Antenna Conversion

Hi Guys (and Gals)
Can a Cushcraft Pc2415 Antenna be converted from COAX to Cat5? I have
purchased a used one and have no documentation at all. If it can be, how?
Thanks in advance
A real dummy

Regent wrote:
> Hi Guys (and Gals)
> Can a Cushcraft Pc2415 Antenna be converted from COAX to Cat5? I have
> purchased a used one and have no documentation at all. If it can be, how?
> Thanks in advance
> A real dummy
>
Sure, hook it up to a wireless router or access point. Why did you
purchase this antenna? What did you think you could use it for?
Data sheet available here;
http://www.cushcraft.com/Data-Sheets.asp

Pen wrote:
>> Hi Guys (and Gals)
>> Can a Cushcraft Pc2415 Antenna be converted from COAX to Cat5? I have
>> purchased a used one and have no documentation at all. If it can be, how?
>> Thanks in advance
>> A real dummy
>
>Sure, hook it up to a wireless router or access point. Why did you
>purchase this antenna? What did you think you could use it for?
>Data sheet available here;
>http://www.cushcraft.com/Data-Sheets.asp

Thanks for the post - why did I purchase this particular antenna? I found a
used one and wish to use it for WiFi between my home and my outbuilding. The
reason I need Cat5 is that there are trees between and I have to get away
from the router at least 100' to receive. Both ends have routers (Linksys 2.
4g). Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks for your input.
Dave

"Regent" <u31454@uwe> hath wroth:

>Can a Cushcraft Pc2415 Antenna be converted from COAX to Cat5?

No. The RF loss at 2.4GHz for CAT5 is horrible compares to coax
(which is only awful instead of horrible). If you want to run CAT5
instead of coax, you'll need to mount your wireless radio near the
antenna, and run CAT5 with POE (power over ethernet) to the radio. A
short piece of coax cable goes between the radio and the antenna to
keep the RF losses reasonable.

>I have
>purchased a used one and have no documentation at all. If it can be, how?

The reason you can't find it is that Cushcraft no longer sells that
mode. It's currently re-sold by MaxTech. No clue who originally made
the antenna.
<http://www.maxtech.com/html/pc2415n.html>
All that's available are the tech specifications.

>A real dummy

Nope. Learn...


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us> hath wroth:

>The reason you can't find it is that Cushcraft no longer sells that
>mode.

Oops. That's wrong. See:
<http://www.cushcraft.com/support/pdf/PC2415N.pdf>
<http://www.cushcraft.com/support/pdf/PC2415NA.pdf>
Sorry.

>It's currently re-sold by MaxTech. No clue who originally made
>the antenna.
><http://www.maxtech.com/html/pc2415n.html>
>All that's available are the tech specifications.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Regent wrote:

> Thanks for the post - why did I purchase this particular antenna? I found a
> used one and wish to use it for WiFi between my home and my outbuilding. The
> reason I need Cat5 is that there are trees between and I have to get away
> from the router at least 100' to receive. Both ends have routers (Linksys 2.
> 4g). Am I doing something wrong?

Only in explaining what you are trying to do.

Without knowing what you are trying to do, I'll take a stab at this.

CAT5 or ANY twisted pair cable is NOT the same as coaxial cable. So you
need coax cable to connect to your antenna.

Depending how dense the trees are and if its only a 100 ft. hop, you might
get by with two simple wireless devices. But a pair of Linksys (assuming
the WRT54G) won't work as you need a client side capable unit. I'm not even
going to suggest reflashing any firmware to you at this point

Linksys WRT54G wireless Router/Access Point (as the actual access point) at
one end and and Linksys WAP54G Access Point (configured as the client)
would work 1,000 ft with just a few trees.

If its only 100 ft (or at least under 330 ft TOTAL ethernet CAT5 run), just
run some regular CAT5 cable inside the outdoor rated *GRAY* PVC conduit
and not even use wireless.

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us> hath wroth:
>
>>The reason you can't find it is that Cushcraft no longer sells that
>>mode.
>
>Oops. That's wrong. See:
><http://www.cushcraft.com/support/pdf/PC2415N.pdf>
><http://www.cushcraft.com/support/pdf/PC2415NA.pdf>
>Sorry.
>
>>It's currently re-sold by MaxTech. No clue who originally made
>>the antenna.
>><http://www.maxtech.com/html/pc2415n.html>

Wow, you guys are good, but the views differ - I wish to thank you all, but
to clarify, the tree issue (100' to clear for line of sight - takes it to
within approximately 1500 feet of the outbuilding. Any insights there? I
should have put that in originally.
Thanks again,
Dave
>>All that's available are the tech specifications.
>

Regent wrote:
> Wow, you guys are good, but the views differ - I wish to thank you all, but
> to clarify, the tree issue (100' to clear for line of sight - takes it to
> within approximately 1500 feet of the outbuilding. Any insights there? I
> should have put that in originally.

Ok, the 1,500 ft rules out a traditional ethernet connection, unless you
want to use some loop extenders.

"100' to clear for line of sight". Does that mean you have to shoot over
100' tall trees or is one of the locations 100' higher or lower?

decaturtxcowboy wrote:
>> Wow, you guys are good, but the views differ - I wish to thank you all, but
>> to clarify, the tree issue (100' to clear for line of sight - takes it to
>> within approximately 1500 feet of the outbuilding. Any insights there? I
>> should have put that in originally.
>
>Ok, the 1,500 ft rules out a traditional ethernet connection, unless you
>want to use some loop extenders.
>
>"100' to clear for line of sight". Does that mean you have to shoot over
>100' tall trees or is one of the locations 100' higher or lower?

Hey, Cowboy, thanks for the answer. Situation is: I have 100' of trees to
go through to get to a clearing. Then it is a strait line of sight from
there to the out building. My thought is to use Cat5 or LMR400 cable to get
to the open spot - not over the trees, but through them. The elevation
between the point outside of the trees and the outbuilding is pretty flat.
Thanks, Cowboy.

--
Message posted via HWKB.com
http://www.hwkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/...eless/200702/1

"Regent" <u31454@uwe> hath wroth:

>Wow, you guys are good,

Nope. We're great.

>but the views differ - I wish to thank you all, but
>to clarify, the tree issue (100' to clear for line of sight - takes it to
>within approximately 1500 feet of the outbuilding. Any insights there? I
>should have put that in originally.

Sure. However, first my usual rant on how to properly ask a question.
All we really need is:
1. What are you trying to accomplish? A brief description is all
that's required.
2. What do you have to work with? Maker, manufactory, hardware
version, firmware version, operating system, topography, topology,
address layout, etc.
3. What have you tried and what happened? Error messages and
symptoms.
Number 3 does not apply in this case.

1500ft is too far for just CAT5 and coax cable. I've done both out to
about 900ft, but I don't think it will work at 1500ft. It might work
with power line (HomePlug) and phone line (HomePNA) networking, both
of which will work to "over 1000ft", whatever that means. It's well
within the limits of powered ethernet copper or fiber extenders such
as:
<http://www.patton.com/products/pe_products.asp?Category=261>
<http://www.patton.com/products/pe_products.asp?category=355>
There are other vendors. Search Google for "ethernet extender".
You will not like the prices, but they're faster and generally better
than wireless.

You can use PoE (power over ethernet) via CAT5 to extend the wired
part of your network to a remote wireless bridge sufficient to extend
your network the remaining 1400ft. If necessary, you can go 300ft.
However, all I know is that you have a "Linksys 24 g" which is rather
vague. I won't propose any solutions until you disclose some hardware
details which include what it going to be at the other end of the
link.

There's also a question of feasability which can be calculated. For
an example calculation, see:
<http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Link_Calculations>

Note that you have to have line of sight for this to work. That means
more than just optical line of sight. It means Fresnel Zone
clearance. See:
<http://www.terabeam.com/support/calculations/fresnel-zone.php>
At 1400ft range (0.27 miles), you'll need at midpoint about 10ft
radius clearance about the line of sight. This includes not hitting
the ground thus requiring the antenna height be 10ft or higher.

Hint: Numbers, not prose.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>"Regent" <u31454@uwe> hath wroth:
>
>>Wow, you guys are good,
>
>Nope. We're great.
>
>>but the views differ - I wish to thank you all, but
>>to clarify, the tree issue (100' to clear for line of sight - takes it to
>>within approximately 1500 feet of the outbuilding. Any insights there? I
>>should have put that in originally.
>
>Sure. However, first my usual rant on how to properly ask a question.
>All we really need is:
>1. What are you trying to accomplish? A brief description is all
>that's required.
>2. What do you have to work with? Maker, manufactory, hardware
>version, firmware version, operating system, topography, topology,
>address layout, etc.
>3. What have you tried and what happened? Error messages and
>symptoms.
>Number 3 does not apply in this case.
>
>1500ft is too far for just CAT5 and coax cable. I've done both out to
>about 900ft, but I don't think it will work at 1500ft. It might work
>with power line (HomePlug) and phone line (HomePNA) networking, both
>of which will work to "over 1000ft", whatever that means. It's well
>within the limits of powered ethernet copper or fiber extenders such
>as:
><http://www.patton.com/products/pe_products.asp?Category=261>
><http://www.patton.com/products/pe_products.asp?category=355>
>There are other vendors. Search Google for "ethernet extender".
>You will not like the prices, but they're faster and generally better
>than wireless.
>
>You can use PoE (power over ethernet) via CAT5 to extend the wired
>part of your network to a remote wireless bridge sufficient to extend
>your network the remaining 1400ft. If necessary, you can go 300ft.
>However, all I know is that you have a "Linksys 24 g" which is rather
>vague. I won't propose any solutions until you disclose some hardware
>details which include what it going to be at the other end of the
>link.
>
>There's also a question of feasability which can be calculated. For
>an example calculation, see:
><http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Link_Calculations>
>
>Note that you have to have line of sight for this to work. That means
>more than just optical line of sight. It means Fresnel Zone
>clearance. See:
><http://www.terabeam.com/support/calculations/fresnel-zone.php>
>At 1400ft range (0.27 miles), you'll need at midpoint about 10ft
>radius clearance about the line of sight. This includes not hitting
>the ground thus requiring the antenna height be 10ft or higher.
>
>Hint: Numbers, not prose.
>
Thanks, Jeff - try my initial thread - I am attaching to an eantenna 100'
from base to then reach the 1500'.

--
Message posted via HWKB.com
http://www.hwkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/...eless/200702/1

> My thought is to use Cat5 or LMR400 cable to get
> to the open spot - not over the trees, but through them.

Bad idea. The radio in the router will not get enough signal to work with
cable lengths that long. You want the cable from the radio to the antennas
to be as short as possible (like a few feet). It would be better to put the
router out in the clearing and run CAT5 back for ethernet network and power.
You could run two wires or you could use a power-over-ethernet setup (PoE).

Then use a highly directional antenna, very carefully aimed, at EACH end of
connection.

Otherwise if you want to connect them physically you could use fibre. Fibre
to ethernet converters are pretty inexpensive. You'd just have to install
the direct burial type of fibre. And any time you're putting something in
ground always make sure to pull spare pairs. Don't pull just what's
required, double it. There's always the chance something will go wrong with
the pair that's in use. It's best to have a spare already in the ground.

What're you planning on doing at the receiving end in the outbuilding? What
sort of devices or network use are you anticipating?

-Bill Kearney

Bill Kearney wrote:
>> My thought is to use Cat5 or LMR400 cable to get
>> to the open spot - not over the trees, but through them.
>
>Bad idea. The radio in the router will not get enough signal to work with
>cable lengths that long. You want the cable from the radio to the antennas
>to be as short as possible (like a few feet). It would be better to put the
>router out in the clearing and run CAT5 back for ethernet network and power.
>You could run two wires or you could use a power-over-ethernet setup (PoE).
>
>Then use a highly directional antenna, very carefully aimed, at EACH end of
>connection.
>
>Otherwise if you want to connect them physically you could use fibre. Fibre
>to ethernet converters are pretty inexpensive. You'd just have to install
>the direct burial type of fibre. And any time you're putting something in
>ground always make sure to pull spare pairs. Don't pull just what's
>required, double it. There's always the chance something will go wrong with
>the pair that's in use. It's best to have a spare already in the ground.
>
>What're you planning on doing at the receiving end in the outbuilding? What
>sort of devices or network use are you anticipating?
>
>-Bill Kearney

Thanks, Bill - I will be using a PC, off the Linksys router.

--
Message posted via HWKB.com
http://www.hwkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/...eless/200702/1

"Regent" <u31454@uwe> wrote in message news:6d450a133852a@uwe...
> Hi Guys (and Gals)
> Can a Cushcraft Pc2415 Antenna be converted from COAX to Cat5? I have
> purchased a used one and have no documentation at all. If it can be, how?
> Thanks in advance
> A real dummy
>
sure - it's about the same as using a garden hose as an AC extension cord.

how do you have power at the main site ?
then power avail at the outbuilding site ?
any temp issues - used at very cold or very hot ?

RF (wireless) is more complex than plain copper telephone wire
along with the LOS issue - more complex than shining a flashlight.

SO - to arrive at a "solution" - all the variables need to be shared,
else you are asking for which pair of pliers is best to hit the nail :)

RF is absorbed by trees (water in leaf) and will get worse the more leaves you
have.
Just like a sat dish pointing up to the sky.... same probs.

Anyway - you are looking for a rural connection "solution",
vs which pliers should you use to hit the nail....
RF - line of sight - must have clear shot
RF - absorbed by transmission cable - longer cable leaves little energy to xmit
AC mode - powerline transmission IF the main + remote on same power box
PoE - CAT5 strung out to clear point and then potentially use RF - logistics,
cold/hot, critters, etc

lots of issues beyond initial question - that's why this stuff is all magic -

P.Schuman wrote:
>> Hi Guys (and Gals)
>> Can a Cushcraft Pc2415 Antenna be converted from COAX to Cat5? I have
>> purchased a used one and have no documentation at all. If it can be, how?
>> Thanks in advance
>> A real dummy
>
>sure - it's about the same as using a garden hose as an AC extension cord.
Thanks,
I believe I now have enough info to proceed.
D

--
Message posted via http://www.hwkb.com

Regent wrote:
> Hi Guys (and Gals)
> Can a Cushcraft Pc2415 Antenna be converted from COAX to Cat5? I have
> purchased a used one and have no documentation at all. If it can be, how?
> Thanks in advance
> A real dummy
>