W4NNG wrote:
Hello fellow HRO's

I've got a 50ft tower w/ rotor. Been thinking mounting a 2.4 Ghz WiFi
antenna on the rotor to see what it picks up in way of WAP / WLAN's

To get around cable loss problem was going to put a USB adapter at antenna
then run USB cable up tower. Have tested USB at ~ 5X it's spec'd range but
suspect the 60 - 70' run will be way too long.

Anyone know of a way to 'remodulate' so to speak to 802.11 wirelessly link
the output from the antenna mounted adapter back to computer?
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You might wish to consider a wireless router ,with detachable antenna
instead ,either with a standard antenna ,all in a wx-proof enclosure or
with an external high gain antenna.
The advantage of using a router is using a ethernet (cat5) cable of any
length. You obviously have to strap a 12V-DC power cable to the cat5
cable for 'feeding' the router.
The router produces enough heat to keep itself dry in its wx proof
enclosure.

When using a USB2 wireless adaptor you will need special amplifying 5
metres long cables (I believe up to 3 can be put in series making the
max length approx 15 metres which is short of your 20+ metres
Moreover you would have to wx-proof the joints which contain the amplifiers
When using a USB adapter you might be in a position to fit this device
in the focal point of a satellite dish which with its high gain (but
being directive) would possibly not necessitate installation on top of a
mast , enabling a shorter distance to your 'service point'
Just some ideas ..........


Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH