Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM
Tom. Here is a status update on my efforts at accessing the Gold Mountain HamWAN. I went out with my two MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modems, one of my dishes, and a sector antenna this morning. I tested from the corner of E Collins Road and Babydoll Rd, at 47.548349, -122.5939, here in east Port Orchard. From this location I can see the flashing white beacon on Gold Mountain. I get a good signal on the mesh dish: -69 dBm. The vertically polarized sector antenna (SA58-90-17-WB) has 10 dB less signal, but the modem will "associate" with the network. Pointing is not critical--I've got about 15 degrees each way, a 30-degree sweep where I have reasonable signal (around -80 dBm). This is at ground level. It should work when I hoist it into the trees behind my house. I have two modems; one has a broken back-cover latch and is on v6.12. It associates well, even on the sector antenna. Unfortunately, I can't seal the back connection because of the broken latch. My other, water-resistant modem I updated from v6.12 to v6.32.3. I did not do a full reset when updating the client configuration from the HamWAN website. I could not get this one to acquire an IP address from the network, even on the dish antenna. I went back to my hamshack (I was wet and tired and water was fritzing my laptop keyboard!). I reset and reloaded this modem to try again tomorrow. Does RouterOS firmware matter? When I put the sector antenna/modem into the tree I will use a rope on top from which to hang the combination antenna/modem, and two ropes at the bottom of the sector antenna (one on each left and right side) to steer the antenna. I have shielded, outdoor CAT6 cable (Ubiquity ToughCable Carrier) as a downlead. We're hams, we experiment! 73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398
Evening Dan, Sounds like you had some good luck today! In general I don’t think the versions should matter all too much, I haven’t see any reports of issues with getting a DHCP lease over version differences, though S2 at gold is running 6.32.3. Since you upgraded, but didn’t re-evaluate the configuration, maybe there’s something funky in the config that happened with the update that made it not grab an IP. I’d double check there. Nigel
On Jan 16, 2016, at 18:41, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote:
Tom. Here is a status update on my efforts at accessing the Gold Mountain HamWAN. I went out with my two MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modems, one of my dishes, and a sector antenna this morning. I tested from the corner of E Collins Road and Babydoll Rd, at 47.548349, -122.5939, here in east Port Orchard. From this location I can see the flashing white beacon on Gold Mountain.
I get a good signal on the mesh dish: -69 dBm. The vertically polarized sector antenna (SA58-90-17-WB) has 10 dB less signal, but the modem will "associate" with the network. Pointing is not critical--I've got about 15 degrees each way, a 30-degree sweep where I have reasonable signal (around -80 dBm). This is at ground level. It should work when I hoist it into the trees behind my house.
I have two modems; one has a broken back-cover latch and is on v6.12. It associates well, even on the sector antenna. Unfortunately, I can't seal the back connection because of the broken latch.
My other, water-resistant modem I updated from v6.12 to v6.32.3. I did not do a full reset when updating the client configuration from the HamWAN website. I could not get this one to acquire an IP address from the network, even on the dish antenna. I went back to my hamshack (I was wet and tired and water was fritzing my laptop keyboard!). I reset and reloaded this modem to try again tomorrow. Does RouterOS firmware matter?
When I put the sector antenna/modem into the tree I will use a rope on top from which to hang the combination antenna/modem, and two ropes at the bottom of the sector antenna (one on each left and right side) to steer the antenna. I have shielded, outdoor CAT6 cable (Ubiquity ToughCable Carrier) as a downlead. We're hams, we experiment!
73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
Good to hear about the signal at your location! I kinda thought LoS from there would be more than -69dBm though. Gold-S2 is also a MIMO (dual polarity) sector, so you can also look at QRT-5 (11n version only!), or try rotating your single polarity antennas 90 degrees to see if the other polarity works better for you. --Bart On 1/16/2016 9:49 PM, Nigel Vander Houwen wrote:
Evening Dan,
Sounds like you had some good luck today! In general I don’t think the versions should matter all too much, I haven’t see any reports of issues with getting a DHCP lease over version differences, though S2 at gold is running 6.32.3. Since you upgraded, but didn’t re-evaluate the configuration, maybe there’s something funky in the config that happened with the update that made it not grab an IP. I’d double check there.
Nigel
On Jan 16, 2016, at 18:41, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com <mailto:danra995@yahoo.com>> wrote:
Tom. Here is a status update on my efforts at accessing the Gold Mountain HamWAN. I went out with my two MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modems, one of my dishes, and a sector antenna this morning. I tested from the corner of E Collins Road and Babydoll Rd, at 47.548349, -122.5939, here in east Port Orchard. From this location I can see the flashing white beacon on Gold Mountain.
I get a good signal on the mesh dish: -69 dBm. The vertically polarized sector antenna (SA58-90-17-WB) has 10 dB less signal, but the modem will "associate" with the network. Pointing is not critical--I've got about 15 degrees each way, a 30-degree sweep where I have reasonable signal (around -80 dBm). This is at ground level. It should work when I hoist it into the trees behind my house.
I have two modems; one has a broken back-cover latch and is on v6.12. It associates well, even on the sector antenna. Unfortunately, I can't seal the back connection because of the broken latch.
My other, water-resistant modem I updated from v6.12 to v6.32.3. I did not do a full reset when updating the client configuration from the HamWAN website. I could not get this one to acquire an IP address from the network, even on the dish antenna. I went back to my hamshack (I was wet and tired and water was fritzing my laptop keyboard!). I reset and reloaded this modem to try again tomorrow. Does RouterOS firmware matter?
When I put the sector antenna/modem into the tree I will use a rope on top from which to hang the combination antenna/modem, and two ropes at the bottom of the sector antenna (one on each left and right side) to steer the antenna. I have shielded, outdoor CAT6 cable (Ubiquity ToughCable Carrier) as a downlead. We're hams, we experiment!
73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR@hamwan.org> http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
Bart,Thanks for the advice on the QRT-5. It looks very nice; I might upgrade to that. With my vertically polarized sector antenna I found -77 dBm this afternoon, and when I rotated the antenna 90 degrees (now horizontal) my best was -88 dBm. Again, this is a line-of-sight path at 5 feet above the ground (possible Fresnel-zone problem?). Today I had good results with my MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modem (reprogrammed with v6.32.3) and the sector antenna. This time my connection attempt was mostly okay! I could see network activity on tool > traceroute 8.8.8.8 (see attached), and I could ping google.com, averaging around 80 ms (median about 40 ms). However, I could not get an IP address from the network. Any ideas why? So, next it's up into the trees behind my house (tomorrow). Already I have a dacron rope there--placed with my trusty KR4LO Air Boss pneumatic line launcher. Down the tree and into the hamshack it's 330 feet, so I'm right at the edge of the maximum cable run. Definitely, I will be injecting 24 Vdc! 73 from Dan at K7MM509 330 6398 _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
Dan, I think there’s a bit of confusion here. From what you’re describing about pinging google, and the screenshot you provided, the modem is getting an IP from the network properly, and has full communications. I think what you’re seeing is that your laptop/computer connected to the modem may not be getting an IP address, which wouldn’t come from the network, but instead from the modem itself. In step 12 of the client configuration instructions we have you disable the modem from providing DHCP to devices to make sure the modem doesn’t interfere with your home network if you plug it in there. If you plug the modem into your home network, you can give it an IP on your network on the modem’s ethernet interface, or if you plan on it being a separate network where DHCP wouldn’t interfere, you can add that back to the ethernet interface as well. This latter scenario is described in the “Next Steps” section of the client configuration instructions page, but we don’t make it the default because everyone’s use case will be different. Nigel
On Jan 17, 2016, at 18:07, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote:
Bart, Thanks for the advice on the QRT-5. It looks very nice; I might upgrade to that. With my vertically polarized sector antenna I found -77 dBm this afternoon, and when I rotated the antenna 90 degrees (now horizontal) my best was -88 dBm. Again, this is a line-of-sight path at 5 feet above the ground (possible Fresnel-zone problem?).
Today I had good results with my MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modem (reprogrammed with v6.32.3) and the sector antenna. This time my connection attempt was mostly okay! I could see network activity on tool > traceroute 8.8.8.8 (see attached), and I could ping google.com, averaging around 80 ms (median about 40 ms). However, I could not get an IP address from the network. Any ideas why?
So, next it's up into the trees behind my house (tomorrow). Already I have a dacron rope there--placed with my trusty KR4LO Air Boss pneumatic line launcher. Down the tree and into the hamshack it's 330 feet, so I'm right at the edge of the maximum cable run. Definitely, I will be injecting 24 Vdc!
73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR@hamwan.org> http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr <http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr>
<Sector Antenna Metal 5SHPn .JPG><K7MM Vert Sector Metal S5 Collins Rd 20160117_1644 .png>_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
Nigel,Of course, now that you explain it, it makes sense. Thank you. More to report tomorrow!73 from Dan at K7MM509 330 6398 From: Nigel Vander Houwen <nigel@nigelvh.com> To: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2016 6:30 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM Dan, I think there’s a bit of confusion here. From what you’re describing about pinging google, and the screenshot you provided, the modem is getting an IP from the network properly, and has full communications. I think what you’re seeing is that your laptop/computer connected to the modem may not be getting an IP address, which wouldn’t come from the network, but instead from the modem itself. In step 12 of the client configuration instructions we have you disable the modem from providing DHCP to devices to make sure the modem doesn’t interfere with your home network if you plug it in there. If you plug the modem into your home network, you can give it an IP on your network on the modem’s ethernet interface, or if you plan on it being a separate network where DHCP wouldn’t interfere, you can add that back to the ethernet interface as well. This latter scenario is described in the “Next Steps” section of the client configuration instructions page, but we don’t make it the default because everyone’s use case will be different. Nigel On Jan 17, 2016, at 18:07, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote: Bart,Thanks for the advice on the QRT-5. It looks very nice; I might upgrade to that. With my vertically polarized sector antenna I found -77 dBm this afternoon, and when I rotated the antenna 90 degrees (now horizontal) my best was -88 dBm. Again, this is a line-of-sight path at 5 feet above the ground (possible Fresnel-zone problem?). Today I had good results with my MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modem (reprogrammed with v6.32.3) and the sector antenna. This time my connection attempt was mostly okay! I could see network activity on tool > traceroute 8.8.8.8 (see attached), and I could ping google.com, averaging around 80 ms (median about 40 ms). However, I could not get an IP address from the network. Any ideas why? So, next it's up into the trees behind my house (tomorrow). Already I have a dacron rope there--placed with my trusty KR4LO Air Boss pneumatic line launcher. Down the tree and into the hamshack it's 330 feet, so I'm right at the edge of the maximum cable run. Definitely, I will be injecting 24 Vdc! 73 from Dan at K7MM509 330 6398 _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr <Sector Antenna Metal 5SHPn .JPG><K7MM Vert Sector Metal S5 Collins Rd 20160117_1644 .png>_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
It's working! I had the sector antenna/Metal S5HPn high in the tree at the peak of the (leafless) canopy with -88 dB signal and lots of lost packets. I tried a position under the canopy (after a little chain-saw work clearing branches for the positioning ropes)—voila: -82 dB received signal with good, fast timing and few lost packets. It's 330 feet of shielded cable into the K7MM hamshack. When I transmit on 80 meters it reboots the modem--the cable is parallel with my off-center-fed dipole. I ordered the QRT-5 integrated panel and MIMO radio, so we will see how much better is the signal on this new hardware.73 from Dan at K7MM509 330 6398 From: Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> To: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2016 6:50 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM Nigel,Of course, now that you explain it, it makes sense. Thank you. More to report tomorrow!73 from Dan at K7MM509 330 6398 From: Nigel Vander Houwen <nigel@nigelvh.com> To: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2016 6:30 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM Dan, I think there’s a bit of confusion here. From what you’re describing about pinging google, and the screenshot you provided, the modem is getting an IP from the network properly, and has full communications. I think what you’re seeing is that your laptop/computer connected to the modem may not be getting an IP address, which wouldn’t come from the network, but instead from the modem itself. In step 12 of the client configuration instructions we have you disable the modem from providing DHCP to devices to make sure the modem doesn’t interfere with your home network if you plug it in there. If you plug the modem into your home network, you can give it an IP on your network on the modem’s ethernet interface, or if you plan on it being a separate network where DHCP wouldn’t interfere, you can add that back to the ethernet interface as well. This latter scenario is described in the “Next Steps” section of the client configuration instructions page, but we don’t make it the default because everyone’s use case will be different. Nigel On Jan 17, 2016, at 18:07, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote: Bart,Thanks for the advice on the QRT-5. It looks very nice; I might upgrade to that. With my vertically polarized sector antenna I found -77 dBm this afternoon, and when I rotated the antenna 90 degrees (now horizontal) my best was -88 dBm. Again, this is a line-of-sight path at 5 feet above the ground (possible Fresnel-zone problem?). Today I had good results with my MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modem (reprogrammed with v6.32.3) and the sector antenna. This time my connection attempt was mostly okay! I could see network activity on tool > traceroute 8.8.8.8 (see attached), and I could ping google.com, averaging around 80 ms (median about 40 ms). However, I could not get an IP address from the network. Any ideas why? So, next it's up into the trees behind my house (tomorrow). Already I have a dacron rope there--placed with my trusty KR4LO Air Boss pneumatic line launcher. Down the tree and into the hamshack it's 330 feet, so I'm right at the edge of the maximum cable run. Definitely, I will be injecting 24 Vdc! 73 from Dan at K7MM509 330 6398 _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr <Sector Antenna Metal 5SHPn .JPG><K7MM Vert Sector Metal S5 Collins Rd 20160117_1644 .png>_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
What antenna is giving you that -82dBm reading? That's quite low for a LoS shot. I hope we don't have a vertical alignment problem with the sector. --Bart On 1/18/2016 6:44 PM, Daniel Ransom via PSDR wrote:
It's working! I had the sector antenna/Metal S5HPn high in the tree at the peak of the (leafless) canopy with -88 dB signal and lots of lost packets. I tried a position under the canopy (after a little chain-saw work clearing branches for the positioning ropes)—voila: -82 dB received signal with good, fast timing and few lost packets. It's 330 feet of shielded cable into the K7MM hamshack. When I transmit on 80 meters it reboots the modem--the cable is parallel with my off-center-fed dipole.
I ordered the QRT-5 integrated panel and MIMO radio, so we will see how much better is the signal on this new hardware. 73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398
------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> *To:* Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> *Sent:* Sunday, January 17, 2016 6:50 PM *Subject:* Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM
Nigel, Of course, now that you explain it, it makes sense. Thank you. More to report tomorrow! 73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398
------------------------------------------------------------------------ *From:* Nigel Vander Houwen <nigel@nigelvh.com> *To:* Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> *Sent:* Sunday, January 17, 2016 6:30 PM *Subject:* Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM
Dan,
I think there’s a bit of confusion here. From what you’re describing about pinging google, and the screenshot you provided, the modem is getting an IP from the network properly, and has full communications.
I think what you’re seeing is that your laptop/computer connected to the modem may not be getting an IP address, which wouldn’t come from the network, but instead from the modem itself.
In step 12 of the client configuration instructions we have you disable the modem from providing DHCP to devices to make sure the modem doesn’t interfere with your home network if you plug it in there. If you plug the modem into your home network, you can give it an IP on your network on the modem’s ethernet interface, or if you plan on it being a separate network where DHCP wouldn’t interfere, you can add that back to the ethernet interface as well.
This latter scenario is described in the “Next Steps” section of the client configuration instructions page, but we don’t make it the default because everyone’s use case will be different.
Nigel
On Jan 17, 2016, at 18:07, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com <mailto:danra995@yahoo.com>> wrote:
Bart, Thanks for the advice on the QRT-5. It looks very nice; I might upgrade to that. With my vertically polarized sector antenna I found -77 dBm this afternoon, and when I rotated the antenna 90 degrees (now horizontal) my best was -88 dBm. Again, this is a line-of-sight path at 5 feet above the ground (possible Fresnel-zone problem?).
Today I had good results with my MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modem (reprogrammed with v6.32.3) and the sector antenna. This time my connection attempt was mostly okay! I could see network activity on tool > traceroute 8.8.8.8 (see attached), and I could ping google.com <http://google.com/>, averaging around 80 ms (median about 40 ms). However, I could not get an IP address from the network. Any ideas why?
So, next it's up into the trees behind my house (tomorrow). Already I have a dacron rope there--placed with my trusty KR4LO Air Boss pneumatic line launcher. Down the tree and into the hamshack it's 330 feet, so I'm right at the edge of the maximum cable run. Definitely, I will be injecting 24 Vdc!
73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR@hamwan.org> http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
<Sector Antenna Metal 5SHPn .JPG><K7MM Vert Sector Metal S5 Collins Rd 20160117_1644 .png>_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR@hamwan.org> http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org <mailto:PSDR@hamwan.org> http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
Bart,The antenna now at -82 dBm is the Laird SA58-90-17-WB vertically polarized sector antenna--the one in the photograph. At my test reference spot, at 6-feet above ground level, this antenna (Laird SA58-90-17-WB) has -77 dBm as the best LOS signal. At this reference spot, on the tripod at ground level, the best LOS signal that I get on my (Laird) mesh dish is -69 dBm. I don't have a reading from my Poynting Antennas K-GRID-003-06 I got too tired (and it's too dark) to traipse through the mini-forest in my back yard. I will adjust tomorrow (in the morning before it starts raining). 73 from Dan at K7MM From: Bart Kus <me@bartk.us> To: psdr@hamwan.org Sent: Monday, January 18, 2016 8:10 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM What antenna is giving you that -82dBm reading? That's quite low for a LoS shot. I hope we don't have a vertical alignment problem with the sector. --Bart On 1/18/2016 6:44 PM, Daniel Ransom via PSDR wrote: It's working! I had the sector antenna/Metal S5HPn high in the tree at the peak of the (leafless) canopy with -88 dB signal and lots of lost packets. I tried a position under the canopy (after a little chain-saw work clearing branches for the positioning ropes)—voila: -82 dB received signal with good, fast timing and few lost packets. It's 330 feet of shielded cable into the K7MM hamshack. When I transmit on 80 meters it reboots the modem--the cable is parallel with my off-center-fed dipole. I ordered the QRT-5 integrated panel and MIMO radio, so we will see how much better is the signal on this new hardware. 73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 From: Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> To: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2016 6:50 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM Nigel, Of course, now that you explain it, it makes sense. Thank you. More to report tomorrow! 73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 From: Nigel Vander Houwen <nigel@nigelvh.com> To: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2016 6:30 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM Dan, I think there’s a bit of confusion here. From what you’re describing about pinging google, and the screenshot you provided, the modem is getting an IP from the network properly, and has full communications. I think what you’re seeing is that your laptop/computer connected to the modem may not be getting an IP address, which wouldn’t come from the network, but instead from the modem itself. In step 12 of the client configuration instructions we have you disable the modem from providing DHCP to devices to make sure the modem doesn’t interfere with your home network if you plug it in there. If you plug the modem into your home network, you can give it an IP on your network on the modem’s ethernet interface, or if you plan on it being a separate network where DHCP wouldn’t interfere, you can add that back to the ethernet interface as well. This latter scenario is described in the “Next Steps” section of the client configuration instructions page, but we don’t make it the default because everyone’s use case will be different. Nigel On Jan 17, 2016, at 18:07, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote: Bart, Thanks for the advice on the QRT-5. It looks very nice; I might upgrade to that. With my vertically polarized sector antenna I found -77 dBm this afternoon, and when I rotated the antenna 90 degrees (now horizontal) my best was -88 dBm. Again, this is a line-of-sight path at 5 feet above the ground (possible Fresnel-zone problem?). Today I had good results with my MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modem (reprogrammed with v6.32.3) and the sector antenna. This time my connection attempt was mostly okay! I could see network activity on tool > traceroute 8.8.8.8 (see attached), and I could ping google.com, averaging around 80 ms (median about 40 ms). However, I could not get an IP address from the network. Any ideas why? So, next it's up into the trees behind my house (tomorrow). Already I have a dacron rope there--placed with my trusty KR4LO Air Boss pneumatic line launcher. Down the tree and into the hamshack it's 330 feet, so I'm right at the edge of the maximum cable run. Definitely, I will be injecting 24 Vdc! 73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr <Sector Antenna Metal 5SHPn .JPG><K7MM Vert Sector Metal S5 Collins Rd 20160117_1644 .png>_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
Today I put up my new QRT5 MIMO panel (does MikroTik not know that QRT means to stop sending?!!!). I have better signal strength at -80 dBm. The signal strength on the Laird SA58-90-17-WB/Metal S5HPn has been slipping to around -84 dBm today. So, by going MIMO, I got at least 3 dB better in actual signal strength on the QRT5--should it be more?. Either the 3dB or the MIMO (or both) give me slightly better reliability on the QRT5, where the Worst times for the hops in the Tools > Traceroute display have less variance than on the sector/Metal combination. Note: it's easier to point the QRT5 with my two positioning down ropes (one on each side of the bottom corners). The RSSI signal strength display is BIG. I can position the panel with the ropes while peaking for the most bars. It's like flying a kite or flying those U-line model airplanes (remember those)! I have attached photos of the QRT5 panel hanging in the tree, and of the Winbox capture. 73 from Dan at K7MM From: Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> To: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Monday, January 18, 2016 9:48 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM Bart,The antenna now at -82 dBm is the Laird SA58-90-17-WB vertically polarized sector antenna--the one in the photograph. At my test reference spot, at 6-feet above ground level, this antenna (Laird SA58-90-17-WB) has -77 dBm as the best LOS signal. At this reference spot, on the tripod at ground level, the best LOS signal that I get on my (Laird) mesh dish is -69 dBm. I don't have a reading from my Poynting Antennas K-GRID-003-06 I got too tired (and it's too dark) to traipse through the mini-forest in my back yard. I will adjust tomorrow (in the morning before it starts raining). 73 from Dan at K7MM From: Bart Kus <me@bartk.us> To: psdr@hamwan.org Sent: Monday, January 18, 2016 8:10 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM What antenna is giving you that -82dBm reading? That's quite low for a LoS shot. I hope we don't have a vertical alignment problem with the sector. --Bart On 1/18/2016 6:44 PM, Daniel Ransom via PSDR wrote: It's working! I had the sector antenna/Metal S5HPn high in the tree at the peak of the (leafless) canopy with -88 dB signal and lots of lost packets. I tried a position under the canopy (after a little chain-saw work clearing branches for the positioning ropes)—voila: -82 dB received signal with good, fast timing and few lost packets. It's 330 feet of shielded cable into the K7MM hamshack. When I transmit on 80 meters it reboots the modem--the cable is parallel with my off-center-fed dipole. I ordered the QRT-5 integrated panel and MIMO radio, so we will see how much better is the signal on this new hardware. 73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 From: Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> To: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2016 6:50 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM Nigel, Of course, now that you explain it, it makes sense. Thank you. More to report tomorrow! 73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 From: Nigel Vander Houwen <nigel@nigelvh.com> To: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2016 6:30 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM Dan, I think there’s a bit of confusion here. From what you’re describing about pinging google, and the screenshot you provided, the modem is getting an IP from the network properly, and has full communications. I think what you’re seeing is that your laptop/computer connected to the modem may not be getting an IP address, which wouldn’t come from the network, but instead from the modem itself. In step 12 of the client configuration instructions we have you disable the modem from providing DHCP to devices to make sure the modem doesn’t interfere with your home network if you plug it in there. If you plug the modem into your home network, you can give it an IP on your network on the modem’s ethernet interface, or if you plan on it being a separate network where DHCP wouldn’t interfere, you can add that back to the ethernet interface as well. This latter scenario is described in the “Next Steps” section of the client configuration instructions page, but we don’t make it the default because everyone’s use case will be different. Nigel On Jan 17, 2016, at 18:07, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote: Bart, Thanks for the advice on the QRT-5. It looks very nice; I might upgrade to that. With my vertically polarized sector antenna I found -77 dBm this afternoon, and when I rotated the antenna 90 degrees (now horizontal) my best was -88 dBm. Again, this is a line-of-sight path at 5 feet above the ground (possible Fresnel-zone problem?). Today I had good results with my MikroTik Metal 5SHPn transceiver modem (reprogrammed with v6.32.3) and the sector antenna. This time my connection attempt was mostly okay! I could see network activity on tool > traceroute 8.8.8.8 (see attached), and I could ping google.com, averaging around 80 ms (median about 40 ms). However, I could not get an IP address from the network. Any ideas why? So, next it's up into the trees behind my house (tomorrow). Already I have a dacron rope there--placed with my trusty KR4LO Air Boss pneumatic line launcher. Down the tree and into the hamshack it's 330 feet, so I'm right at the edge of the maximum cable run. Definitely, I will be injecting 24 Vdc! 73 from Dan at K7MM 509 330 6398 _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr <Sector Antenna Metal 5SHPn .JPG><K7MM Vert Sector Metal S5 Collins Rd 20160117_1644 .png>_______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr _______________________________________________ PSDR mailing list PSDR@hamwan.org http://mail.hamwan.net/mailman/listinfo/psdr
On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 6:12 PM, Daniel Ransom via PSDR <psdr@hamwan.org> wrote:
Today I put up my new QRT5 MIMO panel (does MikroTik not know that QRT means to stop sending?!!!). I have better signal strength at -80 dBm. The signal strength on the Laird SA58-90-17-WB/Metal S5HPn has been slipping to around -84 dBm today. So, by going MIMO, I got at least 3 dB better in actual signal strength on the QRT5--should it be more?. Either the 3dB or the MIMO (or both) give me slightly better reliability on the QRT5, where the Worst times for the hops in the Tools > Traceroute display have less variance than on the sector/Metal combination.
Dan, Your signal is just barely on the margin of functional. Hopefully this can be resolved. Maybe the wind / tree movement has changed your aim for the worse. Looking at the stats on the sector, it looks like you don't have MIMO enabled on the QRT5. You could stand to gain some better performance by enabling this. What do you see when you run /interface wireless print advanced? I'd expect to see tx-chains=0,1 rx-chains=0,1. You can set this if needed: /interface wireless set 0 tx-chains=0,1 rx-chains=0,1 Tom KD7LXL
Tom,Thanks for the tip! The MIMO function is on: [admin@K7MM-QRT5->Gold] >> interface wireless print advanced Flags: X - disabled, R - running 0 R name="wlan1-gateway" mtu=1500 mac-address=E4:8D:8C:F6:7F:34 arp=enabled ... ht-supported-mcs=mcs-0,mcs-1,mcs-2,mcs-3,mcs-4,mcs-5,mcs-6,mcs-7,mcs-8,mcs- 9,mcs-10,mcs-11,mcs-12,mcs-13,mcs-14,mcs-15,mcs-16,mcs-17,mcs-18, mcs-19,mcs-20,mcs-21,mcs-22,mcs-23 ht-basic-mcs=mcs-0,mcs-1,mcs-2,mcs-3,mcs-4,mcs-5,mcs-6,mcs-7 tx-chains=0,1 rx-chains=0,1 amsdu-limit=8192 amsdu-threshold=8192 tdma-period-size=2 nv2-queue-count=2 nv2-qos=default nv2-cell-radius=30 nv2-security=disabled ... I went back to the "south 40" and confirmed the aim and tilt. This afternoon my "kite" panel is getting -80 dBm. Next I tried to run on only the '0' and only the '1' antennas with the "interface wireless set 0 tx-chains=n and rx-chains=n" commands. The result: no signal. Is there another way to use only one antenna polarization for testing?73 from Dan at K7MM From: Tom Hayward <tom@tomh.us> To: Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com>; Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2016 11:03 AM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 6:12 PM, Daniel Ransom via PSDR <psdr@hamwan.org> wrote:
Today I put up my new QRT5 MIMO panel (does MikroTik not know that QRT means to stop sending?!!!). I have better signal strength at -80 dBm. The signal strength on the Laird SA58-90-17-WB/Metal S5HPn has been slipping to around -84 dBm today. So, by going MIMO, I got at least 3 dB better in actual signal strength on the QRT5--should it be more?. Either the 3dB or the MIMO (or both) give me slightly better reliability on the QRT5, where the Worst times for the hops in the Tools > Traceroute display have less variance than on the sector/Metal combination.
Dan, Your signal is just barely on the margin of functional. Hopefully this can be resolved. Maybe the wind / tree movement has changed your aim for the worse. Looking at the stats on the sector, it looks like you don't have MIMO enabled on the QRT5. You could stand to gain some better performance by enabling this. What do you see when you run /interface wireless print advanced? I'd expect to see tx-chains=0,1 rx-chains=0,1. You can set this if needed: /interface wireless set 0 tx-chains=0,1 rx-chains=0,1 Tom KD7LXL
On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 2:22 PM, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote:
Tom, Thanks for the tip! The MIMO function is on:
Very odd! Based on the received signal strength, it would appear only one chain is running.
Next I tried to run on only the '0' and only the '1' antennas with the "interface wireless set 0 tx-chains=n and rx-chains=n" commands. The result: no signal. Is there another way to use only one antenna polarization for testing?
This is the only way I know to choose a single chain. Tom KD7LXL
Tom,When I use a mesh dish and the Metal S5HPn, I get signal in only one plane at my test site at the corner of E Collins and Baby Doll Roads. Perhaps something is up (or down, in this case!).I'll do some additional testing with the dish later this week/weekend.73 from Dan at K7MM From: Tom Hayward <tom@tomh.us> To: Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> Cc: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2016 2:34 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 2:22 PM, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote:
Tom, Thanks for the tip! The MIMO function is on:
Very odd! Based on the received signal strength, it would appear only one chain is running.
Next I tried to run on only the '0' and only the '1' antennas with the "interface wireless set 0 tx-chains=n and rx-chains=n" commands. The result: no signal. Is there another way to use only one antenna polarization for testing?
This is the only way I know to choose a single chain. Tom KD7LXL
On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 3:42 PM, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote:
Tom, When I use a mesh dish and the Metal S5HPn, I get signal in only one plane at my test site at the corner of E Collins and Baby Doll Roads. Perhaps something is up (or down, in this case!).
Sounds like there could be a problem on the tower! Maybe one of the pigtails between the modem and antenna. We need to schedule a trip up there to install the other two sectors, so we should be able to perform any required maintenance at that time. Tom
Tom,Please let me know when you have scheduled the trip. I am glad to help! (This time I wont sprain my ankle, as I did on Haystack!)73 from Dan at K7MM509 330 6398 From: Tom Hayward <tom@tomh.us> To: Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> Cc: Puget Sound Data Ring <psdr@hamwan.org> Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2016 4:19 PM Subject: Re: [HamWAN PSDR] Kitsap County Gold Mountain HamWAN Attempts, Dish and Sector Antennas K7MM On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 3:42 PM, Daniel Ransom <danra995@yahoo.com> wrote:
Tom, When I use a mesh dish and the Metal S5HPn, I get signal in only one plane at my test site at the corner of E Collins and Baby Doll Roads. Perhaps something is up (or down, in this case!).
Sounds like there could be a problem on the tower! Maybe one of the pigtails between the modem and antenna. We need to schedule a trip up there to install the other two sectors, so we should be able to perform any required maintenance at that time. Tom
participants (4)
-
Bart Kus -
Daniel Ransom -
Nigel Vander Houwen -
Tom Hayward