CWX Equipment (was Re: [NCLUG] Mesa Networks (broadband))

[Michael Milligan]

John L. Bass wrote:
> 
> More than most people want to know ... but here goes:
> 
> Required list of every member is:
> 
>     Conifer T2400 24dbi mesh parabolic dish	New price is $90-135
>     Aironet 4800 series radio			used price $50-400
>     LMR-400 cable N-male to radio fitting	New price is $25-200
>     Coop startup fees                           Currently $250
> 

John, what are the issues using a standard recent-model 802.11b radio 
(pushing 100mW)?  E.g., Cisco 350, Zcomax, Symbol, Senao (okay, it's 200mW, 
so drop the power), ...  some of these can be picked up pretty cheap (except 
the Cisco).

For cabling... you can get pigtails (e.g., MMCX connector to N-Male 
connector short cable for Cisco/Aironet cards) and cables to get to the 
antenna from www.fab-corp.com with good quality and decent pricing.  19 inch 
pigtails go for $21.  25 feet of LMR-400 "jumper" cable w/N-Male to N-Female 
goes for $40.  For the roll-your-own types out there, LMR-400 is 0.62/foot, 
LMR-600 is 0.83/foot.  (What's the difference you might ask?  LMR-400 loses 
signal at about 6.5 dB per 100 feet, LMR-600 at about 4.5 dB per 100 feet, 
so depending on how far your antenna is from your radio, choose 
appropriately...)  N-type connectors go for about $4.50.

I can't help hedge against the other costs.  ;-)

ASCII art for the confused:
(this is my installed configuration, which I believe is typical)

  \  Dish             "Jumper" cable                 Pigtail      Linux
   \                                                               Box
    \    Lightning                                              _________
     \   Arrester                                              |         |
   |--|---[<=>]---------------//------------------> ]---------> ]radio   |
     /    N | N                                   N N        M |M        |
    /     | | |                                   | |        M |M        |
   /      M | M                                   F M        C |C        |
  /       a | a                                   e a        X |X        |
          l | l                                   m l          |_________|
          e | e                                   a e
            |_______                              l
        outside     |    inside                   e
       (probably)   |
                    V
Regards,
Mike

PS: John, they've even got LMR-1700 for $6.95/foot!  Hoowahh!

-- 
Michael Milligan  --  Free Agent  --  milli at acmeps.com