Category: Ham radio

Update: I received a correction for the date of the symposium. It will be on Wednesday June 14. RSVP by June 11.

Did you know there was a Lowcountry Contest Club? I didn’t know there was a Lowcountry Contest Club. Apparently they’ve been around a while.

Anyway, word came to me that they’re holding a Mesh Networking Symposium June 1014 at the Fleet Reserve Association in Goose Creek.

The Low Country Contest Club (LCCC) will be holding a symposium on MESH networks for amateur radio at the Wednesday, June 10, meeting of the LCCC at the Fleet Reserve Association in Goose Creek, SC at 1800.  We generally arrive at 1800, order food/drink if desired at appx. 1830, and start the symposium shortly thereafter.  Note that there is no “meeting,” just the symposium. Directions, etc. are at the bottom of this email.

Terry, N4TLF, and I have been working for some time on establishing a 2.4GHz link between our houses, so we could further investigate the use of MESH networks in amateur radio.  We have finally managed to establish the link, and are currently working on ways to improve it, and also make the link available to others.

To make a MESH network really useful we need more participants.  To that end we are inviting interested members of TARC and CARS to attend the June meeting of the LCCC, and will have (for lack of a better word) a symposium on MESH networks that will address
equipment, software, and problems involved in making a useful MESH network in the Charleston metropolitan area.  We should have an example of a MESH network set up in the FRA building, and a demonstration of at least one possible application.

If you know of a ham that is interested please bring them with you.  They do not have to be a member of any club; only interest is required!

This is a growing part of amateur radio.  We think you will find it interesting, and hope that this will help to get a MESH network established here in the local area.

I assume they mean Saturday June 10 and that Wednesday is just a typo.

The symposium date is June 14. RSVP by June 11 if you want to attend.

Ham radio mesh networking is becoming a pretty popular thing these days with projects like Broadband Hamnet and AREDN using COTS wifi equipment and custom firmware. For hurricane and storm prone areas like the Lowcountry, having an infrastructure independent communication network based on a mesh network over the ham bands could be a very useful thing.

I’ll be out of town at Southeast Linuxfest when the symposium is happening, but if you’re interested in going, RSVP to W4MEL at <w4mel at arrl.org>

Today is my 5th hamiversary! 5 years as a licensed amateur radio guy!

It’s been a pretty fun 5 years where I’ve learned a lot of new things and remembered a lot of things I used to know. The shack has been off the air for the past year, but once I figure out how to get the antenna back up in a mostly stealthy manner, I’ll be back to throwing RF into the sky.

I’m looking forward to many more years playing with amateur radio.

First step in getting the shack back on the air has arrived.

Ordered an antenna entry box for the house from KF7P Metalworks that arrived the other day.

It’s a pretty spiffy box with a locking hatch and enough space and grommet holes for future antenna expansion. Feels pretty solid, and the lid already has weather stripping installed to keep the elements out.

Next step will be to mount it to the house and run some coax into the box.