Today was day one of the trials. Motor only, just to get familiar with
the
new prop setup, and see what we could break.

Nothing really broke, other than the forward bilge pump switch stuck
"on"
and the aft bilge pump switch wouldn't turn on, and some anomalies in
the
instruments (no speed on either unit, flaky until it settled down on
the new
depth gauge), there seems to be a bit of harmonic vibration in the
shaft
(putting my hand on it feels a bump on the opposite sides, and
depending on
the speed, it's different points on the clock) and the dripless packing

system isn't, yet.

However the point of this was to report on the wifi setup's first real
challenge. I got the bridge up on the mast (the end of the Dec06
gallery in
the refit section for any who are interested -
http://justpickone.org/skip/gallery/...c06&start=115),

and the line to it for the POE and data run through the mast (have yet
to
decide where to put it and some other downstairs gear, so it's
currently
just sitting in the Vee with the ethernet strung on the sole from the
mast).

The signal is so strong up there that it latches on to a pay site,
something
I was afraid would happen (the bridge, in open mode, vs a stated target

SSID, goes to the strongest site). No amount of fiddling in the way
I'd
become accustomed, which is to just type the URL of the bridge in my
browser, bringing up the setup pages, would do anything other than
bring a
signup page to the pay site. I grumbled but the other sites we had
been
using were a bit less than stellar, so we gave it a 30 day trial, by
which
time we fervently hope to be gone.

Initially it was great. Good download and upload, no problem logging
in,
great VoIP, and so on. However, lately, I've not been able to address
it
through the access point and router which were in between my wifi
laptop,
and the bridge.

Happily, however, before that failure, which happened as I went from
inverter power on return to the dock, to shore power (where it had been

functioning for the last many months), while we were anchored, and
rocking
and rolling in the swells, a few miles out in Tampa Bay, I picked up
the
phone and called Lydia's Mom in England and my Dad in New Hampshire,
both
over the Vonage system which is connected to the bridge (seeing its
data
stream as an IP feed).

So, assuming I can figure out what's going on with a system which
previously, for months, worked very effortlessly, but now is a real
pain,
and actually currently won't work at all other than as a
wired-to-my-computer bridge, internet only for me, no phone, no other
computers on wifi (because it somehow won't pass data through either of

them), it has proven my expectation:

I expect that I'll be able to see many stations from which to choose as
we
cruise, as many as 3-4 miles from shore. If those stations are
broadband as
I've been led to believe is usually the case, we'll have internet and
my
home number in most ports and anchorages in populated areas.

Now if I can only sort out what's going on to make it not as simple
(and for
that matter, not functional in other than a very simple way) as it's
been
for the last many months.

We'll probably put up some sails tomorrow; if I can get this working
before
then, that will be another test. That is, as one respondent on one
list
pointed out, a high gain antenna gets its strength by flattening the
donut
of the radiated signal. Our rocking and rolling wasn't enough to be
trouble
today; that far out, the donut disk gets pretty broad, I imagine - but
I
don't know about when we're heeled a bit...

Stay tuned (so to speak)...

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

I've got a 250 ma client bridge connected to a WIFI antenna mounted on my
radar arch, about 11 feet above the waterline. The client bridge is in a
stern lazarette connected just eight cable feet from the antenna. An
Ethernet cable connects it back to the nav table in the main salon. Since
the client bridge had a 120 VAC to 12 VDC power supply I just power it
directly from the ship's battery power.

I spent the summer in Maine and the reception was absolutely remarkable.
Several times like in Smith Cove, Castine, Maine I had hi-speed data and
VoIP in the middle of nowhere. I still cannot figure out where I was
receiving it from. I could see The Maine Maritime Academy's WIFI network
from Smith Cove and their closest transmitter was two miles away.. Even in
Tenants Harbor, ME we had uninterrupted internet and VOIP. Many times in
larger cities I had to look for a "Free" WIFI site since BEACON WIFI and
several other commercial ventures had the strongest signals. It is pretty
quick to get a selective SSID so working around the commercial folks was
pretty easy.

I also have KVH DirecTV/Hughes satellite on board.

Take care.

Cap'n Ric
S/V Sezaneh
2003 Beneteau 473

Cap'n Ric wrote:
I've got a 250 ma client bridge connected to a WIFI antenna mounted on my
radar arch, about 11 feet above the waterline. The client bridge is in a
stern lazarette connected just eight cable feet from the antenna. An
Ethernet cable connects it back to the nav table in the main salon. Since
the client bridge had a 120 VAC to 12 VDC power supply I just power it
directly from the ship's battery power.

Ric, what is your bridge make and model? We got great reception on our
first sail today, when Lydia got a phone call even further out than the
original post. However, I'm not at all happy with the Senao unit and
would consider an upgrade if I could get it in the same space; 250mw
would improve our already good reach a bit, but the ability to select
around the commercial sites which want to hijack and redirect the
signal is a real PITA not to have...

Thanks...

L8R

Skip, with the electronics installer coming tomorrow

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

On 21 Dec 2006 21:51:45 -0800, "Skip - Working on the boat"
wrote:

Ric, what is your bridge make and model? We got great reception on our
first sail today, when Lydia got a phone call even further out than the
original post. However, I'm not at all happy with the Senao unit and
would consider an upgrade if I could get it in the same space; 250mw
would improve our already good reach a bit, but the ability to select
around the commercial sites which want to hijack and redirect the
signal is a real PITA not to have...

Skip, which Senao client/bridge are you using? I was looking at the
specs of the NOC-3220-EXT recently and it sounded interesting but I
have not tried it yet.

To solve your "hijack" problem you need client software that will
allow you to select an access point by MAC address in addition to
SSID. Some will do that but I dont't know about the Senao.

You can download the data sheet and manual he

http://static.zoovy.com/merchant/pnt..._03202006_.pdf

http://static.zoovy.com/merchant/pnt...0_20060314.pdf

I apologize for my lack of geeky-ness, but what is this device and
where do I get one? We've used directional and non-directional wi-fi
antennas in the past, and while they seem to improve our reception over
just using the antenna in our laptop, it's not an order-of-magnitude
improvement -- and it sounds as if your improvement is way more than
that!

I thought a bridge was for working the other way, from hardwired bb
connection to wi-fi. But from what you say, it's like having an
incredibly sensitive antenna for your wi-fi connection. This is
something I want to have!

Thanks,

Rob
S/V Akka
Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Cap'n Ric wrote:
I've got a 250 ma client bridge connected to a WIFI antenna mounted on my
radar arch, about 11 feet above the waterline. The client bridge is in a
stern lazarette connected just eight cable feet from the antenna. An
Ethernet cable connects it back to the nav table in the main salon. Since
the client bridge had a 120 VAC to 12 VDC power supply I just power it
directly from the ship's battery power.

I spent the summer in Maine and the reception was absolutely remarkable.
Several times like in Smith Cove, Castine, Maine I had hi-speed data and
VoIP in the middle of nowhere. I still cannot figure out where I was
receiving it from. I could see The Maine Maritime Academy's WIFI network
from Smith Cove and their closest transmitter was two miles away.. Even in
Tenants Harbor, ME we had uninterrupted internet and VOIP. Many times in
larger cities I had to look for a "Free" WIFI site since BEACON WIFI and
several other commercial ventures had the strongest signals. It is pretty
quick to get a selective SSID so working around the commercial folks was
pretty easy.

I also have KVH DirecTV/Hughes satellite on board.

Take care.

Cap'n Ric
S/V Sezaneh
2003 Beneteau 473

Skip,

Did you build your own antenna? I didn't understand that from the post.
Depending on the height of the antenna from the surface of the water,
you'll get different a different emission pattern ("donut"). If you
really want long range, you can build yourself a directional antenna. I
don't know anything about wifi antennas and the way that signal is
polarized, but you could use either 2 dipoles or a Yagi sort of setup,
minus the parasitic directors. A two-dipole directional setup requires
two identical antennas, parallel and next to each other, emitting in
phase, and seperated by 1/2 wavelength (about 6.25cm in the case of
wifi, unless I'm mistaken about the freq). The emission will near zero
in the plane of the two dipoles, and maximum in the plane perpenticular
to that. With a Yagi sort of setup, you just need a passive (isolated)
reflector 1/4 wavelength from the emitting antenna, parallel to it.
There'll be nearly no signal behind the reflector in the
antenna/reflector plane, and maximum signal in front of the antenna in
the antenna/reflector plane. The reflector is just a conductive rod
approximately the same length as your antenna. For the exact geometry
of the reflector, you'd have to search on the internet.

With a directional setup like that, if you were at anchor somewhere you
could turn your antenna until you got maximum reception. You'd add
greatly to your range. Maybe someone manufactures directional wifi
antennas, though they'd likely be priced out of this world.

-Max Camirand

Skip Gundlach wrote:
Today was day one of the trials. Motor only, just to get familiar with
the
new prop setup, and see what we could break.

Nothing really broke, other than the forward bilge pump switch stuck
"on"
and the aft bilge pump switch wouldn't turn on, and some anomalies in
the
instruments (no speed on either unit, flaky until it settled down on
the new
depth gauge), there seems to be a bit of harmonic vibration in the
shaft
(putting my hand on it feels a bump on the opposite sides, and
depending on
the speed, it's different points on the clock) and the dripless packing

system isn't, yet.

However the point of this was to report on the wifi setup's first real
challenge. I got the bridge up on the mast (the end of the Dec06
gallery in
the refit section for any who are interested -
http://justpickone.org/skip/gallery/...c06&start=115),

and the line to it for the POE and data run through the mast (have yet
to
decide where to put it and some other downstairs gear, so it's
currently
just sitting in the Vee with the ethernet strung on the sole from the
mast).

The signal is so strong up there that it latches on to a pay site,
something
I was afraid would happen (the bridge, in open mode, vs a stated target

SSID, goes to the strongest site). No amount of fiddling in the way
I'd
become accustomed, which is to just type the URL of the bridge in my
browser, bringing up the setup pages, would do anything other than
bring a
signup page to the pay site. I grumbled but the other sites we had
been
using were a bit less than stellar, so we gave it a 30 day trial, by
which
time we fervently hope to be gone.

Initially it was great. Good download and upload, no problem logging
in,
great VoIP, and so on. However, lately, I've not been able to address
it
through the access point and router which were in between my wifi
laptop,
and the bridge.

Happily, however, before that failure, which happened as I went from
inverter power on return to the dock, to shore power (where it had been

functioning for the last many months), while we were anchored, and
rocking
and rolling in the swells, a few miles out in Tampa Bay, I picked up
the
phone and called Lydia's Mom in England and my Dad in New Hampshire,
both
over the Vonage system which is connected to the bridge (seeing its
data
stream as an IP feed).

So, assuming I can figure out what's going on with a system which
previously, for months, worked very effortlessly, but now is a real
pain,
and actually currently won't work at all other than as a
wired-to-my-computer bridge, internet only for me, no phone, no other
computers on wifi (because it somehow won't pass data through either of

them), it has proven my expectation:

I expect that I'll be able to see many stations from which to choose as
we
cruise, as many as 3-4 miles from shore. If those stations are
broadband as
I've been led to believe is usually the case, we'll have internet and
my
home number in most ports and anchorages in populated areas.

Now if I can only sort out what's going on to make it not as simple
(and for
that matter, not functional in other than a very simple way) as it's
been
for the last many months.

We'll probably put up some sails tomorrow; if I can get this working
before
then, that will be another test. That is, as one respondent on one
list
pointed out, a high gain antenna gets its strength by flattening the
donut
of the radiated signal. Our rocking and rolling wasn't enough to be
trouble
today; that far out, the donut disk gets pretty broad, I imagine - but
I
don't know about when we're heeled a bit...

Stay tuned (so to speak)...

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery!
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Oops, I think I misunderstood the original post. Sorry group.

-Max Camirand

On 22 Dec 2006 11:16:02 -0800, "Akka" wrote:

I apologize for my lack of geeky-ness, but what is this device and
where do I get one? We've used directional and non-directional wi-fi
antennas in the past, and while they seem to improve our reception over
just using the antenna in our laptop, it's not an order-of-magnitude
improvement -- and it sounds as if your improvement is way more than
that!

You can buy omni-directional antennas with relatively high gain - 9 to
15 db depending on model. Mounted at a decent height of 20 to 50 ft,
you can extend your range from a decent access point out to 2 or 3
miles, sometimes more.

In order to avoid feed line losses between the antenna and the wifi
client/bridge, Skip has chosen to mount his bridge at the top of the
mast close to the antenna, and power the bridge via the ethernet cable
- Power Over Ethernet, aka, POE.

http://wlanparts.com/

Skip,

I have a Senao 2611CB3. It is 802.11B only. I have a NCB-3220 on order.
It is 400mw and 802.11G. It also supports WPA.

Cap'n Ric

You can order them at http://www.wlansolution.com/ although I'm sure there
are many other places.

Cap'n Ric