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* Connecting to the network [1]
* Where can I get the equipment? [2]
* How do I get started? [3]
* Can I use my Apple Macintosh and/or Airport hardware or not? [4]
* How long can 802.11b wireless links go? [5]
* What\'s the closest node to my house/office/mountain hut? [6]
* When creating a node, how can you get the latitude and longitude
required for locfinder from the Melway street directory? [7]
* What is line of sight? [8]
* How do I plot a node on a Melway map using longitude and latitude
from locfinder? [9]
* How do I use a magnetic compass to determine the bearing to a
node? [10]
* What GPS format is required in the Create New Node Form? My GPS
has several Standard Formats [11]
* What is a Fresnel Zone? [12]
* How close or how far the two node has to be to establish
connection? [13]
-------------------------
CONNECTING TO THE NETWORK
Want details on what you need to get connected? You've come to the
right place! If your question is not here, try looking through all of
the questions which are listed on TheEvolvingFAQ [14].
-------------------------
WHERE CAN I GET THE EQUIPMENT?
OFF THE SHELF AT A RETAILER, OR MAKE IT YOURSELF.
Why not start by looking at the TheIncredibleBulk [15]
Have a look at the HomeBrew [16] page to see things you can make for
yourself.
If it's wireless gear you want to buy, HardwareSuppliers [17] are not
far away.
Be sure to check the HardwareDatabase [18] first.
-------------------------
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
SEE THE GETTING STARTED [19] HOWTO.
-------------------------
CAN I USE MY APPLE MACINTOSH AND/OR AIRPORT HARDWARE OR NOT?
YES.
You sure can! You can even get wireless with your Newton. Check out
the Apple Wiki page [20].
Macs running OSX, Linux or *BSD are useful for running higher-level
nodes which may require Unix-based routing tools. However, for a
simple client node, you can get away with a much lower-end machine
running the Classic MacOS [21] - see AppleMacMinimumSpecs [22]
Apple proposed the original 802.11b [23] standard . Their version of
the hardware is marketed under AirPort [24] brand. It is completely
interoperable with other 802.11b equipment and networks.
You can connect to a Windows [25] or Linux [26] based Access Point
[27] or Client [28] with your Airport hardware, and connect Win/Linux
clients to an Airport base station. The Lucent/Avaya/Cabletron/Orinoco
[29] cards use the exact same chipset as the Airport cards, and are an
inexpensive substitute if your Mac has PCMCIA [30] slots. In fact,
apart from the fancy case, the original Graphite Airport base station
was just a 486 single-board computer running Linux, with an Orinoco
PCMCIA card.
-------------------------
HOW LONG CAN 802.11B WIRELESS LINKS GO?
ANYWHERE FROM 100M TO 50KM DEPENDING ON CONDITIONS, UP TO 15KM IS
ACHIEVABLE BY MOST.
It depends on many factors such as what the terrain is like between
either end of the link, the quality of the antennas in use, etc.
NodeGDW [31] was running a marginal quality link of approximately 50km
to NodeGHO [32] for a length of time.
With enough power the only limit is the curve of the earth.
Unfortunately, there are laws governing power output. Personally I've
seen a guy doing 17km links, some Perth guys did 25km, O'Reilly says
33km links are theoretically possible [33] and some guys in Spain [34]
have done 70.5km without any kind of power amplification. Granted, all
of these links had very good line of sight to each other.
But some believe the link is unreliable after 15km with default
settings, at 11mb/s, but lower speeds can go farther. Distance Limits
for 802.11 [35] has further information.
-------------------------
WHAT\'S THE CLOSEST NODE TO MY HOUSE/OFFICE/MOUNTAIN HUT?
TAKE A LOOK AT LOCFINDER [36] AND THE REGIONALGROUPS [37].
-------------------------
WHEN CREATING A NODE, HOW CAN YOU GET THE LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE
REQUIRED FOR LOCFINDER FROM THE MELWAY STREET DIRECTORY?
INTERPOLATE USING THE RED LINES, THEN CONVERT FROM AMG.
The links for looking up geographic coordinates on your node editing
page (that is, the _automatically_ or _manually_ links) may not work
if you have set your browser to suppress those annoying server-side
pop-up advertisements. Even if the links are working, you may not be
able to get a result from the _automatically_ link or have difficulty
finding your street on the _manually_ link. The following method
produces comparable results and is provided for hackheads like myself
who enjoy a little calculator play.
The Melway street directory shows the Australian Map Grid (AMG) with
fine, red, dotted lines at 1000 m intervals on the ground or 50 mm on
the page. Where each red line intersects with the map border, small
black numbers indicate the Easting ordinate (across the top and bottom
of the map) and the Northing ordinate (up the sides of each map).
Unfortunately locfinder 2.0 does not use AMG co-ordinates, so you
have to convert them to geographic coordinates -- latitude (parallel
rings running horizontally around the earth) and longitude (rings
running vertically around the earth and converging at the North and
South poles). You can convert AMG to geographic coordinates with
Redfearn's Formula.
Since it is unlikely that your node lies exactly on a red AMG line,
you will have to get out your millimetre ruler to interpolate the
correct Easting.
* Work out your Easting ordinate by interpolation.
* Find the two vertical Easting lines that your site lies between.
(For example, my house lies between 332 and 333.)
* Measure the distance from the lower-valued line to your site in
millimetres, multiply by 20, pad with leading zeros to make a 3-digit
number if necessary, and append to the lower-valued easting value.
(For example, my house is 7 mm east of 332, 7 X 20 = 140, hence 332140
for an interpolated easting.)
* Work out your Northing ordinate.
* Find the two horizontal Northing lines that your site lies between.
(For example, my house lies between 5809 and 5810.)
* Measure from the lower-valued line to your site in millimetres,
multiply by 20, pad with leading zeros to make a 3-digit number if
necessary, and append to the lower-valued northing value. (For
example, my house is 31 mm north of 5809 , 31 X 20 = 620, hence
5809620 for an interpolated northing.)
* Calculate your geographic coordinates.
* In any browser, go to
Redfearn\'s Formula [38] for Grid to Geographic conversions.
* Enter text in the Point Name text box to identify this point on the
results page -- useful if you print out the page and store it. Your
node name would be an obvious choice!
* Complete the Easting and Northing boxes with the values calculated
above.
* Type _55_ in the Zone text box and click Submit Data.
The Geoscience Australia site returns latitude and longitude in
degrees, minutes, and decimal seconds.
Note: For those outside the Melbourne metropolitan area, Zone 54
lies between long. 138�° (between Kangaroo Island and Cape
Jervis, SA) and 144�° (Winchelsea, VIC). Zone 55 extends from
long. 144�° (Winchelsea, VIC) to 155�° (just beyond the
easternmost point of Victoria at Cape Howe or Gabo Island).
* Convert degrees, minutes, and seconds to decimal degrees
* The latitude and longitude needs to be converted to decimal
degrees for locfinder. For example, the AMG coordinates for my house
at lat. -37�° 50' 43.53603" and long. 145�° 5' 31.85668"
need to be converted to lat. -37.8454�° and long.
145.0922�°. Many scientific and engineering calculators have an
hours.minutes.seconds-to-hours (decimal) function which can do this.
Otherwise, do the following steps.
* Divide the decimal seconds by 60 to convert them to decimal
minutes, and add them to the whole number of minutes. For example, for
lat. -37�° 50' 43.53603", do 43.53603 / 60 = 0.7256; 50 +
0.7256 = 50.7256 decimal minutes. For long. 145�° 5' 31.85668",
do 31.85668 / 60 = 0.5309; 5 + 0.5309 = 5.5309.
* Divide the decimal minutes by 60 to convert them to decimal
degrees, and add them to the ABSOLUTE whole number of degrees, then
apply the correct sign. For example, for lat. -37�° 50'
43.53603", do 50.7256 / 60 = 0.8454; 37 + 0.8454 = 37.8454�°;
apply sign -37.8454�°. For long. 145�° 5' 31.85668", do
5.5309 / 60 = 0.0922; 145 + 0.0922 = 145.0922�°; apply sign
+145.0922�°.
* Create or update your node record in Locfinder [39]
Contributed by Hedley Finger, NodeGFK [40].
-------------------------
WHAT IS LINE OF SIGHT?
THE IMAGINARY LINE BETWEEN TWO ANTENNAS FOR A WIRELESS LINK.
We have a more detailed description [41] including some info on what
a _fresnel zone_ is.
-------------------------
HOW DO I PLOT A NODE ON A MELWAY MAP USING LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE FROM
LOCFINDER?
Victorians can enter the address of your location and search. [42]
-------------------------
HOW DO I USE A MAGNETIC COMPASS TO DETERMINE THE BEARING TO A NODE?
In Melbourne, Magnetic North is 11 (eleven) degrees east of True
North. Locfinder [43] gives bearings relative to True North. So if
Locfinder [44] says a node is at bearing of 90 degrees from you, it it
will be a bearing of 79 degrees measured with a magnetic compass.
Remember:
* True North = 349 degrees on a magnetic compass
* Magnetic North = 11 degrees on a True-reading compass
-------------------------
WHAT GPS FORMAT IS REQUIRED IN THE CREATE NEW NODE FORM? MY GPS HAS
SEVERAL STANDARD FORMATS
Locfinder [45] appears to use the AGD66 format for Latitude and
Longitude.
FYI, NodeDB [46] appears to use GDA94 format. Don't quote me though.
amino acids [47] clothing [48] The two formats differ by about 200
metres. - DanFlett [49]
-------------------------
WHAT IS A FRESNEL ZONE?
The line-of-sight [50] page give a good description.
-------------------------
HOW CLOSE OR HOW FAR THE TWO NODE HAS TO BE TO ESTABLISH CONNECTION?
HOW LONG IS A PIECE OF STRING?
See the previous question on this page titled "_How long can 802.11b
wireless links go?_".
-------------------------
Back to TheEvolvingFAQ [51]
Links:
------
[1] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#connecting_to_the_network
[2] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#where_can_i_get_the_equipment_
[3] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#how_do_i_get_started_
[4]
http://melbournewireless.org.au/#can_i_use_my_apple_macintosh_and_or_airport_hardware_or_not_
[5]
http://melbournewireless.org.au/#how_long_can_802_11b_wireless_links_go_
[6]
http://melbournewireless.org.au/#what_s_the_closest_node_to_my_house_office_mountain_hut_
[7]
http://melbournewireless.org.au/#when_creating_a_node__how_can_you_get_the_latitude_and_longitude_required_for_locfinder_from_the_melway_street_directory_
[8] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#what_is_line_of_sight_
[9]
http://melbournewireless.org.au/#how_do_i_plot_a_node_on_a_melway_map_using_longitude_and_latitude_from_locfinder_
[10]
http://melbournewireless.org.au/#how_do_i_use_a_magnetic_compass_to_determine_the_bearing_to_a_node_
[11]
http://melbournewireless.org.au/#what_gps_format_is_required_in_the_create_new_node_form__my_gps_has_several_standard_formats
[12] http://melbournewireless.org.au/#what_is_a_fresnel_zone_
[13]
http://melbournewireless.org.au/#how_close_or_how_far_the_two_node_has_to_be_to_establish_connection_
[14] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?TheEvolvingFAQ
[15] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?TheIncredibleBulk
[16] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?HomeBrew
[17] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?HardwareSuppliers
[18] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?HardwareDatabase
[19] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?GETTINGSTARTEDFAQ
[20] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?Apple
[21] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?MacOS
[22] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?AppleMacMinimumSpecs
[23] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?802.11b
[24] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?AirPort
[25] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?Windows
[26] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?Linux
[27] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?AccessPoint
[28] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?Client
[29] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?HardwareDatabase
[30] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?PCMCIA
[31] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?NodeGDW
[32] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?NodeGHO
[33] http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wireless/2001/05/03/longshot.html
[34] http://lists.bawug.org/pipermail/wireless/2002-August/008082.html
[35] http://www.radio-active.net.au/web/80211/distance.html
[36] http://melbournewireless.org.au/MAPS/
[37] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?REGIONALGROUPS
[38] http://www.ga.gov.au/geodesy/datums/redfearn_grid_to_geo.jsp
[39] http://melbournewireless.org.au/maps/
[40] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?NodeGFK
[41] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?LineOfSight
[42]
http://services.land.vic.gov.au/landchannel/content/interactivemap
[43] http://melbournewireless.org.au/maps/
[44] http://melbournewireless.org.au/maps/
[45] http://melbournewireless.org.au/nodes/
[46] http://www.nodedb.com
[47] http://www.shoppharmacycounter.com/c-199-amino-acids.aspx
[48] http://www.cheapsaleshop.net/
[49] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?DanFlett
[50] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?LineOfSight
[51] http://melbournewireless.org.au/?TheEvolvingFAQ
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