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The Menu Today!
The Day: Thursday, 16 Feb. 2006
Design and setup of a "Wireless Site
- Site Survey and Antenna Mounting Considerations
- Wake up Coffee Break
- Powering Issues
- Community Network Installations
- LAB: Tower mounting
- LAB: Setup of a Wireless site
- LAB: Powering a Wireless site
Its 09.20hrs (What has changed? The timetable says that the program starts at 09.00hrs! Someone let me know!!!) and
Prof. Pietrosemoli informs us that we did our field activity the previous day without adhering to proper site survey guidelines!
What follows are all the tips on Site Survey and Antenna Mounting Guidelines.
Materails required
- A good map. The map should preferably contain elevation data. Ensure that you have the coordinates for the sites too.
* GPS device - A good Compass
- A Telescope or binoculars
- Digital camera with an optical zoom of at least 3x
- Spotlights and mirrors
- Ballon
- Recording materails like a laptop or notepad
Were all these in your checklist? Find out on your group's wiki.
What you may need to wear during the survey or antenna mounting
* Sunglasses
- Sunscreen
- Gloves
- Harness
What not to wear
* High heels!
Site Survey for the Base Station
This is the most important part of the survey. The location of the base station should ensure the best coverage. Factors to consider include:
* Access to the power grid
- Accessibility to the site during future visits or work
- Possibilities of collocation
- Security of the equipment
- Most importantly
- Location! Location! Location - Permits to access the site,roof and ladders
With these tips, we had a wake up coffee break!
Mounting your Antenna
Again, we had an opportunity to review our antenna mounting procedures. We learnt about the available mount options, security measures (Hey! please don't hurt your hand like Rob did), exploring methods that help to cut costs, waterproofing, using stand-off brackets, solid mounting and supporting structure power.
Lastly a tip for mounting: If you have never worked on a tower, hire a professional to do it for
you. Many countries require special training for people to be allowed to work on towers above a certain height.
Avoid working on towers during strong winds or storms. Always climb with a partner, and only when there is plenty of light. Tower work will likely take
longer than you think it will. Remember that it is extremely hazardous to work in the dark. Give yourself plenty of time to complete the job long before the sun sets.
Community Network Installations
As the course has progressed, most of us have been asking the question: Where are these wireless networks being used to serve communities?
Rob shared with us examples of successful wireless community networks. They were wonderful! Most of the projects were very innovative.
Its now lunch break and we need to get out and feel the rain!
At 14.00hrs, everyone is back to the lab. My best time of the program is afternoon, when we spend time carrying out hands-on experiments on what we learnt in the morning. Today was great as all groups were setting up test base stations.
Each group compiles a list of all the materials required and goes to requisitions. Mr. C.Fonda, is only giving materials requested! Those not sure of what is needed have to keep giong back to pick the missing items.
If you are a remote site, 200km from the store, where would get the missing items from? Always remember to make a comprehensive checklist of the required materials before departing for or starting to build your station.
The groups get busy and soon we have three masts in the room. Trouble begins as antennas begin to get mounted. Some masts are not strongly supported and bending as mounting takes place. Antennas supporting the frequency on experiment are needed. Dash dash to Carlo..
As the experiment proceeds, things are getting very interesting and everyone gets very busy. I see camera flashes every one minute as participants capture the experiment moments.
Suddenly; Coffee break! Coffee break! We all rush out to enjoy some coffee and delicious cookies
After the coffee break, all groups return to carry on with the site building experiment. Now,i notice three wireless sites in the room.
Its about 17.30hrs and Tomas presents to the class several case studies on deployed wireless community networks in various developing countries.
Most of these projects are community-based projects with a lot of input coming from the locals.
He goes on to challange us to go for Free Software and the Unlicensed Spectrum and build community networks.
And Horrah!!! What a nice day that was.
By, Dorcas Muthoni (prefer if you call me Muthoni) Contact me@ dmuthoni@openworld.co.ke