[HamWAN PSDR] Connected to HamWAN on Buck Mtn, slower than desired

[Rob Salsgiver]

Unfortunately the only way to fix the RF path would be to down-tilt the sector at the expense of clients further out.  The best solution might be to put an additional small panel with greater down-tilt as somewhat of a point to point connection.  That probably wouldn't be able to happen until next year, and we would need to confirm with the site we're ok to add another antenna (possible, just hasn't been asked).  I don't know of any configurations that would make up for RF path weakness.  

Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: David C. Jenner [mailto:djenner8 at mac.com] 
Sent: Thursday, November 7, 2019 7:35 PM
To: Rob Salsgiver; 'Puget Sound Data Ring'
Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Connected to HamWAN on Buck Mtn, slower than desired

I and others have looked into this, but you are welcome to try it too!

47.73522, -122.87424  elevation essentially 0

I am on the water at Jackson Cove, on Hood Canal.  I am in the middle of 
a dense, 150 year old forest.  The only possibilities are to be on the 
very edge of the water, facing East North East, or on the West end of 
the property where Buck Mtn just peaks out above Turner Mtn.  I have 
tried Gold Mtn, but I would have to be out in the water to get an 
unobstructed view.  Getting from the water back to the compound is 
actually harder that the current setup.

The current setup is not simple.  The dish/radio is located on top of my 
pumphouse, with power, looking up over a pasture (no trees) to Buck Mtn. 
  A VDSL connection goes from the pumphouse 800 feet underground to a 
transformer site, where it goes 70 feet high overhead to a garage, and 
then 80 feet underground to my shop where the VDSL ends and connects to 
my Internet Central.  It is then distributed on its own network 
throughout my compound.  Test results directly at the dish/radio and at 
other places on the network are the same.  Other tests show that this 
setup is not limiting the bandpass received by the dish/antenna.

Cutting down trees is not a possibility, unless they are sick and 
represent a danger.  We are in the middle of a Bald Eagle Zone with 
strict limitations on what we can do.  One of the cons of living in 
paradise!

I was hoping I could make a configuration change to improve the current 
connection?

73,
Dave
K7DCJ

On 11/7/19 7:01 PM, Rob Salsgiver wrote:
> David,
> 
> Can you share your GPS coordinates?  I'm curious to see if there are other alternatives that would work.
> 
> Rob
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: PSDR [mailto:psdr-bounces at hamwan.org] On Behalf Of David C. Jenner via PSDR
> Sent: Thursday, November 7, 2019 6:58 PM
> To: psdr at hamwan.org
> Subject: [HamWAN PSDR] Connected to HamWAN on Buck Mtn, slower than desired
> 
> I have finally made a reasonable connection to HamWAN using Buck Mtn.  I
> am using a MikroTik mANT30 MTAD-5G-30D3-PA dish and an
> RB912UAG-5HPnD-OUT radio.  The smaller MikroTik dish/radio can't connect
> reliably.
> 
> I followed the configuration instructions on the HamWAN Website, and did
> add the command "/interface wireless set 0 rx-chains=0,1 tx-chains=0,1"
> which doesn't appear (probably should) in the directions.  Pointing was
> done using "/interface wireless monitor 0" using the fine tuning
> adjustments of the mount.  The best signal obtained was about -71 dB.
> 
> Let me describe the situation a bit and see if anyone has ideas on how
> to improve the connection.  The radio name is "K7DCJ/Brinnon-Buck", and
> the system identity is "K7DCJ-Buck".
> 
> I am line of sight 2.69 miles from the transmitter on Buck at an azimuth
> of about 115 degrees from true North.  The problem is that I am 2 miles
> away but 3600 feet below it.  All the power is going over my head.
> Consulting the beam patterns of the transmitting antenna, I appear to be
> in the second side lobes, which is about 15-20 dB down from the maximum
> power of the main vertical and horizontal lobes.
> 
> Bandwidth tests produce the following:
> 
> /tool bandwidth-test 44.25.143.94 duration=30s direction=receive
>                   status: running
>                 duration: 24s
>               rx-current: 2.9Mbps
>     rx-10-second-average: 3.5Mbps
>         rx-total-average: 2.3Mbps
>             lost-packets: 120
>              random-data: no
>                direction: receive
>                  rx-size: 1500
>         connection-count: 20
>           local-cpu-load: 3%
>          remote-cpu-load: 5%
> 
> /tool bandwidth-test 44.25.143.94 duration=30s direction=transmit
>                   status: running
>                 duration: 27s
>               tx-current: 2.5Mbps
>     tx-10-second-average: 2.3Mbps
>         tx-total-average: 2.0Mbps
>              random-data: no
>                direction: transmit
>                  tx-size: 1500
>         connection-count: 20
>           local-cpu-load: 4%
>          remote-cpu-load: 3%
> 
> The rates have gotten as high as 5 Mbps in other runnings of the tests.
> 
> Perhaps someone has an idea of how to improve this?
> 
> 73,
> Dave
> K7DCJ
> 
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