[aprssig] wifi and aprs?

[A.J. Farmer (AJ3U)]

Interesting idea.  I think you would be surprised at the number of AP's you
can pick up once you get up in the air.

You might look at some of these mobile antennas:

http://www.jefatech.com/category/antennas.mobile/

Might be worth a try.  The magnets in them are pretty strong although I
don't know if they would hold on at 100+ MPH.  It will at least get your
antenna outside of the aircraft so you have a better chance.

You also might consider a high powered WiFi card which will increase your
range:

http://www.jefatech.com/product/2511CDPLUSEXT2

You can also set up a high gain omni outside for the access point that is on
the ground:

http://www.jefatech.com/category/antennas.omnidirectional/

Or even these which are simple and easy to install:

http://www.jefatech.com/product/IN245RD

JEFA Tech supports the ARRL HSMM (High Speed Multimedia) Group which does
this kind of experimenting with WiFi.  There are a lot of Amateurs out there
with WiFi projects.  You can use the code HSMM during the checkout to get a
10% discount.

Good luck! 

-----Original Message-----
From: aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org [mailto:aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org]
On Behalf Of Wes Johnston
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 11:29 PM
To: aprssig at lists.tapr.org
Subject: [aprssig] wifi and aprs?

Has anyone ever used 802.11b/g from an air plane?  I mean small plane....
not
commercial.  I'm wondering about downlinking data collected from Garmin RINO
units and APRS trackers via 802.11.  Would be neat to use a webcam too.

What range can we expect?  What antennas were used?  Anyone thought about
automatic antenna aiming using APRS position reports of the plane?

Is this a "you're in range for 20 seconds thing, or is this something we
could
aim a 15 db yagi out the passenger compartment window (ie down the wing,
perpendicular to the plane's travel) and pivot about a fixed point to keep
the
yagi aimed at the wifi AP?

Wes

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