I remounted my cantenna so that the probe is perfectly vertical, and it seems to have improved the effective range and/or reception. Previously the can was spun so the probe was 15-30 degrees over, due to my mount. I also stopped using the DirectTV dish, and empirical evidence with my setup and with a friends seems to indicate the dish was not helping at all, and may have impeded the antenna...why would that be true ?! The cantenna was placed with precision to emulate the position of the dish's original emitter thing.
Anyway, now I can see BARWN-Public easily in Network Stumbler, at about -43 dBm. 1) Is that strong enough to support a connection? All attempts I've made to connect to the node were unsuccessful. I can observe its steady signal level in NetStumbler, but then when I tell my D-Link card controller software to try to connect to it, its signal becomes intermittent and varying in strength, as recorded by NetStumber. I find that odd. I can send screenshots of the signal graph to make it clearer. I can also see, and connect to my friend about a half-mile away as previously expected but not attained. I've concluded that the orientation of the probe is pretty significant. 2) Can anyone comment, is that conclusion true or false? I am going to add a cone of sheel metal soon, bullhorn stye, to hopefully improve the cantenna's performance. The diagram I'm going with has the cone walls at a 30 degree angle out from the can. 3) Any tips on that plan? Thanks, -dave PS I am moving to Berkeley very soon, near downtown. Does anyone know which direction lies the hilltop where the KPFA transmitter tower is, with its BARWN node? I'll be 2 blocks south of University Ave., and 5 blocks west of Shattuck Ave. I might also try for the on-campus wireless net (AirBears), but I believe its mostly inside the brick and contcrete buildings, so I don't anticipate enough leakage to allow me to connect from home, despite the cantenna. -- Dave Marandino [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- general wireless list, a bawug thing <http://www.bawug.org/> [un]subscribe: http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
