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New user and a couple questions

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K6TW
New user and a couple questions
Hi All, 

I'm brand new to this and hoping to be the first node in the South Bay of Los Angeles, which is surprisingly devoid of any other users. I just received my Mikrotik hap ac3 and litebeam. Couple questions:

1) I see the move to Babel. For the Mikrotik, I downloaded the latest stable release, 3.25.8, for install. Does this automatically include the new babel protocol or should I instead download the firmware that actually says babel? From reading the babel announcement/release, it wasn't clear. My goal is to load firmware once and be done with it.
2) I'm hoping to use the Mikrotik on my personal home network over 2.4ghz and for AREDEN over 5ghz. After doing a fair amount of reading, I'm unsure if I need to do anything special to make this happen. In other words, does loading the AREDN firmware automatically allow for this use configuration? Or do I have to do something special to make it operate this way? 

Thank you,

Tim 
K6TW
nc8q
nc8q's picture
South Bay of Los Angeles:babel routing protocol:1 and done
Hi, Tim:

Please further describe South Bay of Los Angeles.
Like a circle of X miles centered on <latitude>, <longitude>.

1.
Firmware 3.25.8.0 and Nightly 20250928(recommended) are both OLSR and Babel capable.
Please be prepared to upgrade AREDN firmware from time to time.
2.
I recommend connecting your hap-ac3 to your home network via ethernet cable.
You may then configure either RF port in multiple ways.
You will need to configure your node for your unique home situation (channel,bandwidth,,SSID,...).
Yes, the firmware allows for many configurations.
You will need to configure your node to do your special desire(s).

73, Chuck
 
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K6TW
reply to Chuck
Chuck, 

1- South Bay of LA is roughly 10 miles circumference from 33°51'05.2"N 118°22'03.9"W. It appears the closest node is actually about 20 miles away, in Culver City. I've already been in touch with him to provide a headsup I'd like to attempt a link. 

2- Yes, I will be connecting my hap ac3 via ethernet cable. Good to know I can configure it to provide the two functions after loading the firmware. BTW, I hadn't chosen the nightly build because it was my understanding there could be bugs and I was hoping for the more stable version.

I'm fairly tech savvy but all this computer networking stuff is a whole new world to me and a bit overwhelming. I appreciate your support! BTW, the end goal is to create a full network within the South Bay for emergency purposes.
nc8q
nc8q's picture
I hadn't chosen the nightly build
Hi, Tim:

IMHO, The Nightly Build 20250928 has fixed the known bugs of 3.25.8.0. ;-)
Nightly 20250928 is a.k.a. 'release candidate' for 3.25.10.0.
Or, wait...an announcement may happen at PacifiCon 2025 this Saturday (tomorrow). ;-)

73, Chuck
 
nc8q
nc8q's picture
all this computer networking stuff is a whole new world
Hi, Tim:

OBTW, IMHO, at <= ~25 miles you will need to reduce bandwidth to 10 MHz,
at > ~50 miles use 5 MHz bandwidth, due to speed of light latency.
 
73, Chuck
 
nc8q
nc8q's picture
South Bay of LA
Hi, Tim:

I recommend contacting (Direct Message here or whatever) Kevin AJ7C (closest local network) and Joe AE6XE (largest semi-local network).
AB6UI is ~1.2 miles from you, but not locally connected.

73, Chuck
 
nc8q
nc8q's picture
SCI? to Seal Beach(KE6IXK)
sci (Santa Catalina Island?) +30 feet to SealBeach +30 feet elevation
 
K6TW
closest node
Thanks for pointing out the Seal Beach node, that may work too. I don't know why the Culver City map (don't know what "SCI" is) shows elevations like that. I'm at 83' and they are at ~330'- should be line of sight. It's the AJ7C node for clarification.

I'll wait on the Pacificon announcement. If you're going, look for the SOTA table, that's my normal crew. Thanks for the tip on the bandwidth too.

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