Mount Hawthorn

Arriving late at this site the home owners were keen to see the dish in action. So with a little assistance, the Van was reversed into the driveway and the contraption bolted together.

The tripod didn't quite assemble as simply as usual because I'd left the feet attached in an attempt to simplify the install further. I'll likely need to revisit that.

The electronics boxes were getting quite hot in Kalgoorlie, so I've been investigating some means to keep the boxes cool. Currently the boxes are stored in the shade and I've been investigating umbrellas, a safari roof, peltier devices, white and chrome paint, fans, attachment to the mount, but none of those ideas actually capture what I really think would get the thing done.

Kalgoorlie

The installation here is pretty straightforward. The dish is a one-person job, the tripod started the process, the 1.2m dish, which was installed onto the tri-pod for the second time - first time in Perth last month, is now looking normal - albeit small.

I've hung the electronics off the mount, putting them into the shade of the dish, because the angle of the dish is much lower, the shade is smaller.

I experimented with a wireless direct connection between my computer and the dish, but for some reason I cannot make the connection stay up for more than 15 seconds at a time, it then disconnects and reconnects, making for a painful experience.

I'm getting conflicting reports on my Mbit connection, so I'll be following that up. I've got the hardware, have had that since about April, but the account behind the scenes is taking some doing.

VoIP will have to wait just a little longer, because my current Gilat SkyBlaster 360e is not supported and I've not yet upgraded my account to a Gilat SkyEdge.

Nollamara

Setting up in the back yard involved lugging the dish through the garden gate, but that was about the extent of the exercise.

With a whole yard to choose from, set-up took an hour, now we're finally getting to the point where we have a mobile installation.

Wundowie

After four years of lugging a 1.8m (well, 2.0m) dish around the country, I finally got around to buying a smaller set-up. The hardware is almost identical, the biggest difference is that the transmitter is now 2 Watt, instead of 1 Watt.

Whilst driving through Broken Hill, on the trip from Millmerran to Perth, I finally had a spare moment to drill some holes into the bull bar and line those up with holes in the mounting pole.

I hadn't yet attempted to use the mount, but Richard was keen to see my set-up, because all he'd seen to date was photos.

So, if it weren't for the lost cable, it would have taken less than 30 minutes to set-up, from start to finish.

That really means that we now have a truly mobile kit.

You cannot see the black electronics boxes, but I've left the red steel behind in Millmerran and changed over to water proof Pelican cases. Not sure how we'll go with the heat, but from a water/moisture perspective, this is all good.

Australian Camp Oven Festival

Every two years, the Australian Camp Oven Festival is held in Millmerran, Qld. In 2006, Fran was responsible for running the office and I offered to provide the festival with Internet connectivity during the week long event.

Arrival at the show grounds was at 6:00am and by 7:00am I was on my way home with a dish all tuned and ready to go. This was a true test of the mobile nature of our new dish and it worked to perfection.

The festival was a great success and many visitors from around the world came to look at and taste genuine Australian camp oven tucker.

I played a minor role as one of the folks sitting on a quad directing campers to their sites and reuniting long lost friends.

A good time was had by all.

Millmerran

Three setups, and by the end of June, four, all in the same town. First off at a Caravan Park for a bit followed by a previous location, and now for five months with an expected interruption at the end of June in a back yard.

Had some fun and games with IP addresses changing. VoIP stopped working - Onno's fault - uhm, actually, no, not Onno's fault, - uhm, equipment fault - uhm, no routing issue - uh, does it work now - woops?

Took delivery of four SkyEdge kits, one for me with a 2 Watt BUC, all with 1.2m dishes. We'll bolt three to roof-tops at clients, the fourth stays home and soon I'll be able to bolt it to my mount. It's expected to be joined at the end of June by a sister kit, which will give us three modems, three satellite Internet dishes and one TV receive dish, all in for an adventure in the bush. More when it gets confirmed.

Millmerran

Three setups, and by the end of June, four, all in the same town. First off at a Caravan Park for a bit followed by a previous location, and now for five months with an expected interruption at the end of June in a back yard.

Had some fun and games with IP addresses changing. VoIP stopped working - Onno's fault - uhm, actually, no, not Onno's fault, - uhm, equipment fault - uhm, no routing issue - uh, does it work now - woops?

Took delivery of four SkyEdge kits, one for me with a 2 Watt BUC, all with 1.2m dishes. We'll bolt three to roof-tops at clients, the fourth stays home and soon I'll be able to bolt it to my mount. It's expected to be joined at the end of June by a sister kit, which will give us three modems, three satellite Internet dishes and one TV receive dish, all in for an adventure in the bush. More when it gets confirmed.

Millmerran

Three setups, and by the end of June, four, all in the same town. First off at a Caravan Park for a bit followed by a previous location, and now for five months with an expected interruption at the end of June in a back yard.

Had some fun and games with IP addresses changing. VoIP stopped working - Onno's fault - uhm, actually, no, not Onno's fault, - uhm, equipment fault - uhm, no routing issue - uh, does it work now - woops?

Took delivery of four SkyEdge kits, one for me with a 2 Watt BUC, all with 1.2m dishes. We'll bolt three to roof-tops at clients, the fourth stays home and soon I'll be able to bolt it to my mount. It's expected to be joined at the end of June by a sister kit, which will give us three modems, three satellite Internet dishes and one TV receive dish, all in for an adventure in the bush. More when it gets confirmed.

Millmerran

Three setups, and by the end of June, four, all in the same town. First off at a Caravan Park for a bit followed by a previous location, and now for five months with an expected interruption at the end of June in a back yard.

Had some fun and games with IP addresses changing. VoIP stopped working - Onno's fault - uhm, actually, no, not Onno's fault, - uhm, equipment fault - uhm, no routing issue - uh, does it work now - woops?

Took delivery of four SkyEdge kits, one for me with a 2 Watt BUC, all with 1.2m dishes. We'll bolt three to roof-tops at clients, the fourth stays home and soon I'll be able to bolt it to my mount. It's expected to be joined at the end of June by a sister kit, which will give us three modems, three satellite Internet dishes and one TV receive dish, all in for an adventure in the bush. More when it gets confirmed.