Recon Group Documentation Page

http://jonshouse.dyndns.org/wardrive/mississippi.jpg

Important Information

• Initial Wardrive/Site Survey info has been posted to http://jonshouse.dyndns.org/wardrive/wardrive.htm

• Maps of channel usage in the neighborhood can be found in the [http://www.personaltelco.net/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Mississippi-Historical-District gallery].

SITE SURVEY TOOLS

• Digital Camera's (Jon, Matt, Aaron, Russell, TomHiggins (DV with still feature as well))

• GPS (Russell, Jon...but no mapping software, TomHiggins (etrex no map)

• Various Site Survey Tools: Kismet, Airsnort, Netstumbler, ect. (everybody)
• Notepads (everybody)
• Photoshop and picture stitch skills (Matthew, Jon)
• Pocket Transit... fancy compass... don't know what this is exactly but Russell Has it.

THINGS WE MAY NEED AT THE NEXT MEETING

• Measuring tapes
• Rope
• Binoculars
• Everything listed under site tools above

RECON OUTING REPORTS

• ReconGroupOuting20050423

FIRST THREE BUILDING LOCATIONS

• 4008 N. Mississippi Ave (Brick two Story) GPS Coordinates: N1 45.55219N 122.67538W; N2 45.55233N 122.67540W; NC 45.55226N 122.67530W, N1=SW corner, N2=NW corner, NC=chimney.
  • Exterior door is at the north end of the building along Mississippi. Michael Weinberg was given a key (??). Access to the roof is through a door at the east end of an E-W hallway on the second floor, and up a somewhat rickety steel ladder, which has a bend halfway up to ascend the sloped tile roof portion. A combination wiring-closet, laundry room is located on the south side about halfway down the E-W hallway on the second floor. A hatch in the ceiling provides access to the small attic space. The Sun box was intended for this laundry room, will need to build a substantial shelf to hold it. Security of sun box might be an issue, as residents have access to this room (??). Heat might be an issue. Upper floors of old buildings from before airconditioning can become, er, warm on hot summer days. (Question: Does the sun box *need* to be colocated there?)

    Because of the harrowing nature of the roof ladder, maybe we ought to bring a basket/bag/bucket on a rope to facilitate the safe transportation of tools, odds-and-ends, doodads, etc. up and down without the need for a person to make a roundtrip on the ladder for every item. Or maybe I am just a lily-liver. --RussellSenior

• 932 Freemont St. (Residential Building) GPS Coordinates: 45.54766N 122.67637W (at roof hatch)
  • Access to the roof is through a hatch in an occupied apartment on the second floor. Less scary climb than 4008, but bring a better ladder next time. It appears the outside cover on the roof hatch is a blue-tarp wrapped piece of plywood (??). An interior hatch isolates the living space from the ceiling space. Will need power here, but not space for a server. Building owner seems very cooperative. Roof climbers report line-of-sight to 4008 building. Rumor is the empty lot to the east is destined for a 10-story (??) apartment building. Additional rumor is that this future apartment building is some time off, as the owner is sitting on it for now.

    I have just added a few photos of the building from ground level to the gallery, including a shot of the [http://www.personaltelco.net/gallery/Mississippi-Historical-District/P5110001 front facade] from across the street, and a couple of the electrical service drop ([http://www.personaltelco.net/gallery/Mississippi-Historical-District/P5110002 electrical service 1] and [http://www.personaltelco.net/gallery/Mississippi-Historical-District/P5110003 electrical service 2]).

• 3606 N. Mississippi
  • Under consideration since roof is pitched, so access is dodgy. Also, it is owned by Brian Wannamaker along with 932 N. Fremont, and there is an argument to be made for involving as many hosts as possible. Upper floors are being remodeled, so getting dedicated wiring in might be doable.
• GPS Coordinates are in decimal degrees using the WGS84 datum, measured on April 23, 2005 using Russell's Garmin 12CX. Russell himself had too strong an involuntary desire to continue living to actually climb up on the roofs himself.

• The radio group was checking out the street and getting on top of the [http://www.rebuildingcenter.org/ RebuildingCenter] would be a very good location. --DonPark

  • Another note here, the Rebuilding Center folks (if you check their website) are big into community. I would think they'd be a soft touch on hosting an antenna. Their new warehouse roof looks like it would have excellent line-of-sight up and down Mississippi. What's the procedure on approaching people? --RussellSenior

    The process is suggesting it to me or approaching them yourself (e.g. you already know someone). If you do approach them yourself, please get me in the loop early. In this instance, I'll talk to them. --MichaelWeinberg

THINGS TO DOCUMENT AT EACH LOCATION

• Height of building
• Panoramic shots from North, South, East, West.
• Rooftop mounting locations (chimney, nice physical vantage, non-penetrating roof mounting, etc.)
• Approximate Distance to other locations (mostly derived data from GPS)
• Downtilt Mapping From Ideal antenna locations
• Equipment Vulnerability (weather, theft)
• Power Locations inside the building with approximate cable run length to access point locations.
• Space within buildings for equipment houseing. (description, physical location, power situation)
• Procedure for gaining access to the facility for equipment maintenance.

CONCERNS

• If the nursery is to be the middle location we should plan around the fact that across Mississippi to the east there is a line of site blockage (approximately 30 degrees by guestimate) by the Richards Homewares Warehouse, which is a mostly metal building, including a metal roof. We will have more information on this later.
• We are concerned about electrical codes and should seek community support in the form of an electrical contractor.