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Mikrotik LDF 5 support

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AE6XE
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Mikrotik LDF 5 support

Announcing availability of the MIkrotik LDF 5 in Nightly Builds from Dec 8, 2018

Called the "Lite Dish Feed" (LDF), this device is intended to mount on a re-purposed satellite dish.  The xmit power of this device is 25dBm for only ~$38, very cost effective.  See the specs here:

https://mikrotik.com/product/rbldf_5nd

"The offset mount is universal at 40mm diameter, and the LDF can easily be placed inside it."

"Using a dish of up to 100cm in diameter, it is possible to obtain antenna amplification of up to 33dBi."

Please post results of using this device and sources and types of reflectors.

Very special thanks (again) to Mike K3MMB for donating this device to AREDN Inc. to enable AREDN support!   Please give Mike a hand!

Joe AE6XE

AC0WN
AC0WN's picture
Thank you Mike K3MMB !

If your QTH is located in a neighborhood with strict CC&R's this would make a great stealth installation!

Thank you, Mike for your donation and support of AREDN, and thank you to the development team for another addition to the supported platform list.

73,
julie  /ac0wn

K3MMB
You are most welcome
I have a couple of old dishes laying around and was hoping this unit would give me greater distances.

Best Regards
mike
 
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
DirecTV 40mm LDF mount
DirecTV 40mm LDF mount

I bumped into this mount on Amazon for $7.   A holder should fit and mount the LDF5 to a Dish, DTV, and some other US satellite dishes. 

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Single-Bracket-Holder-FTA-US/dp/B074L85...

Joe AE6XE
w8erd
LDF Support?
And how about support for the LDF2?

Bob W8ERD
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
This would be straight
This would be straight forward to support.  Someone needs to acquire the device and be willing to test or send the device to me and I'll test. 

Joe AE6XE
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
Just received the new LDF 2 today
Joe,
I just received my LDF 2 in the mail today. It took almost 2 weeks from a company in Texas.
Would you still like me to send it to you?
If you like, you can email me your info and I'll get it in the mail to you.
Just hit me at:  k9cqb@arrl.net
They seem fairly rare right now, but I hope that changes.
 
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
Let me put together the image
Let me put together the image and make available, keep the device.    The changes are straight forward, so very high chance this works on the first try.

Joe AE6XE
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
images to test LDF 2:   https
images to test LDF 2:   https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hLix_ih78GgKNRaKooZLLfmccjVEc-a3...

images to test LHG 2 HP XL:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gpKc7p-NZ-iviAPwBiO97hE6WB4oEoGR...

send me the support data from link at bottom of admin page.

Joe AE6XE
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
I'm going to load AREDNmesh on my LDF 2
Thanks, Joe.
As soon as I return home from my travels I shall whip out my Ubuntu laptop and flash my LDF 2 with your image. I'll let you know immediately how it goes and send you some support data as well.
Thank you,
-Damon
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
LDF 2
I'm also excited about the LDF 2 becoming an AREDN node. I have my LDF 5 mounted in my 30dB portable folding dish (see other post) and I could pop the LDF 5 out and pop in the LDF 2 depending on use case.
This thing is gonna be great!!! A 10dB gain antenna built into the tiny cube with 28dBm power!!! That's like a tiny NanoStation M2 the size of my Texas belt buckle.
I just ordered the LDF 2 here:  https://www.ispsupplies.com/MikroTik-RouterBOARD-RBLDF-2nD
It's much cheaper from Baltic Networks ($32 plus shipping), but it's not in stock there yet.
Perhaps I can send it in to you folks if you need a specimen. 

 
w8erd
LDF2
I will buy one to test.  Incidentally the test of the Mikrotik  XL 2 GHz dish was delayed, and should now happen this Thursday.
Larry AC8YE is our technical guru for these projects.  I am more the operational guy.

Bob W8ERD
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
LDF - PFD (Portable Folding Dish)

This MikroTik LDF is amazing. I have 4 fellow hams who will now be able to mount an AREDN node on their home (due to HOA). The folks at the HOA won't even notice or care that their DirecTV dish is tilted down more than usual. However, half of these guys need 2.4GHz (I'm sure we'll get that sorted out soon).

What I'd really like to show off is my 30dB portable folding dish. These travel DirecTV/DishTV-compatible dishes are normally $200, but I got mine for $60 on ebay. Ebay has the smaller travel dishes that are non-folding (~27dB) and about $55. 
On my particular dish I took off the LNB and put an LDF 5 on the aperture arm and it doesn't obstruct the folding capability. I can set this up and point it in 90 seconds (same time needed to stow it away).
Can anybody think of a quicker, lighter way of setting up a portable dish? Also, if I have to access a roof to setup a temp dish-node, this thing is great, like for special events or for conducting a survey from high ground/roof to see if you can actually hit a link from that position before dragging a heavy dish up there and mounting it on a mast. I, however, will mostly use it for my go-box.


 

Image Attachments: 
WU2S
WU2S's picture
Awesome!
Awesome! Thanks for the great pictures.
K3MMB
Very nice
dish and case??

can you give model info, please?
regards
mike
 
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
Portable Dish models
The dish I have in those photos is a Falcon Folding Dish Portable Tripod kit for TV, Caravan [FLN-1], available on ebay for $200:
Folding Portable Satellite Dish Tripod Kit RV Caravan Camping DIRECTV
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Folding-Portable-Satellite-Dish-Tripod-Kit-RV-C...

If $200 is too much (I found mine used/cheaper), this option is a bit cheaper at $55 (with no case and smaller dish):
Basic DirecTV RV Portable Satellite Dish Tripod Camping Tailgating Kit for RV
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Basic-DirecTV-RV-Portable-Satellite-Dish-Tripod...
 (you'll need this $5 adapter to replace the DirecTV LNB on this little dish - and all DirecTV dishes):
Single 40mm LNB Bracket Holder Mount Satellite FTA Dish Antenna LNBF
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Single-40mm-LNB-Bracket-Holder-Mount-Satellite-...
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
Very nice!  I have one of the
Very nice!  I have one of the DirecTV fixed tripod stands taking up a lot of space for general purpose mounting of poles and nodes.   I want to replace with this setup.   

Note, I broke the plastic mount bracket with the performance antenna Nanostation reflectors when the wind toppled it over and did a nose dive directly on the bracket into the ground.  I thought I'd be safe as the wind was fairly light, and as the saying goes, if it will happen, it will happen...    This setup looks like there'd be room to put in some tie downs and stakes in the case too.

Joe AE6XE     
w8erd
Do it yourself folding dish
This article describes how you can make any dish be foldable.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Portable-Folding-Satellite-Dish-for-FPV...

Bob EW8ERD
AJ6GZ
hmm
...So after 10 years of them sitting in the garage I threw out several dishes a few months ago! Oh well... at least I tried!
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
Exact same thing here
The exact same thing happened here. I had been storing 3 dishes for 6 years. My wife had been nagging me for years to throw them away. I threw them away one month before hearing about the LDF.
Crazy timing. Very unfortunate.
Oh well - time to go out and scrounge for at least one more.
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
One of my LDF 5's won't flash properly.
Joe (and all who care),
I have flashed two LDF 5 devices with zero issues - so easy. This 3rd one is killing me, though. I'm using the same Ubuntu 16.04 with the Linux TFTP server (dnsmasq methodology). When the .elf file was flashed I loaded the most recent nightly .bin file (I also tried 2 previous .bin files) and when I hit the "update" button about 8 seconds later "Bad Gateway" keeps popping up. It still allows me to go into http://localnode:8080 and edit the NOCALL page to my node name and distance/ch/pwd, etc., but when I hit "save changes" it reboots and comes back up and does not accept the AREDN software. In fact it boots back up into the MikroTik RouterOS (ver. 6.39.2) on 192.168.88.1 and I've tried like 10 times now. Is this just a bad LDF or is the version of RouterOS the wrong one?
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
K9CQB,  Confirm the 'keep
K9CQB,  Confirm the 'keep settings' box is unchecked when you click on "update"?     Alternatively, scp the sysupgrade bin file to /tmp on the node, and type the command on the node, "sysupgrade -n <sysupgrade bin filename>". 

Joe AE6XE 
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
I will try SCP'ing .bin file to the node
Joe, 
Yes, sir, I have the "keep settings" unchecked. I will try SCP'ing the bin file over to the /tmp directory on the node. Do I do that through the webpage that the elf file has provided me, like is there a command line tool that I can open from that .elf webpage? I'm just momentarily losing track of how to get a command line on the LDF. Do we have SSH or do I just telnet into it once the .elf file is loaded?
Thank you, so much.

Damon K9CQB
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
from ubuntu, after loading
from ubuntu, after loading the .elf file via dnsmasq,  and example for the latest nightly build .bin file copied to the current directory in ubuntu:

scp -P 2222 aredn-620-13a6afb-mikrotik-rb-nor-flash-16M-sysupgrade.bin   root@192.168.1.1:/tmp

Then:
scp -p 2222 root@192.168.1.1

and after you provide the hsmm password, at the shell prompt, type the command:

sysupgrade -n /tmp/aredn-620-13a6afb-mikrotik-rb-nor-flash-16M-sysupgrade.bin

what happens?

Joe AE6XE
 
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
Results
I did as you asked and it still would load. It seems like the LDF 5 doesn't think it's an LDF 5. 
I SSH'ed in to try it and here's the results: 

BusyBox v1.28.3 () built-in shell (ash)

              _____  ______ _____  _   _ 
        /\   |  __ \|  ____|  __ \| \ | |TM
       /  \  | |__) | |__  | |  | |  \| |
      / /\ \ |  _  /|  __| | |  | | . ` |
     / ____ \| | \ \| |____| |__| | |\  |
    /_/    \_\_|  \_\______|_____/|_| \_| 
    AMATEUR  RADIO EMERGENCY DATA NETWORK
-----------------------------------------------
 * 1 Battery          Connect all devices
 * 2 POE injectors    Upgrade firmware to AREDN
 * 3 cat5 cables      Setup with your callsign
 * 1 UBNT NanoStation Point the Antenna
 * 1 ipCam            Welcome to the Mesh!
-----------------------------------------------
  3.18.9.0, r7258-5eb055306f
 ----------------------------------------------
root@NOCALL:~# sysupgrade -n /tmp/aredn-620-13a6afb-mikrotik-rb-nor-flash-16M-sysupgrade.bin
Device unknown not supported by this image
Supported devices: rb-750-r2 rb-750up-r2 rb-750p-pbr2 rb-911-2hn rb-911-5hn rb-941-2nd rb-951ui-2nd rb-952ui-5ac2nd rb-962uigs-5hact2hnt rb-lhg-5nd rb-lhg-5hpnd-xl rb-ldf-5nd rb-map-2nd rb-mapl-2nd rb-wap-2nd
Image check 'fwtool_check_image' failed.
root@NOCALL:~# 


 So I cd'ed into root's /tmp and to check the file and tried it from that directory as well:  


root@NOCALL:/# cd tmp/
root@NOCALL:~# ls -latr
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root            80 Jan  1  1970 sysinfo
drwxrwxrwt    2 root     root            40 Jan  1  1970 shm
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root            40 Sep 26 04:50 tmp
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             0 Sep 26 04:50 resolv.conf.auto
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root            80 Sep 26 04:50 log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             4 Sep 26 04:50 TZ
drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root            60 Sep 26 04:50 spool
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root            60 Sep 26 04:50 state
drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root            60 Sep 26 04:50 lib
drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root           100 Sep 26 04:50 etc
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root            21 Sep 26 04:50 resolv.conf
drwxr-xr-x   16 root     root             0 Sep 26 04:50 ..
drwx------    2 root     root           100 Sep 26 04:50 .uci
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root            40 Sep 26 04:50 dropbear
-rwx------    1 root     root             5 Sep 26 04:50 .switch2jffs
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root            40 Sep 26 04:51 snrlog
drwxr-xr-x    5 root     root           320 Sep 26 04:52 run
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             0 Sep 26 04:52 rssi.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root       6553984 Sep 26 04:54 aredn-620-13a6afb-mikrotik-rb-nor-flash-16M-sysupgrade.bin
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root            61 Sep 26 04:56 dhcp.leases
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root           356 Sep 26 04:58 sysupgrade.meta
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             0 Sep 26 05:01 rssi.dat
drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root           380 Sep 26 05:01 lock
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             0 Sep 26 05:02 snr.dat
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             5 Sep 26 05:02 clean_zombie.pid
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             4 Sep 26 05:02 rssi_monitor.pid
drwxrwxrwt   15 root     root           540 Sep 26 05:02 .
root@NOCALL:~# sysupgrade -n /tmp/aredn-620-13a6afb-mikrotik-rb-nor-flash-16M-sysupgrade.bin
Device unknown not supported by this image
Supported devices: rb-750-r2 rb-750up-r2 rb-750p-pbr2 rb-911-2hn rb-911-5hn rb-941-2nd rb-951ui-2nd rb-952ui-5ac2nd rb-962uigs-5hact2hnt rb-lhg-5nd rb-lhg-5hpnd-xl rb-ldf-5nd rb-map-2nd rb-mapl-2nd rb-wap-2nd
Image check 'fwtool_check_image' failed.

   So now I'm going to check to make sure the .elf file is correct (but there's only one .elf file for all nodes, right? And why did this .elf file work on all of my other LDF 5's and not this one?

Thanks guys,
Damon K9CQB
 
K6AH
K6AH's picture
I have a functioning LDF5 and

I have a functioning LDF5 and it's running nightly 600.  It self identifies in the Administration page as:

current version: 600-22fe3bd
hardware type: mikrotik (rb-ldf-5nd)

So the hardware type is correctly ID'd in the list of Supported Devices for the image you're loading (4th back from the end of the list).  

Andre
 
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
OK - I got it. I downloaded a new .elf file
Based on SSH'ing into the node while it was running on the given .elf file, it looked like the .elf file didn't think it was an LDF 5  device. So I downloaded a new .elf file from AREDN's site, renamed it to "rb.elf", shoved it into /tftp and re-TFTP'ed the .elf and the .bin file finally took!!!!!!! Thank goodness.

Thanks for all of you help guys.
Damon K9CQB
 
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
Yes, the definitions of which
Yes, the definitions of which models the images support are part of the firmware now, including inside the .elf.    If we add a new model, then the current .elf file must be used.    However, you did receive a message that said your hardware model was in the list, so it is still a mystery why it did not take, but glad a current .elf worked.   

On a somewhat related subject, I am not getting a response from the LDF 2, same as you.   I'm likely going to have to pull the cover to get a console on the serial port to see what is going on.    Unfortunately, RouterOS does not seem to give access to linux boot information that is needed.  Still researching options before I pull the cover, which I'd like to avoid as this has a possibility of damaging the case.

All,  many thanks to Damon and round of cheers!   He has donated an LDF 2 to AREDN Inc. so that we can get to the bottom of this device and get AREDN working on it.    

Joe AE6XE
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
Thanks for the shout out
Thanks, Joe. It's not a problem.
I'm also stumped why it won't take a boot from the .elf file. It shares the same QCA9533 chipset that the RB-750-R2 has - and it will load OpenWRT and I believe AREDN works on it as well. In fact  both devices have the same chipset and 64MB RAM and 16MB flash.
Do you think that it's just a bad LDF 2? Shall I acquire another one? I think cracking it open is a bit messy as it is sealed with silicone, but it's definitely worth it. When you're done you can just reseal it with silicone again. 
Thank you so much Joe.
-Damon K9CQB
AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
See:  https://github.com
K8KNR
I am helping W8ERD with
I am helping W8ERD with testing out the LDF2. I tried loading the firmware following the directions and utilizing Tiny PXE Server on my laptop. Changed the name of the elf file to RB.ELF. Enabled DHCP server on my laptop. Rebooted the LDF2 and held reset until it sent the BOOTP request and then read RB.ELF. Then unit then appears to reboot, but it does not appear to run the AREDN elf file. It does not keep the DHCP assigned IP address and it does not default to 192.168.1.1. I open wireshark and I see no network traffic coming from the LDF2. I repeated the entire process two more times just to make sure I did not skip a step. The last time I captured a Wireshark log of the entire transaction between the LDF2 and my PC if that would be useful to anyone, but after it finishes the file transfer of the ELF file, the LDF2 just goes silent. Is there any progress on getting the LDF2 go read the ELF file?
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
Joe (AE6XE) is still

Joe (AE6XE) is still troubleshooting the LDF2.  It is NOT ready for primetime yet....  
(You can follow the Github issue progress for the LDF2 at the link above)

K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
LDF and LHG family comparison

After the issues we've had with the LDF-2 and the RBLHG-2nD and the RBLHG-2nD-XL, which all share the exact same board, I just wanted to share some photos of the RBLHG-5nD which shares the same board as the LDF-5. I also want to show off the higher power RBLHG-5HPnD (and its brother with a bigger dish, the RBLHG-5HPnD-XL) whose board is similar but with different power network circuitry and a full-board heat sink mounted to the back of the board. 
Now, I love the little LDF-5, but the RBLHG-5nD has a built-in dish that is sooooo light and small compared to the heavier Ubiquiti dish (NanoBridge M5). It seems so much easier to install than a NanoBridge, but with much less wind load and better gain.
The RBLHG-5HPnD shares the same 24dBi gain dish as the RBLHG-5nD and its 2.4GHz sister, the RBLHG-2nD, but with a more powerful HP radio. 
The RBLHG-5HPnD-XL shares the same HP radio as the RBLHG-5HPnD, but with a larger 27dBi gain dish - in fact the same dish as its sister from another band, the RBLHG-2nD-XL. MikroTik is really going crazy modular. Except the one radio that is missing is the high power 2.4GHz radio which I'm hoping they will come out with some day. 

Some day, if I get a busted dish I might even put the high power RBLHG-5HPnD board in the LDF-5 case for a powerful little LDF.

The 1st image is of the ​RBLHG-5nD board which is the same as the LDF-5 board.

The 2nd image is the front of the ​RBLHG-5HPnD / RBLHG-5HPnD-XL board which is the similar to the LDF-5 board, but with high power circuit.

The 3rd image is the back of the RBLHG-5HPnD / RBLHG-5HPnD-XL board where you see a black heat sink that covers the whole back of the board and the 5GHz V-Pol/H-Pol 2x2 MIMO planar array antenna.
 

Image Attachments: 
K5DLQ
K5DLQ's picture
once the elf file is loaded,
once the elf file is loaded, you can ssh to it.

ssh -p2222 root@localnode.local.mesh

or send a file via scp:

scp -P2222 somefile.bin root@localnode.local.mesh:/tmp

 
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
Great to know. I will try this.
Gentlemen, you are amazing. Thank you.
This is great information to know -I'm totally tracking now. I will try this tomorrow morning and report back.

Damon K9CQB
K9CQB
K9CQB's picture
Found a low cost dish perfectly suited for LDF
I bought this new dish from ebay for my LDF because I shortsightedly threw away my three dishes from DirecTV that I was saving for years - this was just a month or so before I heard about this LDF device. I ordered this dish for $55 (free shipping) and ebay listed it as a 30" dish. I measured it and it is 33" tall and 30" wide and clearly better than I thought it was going to be. This is about the perfect size for folks who are HOA restricted on antennas, and about the cheapest I've found. For anybody interested, here is the link: 

Winegard 30 Inch Diameter Universal Satellite Dish Antenna (DS-2076) 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Winegard-30-Inch-Diameter-Universal-Satellite-D...

I'll be taking some better, more professional photos of this dish and a DirecTV dish w/LDF along with a bunch of other new MikroTik AREDN gear so they can be used however the AREDN folks wish to use them (brochures, website, etc.).


 
Image Attachments: 
w8erd
Satellite TV dishes
I have been fiddling around with 3 different old satellite dish reflectors. The feed mounting method is not always the same.I have the fixed little bracket that
was first announced here. My LDF2 does not point exactly towards the center of the dish.  The bracket does not position the LDF2 at the same position the
original LNB was at, so it is not exactly at the focal point of the dish.  I plan to test moving the ldf2 around to see how much difference it actually makes.
My software installation has been delayed.

Bob W8ERD
kc8rgo
I just mounted my LDF5 on my
I just mounted my LDF5 on my motorhome (old Direct TV dish with manual raise and rotate controls inside the coach).  Any guidance on how to align the LDF5 in the dish?  Any specs on the signal pattern at say 10 miles with a TV dish?  i.e. How close to spot on at ten miles do I have to be?

Vance KC8RGO (headed for Yuma HF)
K6AH
K6AH's picture
No empirical data available
Vance, I don't believe anyone has run studies on this to give you a recommendation.  Likely users have simply peaked on the SNR for each adjustment.  Remember, it's an offset dish, so the azimuth alignment will be pretty easy "eyeball", but you won't be able to eyeball-in the elevation alignment.

Andre, K6AH
 
KG4IKT
LDF 5 ac

Does the nightly build work for the LDF 5 ac?

Jeff kg4ikt

AE6XE
AE6XE's picture
no 'ac' wireless chips are
no 'ac' wireless chips are yet supported.  The driver does not yet have functionality for 5 and 10 MHz channel widths implemented (by linux open source groups) and needs tweaked into Part 97 channels.  
kc8rgo
Thanks, Andre 
Thanks, Andre 
I received the following diagram from a friend and played with the math and the dish.
I have to tip the dish quite a bit to get the beam to head downhill to the receiver site.
Analysis shows that I really need an additional 3 feet of height, or a bull dozer.  :)
I was able to get 80-100% on the LQ, but very little on the NLQ over 12 miles.
 
Image Attachments: 
KG4IKT
Finally got around to flashing my LDF 5

I seemed to have a problem after loading the elf file, that I couldn't get an ip with dhcp.
LInux Mint 18.3
I learned something, i think.
The first few times, i would wait a few minutes after i saw "dnsmasq-tftp: sent  /tftp/rb.elv to 192.168.1.127"
before changing to DHCP to get an ip.
The third time, I decided to not be patient. I immediately changed the computer to DHCP, and it got an IP.
But, it was 192.168.1.9. 
I was able to pull up the AREDN page and then to select and load the new bin file.
After that it gave me a normal 10.xxx.xxx.xxx ip.

I learned that patience is not a virtue when trying to flash this.
Maybe that was part of my problem with the hAP.

thanks folks for the hard work.
Jeff

WA8RR
WA8RR's picture
LDF 2
I have the software installed.  The LDF 2 sees my local node.  I need to turn the local node off to point the antenna at a remote node.  I am having some problems find any remote node.   Are there any suggestions for positioning the satilite TV antenna.  I need the beam to be horizontal...?
nc8q
nc8q's picture
problems find any remote node

I don't know what your 'local node' is or what it 'sees',
but I'll guess you want this LDF2 and a re-purposed satelite dish reflector
to see better. :-|
Note that satellite dishes at 40 degrees North latitude are looking up at about 45 degrees.
I measured one of my dishes and it seemed to work horizontal when I had 22 degrees down-tilt on the arm that
had my transceiver mounted.
So, yes, to send/receive horizontal to the earth, you may need to down-tilt your satelite dish
by about 45 degrees compared to your neighbors satellite dish.

I hope this helps,
Chuck

WA8RR
WA8RR's picture
Ok..that will help....arm
Ok..that will help....arm tilt down 22 degrees...the dish should be at about 45...thanks
WA8RR
WA8RR's picture
I took a road trip with the
I took a road trip with the dish and a tripod.  I located myself close to a known node and was able to connect.  The dish angle was just about 45 degrees as you suggested.   Relocated to a location just down the road from my home node and confirmed the direction pointing info.

Thank you for your help.
kp4djt
New LDF 5 P2P linked but no data

Folks,
I have been lurking here for some time. I just got a pair of LDF 5 radios. I have them linked but i cannot get them to pass data. I want to get them running on the MT firmware first then flash the AREDN firmware. Initially I plan to use them to link a DMR repeater into a network but we are soon to have AREDN in the OKC area and want to move the DMR repeater linkage to that. But first I need to get these things working on the MT firmware. 

Any guidance will be most appreciated. I have MT routers, and AP's at home and elsewhere, all works just fine, but for some reason i have either buggered something up in the setup of these two radios or I have missed something.  The instructions that got the linked had me set them up as PTP Bridge AP. Ar the RF level they are linked but no data passage. Once I have them running on MT I will play with them a bit then migrate them to AREDN. 

FYI, the site which will be one end of this data link already is the end point for another DMR repeater using ​Ubiquiti LBE-5AC-GEN2-US. It is working quite well, but I believe it is not yet supported. 
We are supposed to have a high building site in downtown OKC, I understand that will become the first major node. But at the moment some of us are trying to get the DMR repeaters linked and want what we are doing to form part of AREDN as it comes to life. 

So if anyone can cast any light on where to poke on this LDF 5 linkage I would be most happy.  I would even take a couple of backups from someone to load into them and pick apart what you did. 
Best Regards
Chuck KP4JDT

kp4djt
Re: New LDF 5 P2P linked but no data

I got them going, I was trying to follow too many instructions, turns out it was quite simple. Now just to make sure that the antennas are aligned with the dishes,, and then the next thing will be to load the AREDN firmware. 

One question, it appears that the NV2 protocol is pretty efficient for P2P links. For the DMR repeaters many of them are just that, so is there any gain by updating to the AREDN firmware for a P2P link? Obviously the one gain is access to the full Pt 97 band. But I think that the international version will give me the same thing (just have to jump through some hoops to buy them). Looking forward to getting a full blown AREDN network here. Then I hope that those P2P links become part of the mesh. We do have certain sites that due to other reasons can only have the one antenna on them ( at least if it is some sort of parabolic, but if we can use patch type antennas we can probably put up more. 
Best Regards
Chuck KP4DJT

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