[HamWAN PSDR] How to Aim Uplink on a Tower

[Kenny Richards]

I have not used the Aim Master, but I would be surprised if it isn't
operating off the same data being provided by the scan. As someone who has
done a fair amount of the tower work, you really don't want to have them
trying to manage anything additionally like watching a display.(regardless
of what display) That is why having the pre-defined interactions between
the ground person (who can completely focus on the data) and the tower
person is the best solution.



On Wed, Jan 29, 2020 at 4:53 PM Herb Weiner <herbw at wiskit.com> wrote:

> Thanks, Kenny. This is the same technique we have used (except without the
> HTs) when we are setting up a dish on a tripod, but I was really hoping
> that there was a better way. And it is quite possible that the tower
> climber will have experience with this. At this point, we don't know who
> the tower climber will be, since KOIN requires that we use climbers
> approved by them.
>
> I agree that scan sucks. Also, for aiming, an analog display really would
> work better than a digital display. That is why I was hoping that I could
> get Aim Master to work. (If anyone can tell me what some suitable SNMP OIDs
> for aiming an antenna, I will try to update Aim Master. Perhaps this would
> be a better solution.)
>
> Herb
>
> On Jan 29, 2020, at 4:32 PM, Kenny Richards <richark at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Herb,
>
> The approach which has always been used when I have been involved uses the
> output of /interface wireless scan 0, but it really requires two people.
>
> 1) person on tower preps the dish and does their best to aim it in the
> right direction. They report to ground (usually via a HT) that they are
> ready.
> 2) person on ground that is logged into radio, issues the scan command.
> 3) The ground person at this point is in control and should be doing
> almost all the talking. (which is good, because the person the tower needs
> both hands aiming the dish)
> 4) ground person reads the signal level, whether they see a connection or
> not, etc. They need todo this continually, because the person on the
> tower is completely operating on what they are being told. This means you
> keep swing in one direction until the ground person tells you to stop and
> go back the other direction.
> 5) remember that you will need to adjust horizontal and vertical
> multiple times to fine tune the signal.
> 6) also remember the scan sucks and will 'stop' updating when it looses
> the signal.
> 7) the tower person has to try and go as slow and steady as possible when
> adjusting.
>
> If you are using a professional tower climber, get a set of FRS radios or
> something to send up with them. I'd be surprised if the pro's haven't done
> this general alignment before, but that is just a guess.
>
> Kenny
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 29, 2020 at 1:53 PM Herb Weiner <herbw at wiskit.com> wrote:
>
>> In the near future, Oregon HamWAN (http://www.oregonhamwan.org) will
>> be deploying three sectors and an uplink (aimed at Larch Mountain) on the
>> KOIN Tower in Southwest Portland.
>>
>> What is the best way to optimize the aiming of our uplink? I am familiar
>> with the use of /interface wireless scan 0, but it is difficult to
>> optimize the signal strength using the output of this command.
>>
>> Aim Master (https://github.com/HamWAN/aim) looked like a promising
>> approach, but it appears as if this has not been updated since 2016, and it
>> appears to use SNMP MIBs that are no longer supported by the current
>> firmware.
>>
>> We need to provide instructions for a professional tower climber that
>> will probably have limited, if any, experience with HamWAN.
>>
>> Thanks for your suggestions.
>>
>> Herb, AA7HW
>>
>>
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