Normal Heights

On Sunday, January 30th, SoCalFreeNet.org volunteers Matt, Drew, Serin and Lee met at the residence of SoCalFreeNet.org member Steve in Normal Heights (near Mansfield St and Collier Ave)to deploy the newest SoCalFreeNet node! Thanks to the great preparation work by Steve and Michael, the install was a slam dunk. After only 2 hours of climbing ladders and playing with power tools, we were live! Steve has a Business Class Cox Cable connection (which allows legal sharing). A dslreports.com speed test revealed a 1.6Mbps downstream and 200k upstream connection.

 

From the cable modem, a Cat 5 cable runs to a 1U rack mounted server running M0n0wall. From there, a Cat 5 cable runs 2 stories up to the attic, where a Cisco 1200 is mounted on the ceiling. One small omni antenna serves the residence, while the other antenna port connects to a 50 foot LMR400 RF Cable run connected to a Superpass 8.5 dbi antenna (w/10 degree downtilt) mounted on the side of the roof.

We utilized two Y brackets to secure the mounting pole to the side of the roof, and then two hose clamps to attach the antenna to the mounting pole. We used a continuity tester to discover that the metal shroud (HVAC housing) was connected to house ground, so we used a short segment of 8 gauge solid copper grounding wire to connect the lightning arrestor ground port to the metal shroud.

Free wireless Internet access for Normal Heights courtesy of Steve and the SoCalFreeNet volunteer crew!

As Steve already owned the 1U server and Cisco 1200, the only costs for the deployment are listed below (Thanks again Steve for sponsoring this node!!!)
$65 - Antenna: Superpass SPDG60-D10
$20 - lightning arrestor
$12 - 2 Y mounts, Home Depot, $6 each
$ 6 - pole used as antenna mast, purchased at Fry's
$ 5 - ground wire, zip ties, misc stuff
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$108

More images from the day: