![[GBPPR]](GBPPR_Files/gbppr.jpg)
Green Bay Professional Packet Radio is our attempt at an advanced wireless communication research team. Based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, we have banded together a small group of specialized residents who strive for the advancement of modern forms of electromagnetic wave communication. We specialize in high-speed wireless data (packet), digital voice transmissions, ELINT/EW/ECM, radar, antenna design, bi-phase modulation and also the hardware/software side of all those types of communication.
We are die-hard radio homebrewers and experimenters. While other people are drooling on nothing more than glorified ice cream truck 2-way radios and PL-259 connectors, we are out using new and efficient modulation techniques and pioneering new developments in modern radio. We've also homebrewed microwave radio bi-directional amplifiers for the local packet radio links, circular polarized repeater antennas, high quality audio hardware and all types of RF test equipment.
Modeled from the concepts originated by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works fame), we attempt to push the boundries of modern radio and antenna technology. Using common off-the-shelf components, old VCRs, cellular phones, lots of trips to Radio Shack and, of course, well established theory. We will always forge on. Building and testing new designs while quietly ignoring anyone who tells us something is not possible.
Current Projects
Most schematics are in their native Xcircuit PostScript format for ease of printing and modification. To use PostScript under Window$, you'll need to install the Ghostscript & Ghostview packages. Set Media to A2 for proper of viewing.
- Low Cost Wireless Network How-To
- Using Part 15 Wireless Ethernet Devices for Amateur Radio
- Wireless Ethernet Devices for Amateur Radio - Project Overview PDF
- Low Cost POCSAG Paging Network How-To
- Low Cost Laser Data Links
- Brown County, Wisconsin Frequency Search
- Homebrew RF Design Test Equipment & Software
- Homebrew Bi-Directional 2.4 GHz Amplifier Designs
- Homebrew Bi-Directional 915 MHz Amplifier Designs
- Homebrew 1 Watt 2.4 GHz Power Amplifier
- Homebrew 144 MHz to 2.4 GHz Transverter Using MMDS Downconverters
- 2400 MHz to 900 MHz Transverter for Wireless LAN Devices
- 2400 MHz to 1200 MHz Transverter for Wireless LAN Devices
- Homebrew Family Radio Service (FRS) to 900 MHz Transverter Using Common Parts Quick hack (37k PostScript)
- GBPPR AutoFox Keys a transmitter and plays a pre-recorded message at one minute intervals.
- GBPPR Tactical Communications Jammer Used to simulate the type of interference that may be experienced on radio communication links
- 2.0 GHz Phase Locked Loop Oscillator Schematic Easy to build & stable 2.0 GHz oscillator (21k PostScript)
- GBPPR 2.4 GHz / 10 Mbit Wireless Data Link Homebrewed in the USA.
- GBPPR POWER 64 kbps Wireless Serial Data Modem Experimental.
- GBPPR 900 MHz High Speed Packet Radio Experimental.
- Elecraft EC1 Design Contest Entry It was a winner.
- GBPPR 0 - 1000 MHz Spectrum Analyzer / Tracking Generator / Scalar RF Network Analyzer Work in progress.
- GBPPR 1 kHz to 16.384 MHz Synthesized Signal Generator
- GBPPR Divide-by-1000 3.5 GHz Prescaler
- GBPPR Weather Radio Alert Use the National Weather Service's alert tone to send a packet radio message
- GBPPR Portable Antenna Mast System Portable antenna mast system using PVC conduit
- GBPPR 900 MHz Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum Transverter Frequency hopping transverter for amateur radio use
- GBPPR Parts Service An electronic parts trading service for amateur radio operators
- GBPPR Miscellaneous Projects Other stuff you can blame us for
- GBPPR Homebrew Military & Espionage Electronics Other really crazy stuff you can blame us for
- Microwave Oven Magnetron Experiments EME, remote power via RF, radar Under construction
- Homebrew Radar Experiments FMCW/doppler & pulse-doppler types, battlefield & air surveillance Under construction
- Non-Linear Junction Detector Used to detect hidden transmitters/electronics, even when turned off Under construction
- GBPPR's Ideas "If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking" -- General George S. Patton, Jr. (1885 - 1945)
Local Terrain/RF Plots
- Elevation plot for Green Bay, WI and the surrounding area Lowest elevation is 174 meters, highest is 274 meters. Plot is 22.5 km square and the contour lines are at 10 meter intervals
- Zoomed out elevation plot for Green Bay, WI and the surrounding area Lowest elevation is 176 meters, highest is 300 meters. Plot is 50 km square and the contour lines are at 10 meter intervals
- Elevation plot for the Northeast WI area Lowest elevation is 176 meters, highest is 340 meters. Plot is 100 km square and the contour lines are at 10 meter intervals
- Larger elevation plot for the Northeast WI area Lowest elevation is 176 meters, highest is 579 meters. Plot is 250 km square and the contour lines are at 10 meter intervals
- Line-of-sight using antennas 15 meters high from Green Bay Plot is 250 km square and the contour lines are at 10 meter intervals
- Approximate coverage of the 900 MHz data network Plot is 22.5 km square and the contour lines are at 10 meter intervals
- United States climate factor map For Vigants-Barnett reliability calculations
- United States average annual temperature map
- United Stated Crane regions For calculating rain attenuation using the Crane equations
- Current N9DKH repeater coverage map
Interactive Wireless Design Utilities
- Wireless Network Link Analysis
- Calculates approximate received power levels and fade margins for microwave wireless links
- Parabolic Reflector Gain and Focal Point Calculator
- Calculates the gain, focal point, and radiation distances for parabolic dishes
- Fresnel Zone Calculator
- Calculates the required Fresnel zone clearances for a point-to-point link (dynamic IP)
- Antenna Up/Down Tilt Calculator
- Calculates the required antenna tilt to compensate for Earth curvature
- Distance & Bearing Calculator
- Calculates the distance and bearing between two geographic points
- Omnidirectional Antenna Beamwidth Analysis
- Estimates the coverage of a vertical antenna pattern
- Return Loss Calculator
- Calculates return loss given forward/reverse power or SWR
- Environmental Factor Analysis
- Lame attempt at one of those overpriced geographic RF pattern programs
- Knife Edge Diffraction Loss Calculator
- Calculates knife edge obstruction attenuation
- Decibel Conversion Calculator
- Converts various values referenced to/from decibels
- Scattering Parameters Are Fun!
- Calculates gamma in/out from s-parameters, experimental
- Lumped Component Wilkinson Splitter / Combiner Designer
- Design Wilkinson splitters/combiners for use under 400 MHz
- Pi & Tee Network Resistive Attenuation Calculator
- Design resistive attenuators
- United States Frequency Allocations 30 - 3000 MHz
- Retrieve the FCC band allocation for any frequency
- Voltage To Power Conversion Calculator
- Convert AC voltages to power
- RF Safety Compliance Calculator
- Determines if your ERP will kill people
- Approximate Air Coil Inductance Calculator
- Calculates the approximate value of an air coil inductor
- Microstripline Analysis & Design
- Calculates the required width for making microstrip transmission lines
- Calculating Phase Line Length
- Calculates coaxial phase line lengths
- 3-Pole Butterworth Characteristic Bandpass Filter Calculator
- Designs simple 3-pole bandpass filters
- RF Pi Network Designer
- Designs Pi type networks for transforming impedances
- PLL 3rd Order Passive Loop Filter Calculator
- Designs passive loop filters for phase lock loops
- Antenna Isolation Calculator
- Calculates isolation for horizontal & vertical antennas
Perl CGI sources for the wireless design tools are available in this wireless.tar.gz file and the RF design tools are available in this rf_design.tar.gz file.
Radio Path v2.0
A Perl script to graphically show the radio path profile between two points. It will plot the 0.6 Fresnel zone and the true radio path for a given value of K (the effective Earth radius factor). This is all displayed in reference to the path's elevation data taken at intervals along the link path. This will let you see if you have a clear radio line-of-sight path.
Here is a sample output displaying a 1.5 mile radio path at 2.4 GHz
Radio Path v2.0 tarball and README.
United States Elevation Retriever v1.0
A Perl script to get the ground elevation at (almost) any location in the continental United States. Uses free 30-second elevation data provided by NOAA. It's not extremely accurate, but good enough for plotting radio paths.
United States Elevation Retriever v1.0 tarball and README.
NOAA 30-second elevation data for the lower 48 states. Compressed using tar and bzip2.
Try our web based United States Ground Elevation Retriever.
Advanced Wireless Communications Research Links
Hey! Lets transmit sine waves!
- Flight Refuelling Amateur Radio Society
- High Speed CSMA Digital Networking for HF
- Washington Experimenters TCP/IP Network
- Argentina TCP/IP High Speed Group
- The Utah T1-Rate Modem page
- High speed data signaling project (2 Mbit/s)
- Optically Transparent Patch Antennas
- Weak Signal communications, by K1JT (WSJT) A software package designed for amateur weak-signal radio communication at VHF
- Microstrip Patch Rectenna With High Output Voltage
- Philips RF semiconductor application notes
- High Speed Networking Project
- Higher Speeds with the G3RUH 9600 baud Packet Radio Modem
- The KD2BD 9600 Baud Modem
- M1CFL High Speed 115Kbaud uWave Serial Link
- Homemade wireless LAN
- Construction of a 1.2 GHz TRX kit for High Speed Packet from Bas PE1JPD
- 23 cm Data-transceiver (V2.5)
- 23cm High Speed Link Receiver from F1BIU
- 23cm Wide-Band FM data-transceiver
- International Information Retrieval Guild
- KE5FX's homebrew 10 Mbit, 10 GHz wireless Ethernet project
- KE5FX notes
- Thesis done using the KE5FX 10 Mbit, 10 GHz wireless Ethernet project
- N6GN's higher speed packet web pages
- DIY 10Mbps Optical Data Link
- DUAL - A Packet Format for a New Amateur Radio Link Layer
- A 70cm Wide-band Transceiver Concept
- WA4DSY 56KB RF Modem
- The W1GHZ Online Microwave Antenna Book
- 23cm Data Transceiver Schematic/Kit
- Microsemi online PIN diode handbook
- GHz Technology RF amplifier ICs
- Phil Karn, KA9Q
- Phil Karn's comments to the FCC on spread specturm communications
- The VMSK Delusion Phil Karn rips apart VMSK/2
- Papers by Hari Balakrishnan Wireless TCP/IP god.
- Lucent Technologies wireless research laboratory
- Weak Signal Detection: Recovering Signals From Noise Good notes and program source.
- Antenna Visualization
- Electrical Engineering Training Series
- Freenet Networks with no central authority.
- Online lectures about digital communication
- XTP overview Alternative transport protocol.
- Time Domain New ultra wideband modulation techniques.
- Communication Devices Using Ultra-Wideband, Nonsinusoidal Communication Technology Cool stuff.
- Æther wire notes and documents
- Can a tenacious lone inventor revolutionize wireless communications with a chip he invented in his garage?
- Ultra-Wideband Working Group
- UltRa Lab at USC
- Plasma antennas Very cool.
- Unofficial NEC archive Antenna modeling software.
- Decentralized Channel Management in Scalable Multihop Spread-Spectrum Packet Radio Networks (455k Gzipped PostScript)
- A Channel Access Scheme for Large Dense Packet Radio Networks (350k PDF)
- Design and Implemenation of a Wire Array Antenna Analyzer (150k PDF)
- High power, broadband, linear, solid state amplifier design
- Toward High Efficiency Power Amps
- SIGSALY Secure Digital Voice Communications in World War II
- Slot Antenna Design by Stephen Bell, KB7TRZ
- A Transmission Line Calculator, Version 0.3, Kevin Schmidt, W9CF
- Some Skin Effect Notes
- SMD Codebook
- Tale of the Radioactive Boy Scout
- Lots of good weak signal/RF links
- GNU Radio Project
- Linrad home page
- Cell tower pictures
- Temporary Telecommunications Infrastructure in Lower Manhattan
- SM5SZ - DSP radio for LINUX on Intel platforms
- SP-419 SETI: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
- Low Cost Long Range Wireless Network How-To
- 9 km wireless link using modified Proxim Symphony gear
- 1KM, 2Mbps, 802.11b wireless link using Linksys WAP11 + Yagi, in Hurghada, EGYPT
- Chris's Wireless High-Speed Connect
- Another WAP11 enclosure
- BAWUG - Outdoor Access Point Encloseure v1
- Notes on G-lines (Goubau transmission lines)
- 2.3GHz ATV TX From Ian G6TVJ
- Killer Japanese Seizure Robots
Fractal Antennas / Fractal Geometry
If you think stringing wire between two trees is an antenna, you can skip this section.
- Fractal Antennas by KB7QHC
- Fractal Antenna Systems
- Fractus
- The Koch Curve and its Variants
- Fractal Antennas
- Good fractal antenna overviews by Peter Song
- Fractal antenna research at UCLA
- Fractal tutorials
- What is a fractal?
- What is a fractal? #2
- What is a fractal? #3
- Fractal World
- Fractal Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
- A Fractals Lesson for Elementary and Middle School Students
- Fractal Dimension
- Recursion and making a Koch Snowflake with Maple
- Triangle grid paper Print it out, and use it to make triangles.
- Sierpinski fractal triangle PostScript code
- Introduction to the Mandelbrot Set
Design Notes & Links
Little hints and tips we've used in projects.
- Circuit Sage Excellent RF/analog circuit design website
- Fijitsu MB506 Divide-by-64/128/256 prescaler datasheet (65k PDF)
- Microsemi UM9601 PIN diode datasheet (470k PDF)
- NEC UPG152TA GaAs MMIC SPDT RF switch datasheet (26k PDF)
- Application of PIN diodes (258k PDF)
- Fast switching PIN diodes (92k PDF)
- Applications for the HSMP-3890 surface mount switching PIN diode (70k PDF)
- Intersil HFA3925 2.4 GHz power amplifier Contains a good TX/RX switching idea (99k PDF)
- JavaScript Conjugate Match
- Scattering parameters
- Watts New From Bird Bird Technical Series #1
- Class notes
- Design a custom Interdigital Bandpass Filter
- Packet Radio Networks with Millions or Billions of Stations Real Audio
- WA1RHP's Electronic Parts Inventory Parts intended to support ham radio and electronic students
- Dubus Archives 1982-1992
- Smith chart tools
- Microwave Group of San Diego Technical Articles and Projects
- American Technical Ceramics (ATC) technical notes
- Analog Computer Basics
- Radio Propagation Models
- General Soldering Information
- Desoldering THM and SMT
- Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Terminology
- Dielectric constants of commercial PCB material
- Finesse Voltage Regulator Noise!
- Wavelet Resources from Mathsoft
- Powdered-Iron Toroid Cores: Magnetic Properties
- WC0Y's MMDS downconverter modification website Includes modifications to California Amplifier downconverters
- 2.4 GHz & 900 MHz Antenna Models
- Texas Instruments Technical Brief SWRA029 - Fractional / Integer-N PLL Basics (6M PDF)
- Passive repeaters in wireless data link usage From Microflect
- PRISM II chipset tweaking
- Utilizing Directional Antennas for Ad Hoc Networking (UDAAN)
GBPPR - Facts Not Drivel
The truth, not pointless ramblings by egomaniacs.
- Where did 50 ohms come from?
- Channel capacity vs. signal-to-noise ratio (20k JPEG)
- A discussion of antenna theory by Paul Graham, K9ERG (One of the better antenna explainations out there)
- Maxwell's equations (18k GIF)
- PolyPhaser technical information Trust these people
- Directive Gain, Salesmanship and Ham Radio! How to determine the real gain of an antenna
- 4-conductor, 3.5 mm jacks & plugs Mouser #171-7435, great for data projects
- Hoods for 4-hole chassis mount SO-239 or N jacks Mouser #523-83-765
- Reverse polarity SMA connectors for RG-174 Digi-Key #CONREVSMA007-ND
- The Perils of Cheap Hamfest RF Adapters More proof to avoid cheap hamfest connectors like the plague
- The UHF Type Connector Under Network Analysis RF network analysis of a PL-259/SO-239 connection
- Electrochemical potential chart More myths debunked by GBPPR
- Conductivity and Dielectric Constants for Common Types of Earth Parameters for use in Radio Mobile Deluxe
- Applying Modern Communication Technologies to Weak Signal Amateur Operations Very good overview on using 1980's technology and math equations from 1948 to improve weak signal performance in the 21st century. (657k PDF)
- Ufer Ground System Grounding rods in concrete
GBPPR Technical Bulletins
- Waterproofing RF Connectors GBPPR Technical Bulletin #1
- Advantages of Circular Polarized FM Repeater Antennas GBPPR Technical Bulletin #2
- Why Silver Plate RF Components? GBPPR Technical Bulletin #3
- How to Choose Inductors at RF GBPPR Technical Bulletin #4
- Receiver Noise, Sensitivity and Dynamic Range Relationships GBPPR Technical Bulletin #5
- Transmitter Site Rules GBPPR Technical Bulletin #6
- You are Wrong GBPPR Technical Bulletin #7
- How to Make RF Cables GBPPR Technical Bulletin #8
- Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (NEMP) Survival GBPPR Technical Bulletin #9
- Communication Channel Capacity GBPPR Technical Bulletin #10
- Cellular Phone Based Surveillance Bug GBPPR Technical Bulletin #11
FCC Compliance
Part 97.309 & 97.311 compliance specifiations and source codes to the programs used in our amateur radio networks.
Don't be stupid.
Passwords on all amateur radio nodes are either the user's callsign or disabled.
- gzip - Compresses and decompresses files
- mod_gzip for Apache web servers
- OpenSSH OpenSSH is used in compression mode only
- Brutalcopy Pushes data using UDP protocol through rotten, overloaded and otherwise disgusting lines
- Vtun The easiest way to create Virtual Tunnels over TCP/IP networks with traffic shaping, compression and encryption
- Amateur Radio ID'ing via ICMP Echo Request Packets ID using ping packets
Toward New Link-Layer Protocols for Amateur Packet Radio - Overview
Toward New Link-Layer Protocols for Amateur Packet Radio - Notes
Spread Spectrum Rule Recommendations
Ideas for HF Modulation and Coding
Proposed Coded AO-40 Telemetry Format
Spread Spectrum Technology and Current Issues in Amateur Radio
- by Phil Karn, KA9Q and Steve Bible, N7HPR Real Audio
Amateur Radio, Wireless Networks and the Information Age
Physical Layer Considerations in Building a High Speed Amateur Radio Network
A Technological Rationale to Use Higher Wireless Frequencies
- by J.M. Vanderau, R.J. Matheson, and E.J. Haakinson (1998 - U.S. Department of Commerence)
A Mathematical Theory of Communication
- by Claude E. Shannon (1948)
An Overview of the Application of CDMA to Digital Cellular Systems and Personal Cellular Networks
- by QUALCOMM (1992)
A Method of Reducing Disturbances in Radio Signaling by a System of Frequency Modulation
- by Edwin H. Armstrong (1936)
A Spread Spectrum Packet Radio Network
- by Darryl Smith, VK2TDS (1995)
Shannon, Coding and the Radio Amateur
- by James R. Miller, G3RUH (1995)
The Shape of Bits to Come
- by James R. Miller, G3RUH (1995)
Measurement of WLAN Receiver Sensitivity
Processing Gain for Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Communication Systems and PRISM
Microwave Associates (M/A-Com) 10 GHz Gunnplexer Notes
MMDS Downconverter Notes & Applications
- California Amplifier 31732 Information and Modifications by Adam, G0ORY
- Gardiner MMDS Downconverter LO2398 by Adam, G0ORY
- California Amplifier 31732 Modifications for 2401 MHz Reception by Ward, WC0Y
- California Amplifier MMDS Downconverter Partial Schematic (19k PostScript)
Repeater Notes
Proper repeater design is not that hard.
Radar & Military Communications
Communication is the key to success.
- Electronic Warfare and Radar Systems Engineering Handbook A must read
- Association of Old Crows Electronic Warfare Tutorial
- The Radar Pages
- Radar Information Home Page
- Tactical Radio Jammers
- TRW Digital Processing and Antennas Boost Battlefield Capability of Milstar II Satellites
- Military abbreviations & acronyms
- Russian electronic warefare equipment
- Electronic Warfare Programs by AN Nomenclature
- International Electronic Countermeasures Handbook
- EW Reference & Source Guide
- Rockwell Collins Defense Electronics
- Raytheon Defense Electronics
- Principles of the Meteorological Doppler Radar Good overview of radar operations
- WSR-88D Technical Information
- WSR-88D Technical Information from Lockheed Martin (250k PDF)
- WSR-88D System Specifications (823k PDF)
- National Weather Service WSR-88D Transmit/Receive Status
- ITU radar bands
- Traffic Radar Handbook
- AN/TRC-170(V)2 Tropospheric Scatter Microwave Radio Terminal
- How to use APRS for direction finding
- Doppler direction finder design notes
- Doppler direction finder design notes #2
- Epsilon Nought Radar remote sensing
- MX Missile Command, Control & Communication (850k PDF)
- English-to-Russian online translator
- UHF blade antenna on a F-4 Phantom, and the N-style RF connector.
Hardware Suppliers
Our main sources for RF parts and electronic components.
- Online Cables Custom and pre-made RF cables at low prices
- Coilcraft Free sample inductors
- Maxim IC Free sample RF ICs
- Rogers Corporation Free sample Teflon PC board
- RF Micro Devices Best assortment of RF ICs
- Hittite Microwave Corporation Sells RF ICs directly to the public
- Dan's Small Parts and Kits Low cost parts for the homebrewer
- Down East Microwave New & surplus RF parts/kits for the experimenter
- Fair Radio New & surplus RF parts
- FindChips.com Fastest, most complete distributor search available
- Radio Works RF connectors
- Cable X-perts Coax & RF connectors
- Ham Radio Parts & Stuff Harry Kholer, N0PU
- The Toroid King Dieter Gentzow, W8DIZ
Email Contact Information
Send personal email to:
contact [at] gbppr.org (PGP key)
It may take awhile to get a reply.
Contact GBPPR members by sending email to: <ham callsign> [at] gbppr.org
For help or contact try our new web based GBPPR Technical Forum or IRC channel #gbppr on irc.freenode.net.
Also be sure to subscribe to the Low Cost Wireless Networks mailing list
lcwn [at] yahoogroups.com
You'll have to subscribe to the mailing list to get your replies. Be sure to read the archives first!
![[counter]](GBPPR_Files/Count.gif)
![[no nab]](GBPPR_Files/nabbutto.gif)
talk hard![[microsoft free]](GBPPR_Files/msfree.gif)
Copyright © 1999-2003 Green Bay Professional Packet Radio (GBPPR) under the GNU Free Documentation License.
