Wallace,
I put the board (I'm really liking the KarlNet WP+ so far), radio card
(ORiNOCO Silver, internal antennas stripped, as mentioned already),
and amplifier (RF Linx 2400CE) all into an outdoor-mount enclosure
(talk to Tony at Demarc) for mounting right behind the antenna.
I drive the whole thing PoE, soldering power feeds from the WP+ to the
amplifier's normal DC input. I use a PoE injector inside the
building, with a 12VDC/2.5A or 15VDC/2.0A power supply -- depending on
the length of the Ethernet run.
I use the Lucent-MMCX-MMCX-NFemBulkhead pigtails also provided by RF
Linx. I could probably save a couple of dBs by soldering the co-ax,
but I have power to spare as it is and prefer to keep everything as
modular as possible.
Our environment is extremely noisy, with several WISPs in the area. I
have found this combination to be our silver bullet. It's the best
I've had for getting us above the noise and providing robust, speedy
service.
I can buy ORiNOCO Silvers for <$40/E from Tech Data, YMMV.
-Brian
-----Original Message-----
From: Wallace L. Walcher [mailto:karlnetlist@walcher.net]
Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 15:45
To: 'Karlnet Mailing List'
Cc: Brian H. Oak
Subject: RE: [Karlnet] Thanks to Zcomax
Brian,
When you use the RF Linx amps, do you solder onto them or use the MMCX
pigtail option? Also, do you use the center pin of the antenna cable
for the DC power, or use POE and a DC plug? If so, what size of a
wall
plug do you need to power the RG and the Amp?
Lastly, what is your source for <$40 Orinoco cards?
Thanks.
Wallace
-----Original Message-----
From: karlnet-bounces@WISPNotes.com
[mailto:karlnet-bounces@WISPNotes.com] On Behalf Of Brian H. Oak
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 12:21 PM
To: Karlnet Mailing List
Subject: RE: [Karlnet] Thanks to Zcomax
We purchase the standard internal dipole antenna ORiNOCO cards for
cheap (<$40 for Silver), and just remove the internal antennas. We
have found that this cuts WAY back on the noise and interference on
our bases and satellites, especially where more than one radio card is
in the same enclosure.
Admittedly, we are already busy with tools and soldering irons,
assembling our outdoor radio packages. If you are not comfortable
getting your hands dirty and desoldering the antenna joints, this is
probably not the solution for you. It works pretty nicely for us,
though.
We have tried to use the high power (200mW) Prism cards, but have
found them to be a poor replacement for a normal 32mW ORiNOCO card
paired with a high quality amplifier; I prefer the RF Linx
(http://www.rflinx.com) amps. I believe the problem with the high
power cards to be the lack of amplification on the Rx side. The RF
Linx amps do a great job of boosting the desired Rx signals and
increasing our SNR. Even though the Tx power on the Prism cards is
great, they don't do much of anything to help the situation on the Rx
side.
As usual, all of this is just my own anecdotal experience. YMMV, but
it's what we've found works.
-Brian
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