The Lucky Lab: February 26, 2001

Scribe: LonnieWormley

The gathering started indoors at the Luck Lab. It became apparent that the room was to noisy to have a discussion and there were lots of folks in attendance. The 25 or so migrated to the picnic tables outside in the back of the Lab. There were many side discussions before and after Adam's talk.

Adam opened with a discussion of the [http://www.launi.com/dc/ImageDC/PTC2c.png Personal Telco Diagram] that was distributed to all attendees. Each community will be autonomous and will be responsible for building, financing and supporting their wireless network. The role of the PTP is one of guidance and to provide resources for social gatherings and information sharing among the participating wireless communities.

There was a lively discussion on how the PTP should be organized. Is is a coop, public ISP or a group of anti telco anarchists? It was agreed that this subject will be discussed at another time. The first goal of the group is to establish independent communities and then connect the communities. Through this process we will form our group and define our purpose and goals. All ideas and suggestions for PTP should be sent to the email list.

Documentation of existing and proposed communities is important. All members should go to the [http://www.personaltelco.net/ PTP web site] and send a map of your location. All members should go to the PdxWireless [http://pdxwireless.org/ web site] and enter your address into the database. Nate of PdxWireless will be setting up a map for the west side of Portland. This map will be centered on Washington Square. Jeff of Vancouver will email Nate suggestions for the central point for a map for Vancouver Washington.

PTP needs an official logo. This logo will be used on all PTP information and web site. All ideas should be sent to AdamShand. He will post them on the PTP web site and all will be able to vote on the favorite.

Questions and Answers

• Q: Can we get Seattle Wireless to come and talk to us?

• A: Their web site has documentation on how to build antennas.

• Q: Can anyone get on my wireless network?

• A: Captive portals will be set up by Adam. Linux box router will be created and bandwidth and usage will be decided and controlled by each community.

• Q: What is the maximum distance for a outdoor antenna?

• A: Well it depends on what type of antenna you have:

  • Two 15db directional at FCC max. is 10-15 miles
  • Two 15db omni-directional at FCC max. is 8 miles
  • Omni-directional to a laptop has been tested at ½ mile.

It should be noted that obstructions like buildings, trees and weather affects wireless network performance. These distances will vary if any of these conditions exist.

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