Project MOAN: Mother of All Nodes

Ah yeah, just in case by “sketchy” I meant the source (store) in my Amazon link, not your antenna. But you’re right, that Amazon antenna is probably not good anyway. Still trying to figure things out over here. I have found some 2-2.5 dBi antennas but I’m not sure how much of an advantage those would have relative to the inbuilt one.

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I hear the flooding is starting to recede a little. Here’s to hoping that the rest of us get our GoTennas soon.

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I’m looking at this one. What do you think?
www.l-com.com/wireless-antenna-800-900-mhz-6-dbi-omnidirectional-antenna

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I think it’s a good choice. I looked at the specs and it has a good SWR across the 902-928 Mhz band (what GoTenna Mesh uses). With 6 dBi you’ll get 3.86 dBd and that’s better than the antenna I have currently. It’s a good choice that is reasonable in price :+1:

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Here is a link that you can use to convert dBi to dBd…
https://wetnet.net/rf_design/wireless_ethernet_calc/dbconv.main.cgi

IMO get something with 3 dBd of gain (at least). I am also looking for a 902-928 Mhz antenna that is small enough to fit on a Pelican 1030 case (it’s small). Like I said before the next project is to take the big MOAN unit I have in service and make it…

-Smaller
-Easier to build
-Cost less to build
-Just as effective as the big MOAN unit

I am sure it can be done, hell I’ve done more with a whole heck of a lot less! :slight_smile:

I just bought this on eBay to play with, this should be interesting! Only $25! I can’t wait to see what my field strength meter reads with this puppy! 6.86 dBd of gain what what! :stuck_out_tongue:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yagi-9B-902-928-Mhz-7-Element-High-Gain-Antenna-Y0900-9B/122306658698?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

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Is that a female SMA port? In other words, if I get a male SMA to Type-N cable antenna feedline will that work?
Also, would you do a jumper from the goTenna or just straight into the antenna feedline?

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Get back to you @LAFD_CERT_Battalion2 ASAP.

Gotta get ready for work and skydiving.

NEW RANGE RECORD:

The MOAN unit has a phone attached to it for range testing reasons and last night after work I tested it. 6 miles and change isn’t bad! :slight_smile:

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So I see the distance achieved is 2.4 with one hop right? This is the test with putting relay device in tree at 40 feet?

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@Mark, it was with the MOAN unit and I actiually got 6+ miles also. I am getting a bigger omni antenna with more gain AND a MOAN with a yagi :slight_smile:

Had to take the MOAN out of service (just for a few hours) to test the yagi I got today and all I can say is: WOW! Also I need to give a shout out to my new friend @Amon, I can’t wait unit you get your units so we can Mesh all over the Seattle area :slight_smile:

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NEW MOAN RANGE RECORD: 9.80 miles.
This was on the fringe of the range and coms were 25% at best. BUT I have a bad ass yagi antenna (7 dBd) in hand to play with and a 6 dBd isotropic antenna OTW! Ssssooooooo this is going to get even more and more interesting I am sure.

My Goal: Connect the Kirkland, Bothell, Woodinville, and Redmond areas with long haul coms to the Seattle area. Is there any way @Rahul_Subramany or @Jin_Gotenna a point to point “long haul” unit can not count as a hop? As to enable area to area coverage with more ease? I hope I am explaining the concept clearly.

So far the MOAN had a MAX range of 9.80 miles. BUT will WILL get better with better antennas and better unit placement, and of course will done ASAP!!!

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My West-Coast brother!

Exactly what I was asking about earlier.

I too am wanting to get my area covered, not just for me but to get more people meshing. it’s a much easier sell if I can show them that they can message from their work place to home 20mi away. I’d probably get 100 more users from three well placed (and non hop incrementing) nodes. I just wonder how that would affect bandwidth saturation.

Edit:
Oops, I meant to get my “First Quote” Badge on a quote from G.K. Chesterton.

“We are perishing for lack of wonder, not for lack of wonders.”
-G.K. Chesterton

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I am on it @Rahul_Subramany and @Jin_Gotenna!!! Going into the field now to test. Hopefully with our guy @Amon

@Matthew_Ellisor Good, no great idea! More to come later tonight!

No. The current Mesh protocol does not allow for this. Our new Chief Scientist, is working on improving our Mesh protocol.
The plan is to allow for a large number of hops (makes me drool!), such that hop count is no longer a concern!

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Last night @Amon and I did some serious testing of the MOAN unit and here is a video about what we did and how it went, enjoy!..

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@Rahul_Subramany You had me at: “Our new Chief Scientist, is working on improving our Mesh protocol.”

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Good stuff here @gua742. Look forward to whats next and improvement you have in mind mentioned in your video.

Good to hear MOAN is still rock solid. How is the solar panel holding up? Any issues with heat, moisture build up etc? Are you leaving the MOAN 24/7 on top of your roof at this point for testing?

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So far it’s been outside 24/7 with about three hours off the roof to check it out. I have not siliconed the entry points but will this week. It’s been through a few light rains and some ask from the forest fires we’ve had here in Washington and so far everything has held up awesome. Of course after getting it all sealed up I don’t expect any issues.

I am however going to put an antenna on it with more gain :smile: