SENDING DATA ACROSS HIGHWAY 43 FOR THE S.A.C.S. VISIT TO UTM

(Click on pictures to enlarge... Use your "back" button to return!)

The first thing was to determine the best place for an antenna within line of sight of the motel across the highway. Not only was the Elam Center the closest building, it also had a network hub available directly below the roof hatch. Since drilling holes in the roof wasn't an option, small c-clamps were used to keep the hatch open enough for the antenna's cable to pass through without getting cut. Once that was done, a tarp was c-clamped over the hatch in case of rain.

The tripod mount was double c-clamped to the roof rails.

The antenna is an ORiNOCO 10 dBi omnidirectional.

The antenna's cable was run through innerduct and strapped to the ladder...

...and grounded for surge suppression.

The ORiNOCO OR-500 Master router was placed on top of the existing Asante' 2072 repeater and plugged into an open port, the antenna hooked up, and power applied. The router had been configured previously, so after it went through its self test and the lights came on green it was time to head across the road to the remote site.

The ORiNOCO 14 dBi directional antenna points out the motel room window toward the Elam Center.

Using an ultra hi-tech Velcro strap, the ORiNOCO OR-500 Slave router is secured to the remote antenna's tripod.

Once powered up, the signal quality is checked with a laptop. We're in the green and good to go!

With the wireless backbone in place, an ORiNOCO AP-500 Access Point was connected to the router to serve the PC and printer in the Documentation Room plus the laptops for the S.A.C.S. guests. An ORiNOCO 7dBi antenna mounted in a Radio Shack project box gives sufficient gain for coverage through the motel walls to most of the 2nd floor rooms.

Sometimes I wish I could just stand around and stare out the window all day...

But then I'd miss out on all the fun of making something like this work!