Blog from September, 2013

The Wisard ‘motes’ come in 3 flavors for MetcraxII: Soil/Rad-XbeeWireless data sampling; Serial-Forwarding for crater barometer/csat’s; Power Monitor. The basic command sets are shown below:

Mote Setting Defaults:

If the ‘eeinit’ command is used, the project defaults are reprogrammed into the eeprom which controls operating parameters.

Low Battery Voltage Monitor: disabled (vm=0).

GPS: disabled on the serial forwarding motes in crater (2baro’s and 2csats)

rad/soil gps sync rate=2hours (gr=7200), timeout=1min (gto=60), failed retry rate=30min (gfr=1800)

Primary Output Port pp=radio (pp=1)

Message Output wisard mode (mp=0) messages

Local Data Storage disabled (fsr=0)

Sampling Mode Self-Timed (md=0)…Don’t change this!

How-To Command/Interact with a Specific V2.4 Soil/Rad Xbee Radio Motes:

By default all commands are sent by a base station radio to all remotes. You can address a specific mote only by one of two ways:

1) Don’t Do This!: Reprogram the base Xbee radio (or equivalent) to only talk with your target.

2) Do This: #xxcmd where xx=moteID, and ‘cmd’ is one of the above commands.

For example: ‘#17dr’ or ‘#2xb=pl’ or ‘#4eeupdate’

FLR: >rs 2 ids = 1,2,17 Unless they’re changed!

NEAR: >rs 1 ids = 3,8,10

FAR: >rs 2 ids = 4,22

METCRAXII: Rad/Soil Mote Commands V2.4:

Note: Cmds with ‘=’ option can be reset with a new value
Note: All values are stored in eeprom and reloaded at runtime. If you change one or more and then ‘eeupdate’ they will be used both immediately and at any reboot. Exceptions are rxb,hb,st,jd and ‘on/off’

Sampling Rates:	‘dr’ ‘dr=’ ‘sp’ ‘sp=’ ‘sn’ ‘sn=’ ‘sx’ ‘sx=’	Data Sampling rate in seconds Power message skip count = drvalue* Serial# message skip count = drvalue* XbeeStatus message skip count Skipcount 0=Disabled, 1=Every Message
Operating Modes	‘md’ ‘md=’ ‘id’ ‘id=’ ‘mp’ ‘mp=’ ‘pp’ ‘pp=’ cache cache=	0=Self-Timed Mode (Default)1=Xbee-Sleep MoteID Output: 0=Wisard, 1=DSM printable,2=Ascii Primary Output Port: 0=rs232, 1=xbee Show/Set message caching count
Local File	fsON/OFF fsr fsr=	Rate in seconds to cycle (ie flush) local storage fil. fsr=0 disables local data storage
Batt Monitor	‘vm’ ‘vm=’ ‘vl’ ‘vl=’ ‘vh’ ‘vh=’ ‘vs’ ‘vs=’	vm=1 MonitoringON, vm=0 OFF vl=7000 Turn MoteOps off at 7vdc vh=12300 Turn back on at 12.3vdc when off ‘sleep seconds’ before re-testing
EEPROM	‘eecfg’ ‘eeupdate’ ‘eeinit’ ‘eeload’	report current operating settings write eeprom with current settings initialize default settings read/load existing eeprom contents
Xbee Radio:	‘xb=’ ‘xr’ ‘xr=’ ‘hb’ ‘xs’ ‘rxb’ ‘xbdl’,’xbch’,’xbid’’xbst’,’xbsp’ ‘xv’	Send specific command to xbee: such as ‘xb=pl’ for power. To reprogram a new value ex: ‘xb=pl2’ or ‘xb=dl12345678’ Xbee automatic reset rate unless ‘hb’ heart-beat rcvd Xbee status Reset Xbee dl=destination, ch=chan: values setup in eeprom st=wake time (7D0=2sec) sp=sleep time(12C=3sec) Do This to Confirm/Reprogram xbee with above values
GPS / Timing:	‘gpsON/OFF’ ‘gr’ ‘gr=’ ‘gto’ ‘gto=’ ‘gfr’ ‘gfr=’ ‘gnl’ ‘gnl=’ ‘st’ ‘ st=’ ‘jd’ jd=’ ‘bf’ bf=’ ‘ba’ ‘ba=’	How often ‘gpsON’ to set Date/Time (secs) Timeout Seconds if no lock acquired Retry Wait time (secs) if no lock #of sequential valid messages to confirm lock Show/Set time of day ‘hhmmss’ Show/Set Julian date Special use: Bresenham Freq. (~8000000) Adjust value
	‘?’ ‘reset’ ‘reboot’	Print command list, reset cpu
White-Button Use	1 2	scan for any attached I2C sensors Toggle Output port between radio/Console
LEDs	Startup Normal Ops Command ingest GPS WhiteButton	Normally 3 blinks of either: green-led=output is radio, red=output is console; then 7 quick blinks before boot (sometimes other leds come on and when xbee is the output there is a delay period before ‘boot’) 1-sec green led heart-beat, and red led blink at the ‘data-rate’ Orange led (above pic) comes on when a command is being ingested from the ‘base radio’ or the console which-ever is active, and goes out upon command <cr> termination. Yellow led (under microSD)blinks when message received and blinks several times when it syncs, then goes out. Org blinks for # of presses, then if swapping output ports the green or red will blink 3 times.

METCRAXII: Serial Forwarding Mote:

Note: Cmds with ‘=’ option can be reset with a new value
Note: All values are stored in eeprom and reloaded at runtime. Thus if you change one or more and then ‘eeupdate’ they will be used both immediately and at any reboot.  Exceptions are rxb,hb and ‘on/off’
NOTE: by default ALL MOTE COMMANDS ARE DISABLED and it is in ‘pass-through’ mode. Thus when you connect, you’ll be talking with the serial sensor itself.  To enable these commands use the hidden escape:
         ‘esc-esc-esc’ to toggle the command-mode on/off.

Sampling Rates:	‘dr’ ‘dr=’ ‘sp’ ‘sp=’ ‘sx’ ‘sx=’	Data Sampling rate in seconds Power message skip count = drvalue* XbeeStatus message skip count Skipcount 0=Disabled, 1=Every Message
Operating Modes	‘id’ ‘id=’ ‘mp’ ‘mp=’ ‘pp’ ‘pp=’ ‘delay’ ‘delay=’	MoteID Output: 0=Wisard, 1=DSM printable,2=Ascii Primary Output Port: 0=rs232, 1=xbee Seconds of delay before starting up. This was done to allow the sensor and bluetooth radio to boot before forwarding chars begins
Local File	fsON/OFF fsr fsr=	Any questions…? Rate in seconds to cycle (ie flush) local storage file
EEPROM	‘eecfg’ ‘eeupdate’ ‘eeinit’ ‘eeload’	report current operating settings write eeprom with current settings initialize default settings read/load existing eeprom contents
Xbee Radio:	‘xb=’ ‘xr’ ‘xr=’ ‘xs’ ‘rxb’ ‘btradio’	Send specific command to xbee: such as ‘xb=pl’ for power. To reprogram a new xbee value ex: ‘xb=pl2’ or ‘xb=dl12345678’ Xbee automatic reset rate unless ‘hb’ rcvd Report Xbee status Reset Xbee immediately Special Use Only while using Console Port!: passthrough directly to the radio. You then need to do the timing, special ‘+++’ ‘atxx’ etc.
GPS / Timing:	gpsON/OFF gr gr= gto gto= gfr gfr= gnl gnl=	Any questions…? How often ‘gpsON’ to set Date/Time (secs) Timeout Seconds if no lock acquired Retry Wait time (secs) if no lock #of sequential valid messages to confirm lock
	‘?’ ‘reset’ ‘reboot’	Print command list reset cpu
White-Button Usage	1 2 3	scan for any attache I2C sensors (limited use for forwarder!) Toggle Output port between radio/Console Tobble Fake Message Simulator On/Off (so you don’t need a sensor attached to try out the radio link)
LEDs	Startup Normal Ops Command ingest GPS	A long series of 1-sec blinks will last for the ‘delay’ time mentioned above. Then ‘roughly’ 7 blinks and the 1-sec green led heart-beat, and red led blink at the ‘data-rate’ when sampling occurs (yes the forwarder is taking power readings at ‘dr’) Orange led (above pic) comes on when a command is being ingested from the ‘base radio’ or the console which-ever is active, and goes out upon command <cr> termination. Yellow led (under microSD)

Because the Serial Forwarding Motes in MetcraxII are BlueTooth based radios, to talk with them individually, the command ‘#’ prefix shown above is superfluous. Instead the interaction is entirely up to the DSM virtual serial port connection. For that you must know what the friendly name of its BT-radio. With the DSM / Nidas software running, and logged into the DSM:

>rserial btspp:name This must be a known name in the config and in the radio.

METCRAXII: Power Monitor Mote:

The Power Monitor Board designed and built in 2013 was based upon a PIC18F2520, the same as used on the original Version 1 motes. For convenience the initial implementation of the command set was similar to V1 Motes, not the V2.4 soil/rad devices.
Note: Cmds with ‘=’ option can be reset with a new value

Sampling Rates:	‘dr’ ‘dr=’ ‘sx’ ‘sx=’	Data Sampling rate in seconds XbeeStatus message skip count If skipcount=0 Disabled If skipcount=1 Every msg (ie no sensor data)
Operating Modes	‘id’ ‘id=’ ‘mp’ ‘mp=’ ‘pp’ ‘pp=’ ‘mt’ ‘mx’	MoteID Output: 0=Wisard, 1=Ascii Primary Output Port: 0=rs232, 1=xbee Self-Timed Mode (Default) Xbee-Sleep Mode BEWARE: unlike version2+ once in xbee mode you can’t hit the button, only power cycle and/or use a properly setup xbee ‘base’
Calibration Offset/Gain Settings	‘vbg’ ‘vbg=’ ‘vbo’ ‘vbo=’ ‘ilg’ ‘ilg=’ ‘ilo’ ‘ilo=’ ‘ilt’ ‘ilt=’ ‘ipvg’ ipvg=’ ‘ipvo’ ‘ipvo=’ ‘ipvt’ ‘ipvt=’	Battery Voltage circuit Gain, Offset Load Current circuit Gain, Offset, Temperature Coefficient Charging Current circuit Gain, Offset, Temperature Coefficient
EEPROM	‘ew’ ‘ei’ ‘er’	write eeprom with current settings initialize default settings read eeprom contents
Xbee Radio:	‘xb=’ ‘xr’ ‘xr=’ ‘hb’ ‘xs’ ‘rxb’	Send command to xbee: ‘xb=pl’ for power Xbee automatic reset rate unless ‘hb’ rcvd Send Xbee a ‘heart-beat’ Report Xbee status Reset Xbee immediately
Timing:	‘st’ ‘st=’ ‘jd’ ‘ jd=’ ‘bf’ ‘bf=’ ‘ba’ ‘ba=’	Show/Set time of day ‘hhmmss’ Show/Set Julian date Special use: Bresenham Freq. (~8000000) and Adjust value
	‘?’ ‘reset’ ‘reboot’	Print command list reset cpu

These motes in METCRAXII were initially setup with a wired link into a DSM port and are mounted in the battery boxes. They can be swapped over to Xbee radios by removing the rs232 module and swapping in a xbee radio pre-programmed to work with the base radio it will be interacting with.

FAR: >rs 7

NEAR: >rs 17 (low) >rs 18 (up)

RIM: >rs 14 (low) >rs 16 (up)

FLR: >rs 8

HOW-TO: Change Mote Xbee Radio’s

If a a radio goes bad, or more likely a mote/xbee need to be swapped in to a different BASE-Xbee receiver, then the xbee radio must be either swapped in or have its settings changed. In either case you need to know the Base Radio’s values (labeled on the box):

1) Serial number, low number: ‘sl’ in the base xbee, used in the ‘dl’ setting of the client xbee.

2) Channel number: ‘ch’

3) Node ID: ‘id’

All other parameters should be ready to go in our radios. The base broadcasts to all clients ‘dl=0000’ and the clients send messages to the base radio ‘dl=xxxxxxxx’.

If the radio is ok but the mote is bad: you can remove the xbee from the old mote and put it in the new one. If you do that the default eeprom ‘radio settings’ in the mote will probably be different but that is ok because the radio will already be setup correctly; just don’t use the ‘xv’ command!

Otherwise if you putting in a new mote with new radio (ie moving it) then you need to change the xbee and mote settings. This can be awkwardly done over the air but the best is to use the mote console port:

1) Connect console cable between Mote-PC. Start serial comm program (minicom,procomm,rserial): 38400bps = Rad/Soil Motes, 9600bps=SerialForwardingMote

2) Power Up Mote You should see 3 short green blinks indicating stdio is going to the xbee port.

3) 2x White Button Toggles stdio to the console port. You should see 2 quick org. blinks indicating it saw the 2 button presses.

4) md=2 If using minicom/procomm. This puts the mote in plain text mode so you can see the output. In rserial the md=0 ‘wisard’ mode is ok/best.

5) xbdl=xxxxxxxx where ‘xxxxxxxx’ is the BaseRadio’s low serial number (hex)

6) xbid=x where ‘x’ is the BaseRadio’s id.

7) xbch=xx where ‘xx’ is the BaseRadio’s channel number (hex)

8) xv The mote will reprogram the xbee radio with the above numbers and give you a status report.

9) id=xx Do this for the DSM injest if you’re swapping in a new mote. You must know the old mote number. The alternative when swapping is to change the dsm’s ‘xml’ for the new id, and all the associated adjustments in base, etc.

9) md=0 puts the mote in wisard output mode. If you leave the md=2 (or 1) then the next command will cause it to boot in the wrong mode and cause dsm problems.

9) eeupdate This stores the above values in the mote’s eeprom.

10) reboot Or press reboot button, or cycle power to restart with the new setting

11) Check the settings/results and that the dsm is still getting data, etc.

The xbee radio settings can be adjusted or viewed also by using the command ‘xb=yyy’ including ‘over the air.’ Be careful not to change one of the 3 values above over the air or else you will lose radio contact. Some examples

1) xb=pl shows xbee’s power level

2) xb=pl2 changes xbee’s power level.

3) sx reports various xbee status values

4) xb=sl shows xbee’s serial number

5) xb=dl shows xbee’s destination serial number

6) xb=xxxxxxxx changes xbee’s destination destination serial number (you can shoot yourself in the foot if using this over the air).<!-- /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable

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BlueTooth Ops Hints - checking and changing settings, sensor wiring ...

John Militzer posted on Sep 24, 2013

Hopefully attached is a pdf that will likely be further updated as we go on. The word doc is in the usual project doc dir.:BluetoothOpsHints.pdf

Deployment log

Tom Horst posted on Sep 12, 2013

Following are Kurt's daily status reports during setup:

September 9

Travel from Boulder to Flagstaff

September 10

Penske 85% unloaded

NEAR sited in (anchors) and base plate installed
Base trailer sited
Tried to access FAR to install base plate and anchors, but way too wet, almost got stuck!
Gotta wait till it dries out - approx. 1/2 mile of submerged road (2 lane track) right around where the tower is supposed to go.
Talked to Brad Andes, he will get with me on Thursday.
Tomorrow is a busy day - set anchors for NEAR, and hopefully download all concrete blocks as well as generators and fuel bladders.
Very happy with progress so far, especially with the rain we are dealing with!
Talked to Ken as well; I told him to wait and see what progress we make tomorrow before coming up on thursday.

September 11

Base trailer is partially set up - leveled and generator hooked up, porch etc. all thanks to John and Laura.
Fuel tanks for ISFS and ISS in place.
Anchors set for NEAR, 449, and base towers
Concrete blocks staged for helicopter lift
Tomorrow we are set to install anchors at FAR, meet with Brad Andes and confirm anchor pull specs with Ken Shively.
We may even get to play with heavy steel......

September 12

Some good news and some bad.....

We got anchor verification for NEAR, BASE , and 449 today from Ken Shively, but FAR has one anchor we have yet to get to "hold". Will attack that anchor later in the week as we have other issues to attend to.
Met with Brad Andes today and went over the "no go zone" at rim and unfortunately, the NE anchor was in that zone. I will move the site accordingly and will keep you informed as to our progress.
Over all I feel we are on track and moving ahead.
The next few days will be spent on getting the platforms ready for the rim site and surveying how the tower will fit into the new approved "go zone".

September 13

Ok, we got the anchors installed at FAR thanks to Chris, John, and Tim.
Laura and I got the RIM site mapped out (looks better than I had expected), and the base plate installed.
Steel platforms are 99.9 % put together, just missing 3 bolts which we got in the nick of time in flagstaff - Fastenall stayed open for us till we were able to get there, otherwise we would have had to wait till monday morning.
Good news about the permit being in Steve Atkins hands - we may be able to go vertical sunday or even sat afternoon!
Dave W. will arrive sunday evening and stage on monday.
Got an email from Greg @ air west requesting I call him asap......
Hoping there is no bad news....will call him first thing tomorrow morning.

September 14-15

Saturday:
We staged a lot of gear at rim, and some at the base for the helo ops,then got shut down after noon by heavy rain.

Sunday:
We staged some more equipment at the base, got the lidar installed on the rim for the profiling group (heavy lidar!) then went vertical at near. we got to 40 ft by the end of the day.
Thanks to Steve Atkins who helped with the heavy lifting of the lidar!
Dave Whiteman arrived and is ready to stage all crater equipment on Monday.

September 16

Today was spent meeting with Dave Whiteman, Sebastian, and Brad Andes to determine helicopter ops which will begin at 7:30 AM tomorrow (tuesday).

All the staging was completed for the helo ops, and equipment was hauled to rim and near.
Attempts to continue going vertical at NEAR were thwarted by nasty thunderstorms in the area, so we gave help to Lou at the 449 site.

September 17

Helicopter ops went off without a hitch on tues. and we finished deploying all the caches by 11:15.The anchors at RIM went particularly well, and look fabulous!
Portable biffies were delivered.
We even had an opportunity to go vertical in the afternoon and have reached 70 ft high at NEAR.

September 18

Windy day so we didn't increase the tower height of NEAR, but we were able to plumb the 70 ft already in place.
Anchors were installed at FLOOR, and Ken was notified. He will inspect all remaining anchors on friday.
John and I went to Flagstaff urgent care. John has a fractured ring finger on his right hand, I have a strained ligament in my right foot. Nether aliment will hinder our work.

September 19

got to 140 ft today at NEAR

September 20

Anchors passed at FAR, RIM and FLR. RIM failed with base plate for tower but timbers were added to pass inspection.

Soil sensors installed at FLR while anchors were being checked.

September 21

The tower at NEAR is now finished, including AWM's , bird flappers, and beacon. We plumbed and tensioned it also.
Got a start on rim, but high winds prevented us from going vertical. Rim is staged and ready to build weather permitting.
Will attempt to put up some 40 ft towers tomorrow if we can't work on rim.

September 22

EXTREMELY windy today. FLR tower was erected.

September 23

Got to 110 ft on rim today - banner day - but I fear (know) I am working people to hard....

Tomorrow will be equally difficult but I can't let off because of high winds expected Wednesday and Thursday.
I plan to have an off day (or partial) on Wednesday to give a break to my crew.
I will continue by myself, or with Gordon on weds, etc. to get as much done as possible before weather (winds) abate.

September 24

We reached 140 ft today at rim and have tensioned 3 of the 4 guys. The fourth guys are in place (including the dreaded AWM's and bird diverters) but still need to plumb and tension those. Plan to complete that tomorrow, give Chris and Laura a much needed break and then continue on to soil sensors etc.
If winds are not too high we will consider a 40 ft tower at far (with a shortened crew).

I need to commend high praise to my crew for work completed so far. All are conscious of our deadline and willing to go the extra mile to make this all work out. Kudos to all who have participated in this setup!

September 25

Windy day! We were able to plumb the last 35 ft of RIM today and set up solar panels. Re-tensioning will be done before instrumenting the tower on friday, winds permitting.
FAR tower was installed during high winds, and soils and solar panels completed.

Higher winds expected on thursday. Hope to get base and 449 towers erected tomorrow as well as soils at near.
Chris and Laura have well-needed day off tomorrow.
If winds subside on friday as expected, will instrument as much as possible starting with rim.

September 26

50 mph gusts today. Chris and Laura had the day off.

Gordon and Kurt installed soil sensors at NEAR, set up the saw horse (ready for radiometers) and installed the 40 foot tower at 449 (we had lots of help there).
Too windy to attempt erecting the tower at base.

September 27

A calm day at last!
RIM is 95% complete. ( a poorly fitting sonic boom needs to be addressed.)
All boom mounts in place at NEAR.

September 28

Another banner day!
Kudos to my fabulous team, Chris, Gordon, and Gary Granger.
NEAR is instrumented except for a Krypton.
We also put up BASE and instrumented the 449 tower (wind head).

September 29

FAR was instrumented (needs pressure hose and grounding of dsm and soils turned on).

BASE was mostly instrumented (needs 10 m sonic and networking).
Networking was worked on at near and rim.
Solar and rad were worked on at near.

September 30

FAR is finished (installed dsm gnds, turned on soils mote and installed pressure port hose)

NEAR is finished (beacon pwr cable, kH2O installed, mote and battery and cables for the SPN 1 sensor, dressed tower cables, etc.
RIM is finished
Power and Ethernet installed for ASU lidar.

Chris: Our installation ops in the crater were very productive. These are the updates for the crater...

...Updates:
Met tower instrumented BUT had some complications:
-no power cable to solar panels
-no ethernet cables to UofU LIDAR
-solar stand (dark horse) is not in place
Pressure stands:
-all SSW, S, NNE and FLR pressures have been placed and checked by Sebastian.
-no sonic towers have been erected but the pressure transducers have been turned on for communication checks.
-Solar panels have not been brought to the sonic sites
PortaPotty
-PortaPotty has been installed on the Westside of mine fence
-Composting need filled for usage.
-Tied down for high winds

October 1

Chris has spent two days in the crater, and accomplished the impossible.
All at FLR is operational now. (minus the two outlying sonics which have a potential battery-charging problem due to little sun)
Kurt spent the day with the county building inspector, who signed the permits, and cleaning up around the base site.

Slight problem with the power for the ASU Lidar which is stuck in London. Transformer and 240 V extension cord are fried. We will just use a 120 V extension cord and possibly move the ASU Lidar closer to the ISFS base.

Chris:
FLR is complete. All instruments are communicating BUT sonics at SSW2 and SSW4. Towers are installed at those two sites for pressure but no sonics. Hardware and ECHO boxes are at tower sites for sonic install. Installed one 64W panel at each tower hoping to get enough charge. SSW2 seems to have good sun but not SSW4...extremely steep. Solar panel is resting on sonic box that is held up by piled rocks. DO NOT CLIMB THESE TOWERS! PortaPotty is ready for use. Need toilet paper.

Tom:

Dave and I worked with the STEM Journals filming crew most of the day. Dave was going to take them into the crater today.

WIFI configuration

Gordon Maclean posted on Sep 03, 2013

General Notes

All the AP24's are configured as a bridge, so all IP addresses are on the 192.168.0 network.

WDS (wireless distribution system) is also enabled which enables the whole setup to appear as if it is one ethernet switch. I've set wds-ignore-ssid=yes, which as I understand it, allows WDS across different SSIDs. In order for that to work, all access points must be on the same frequency, and dfs-mode (dynamic frequency selection) turned off.

I've chosen frequency=2452 Mhz for testing at FLAB. In the field we can use "interface wireless frequency-monitor" at setup to find a quiet frequency.

Common settings:

frequency=2452
tx-power-mode=default
dfs-mode=none
wds-mode=dynamic
wds-ignore_ssid=yes

TX power

Here's a useful FAQ for routers, such as the AP24's, using the mikrotik software, http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Wireless_FAQ.

 What TX-power-mode is the best?

TX-power-mode tells the wireless card which tx-power values should be used. By default this setting is set to default.

    default means that the card will use the tx-power values from the cards eeprom and will ignore the setting what is specified by the user in the tx-power field.
    card-rates means that for different data rates the tx-power is calculated according the cards transmit power algorithm from the cards eeprom and as an argument it takes tx-power value specified by the user.
    all-rates-fixed means that that the card will use one tx-power value for all data rates which is specified by the user in tx-power field. 

Note that it is not recommended to use 'all-rates-fixed' mode as the wireless card tx-power for the higher data rates is lower and by forcing to use the fixed tx-power rates also for the higher data rates might results the same problems like in the previous question about tx-power setting. For most of the cases if you want to change the tx-power settings it is recommended to use the tx-power-mode=card-rates and it is recommended to lower and not to raise tx-power.

tx-power-mode=default seems to work well in the staging area. If it doesn't work in the field, we'll go with

tx-power-mode=card-rates
tx-power=(lowest setting that works well, in the range 13-26)

Access point at base with a single omni antenna

site	WIFI	antenna	role	ssid
floor	etherant	internal, to rim	station adaptor	ISFS
rim	AP24-2	internal, to floor	access point	ISFS
rim	AP24-2	external, yagi to base	station adaptor	ISFSext
base	AP24	external, omni	access point	ISFSext
near	AP24-3	internal, to base	station adaptor	ISFSext
far	etherant	internal, to base	station adaptor	ISFSext

Dual antenna access point at base

If an omni antenna at the base cannot receive adequately from rim, near and far, then we could enable the internal antenna, as follows:

site	WIFI	antenna	role	ssid
floor	etherant	internal, to rim	station adaptor	ISFS
rim	AP24-2	internal, to floor	access point	ISFS
rim	AP24-2	external, yagi to base	station adaptor	ISFSrim
base	AP24	internal, to rim	access point	ISFSrim
base	AP24	external, 180	access point	ISFSext
near	AP24-3	internal, to base	station adaptor	ISFSext
far	etherant	internal, to base	station adaptor	ISFSext

AP24 at base

Here are the wireless settings if only using the external antenna:

Note:

wlan1-Int-Ant is disabled
ssid=ISFS
wds-default-bridge=bridge1

[admin@ap24] > interface wireless print                                                                                       
Flags: X - disabled, R - running 
 0 X  name="wlan1-Int-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:10:29:B2 arp=enabled disable-running-check=no 
      interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="AP24-IntAnt" mode=ap-bridge ssid="ISFSext" area="" 
      frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2452 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default 
      rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps 
      supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps 
      max-station-count=50 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default 
      periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-b 
      wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=bridge1 wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=yes 
      update-stats-interval=30s default-authentication=no default-forwarding=no default-ap-tx-limit=0 
      default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=post-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep 
      disconnect-timeout=15s on-fail-retry-time=300ms preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes 

 1  R name="wlan2-Ext-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:10:3C:BC arp=enabled disable-running-check=no 
      interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="AP24-ExtAnt" mode=ap-bridge ssid="ISFSext" area="" 
      frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2452 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default 
      rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps 
      supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps 
      max-station-count=50 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default 
      periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-a 
      wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=bridge1 wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=yes 
      update-stats-interval=disabled default-authentication=no default-forwarding=yes default-ap-tx-limit=0 
      default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=post-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep 
      disconnect-timeout=15s on-fail-retry-time=300ms preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes

AP24-2 at rim

[admin@ap24-2] > interface wireless print                                                                                     
Flags: X - disabled, R - running 
 0  R name="wlan1-Int-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:20:01:9A arp=enabled disable-running-check=no 
      interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="ap24-2-internal" mode=ap-bridge ssid="ISFS" area="" 
      frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2452 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default 
      rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps 
      supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps 
      max-station-count=2007 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default 
      periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-b 
      wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=bridge1 wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=yes 
      update-stats-interval=30s default-authentication=no default-forwarding=no default-ap-tx-limit=0 
      default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=post-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep 
      disconnect-timeout=15s on-fail-retry-time=300ms hw-retries=15 preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes 

 1  R name="wlan2-Ext-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:10:1C:0D arp=enabled disable-running-check=no 
      interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="ap24-2-external" mode=station-wds ssid="ISFSext" area="" 
      frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2452 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default 
      rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps 
      supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps 
      max-station-count=2007 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default 
      periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-a 
      wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=bridge1 wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=yes 
      update-stats-interval=30s default-authentication=no default-forwarding=no default-ap-tx-limit=0 
      default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=post-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep 
      disconnect-timeout=15s on-fail-retry-time=300ms hw-retries=15 preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes

AP24-3 at near

The AP24 supports a maximum bandwidth of 54 Mbps, whereas the highest I've seen on an Etherant is 11 Mbps. So the plan is to use the single antenna AP24 at the near tower instead of an Etherant.

[admin@ap24-3] > interface wireless print                                                                                     
Flags: X - disabled, R - running 
 0  R name="wlan1-Int-Ant" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:15:6D:20:01:90 arp=enabled disable-running-check=no 
      interface-type=Atheros AR5213 radio-name="AP24-3" mode=station-wds ssid="ISFSext" area="" 
      frequency-mode=regulatory-domain country=united states antenna-gain=0 frequency=2442 band=2.4ghz-b/g scan-list=default 
      rate-set=default supported-rates-b=1Mbps,2Mbps,5.5Mbps,11Mbps 
      supported-rates-a/g=6Mbps,9Mbps,12Mbps,18Mbps,24Mbps,36Mbps,48Mbps,54Mbps basic-rates-b=1Mbps basic-rates-a/g=6Mbps 
      max-station-count=50 ack-timeout=dynamic tx-power-mode=default noise-floor-threshold=default 
      periodic-calibration=default periodic-calibration-interval=60 burst-time=disabled dfs-mode=none antenna-mode=ant-b 
      wds-mode=dynamic wds-default-bridge=none wds-default-cost=100 wds-cost-range=50-150 wds-ignore-ssid=no 
      update-stats-interval=disabled default-authentication=no default-forwarding=yes default-ap-tx-limit=0 
      default-client-tx-limit=0 proprietary-extensions=pre-2.9.25 hide-ssid=no security-profile=isffwep 
      disconnect-timeout=3s on-fail-retry-time=100ms preamble-mode=both compression=no allow-sharedkey=yes

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