Reconnecting the Parow Park Highsite

Areas Parow Area
1

Hi all

Posting here for record keeping and transparency.

Scenario and backround :

The Parow Park area got our act together last year and with the help and drive from Firestarter, we purchased a Litebeam and an Omni. we connected to Firestarter’s private dish from a mast we put up on one of the flats.
All was good, and we got some decent link speeds. The Routing was from MARS, to Firestarter, to the PP highsite (WESA), and 8 of us connected to the Omni for WUG use.

This year Firestarter left the Wug, which left the area with no connection.

What we have done so far

We initially planned a connection to KGB . With another finance project we purchased a second Litebeam, for a PTP to KGB. We put up a new, better mast, with stays, kindly donated by Firestarter (again) so the PP High site is looking really spiffy now.

IMG_20180715_152328.jpg2976×3968 1.75 MB

Unfortunately there was little to no LOS to KGB. Back to square 1.

David has kindly offered to re-enable his site AS A TEMPORARY MEASURE so we can reconnect to the wug in the meantime.

The Way Forward

We now have to find options to reconnect, and this is a great time to plan for the future and redundancy as well.

We as an area , hopefully with the help and guidance of the @Committee and @NetworkAdmins , now need to decide the best way to reconnect again. (Feel free to suggest any other options I may have missed)

OPTIONS :

Option 1 : Business as usual

PP links to MARS via FIRESTARTER. Existing setup has proven this to be a viable and reliable link.

NOTE : The FIRESTARTER highsite will be 100%CTWUG Owned. Firestarter is only offering power, and the use of his mast for free

Equipment Required :

1 x 750GR3 RB
2 x Powerbeams

Existing Litebeam at WESA
New Powerbeam to WESA at Firestarter
New Powerbeam to MARS at Firestarter

Approx Cost : R4150.00

Option 2 : Sneaki Link

Sneaki also has links to MARS and KM, so if there is LOS we could easily use that as a primary link.

Equipment Required :

NONE, but see Note 1 below, so possibly

1 x Litebeam
to be put up at Sneaki

Approx Cost

R950.00

Option 3 : Fuzzy Link

I have spoken to @JellyBean, and this too is a viable option. There is space on the mast, etc.
MrFuzzy has links to Fubar, IO and MAB

Equipment Required :

NONE, but see Note 1 below, so possibly

1 x Litebeam
to be put up at MrFuzzy

Approx Cost

R950.00

NOTE 1 : About the 2nd Litebeam
The following is my personal opinion, and does not reflect the opinions of the PP area, or @KGB, to whom I have not yet spoken to about this.

When we thought that the link to KGB was possible, a finance project was started (Parow Park #2) for the purchase of a second Litebeam. KGB, Firestarter and DemonPC were the only ones that contributed to it.
(DemonPC donation was moved from another finance project.) Firestarter has left the wug, so really only KGB has any real claim to the 2nd dish.

As all of the above options pretty much exclude KGB due to LOS issues, I personally feel that that dish, (even though it was bought for the Parow Park area), it would be “unfair” of us to claim it for a connection that excludes the people who contributed towards it. Strictly speaking that dish belongs to the Parow NORTH area, not the Parow PARK area.

I would be interested to see how everyone else feels about this.

MY Recommendation :

I think the cheapest and quickest option may be to put up the 2nd Litebeam at Mr Fuzzy
It is very important then, that we establish a 2nd, redundant link ASAP , likely to Sneaki.

With this option, I would use the 2nd Litebeam, and then apply for 100% CTWUG funding for :

  1. A new dish / sector / whatever of similar value to replace the “PN” Litebeam.
  2. 2 x Litebeams for a 2nd Link to Sneaki

Funding Required ; ± R2500

A Phase 3: Link to Mars via Firestarter at a later date would be great make our area rock solid!

I am also looking into the possibility of contacting the Goodwood Fire Dept with the aim of using their excellent high tower for a HighSite, but this would most likely fall to the Goodwood area manager to drive.

Phew! enough essays for one day. I welcome your constructive input and ideas.

The Clown

4 Likes
2

Well done to you for taking the inniative in getting Parow back up and running @TheClown

I hope you guys get reconnected real soon.

3

Thank you, but it was not my initiave. Total group effort with David doing
most of the mental heavy lifting.

We hope to be back on soon.

3 Likes
4

There is a good possibility that we can loose mars as a site, the new committee will need to contact mars body corporate to find out were CTWUG stands.

Did you pick up sneaki on a scan?
Did you contact sneaki to find out if he would be interested to link to PP?

Mrfuzzy link to fubar is not even doing a 50% of ospf requirements, we are waiting on municipality to cut down a few branches. [quote=“TheClown, post:1, topic:11871”]
I would use the 2nd Litebeam, and then apply for 100% CTWUG funding for :
[/quote]

There is finance assistance structure in place for 50% persent funding if approved

5

My recommendations are

Do a 360 scan with frequency list set to 4900 - 6100 let the scan run for 5min and group the CTWUG ssid together, when done post results here(I remember seeing ssid from mlb area on a previous scan)

2 Likes
6

Update :

Both KGB and David have contacted me saying that the Litebeam does indeed belong to our area so it is available.

7

Yes I have Spoken to him. Have not had a chance for a scan yet, but visually it looks good.

Ok so since this was the most costly option , perhaps we hold off on this idea for now. If we DID lose MARS, we could always re-use any equipment deployed in the next best option anyway.

I have also contacted Jellybean, and he recons there should be no problem connecting to MrFuzzy
I see this as a temporary problem. eventually the tree(s) would be trimmed and then it would make an excellent 2nd or even primary link, not so @JellyBean?

The link mentions that that applies to private links, are these not considered backbone links, as they feed an entire area??

Money has been spent on upgrading links in other areas where there was already connectivity, i cannot see how spending money on establishing new links ,where there are none, are less of a priority.

Cool I will try to log into the Omni (I can use that for the scan, right?) and do a scan to see what all comes up.

Till Later

8

Not 100% on private sites only 50% as per hyperlink i send you.[quote=“TheClown, post:7, topic:11871”]
i cannot see how spending money on establishing new links
[/quote]

People should contribute if they want links, if the committee goes your way we would be bankrupt in 3 months. This is off course my opinion, the committee can change their way of financing as they see fit.

1 Like
9

Ctwug sites full 100% private up to 50%. There are many areas struggling yours is not an exception. Many areas have gotten a 50% funding and have banded together and have come up with the other 50% because its important to them.

Sorry i dont mean to be rude or blunt but many guys are confused by the finance part and make assumptions that certain guys get favored this is not the case. There is an approval process and many things are looked at before approval.

I do encorage all to apply for project funding as you can imagine 50% helps alot. Please have a look at the finance page for current projects and projects of old. Should give you an idea of what i am talking about.

There is also a forum page if im not mistaken that explains the percentage we also mentioned this at a previous ctwug meeting eting.

4 Likes
10

No offence taken, Im sure none meant. I know very little of how things work, so the education is welcome!

Still need clarification on a few points :

The PP highsite is a 100% CTWUG owned site , is it not?

Understood, so has my area tho. Twice!, and still we are not connected. Some of these guys are struggling to put food on the table, never mind buying wug kit. Hopefully soon our temp connection will be routed (pleeeez @NetworkAdmins) , and soon after that a more permanent solution. I am going to drive around today a bit to check out LOS possibilities.

I do think that a broader picture, long term best case needs to be thought of though. A Link between Goodwood Area and Bellville Area would be good for link redundancy.It would also mean that a link drop will not render a whole area offline, as has happened recently. These redundant links could also make the possible loss of MARS less of an issue in my opinion.

Definitely will, once we have a clear idea of how we are going to proceed, Thanx

2 Likes
11

To my knowlegde no its not owned or managed by ctwug so this would make it a private site.

1 Like
12

Then they should get their priorities right.

13

I remember being part of the planning and there was clear los(per scans I did), photos was also sent to me (I reset my phone) in which I could see Parow park. Have you guys even attempted to align and install the litebeam on kgb side?

wesa.PNG1050×853 1.32 MB

Here is an alternative idea

The white line is Wesa to Kgb hitting the side of the building

Nitroboy and Godzilla lives in same block

1 nitroboy puts his lhg up at wesa
2. Litebeam at wesa goes to godzilla
3. link is made between godzilla and wesa with the current lhg from godzilla to wesa and the nitroboy’s lhg installed at wesa
4. Gdozilla is the red line in the pic and would have great los to kgb
5. lay a cat5 cable from godzilla pole to nitroboy flat over the roof.
6. will need a power source for the two radios up at godzilla now
7. I suggest using the omni that was up at alwyn

14

When we bought that equipment we had to agree that all of it will remain the property of the CTWUG.
Perhaps I am not understanding the difference between

  • CTWUG High Site
    *Community Site, owned by CTWUG or area
    *Privately owned site (Well, i DO understand this one ) :slight_smile:
15

Nope the idea was that the equipment would remain the property of the parow park wuggers. So that if wesa moves he will then hand over the equipment to someone else who can host it.

16

Wont Work
Unfortunately that would kil My and Badboy’s LOS

Need clarification on Pt 7? What is that omni for?

Thank you for the constructive ideas @Ogon Not dismissing anything, but as everyone is currently connected to the Omni at Wesa, why not simply turn the dish to either Sneaki or Fuzzy for a simple fix?

Having Been on the roof, I am extremely sceptical that we would ever get LOS to anyone in Parow North. Buildings / Trees etc in the way. I think Google earth only tells “some” of the story.

17

Owned by CTWUG and should have a planet name or a moon name in our solar system. [quote=“TheClown, post:14, topic:11871”]
Community Site, owned by CTWUG or area
[/quote]

Owned by the area good example will be KM highsite and Parow park

Most common sites on CTWUG

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KGB Side :

KGB Side.jpg918×1224 143 KB

Parow Park side

IMG_20180715_151314.jpg3968×2976 1.7 MB
IMG_20180715_151309.jpg3968×2976 1.95 MB

20

There are more photos than this one taken from the two poles

But not the end of the world if KGB link is not happening

I can also give Godzilla a link, but we are in the process of removing ospf from our area(fubar,mrfuzzy,freescale and ogon sites) so it wont be a redundant link to your area just a working one. It will mean designing and manufacturing a new bracket for Godzilla so he can easliy align to me.

21

interesting how? It is a non excising site.