News:

Welcome to sailFar! :)   Links: sailFar Gallery, sailFar Home page   

-->> sailFar Gallery Sign Up - Click Here & Read :) <<--

Main Menu

Wifi Powered Antenna

Started by Captain Smollett, January 25, 2009, 07:36:14 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 4 Guests are viewing this topic.

maxiSwede

Quote from: maxiSwede on January 29, 2009, 02:50:13 AM

excellent first hand information. I'll order one during the next few days!



Well, I m not the fastest shopper around, but finally got the Nano Station 2 unit. Will try to configure it tonight.

I plugged it to the power last night for a quick try but much to my surprise  it didn't find any signals....guess I'll have to mount it in the mast then.

Much to my suprise it didn't come with any sort of mannual except the very brief instruction printed on the box. Did a web search and came up with this...

http://wiki.ubnt.com/wiki/index.php/AirOS-Quick_Setup_Guide

is this the correct way to go?

BTW, my unit runs on 15V transformed from the 220V plug.

European market style?!

...wonder if I could plug that to the boat's main power... ???

I'll be back as sson as it's (hopefully) up and running
s/v  Nanna
Southern Cross 35' Cutter in French Polynesia
and
H-boat 26' - Sweden

svnanna.wordpress.com

AdriftAtSea

Yes, that online guide is the right one to be looking at.

You can probably run it off of 12 VDC... since the ones that I've used work fine off of it.
s/v Pretty Gee
Telstar 28 Trimaran
Yet we get to know her, love her and be loved by her.... get to know about My Life With Gee at
http://blog.dankim.com/life-with-gee
The Scoot—click to find out more

maxiSwede

Thanks Dan, i am going to try it out tonight. right now I am busy wetsanding the hull again *sighing deeply* before the final coat of 2-part paint.

That paint sure is glossy, but a PITA to work with in many aspects...

BTW, can I configure without a signal from the NS2, with a mobile internet connection I've still got? 
s/v  Nanna
Southern Cross 35' Cutter in French Polynesia
and
H-boat 26' - Sweden

svnanna.wordpress.com

AdriftAtSea

No internet connection is required to configure a NS2... just a laptop with an ethernet cable. ;)
s/v Pretty Gee
Telstar 28 Trimaran
Yet we get to know her, love her and be loved by her.... get to know about My Life With Gee at
http://blog.dankim.com/life-with-gee
The Scoot—click to find out more

maxiSwede

Thanx again & a grog to you!  ;)
s/v  Nanna
Southern Cross 35' Cutter in French Polynesia
and
H-boat 26' - Sweden

svnanna.wordpress.com

maxiSwede

Quote from: Captain Smollett on January 25, 2009, 07:36:14 PM


The antenna utilizes Power Over Ethernet, running on 12 V, and has weather proof connections.  I have not yet, but I will be wiring directly into the 12 V system on the boat.  We measured the power use utilizing the included 120V : 12 V transformer; draw was 4 watts, and that includes transformer losses.


got mine up and working since some time now (thanks AdriftatSea). I am really content with it too (thanks CapnSmollett)

I would like to hook it up on the ship's 12V system though. It's just that it doesn't say which is + and - of the cables there.

So I wonder how you did it, Captn Smollett? I certainly don't want to fry it...

s/v  Nanna
Southern Cross 35' Cutter in French Polynesia
and
H-boat 26' - Sweden

svnanna.wordpress.com

AdriftAtSea

Use a voltmeter to figure out which of the contacts is the power and which is the ground.  Then you can cut the wire off the wall wart and use an ohm meter to figure out which is which.  IIRC, the wire with the stripe on its insulation is the ground, and the other is the power, but YMMV. 
s/v Pretty Gee
Telstar 28 Trimaran
Yet we get to know her, love her and be loved by her.... get to know about My Life With Gee at
http://blog.dankim.com/life-with-gee
The Scoot—click to find out more

Captain Smollett

Quote from: maxiSwede on June 22, 2009, 06:32:58 PM
Quote from: Captain Smollett on January 25, 2009, 07:36:14 PM


The antenna utilizes Power Over Ethernet, running on 12 V, and has weather proof connections.  I have not yet, but I will be wiring directly into the 12 V system on the boat.  We measured the power use utilizing the included 120V : 12 V transformer; draw was 4 watts, and that includes transformer losses.


got mine up and working since some time now (thanks AdriftatSea). I am really content with it too (thanks CapnSmollett)

I would like to hook it up on the ship's 12V system though. It's just that it doesn't say which is + and - of the cables there.

So I wonder how you did it, Captn Smollett? I certainly don't want to fry it...



Mine had the diagram on the 12v transformer which  was + and which was -.  From there, I got the wire correspondence with an Ohm meter. 
S/V Gaelic Sea
Alberg 30
North Carolina

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.  -Mark Twain

s/v necessity

Ok, I got mine yesterday.  And I am having problems making this guy work.  I am trying to use it to access a WEP encrypted wireless router next door with my laptop.  I think I have all the information entered correctly (regarding the WEP encryption) but still no joy.  It acknowledges the neighbors signal and gives me a corresponding strenght.  But I still have local only access, no internet.
     At this point I am not sure what I am doing.  I have it set as a "Bridge" and i have enabled DHCP, should I set it as a router instead?
    And, oh yeah I am ignorant of this stuff ;)

AdriftAtSea

Quote from: s/v necessity on June 26, 2009, 09:38:48 PM
Ok, I got mine yesterday.  And I am having problems making this guy work.  I am trying to use it to access a WEP encrypted wireless router next door with my laptop.  I think I have all the information entered correctly (regarding the WEP encryption) but still no joy.  It acknowledges the neighbors signal and gives me a corresponding strenght.  But I still have local only access, no internet.
     At this point I am not sure what I am doing.  I have it set as a "Bridge" and i have enabled DHCP, should I set it as a router instead?
    And, oh yeah I am ignorant of this stuff ;)

Leave it on bridge mode, and leave the DHCP enabled, and turn on DHCP on your laptop's ethernet port.  Then you should get an IP address on the WiFi network on the Ethernet port...and have full internet access.
s/v Pretty Gee
Telstar 28 Trimaran
Yet we get to know her, love her and be loved by her.... get to know about My Life With Gee at
http://blog.dankim.com/life-with-gee
The Scoot—click to find out more

maxiSwede

HELP!  Problem...

the little black box (converter 230VAC- 15VDC) fried yesterday.

I had no insight as to how internet-addicted I am until now....sitting outside the public library to do some quick e-mails etc.

How do I connect it to ship's 12 V directly??

The converter has one ethernet cable from the computer, and then another one goes to the antenna unit.

I wonder if I could just run the ethernet cable directly from the cable to the antenna.... but no, no power that way, right?



Just e-mailed the swedish distributor from whom I bought it last year. They were very helpful but unfortunately it seems like they've gon out of business  :(
s/v  Nanna
Southern Cross 35' Cutter in French Polynesia
and
H-boat 26' - Sweden

svnanna.wordpress.com

CapnK

Magnus -

Most of those converters (at least here in the US) have a small diagram on the body of the black box part which shows tip polarity. If you can see that, then you can probably get another converter with the same tip measurements and polarity, & it should work fine.

Good luck!
http://sailfar.net
Please Buy My Boats. ;)

maxiSwede

Kurt-

I know, but this 'black box' came with the unit and has an ethernet (LAN) cable in from the antenna and another one out from the computer. That's it.

And there's a lot of tiny wires in an ethernet plug  ??? :o :P
s/v  Nanna
Southern Cross 35' Cutter in French Polynesia
and
H-boat 26' - Sweden

svnanna.wordpress.com

CapnK

Oh, I see... It's a POE converter...

Doh! {palm_to_forehead}

;D

Sorry 'bout that...
http://sailfar.net
Please Buy My Boats. ;)

Captain Smollett

http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php/topic,2179.msg25938.html#msg25938   ???

What I did:

(1) Cut off the transformer that plugs into the wall (120V -> 12V in my case, 230V -> 12 V in yours) at the transformer end.

(2) Strip back the wires, and wire into 12 V system of the boat.

To get the polarity, mine had a diagram on the splitter box.  I just checked; according to my diagram, the + is the center and the - is the outer on the circular plug that plugs into the splitter box.  I used an ohm meter to match up the wires to the plug (which wire goes to center and which goes to outer).

Quote

+    battery   -
|                     |
|                     |   <--   black wires that were originally from 'wall wart' to splitter
______   _______
         |   |            <--  Original plug on 'wall wart' 
_______|________
|                       |           Splitter box
|                       |
|                       |
________________
   |              |
ethernet     ethernet
to                to
computer    powered antenna


Does that help at all?


(note: not wired directly to battery, just shown that way for simplicity)
S/V Gaelic Sea
Alberg 30
North Carolina

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.  -Mark Twain

maxiSwede

Quote from: CapnK on May 18, 2010, 08:37:53 AM
Oh, I see... It's a POE converter...

Doh! {palm_to_forehead}

;D

Sorry 'bout that...

My Bad!  I wasn't clear enough  :o  Sometimes my english isn't completely 'up to it'. sorry mate! 8)
s/v  Nanna
Southern Cross 35' Cutter in French Polynesia
and
H-boat 26' - Sweden

svnanna.wordpress.com

maxiSwede

Ah, so simple.... and yet, I didn't think of it :P

OK, I'll try that. Let's hope nothing vital burnt in the POE converter. ::)

I'll let you know as soon as I tried it out.

BIG Thanks, this is the best sailing forum on the planet!  ;D


Quote from: Captain Smollett on May 18, 2010, 08:56:55 AM
http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php/topic,2179.msg25938.html#msg25938   ???

What I did:

(1) Cut off the transformer that plugs into the wall (120V -> 12V in my case, 230V -> 12 V in yours) at the transformer end.

(2) Strip back the wires, and wire into 12 V system of the boat.

To get the polarity, mine had a diagram on the splitter box.  I just checked; according to my diagram, the + is the center and the - is the outer on the circular plug that plugs into the splitter box.  I used an ohm meter to match up the wires to the plug (which wire goes to center and which goes to outer).

Quote

+    battery   -
|                     |
|                     |   <--   black wires that were originally from 'wall wart' to splitter
______   _______
         |   |            <--  Original plug on 'wall wart' 
_______|________
|                       |           Splitter box
|                       |
|                       |
________________
   |              |
ethernet     ethernet
to                to
computer    powered antenna


Does that help at all?


(note: not wired directly to battery, just shown that way for simplicity)

s/v  Nanna
Southern Cross 35' Cutter in French Polynesia
and
H-boat 26' - Sweden

svnanna.wordpress.com

maxiSwede

OK, report from the elctronics workshop...

took the *#?!?  little black box apart... (POE) and the 230 part with the converters were fried and almost melted...


so after some lenthy measuring and slowly remembering the electricity, and electronics from school (phew!) I gathered courage enough to solder new 12 V feed to it, reassembled and can proudly announce that I am now on free wifi with the NS2 again!   ;)

Thanks Lord, teh antenna was fine....


and yes, I should'a done this anyway..... ages ago.....but you know what it's like? no..?  ::)

So thanks Brethren for thee help and encouragement!  :) :)
s/v  Nanna
Southern Cross 35' Cutter in French Polynesia
and
H-boat 26' - Sweden

svnanna.wordpress.com