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
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
Best Regards
mike
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
Bob W8ERD
Joe AE6XE
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.
Joe AE6XE
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
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
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.
Larry AC8YE is our technical guru for these projects. I am more the operational guy.
Bob W8ERD
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.
can you give model info, please?
regards
mike
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-...
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
https://www.instructables.com/id/Portable-Folding-Satellite-Dish-for-FPV...
Bob EW8ERD
Crazy timing. Very unfortunate.
Oh well - time to go out and scrounge for at least one more.
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?
Joe AE6XE
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
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
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
I have a functioning LDF5 and it's running nightly 600. It self identifies in the Administration page as:
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
Thanks for all of you help guys.
Damon K9CQB
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
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
Joe AE6XE
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)
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.
ssh -p2222 root@localnode.local.mesh
or send a file via scp:
scp -P2222 somefile.bin root@localnode.local.mesh:/tmp
This is great information to know -I'm totally tracking now. I will try this tomorrow morning and report back.
Damon K9CQB
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.).
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
Vance KC8RGO (headed for Yuma HF)
Andre, K6AH
Does the nightly build work for the LDF 5 ac?
Jeff kg4ikt
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.
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
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
Thank you for your help.
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
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