed to be a low cost / low performance
>>     test antenna.  Longer-term, we would very likely employ a cross
>>     polarized MIMO system since bandwidth @ 900MHz is very limited
>>     and it's therefore important to maximize bit/Hz.  There is only
>>     one antenna on the market that I'm aware of that fits the bill:
>>     Ubiquiti AM-9M13.  It's a 13dBi 120 degree dual polarity sector. 
>>     I'm pretty sure they add the dBi from H+V polarizations to arrive
>>     at 13dBi, so it's probably 10dBi / polarization.  Still, 2dB
>>     better than the 8dBi OD9-8.  This antenna is physically smaller,
>>     so the shipping is much cheaper. *It costs $278.36 shipped*. 
>>     We'll also need a pigtail cable to adapt from the RP-SMA
>>     terminals on the antenna to the N-male on the modem.
>>
>>     Now, there are a couple advantages to going this route:
>>
>>     1) We can re-use this antenna if we do deploy a 900MHz service
>>     since it's the only one I'm aware of that fits the bill.
>>     2) The experimental phase can test both vertical and horizontal
>>     polarity performance independently by simply switching a cable.
>>
>>     So here's the modification:
>>
>>     1x Credit from removing OD9-8 = ($118.12)
>>     1x Ubiquiti AM-9M13 @ $252.00/ea = $252.00
>>     1x RP-SMA to N patch cable (1m) @ $9.95/ea = $9.95
>>     1x NF-NF barrel adapter @ $4.25/ea = $4.25
>>     1x Shipping @ $36.60 = $36.60
>>
>>     *Total additional funds requested: **$184.68*
>>
>>     If we don't end up doing a 900MHz service, or it doesn't use
>>     these components, we'll return or eBay the parts and credit the
>>     HamWAN balance.
>>
>>     --Bart
>>
>>
>>
>>     On 3/6/2015 7:59 PM, Tom Hayward wrote:
>>>
>>>     Try the swap meet tomorrow?
>>>
>>>     On Mar 6, 2015 7:55 PM, "Bart Kus" <me at bartk.us
>>>     <mailto:me at bartk.us>> wrote:
>>>
>>>         Turns out the shipping on that 8dBi vertical is $125.
>>>
>>>         I'm open to suggestions at this point.
>>>
>>>         --Bart
>>>
>>>
>>>         On 3/6/2015 11:23 AM, Bart Kus wrote:
>>>>         I just sent you all the relevant invoices.
>>>>
>>>>         Thanks, board!  I guess I'm placing all the orders now.
>>>>
>>>>         --Bart
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>         On 3/6/2015 11:19 AM, Cory (NQ1E) wrote:
>>>>>         Bart,
>>>>>
>>>>>         I also vote YAY on the contingency that you get caught up
>>>>>         on the paperwork. I still don't have the invoices on file
>>>>>         from your last two purchases. ;)
>>>>>
>>>>>         That makes it unanimous, so I guess the voting is complete.
>>>>>
>>>>>         -Cory
>>>>>         NQ1E
>>>>>
>>>>>         On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 10:49 AM, Ryan Elliott Turner
>>>>>         <ryan.e.t at gmail.com <mailto:ryan.e.t at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>             Thanks, Bart. I vote yay.
>>>>>
>>>>>             On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 12:47 PM, gary.k7ek at yahoo.com
>>>>>             <mailto:gary.k7ek at yahoo.com> <gary.k7ek at yahoo.com
>>>>>             <mailto:gary.k7ek at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>                 I'd be interested in experimenting with 900 mhz
>>>>>                 gear at my Spanaway residence, and possibly at my
>>>>>                 Graham Hill repeater site. I believe 900 mhz would
>>>>>                 provide better overall results than 5 Ghz, which
>>>>>                 proved to be marginal to barely usable during our
>>>>>                 recent site survey.
>>>>>
>>>>>                 Best regards,
>>>>>
>>>>>                 Gary, K7EK
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>                 Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone
>>>>>
>>>>>                 ----- Reply message -----
>>>>>                 From: "Bart Kus" <me at bartk.us <mailto:me at bartk.us>>
>>>>>                 To: "Puget Sound Data Ring" <psdr at hamwan.org
>>>>>                 <mailto:psdr at hamwan.org>>
>>>>>                 Subject: [HamWAN PSDR] VOTE: 900MHz service experiment
>>>>>                 Date: Fri, Mar 6, 2015 10:38
>>>>>
>>>>>                 Hello,
>>>>>
>>>>>                 5.9GHz is awesome when it works.  The speeds are great, and it carries
>>>>>                 as far as the eye can see with very low ambient noise floor.  It does
>>>>>                 however have problems when it needs to penetrate trees and buildings.
>>>>>                 To alleviate this, I'd like HamWAN to offer a slower but deeper
>>>>>                 penetrating 900MHz service.  900MHz is the lowest frequency ham band
>>>>>                 without bandwidth or modulation rate restrictions.  Before we deploy a
>>>>>                 full cell site, I'd like to get some real-world experience with 900MHz
>>>>>                 penetration, propagation and ambient noise conditions.  Here's the
>>>>>                 cheapest appropriate hardware we can use for this:
>>>>>
>>>>>                 1x Vpol omni antenna @ $79.50/ea = $79.50
>>>>>                 (http://www.balticnetworks.com/laird-antenna-omni-8dbi-900mhz-n-female-integrated.html)
>>>>>                 2x 9HPn modem @ $108.00/ea = $216.00
>>>>>                 (http://www.balticnetworks.com/mikrotik-metal-9hpn.html)
>>>>>                 1x Shipping @ $UNKNOWN (quote not showing?!  Need to call them.) =
>>>>>                 $40.00 ???
>>>>>
>>>>>                 Total: $335.50
>>>>>
>>>>>                 I already have a 900MHz high gain Yagi-Uda in my inventory and can use
>>>>>                 that to do various field tests.  These can be directly compared against
>>>>>                 5.9GHz performance since the gear will be deployed to one of our
>>>>>                 existing 5.9GHz cell sites.  The results of such comparisons will give
>>>>>                 us a good idea of how well 900MHz might do for HamWAN.
>>>>>
>>>>>                 Disclaimer: These may not be the right modems or antennas for us
>>>>>                 long-term.  A real deployment might use Ubiquiti Rocket M900 with their
>>>>>                 sector antennas.  These Ubiquiti items are far more expensive though,
>>>>>                 and their software doesn't integrate as easily into our network, so for
>>>>>                 the purposes of the test I believe the set of hardware I proposed will
>>>>>                 do well at deploying fast and keeping costs down.
>>>>>
>>>>>                 NOTE: If both the votes are approved, I will combine shipping from
>>>>>                 Baltic to save money.
>>>>>
>>>>>                 --Bart
>>>>>
>>>>>                 _______________________________________________
>>>>>                 PSDR mailing list
>>>>>                 PSDR at hamwan.org  <mailto:PSDR at hamwan.org>
>>>>>                 http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>                 _______________________________________________
>>>>>                 PSDR mailing list
>>>>>                 PSDR at hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR at hamwan.org>
>>>>>                 http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             -- 
>>>>>
>>>>>             Ryan Turner
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             _______________________________________________
>>>>>             PSDR mailing list
>>>>>             PSDR at hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR at hamwan.org>
>>>>>             http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         _______________________________________________
>>>>>         PSDR mailing list
>>>>>         PSDR at hamwan.org  <mailto:PSDR at hamwan.org>
>>>>>         http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>         _______________________________________________
>>>>         PSDR mailing list
>>>>         PSDR at hamwan.org  <mailto:PSDR at hamwan.org>
>>>>         http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>>>
>>>
>>>         _______________________________________________
>>>         PSDR mailing list
>>>         PSDR at hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR at hamwan.org>
>>>         http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>     _______________________________________________
>>>     PSDR mailing list
>>>     PSDR at hamwan.org  <mailto:PSDR at hamwan.org>
>>>     http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>>
>>     _______________________________________________
>>     PSDR mailing list
>>     PSDR at hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR at hamwan.org>
>>     http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     PSDR mailing list
>     PSDR at hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR at hamwan.org>
>     http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
>
>
>
>
> -- 
>
> Ryan Turner
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> PSDR mailing list
> PSDR at hamwan.org
> http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.hamwan.net/pipermail/psdr/attachments/20150308/ae665733/attachment-0001.html>


More information about the PSDR mailing list